DiMarzio Illuminator Neck DP256 BK

I purchased this lockup for my six string Ibanez in hope for a clearer sound that has more clarity and better string separation. Upon buying this and the Bridge pickup also an Illuminator, I had nothing but difficulty installing them and had to spend some money getting them installed which j wasn't happy about, a first time occurrence as pickups are usually no problem for me to install!

Once installed though, I loved the sound but personally, not quite the rich tone I was after but that's not to say they aren't decent pickups! Just not the sound I was trying to achieve.

I do highly recommend these pickups to anyone, as the price cannot be beaten, and the quality you achieve for the price is amazing.

If you want a thicker tone in the neck and a clearer tone in the bridge, definitely worth considering these at least, but for the heavier player, of the more avantgatde persuasion, I'd recommend EMG.

Pros - Definitely an improvement in tone and clarity
Cons - Not a drastic improvement to what I was hoping for, Nightmare to install even when filling exact instructions.

Great pickup. A perfect blend between the old Liquifire and the Air Norton. Is more raw and in your face than the liquifire. Splits really well. The voicing is definitely high shifted in comparison to the older Petrucci models. Clean, sounds really jazzy and piano-like. For lead is to die for, although the Liquifire is definitely smoother and more "soft".
Price is a bit high, these should be priced around the usual dimarzio neck pickup price. Quality is on par with the usual dimarzio offerings. Plenty of possibilities with the split and parallel options. I really liked the pickup in parallel blended with the illuminator bridge split for clean passages.