Hamer Vintage Dimarzio Super Distortion - A few Q's

[LiamMaru]

I have a vintage Dimarzio pickup, it says "DIMARZIO PICKUPS" with "MADE IN USA" underneath that. It's got square feet, with an extra set of smaller holes next to the ones that are usually there. 2 Wire, braided cable. I remember when I got this thing, the owner had pulled it out of a Hamer, A Special I suspect.

Anyway, what's the consensus on these pickups? it reads 13.63K, I bought it as a Super Distortion so it seems to check out. I can't recall exactly how it sounds, what do you think of these?

Also, does the description of this pick up match the guitar it came out of? My understanding of Dimarzio was that they switched to the triangular feet sometime in the 80's, and this date may not line up with the production date of the Hamer it came out of. What do you guys think?

[serial]

Hamer NEVER installed Super Distortion pickups in their guitars.

That pickup is not original to the guitar and sounds like it has some mods already.

[zenmindbeginner]

Hells yeahs, Serial is right. Some Hamer Special owners pulled their stock DiMarzio PAFs out and replaced them with Super Distortions in search for more output. Boatloads of players were doing it to their Les Pauls so Specials weren't any different.

Square feet DiMarzio Super Distortions aren't worth that much on the market today... the pickup's design hasn't changed (unlike the DP103) in all of these years and it's currently being mass produced.

Besides, Eddie Van Halen supposedly took out the Ceramic magnet and swapped it with a Alnico V (some people think that it could have been an Alnico II) rewound the tape around the bobbins and re-potted it. To get a more organic sound, he didn't want distortion but was simply after more sustain. The DiMarzio SD was basically the only high output aftermarket pickup on the market at the time.

Swap the magnet, re-pot it and then enjoy the brown sound.

[Armitage]

Does it LOOK like a Super Distortion, (12 hex screws), or does it look like a PAF? DiMarzio did custom pickups for Hamer, Slammers, that seemed to change every year and got more and more over wound.

[Victor (Fret Friend)]

I recently sold a similar one (1970s) on ebay for $40. Was from a 70s Hondo LP. I never found out what it was but it measured 8.13k-ohms...

[gorch]

The SDs measure around 12-13k. The PAFs measure somewhere 7-8.5k. Bridge intended versions measure higher than neck intended versions. I had a few and they all measured different but within the range.

Compared to Seymour Duncans the Dimarzios have more bottom end and sound creamier. It might be worth to replace the magnet bars on vintage ones since the bars loose magnetism over time. Anyway a good idea to test drive various magnets though.

[Armitage]

But Slammers were all over the place I don't know how high in resistance they got but one I've got is plenty hot.

[Disturber]

Square feet DiMarzio Super Distortions aren't worth that much on the market today... the pickup's design hasn't changed (unlike the DP103) in all of these years and it's currently being mass produced.

Besides, Eddie Van Halen supposedly took out the Ceramic magnet and swapped it with a Alnico V (some people think that it could have been an Alnico II) rewound the tape around the bobbins and re-potted it. To get a more organic sound, he didn't want distortion but was simply after more sustain. The DiMarzio SD was basically the only high output aftermarket pickup on the market at the time.

Swap the magnet, re-pot it and then enjoy the brown sound.

I had an old Dimarzio Superdistortion. 70's with square feet. It was un-potted from the factory - so I'd say the design has changed some, atleast on that part. Also, wire and magnetquality might have changed over the years. Dimarzio probably dont have the same suppliers as they did 40 years ago. That will probably change their tone slightly as well, etc etc.

[bubs_42]

The one in my SS is over 17K. HOTTT!

[Armitage]

The one in my SS is over 17K. HOTTT!

Is it a DiMarzio Super Distortion, or a stock Slammer (six studs and six screws)?

[bubs_42]

The one in my SS is over 17K. HOTTT!

Is it a DiMarzio Super Distortion, or a stock Slammer (six studs and six screws)?

UNTOUCHED ORIGINAL SLAMMER.The other one that I have is around 10k i think.

[zenmindbeginner]

The one in my SS is over 17K. HOTTT!

Is it a DiMarzio Super Distortion, or a stock Slammer (six studs and six screws)?

UNTOUCHED ORIGINAL SLAMMER.The other one that I have is around 10k i think.

They came in two varieties that I have seen.

14K-17K great for bridges

9K-11K great for necks

[ecnal]

Hamer NEVER installed Super Distortion pickups in their guitars.

They did in one of mine.

[dboy66]

Hamer NEVER installed Super Distortion pickups in their guitars.

They did in one of mine.

Hmmmm. (scratches beard).

[serial]

Not if it was an off-the-rack one.

[ecnal]

Not if it was an off-the-rack one.

It wasn't, it was a custom Standard.

(Sorry your beard itches, dboy66).