102 GUITAR WORLD • OCTOBER 2023 TRANSCRIPTIONS “MOONLIGHT SONATA” (1st movement) Ludwig van Beethoven Written by LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN • Arranged for two electric guitars by JIMMY BROWN For a playthrough and complete lesson, watch the video at guitarworld.com/october2023
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TRANSCRIPTIONS 104 GUITAR WORLD • OCTOBER 2023
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110 GUITAR WORLD • OCTOBER 2023 THE REPLACEMENT PICKUP is so commonplace these days that most guitarists have swapped pickups on at least one of their electric guitars to improve its sound. However, for about the first two decades of the electric solidbody guitar’s existence, very few players ever thought of changing their pickups, and the few who did found it wasn’t a very easy task. That all changed when Larry DiMarzio created the market for replacement pickups by developing and intelligently marketing the Super Distortion humbucker in the early Seventies. DiMarzio made the Super Distortion to provide an improved alternative to the stock pickups manufactured during the late Sixties and early Seventies when companies like Gibson, Fender and Gretsch were owned by big corporations (Norlin, CBS and Baldwin, respectively) that cared more about cutting costs than satisfying players’ needs. Guitarists were also seeking ways to increase the distortion, crunch and sustain of their rigs, especially without needing to turn their amps up to ear-splitting levels or use fuzz pedals. DiMarzio’s ingenious solution was to develop a pickup with higher output that also delivered the desirable tonal qualities that rock guitarists preferred. He designed the pickup to fit perfectly into standard Gibson humbucker mounting to minimize installation hassles, and the replacement pickup was born. Larry DiMarzio’s design featured smaller-gauge wire and a tighter layered coil than Gibson used for pickup construction, which allowed a higher amount of turns per coil. This design significantly boosted output, particularly when combined with its strong ceramic magnet that also enhanced brightness and mid-range punch. Other distinctive features included 12 large adjustable hex Allen screw polepieces and exposed cream-colored bobbins (no cover), the latter providing a distinctive look that made DiMarzio pickups instantly identifiable (a registered trademark that DiMarzio still rigorously protects today). The DiMarzio Super Distortion humbucker played a major role in the sound of hard rock guitar from the mid Seventies onward as players like Rick Derringer, Buck Dharma, Elliott Easton, Ace Frehley, Steve Hunter, Ronnie Montrose, Rick Nielsen, Joe Perry, Tom Scholz, Earl Slick, Dick Wagner and many others embraced its aggressive tones. Dimebag Darrell, Paul Gilbert, Kerry King, Mick Mars, Dave MurDIMARZIO SUPER DISTORTION HUMBUCKING PICKUP CATEGORY: REPLACEMENT PICKUP BY CHRIS GILL POWER TOOLS Allan Holdsworth — playing a Strat that’s been decked out with a DiMarzio Super Distortion humbucker — performs with U.K. in New York City’s Central Park, July 7, 1978 MICHAEL PUTLAND/GETY IMAGES ray and Randy Rhoads later kept the Super Distortion flame burning bright for metal during the Eighties and beyond, and in the Nineties the pickup found favor amongst the grunge and alternative crowd through players like Kurt Cobain, Kim Thayil and Lee Ranaldo. The pickup also made a significant impact in the sound of jazz-rock fusion, thanks to guitarists like Al Di Meola, Allan Holdsworth and John Abercrombie. Also during the Seventies, up-and-coming US guitar companies like B.C. Rich, Charvel, Dean and Hamer, boldly defying Fender and Gibson’s status quo, built numerous guitar models with DiMarzio Super Distortion pickups as standard equipment, as did several Japanese guitar companies like Aria, helping make the sound and glory of the DiMarzio Super Distortion readily accessible and affordable to the masses. Although DiMarzio has offered a few hundred different models over the last 50 years, the Super Distortion is still going strong, thanks to its distinctive voice that is irresistible to guitarists who love the aggressive snarl and bite of late-Seventies hard rock tones. The pickups sound magical when paired with a circa Seventiesthrough-mid-Eighties Marshall, but they also work great with numerous Mesa Boogie amps as well as many modern high-gain beasts. 500k ohm volume and tone pots with a .022uF tone capacitor are recommended for optimal performance. Very few players ever thought of changing their pickups, and the few who did found it wasn’t a very easy task
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