DiMarzio DP184 Chopper BK

I wrote a bad evaluation just when I installed and test the pickup (due to low volume in comparison with the other two new DiMarzio D activator- X HS pickups).
The problem was not the pickup itself but a bad adjusting (my fault!). After several mails interchange with the technical service of DiMarzio the root cause of the problem was identified, and after fixing it, I tried the pickup and the result was really good.
It works extremely good for distorted sounds (which is my preference). But when I need clear sounds, now I always select the middle pickup (position where chopper is installed) due to its brilliant sound.

Sound: Originally intended for the bridge position, I installed this on my H-S-S Strat in the neck position. I intended this to accompany a high output humbucker in the bridge, with the chopper having more clarity than a full-blown humbucker but having more output than a standard single-coil pickup. The sound off this pickup under distortion is 'smoother' than a humbucker but a tad more 'hot' compared to a single-coil. This sound is suitable for a lead tone that needs 'oomph' with a bit more clarity. The cleans are also great, with the clarity really coming into play. Most of this clarity comes from its great treble response.

Quality: The pickup is firmly built, with no feedback or hum coming from the pickup even with gain turned up to 11 on my little practice amp, the Roland Cube.

Overall I am very happy with this pickup, despite the unorthodox placement of it in my strat, the sound was exactly what I was looking for.

I have this pickup installed in my modded Fender Strat. It is installed in the Mid position, with a PAF Joe in the neck and Tone Zone in the bridge. I also have this guitar coil tapped and wired for every pickup configuration you could dream of.

This is a great pickup if your looking for something to add some more punch to your tone. I use this guitar for playing many different styles of music and while the pickup sounds great by itself I don't find myself using it much on its own. I mainly use it by pairing it with my the neck or bridge pickups to produce a stronger, thicker tone, and it excels at this. Should also mention that The Chopper sounds beautiful when it is coil tapped and paired with the other pickups I have installed in this guitar. Very happy with this pickup but will say that I use it more as an enhancer for my other pickups.

Pros:Nice punchy tone
Great when paired with PAF Joe or Tone Zone
Excellent when coil tapped

Cons:Didn't find much use for it by itself
Required extensive custom wiring to truly shine

I installed it in neck position of 1991 Ibanez 540R. Immediately I noticed that the lead sound was more rich with harmonics, and it was a wow effect! It was to be expected from this humbucker, compared to previous single coil. However, at first I could not get coil split to sound the way I expected. It took some time and fiddling with the EQ to get it to the wow point. I'm very satisfied with it and you can find my sound test here: , due to less magnet pull, Chopper does not have wobbling sound effect called "stratitis". That is something you can notice with IBZ/USA C1 that was originally in this guitar, and on some other brands too. No more wobbling. This also means strings have more freedom of movement allowing longer sustain, that really can be noticed.

Overall: great pickup!