DiMarzio Cruiser DP187
When considering the Cruiser, it’s almost impossible to not think of Dallas-based guitar hero Andy Timmons. And when people think about Andy Timmons, they think about tasty tone. Andy’s signature Ibanez guitar comes with DiMarzios, of course. The AT-1 in the bridge and the Cruiser in the neck and middle. We’ll cover the AT-1 another time, let’s hit up the Cruiser for now.
Right up front, I’m negligent in staying on top of DiMarzio’s menu of hum-cancelling Strat pickup options. You can find my coverage of the HS-2, the Injector Neck, and the Satch Track Neck. That leaves over 20 left to consider. LOL! So let’s start to work on knocking that out.
Having a pair of DP187 Cruiser bridge models, I put them in the neck and middle to match stronger bridge options. Yeah, I know. The DP187 is advertised as for the bridge. The DiMarzio site also recommends it for all positions. The official specs show there being about a 2% difference in output. And not to forget, it’s all I have on-hand. HaHa!
The Cruisers were wired in full series mode with placed with an AT-1 in the bridge. Then I put a Tone Zone S in the bridge, wiring the Cruisers for split coils.
Right away, there is that big lush rich chunky tone you are expecting if you have seen this video:
My first thought is that it has some girth. The sort of tonal vibe that you have when you think of a Fat Strat sort of character. Still, the Cruiser holds together well when driven with gain. I even hit it with a little more saturation to see if I could get it to flub out, to little avail. Thanks to the flexibility of the Fractal Axe-Fx II XL+, I was able to throw different types of clean amps at the Cruiser. This was where I was a little befuddled, as I personally chase that glassier chimey sort of Strat character for clean settings. But wait, the Cruiser comes with 4-con lead wire.
And that’s when the split coils came in . The Cruisers really came alive for me in this mode. Yes, they get the in-between quack. I’m getting more variations than expected when going between the neck and middle positions. The Cruiser in the neck retains a bit of that fuller character, while the one in the middle has a little more snap.
How about some specs:
Inductance – 1.329 H
Split N – 4.191 K
Split S – 1.3215 K
Parallel – 1.379 K
M – 4.5
B – 4.5
Output – 143 mV
Magnet – Ceramic
Setting the bridge models of the Cruiser in this set up worked out really well with the bridge selections. The AT-1 comes off as a little brighter by comparison, which I like. Being in the same output range as the AT-1, the Tone Zone S compliments this Cruiser setup like peas and carrots.
For reference, this Cruiser Bridge DP187 pickup evaluation was conducted with a Fractal Axe-Fx II XL+ featuring Celestion Impluse Responses and Fractal MFC-101 MIDI Foot Controller. Real cabs used were Marshall 1960B cabs loaded with Celestion G12-65s, Vintage 30s and G12M Greenbacks.
