Dean DMT Leslie West Mountain Of Tone Humbucker
Wow! The Mountain Of Tone humbucker from Dean’s DMT line of pickup is incredible. Let’s first consider the man it’s made for: Leslie West.
There is no denying that Leslie is most commonly known for 1970’s Mississippi Queen. Fun footnote: Leslie also played on covers of the song for Sam Kinison in 1990 and Ozzy Osbourne in 2005. The big provocative riff that hits you in the chest while the sweetly rude solo licks at your ears.
The Mountain Of Tone humbucker has it’s work cut out for it. Of course, that makes me interested. LOL! Pickup designer Pat Baker at Dean has always been a pleasure to deal with, so I’m glad to have the opportunity the check out this pickup. A Dean pickup shows up in the packaging you’d expect from a boutique product. Dean also labels the baseplate with the name of the pickup in plain language. And last but not least, the hardware. Nicely substantial springs that keep things firmly in place while being an manageable length for ease of installation. Or am I the only one that chases those long skinny springs across the room? HaHa! Also, the screws are Phillips head, which I find much easier and faster to work with.
Evaluation
The tone! Sheesh! The Mountain Of Tone lives up to it’s name. Big and full and rich and saturated while being articulate and snarling. This humbucker has more juice than a NFL training camp locker room.
On a dirty amp tone, the Mountain Of Tone is in the comfort zone. Riffs are hard-hitting with explosive authority. Big open chords fill the room with character. And the harmonics. Holy moly, Batman. This pickup is one of the most responsive to harmonics that I’ve laid ears on. It doesn’t meet a squeal that it doesn’t like. LOL!
Going to a clean amp tone, I’m totally expecting overbearing breakup so commonly found with humbuckers in the 16k range. Not so with the Mountain Of Tone. In series wiring, there is a totally workable voicing that makes clean options very versatile. Even more so in split and parallel wiring options, where cleans are snappy and super chimey.
Demo
Specs
Series – 17.279 K
Inductance – 7.732 H
Split N – 8.693 K
Split S – 8.608 K
Parallel – 4.327 K
Magnet – Alnico 5
Conclusion
The Mountain Of Tone is going to be good for blues rock, pop, garage, hard rock, shred, fusion, prog and tech metal, thrash, hardcore, classic rock, alt rock, grunge, punk, 80s, and more. It is available black or zebra bobbins, or with satin nickel or gold covers. You can buy directly from Dean.
For reference, this Dean DMT Leslie West signature Mountain Of Tone humbucker pickup evaluation was conducted with the following: Fractal Axe-Fx II XL+ featuring Celestion Impluse Responses and Fractal MFC-101 MIDI Foot Controller. ADA MP-1 Tube Pre-Amp loaded with Tube Amp Doctor ECC83 Premium Selected tubes, using the ADA MC-1 MIDI Controller. Fryette LX II Stereo Tube Power Amplifier. Physical cabs use are Marshall 1960B, Mojotone British, and Peavey 6505 cabs loaded with Celestion Classic Series Vintage 30s and Classic Series G12M Greenbacks.
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