DiMarzio Double Whammy

Of course you remember the Double Whammy! It’s the late 80s and there is not a guitar to be found without a whammy bar. But it’s not just the string spacing that goes along with that, it’s the change in tone from whacking out a chunk of precious tone wood for that fancy hardware.

In a response to the sonic demand, DiMarzio makes the Double Whammy! You should remember it from being stock gear on the Ibanez Vinnie Moore model.

Installation

So, we’re placing the Double Whammy into an Ibanez RG565R Genesis. Why? Because it’s a shred stick that demands something with bite, bark, and zero whimper. The stock V8 bridge pickup? About as exciting as warm lettuce. It’s serviceable, but it doesn’t scream.

Pop the hood. Pull the strings. The RG565R’s routing fits the standard humbucker, so no mods needed. If you’re soldering-challenged, you’ll want to phone a friend. DiMarzio color codes aren’t NASA math, but the 4-conductor wiring gives you options galore. If you have a 2-hum RG with the 5-way switch, go to the Ibanez site for the exact wiring diagram to set you up.

Evaluation – The Sonic Punch to the Face

Let’s not sugarcoat this. The Double Whammy lives up to its WWE name. This thing doesn’t whisper. It punches your amp in the throat and demands respect. It’s an Alnico 5 magnet, high-output brawler designed to cut, not cuddle. You roll up your volume knob and the front row of your tone gets evicted.

On a clean channel, it’s got that DiMarzio hi-fi sheen. It’s not sterile, but it leans clinical. The highs sparkle, and the lows avoid mud. Coil-split? Yeah, it’s usable. Still not vintage single-coil chime, but it avoids that mosquito-tone some splits give. You want bell-like clarity? This gets close – for a humbucker made to blow doors off hinges.

Distorted? Now we’re talking bloodsport. It lives for tight rhythms, palm-mutes, and percussive picking. Think Petrucci meets mid-’90s Metallica. Saturation stays tight, even under gain levels that would make your power tubes sweat. Mids sit slightly proud but still have edge. It’s not nasal. And It’s not honky. It’s the tone you wish your stock pickups had out of the box.

In an RG565R? It’s home. That super-fast Wizard neck and the basswood body need a pickup that doesn’t flinch. The Double Whammy pairs like hot sauce and poor decisions. It’s not for vintage purists, bedroom jazzers, or “I play clean 90% of the time” types. It’s for riff-slingers, whammy-bar abusers, and tone-chasers who eat mids for breakfast.

Specs

Demo

Conclusion – Resistance is Futile

So, is the Double Whammy a revolution? Maybe or maybe not. But it’s a solid declaration of tonal war. If you play modern metal, hard rock, or even ’80s fusion shred, it delivers. You want dynamics? It has them – just not in a weepy, touch-sensitive boutique way. It rewards aggression and punishes hesitation.

Bottom line: this is DiMarzio doing what DiMarzio does best – making your amp sweat and your neighbors hate you. Highly recommended if you’re chasing raw output and controlled chaos.

You can order the Double Whammy directly from DiMarzio, where you can spec you favorite color or color combination. Don’t forget which finish for your pole pieces and if you want to take it up a notch with a cover option.

For reference, this DiMarzio Double Whammy 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.

DiMarzio Website | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Instagram

7 string 16Ω 59 Airbucker Alnico 2 Alnico 4 Alnico 5 Alnico 8 Bare Knuckle BKP Boot Camp Brown Sound Celestion Ceramic Custom Shop David Shepherd DiMarzio Dual Resonance EVH Fishman Floyd Rose Fluence Gibson HSP90 Humbucker Ibanez JB Jimmy Page John Petrucci Les Paul MJ Mojotone P90 PAF Pariah Pickup Satch Seymour Duncan Singlecoil Single Width Speaker Steve Vai Tech Tip Tremolo Virtual Vintage