DiMarzio Super Distortion S

The DiMarzio Super Distortion S is one of those pickups that laughs in the face of convention. You’ve got the fire-breathing DNA of the legendary Super Distortion stuffed into a Strat-sized casing that fits right where your single coil used to cry for mercy. This one exists for the players who want their Strat to scream instead of sparkle.

DiMarzio cooks this up for the player who lives in high gain territory. The riff-slingers, the dive-bombers, the ones who think “clean tone” is just the five seconds before the amp explodes. Ceramic magnet, dual rails, and an output rating that makes your tube amp buckle at the knees. It is not just loud; it is unapologetically aggressive.

On paper, it delivers the bite and sustain of the original Super Distortion with more focus, less flab, and a tighter low end for Strat bridge positions. In reality, it aims to turn your clean, chirpy Strat into a fully armed war machine ready for rock, metal, and chaos.

Dual Resonance

Yes, many of DiMarzio’s Rail Hum Canceling Strat pickups incorporate the Dual Resonance technology. The Super Distortion S model does not.

Installation

Dropping the Super Distortion S into the test guitar is easy business. This rail is built for a standard Strat cavity, so no routing, no carving, no blood sacrifice. Four-conductor wiring gives you all the options: series, parallel, coil-split, or whatever wiring voodoo suits your setup.

In this test, it goes into a 1990 American Standard Strat with a full-floating German Floyd Rose double-locing tremol system. The harness is set up in your garden variety 3 pickup with a 5-position switch Strat. The rails sit snug and balanced, covering the string spread with zero dead zones or weak strings.

You can dial in the pickup to sit just a touch closer to the strings than a typical single coil. Because let’s be real, this thing loves to live on the edge. Or ease it off a little to let it breathe. One small tweak and it’s perfectly dialed in. Time to plug in, crank up, and melt faces.

Evaluation

The first hit of the Super Distortion S feels like stepping on a landmine full of molten tone. This pickup does not purr. It growls. Notes leap off the strings with attitude, and every pick attack cuts through like a chainsaw through velvet. The output is monstrous, the sustain infinite, and the response immediate.

The low end stays tight and responsive, not the mushy kind that gets lost in distortion. The mids? Fat, throaty, and built to dominate. They sit right in the mix where your amp wants to punch hardest. The highs roll off just enough to kill icepick tones without choking the life out of your upper harmonics. Think more cranked British stack and less mosquito in your tweeter.

In split mode, the Super Distortion S holds its own surprisingly well. You do not get a true vintage single coil sound, but you get clarity and sparkle with a muscular edge. Perfect for rhythm parts that need bite without hum. For live setups, the hum canceling is pure gold. Dead quiet even under the dirtiest gain.

Paired with high-gain amp settings, the Super Distortion S delivers metal-ready aggression. Chunky palm mutes, screaming leads, harmonic feedback are all on tap. But it’s not just a one-trick pony. Roll down the volume, and it cleans up with surprising grace, offering smooth dynamics that reward the player, not the pedalboard.

Specs

And for grins, here are the specs for the OG Super S

Demo

There are no official sound example or demos of the Super Distortion S at this time. When one becomes available, it will be updated here.

Final Thoughts

The DiMarzio Super Distortion S is a monster in mini form. A full-scale tone weapon disguised as a Strat pickup. It keeps the spirit of the original Super Distortion alive while fitting neatly into the Strat format. This one is for the players who crave power, sustain, and controlled chaos without swapping bodies or butchering pickguards.

It is not here to mimic vintage tones. It is here to dominate them. If your goal is to make your Strat hit like a Les Paul with the gain knob ripped off, this pickup delivers. It’s tight, loud, articulate, and built for players who like their tone with a side of attitude and a fistful of gain.

This is a new bridge commander for rock, hard rock, and metal warriors. The Super Distortion S turns your Strat from a polite blues machine into a fire-spitting tone weapon. Plug it in, hit the first chord, and watch your amp beg for mercy.

For reference, this DiMarzio Super Distortion S hum canceling rail 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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