800-ZZOUNDS (800-996-8637)
When you call, mention priority code QT7-V937
close [x]
  • Mon, Tue, Wed, Thur, Fri 8AM - 10PM (EST)
  • Sat 9AM - 6PM (EST)
  • Sun 1PM - 7PM (EST)

Rating And Reviews: DiMarzio D Activator

Designed to eliminate the sterile edginess commonly associated with active pickups.

User Ratings
Overall
Sound
Features
Ease of Use
Quality
Value
Manufacturer Support
The Wow Factor
What do you think? Rate and Review This Product
| | |

"More METAL for the Buck!" submitted February 6, 2008

By a customer from aol.com
Overall
Sound
Features
Ease of Use
Quality
Value
Manufacturer Support
The Wow Factor
Musical Background: Musician
Music Style: Classic Rock, Metal, New Metal, Death Metal if it KRANKS, I like it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Back to Product Information
VERIFIED BUYER
zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.
Sound: I got this pickup on an Ibanez EX 370 I won off E-bay. I was surprised by the response I got win I cranked it up. This pickup can give you some sweet sustain on clean channels and on an overdriven channel with a Digitech Metal Master pedal it creates some great Metal sounds like Tommi Iommi's vintage sound to Nickelbacks cranking tones. Feature: The best feature I like about this pickup is getting the Active sound without having to feed it 9 volt batterys! Ease of Use: Couldn't be easier to use, it reacts to the force at which strike the strings. It gives you all the features of an active pickup with the wiring ease of a passive pickup. Quality: It's a Dimarzio! Nuff said! Value: Definitely worth the price considering what active EMGs or Duncans are selling for. Manufacturer Support: I know from past experoences that Dimarzio is great with customer support, whether your having problems with a product oe just need a wiring diagram. The Wow Factor: Its a sweet looking set of open coils all rivets no screw heads, looks great sitting above a Floyd Rose Bridge! Overall: Looks, Sound, Features, and Price make this pickup a great upgrade to any guitar and an excellent value!
14 of 14 people (100%) found this review helpful. Did you?
Thanks for your opinion!
close [x]

Thank you. Your vote has been counted. Could you briefly tell us why the review was or was not helpful?

"These pups can KEEP UP and then some!" submitted October 19, 2011

By a customer from sbcglobal.net
Overall
Sound
Features
Ease of Use
Quality
Value
Manufacturer Support
The Wow Factor
Musical Background: Hobbyist
Music Style: All
Back to Product Information
VERIFIED BUYER
zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.
Sound: In an Ibanez Xiphos these are PERFECT! Great PUNCH! Turn the volume down and they clean up fairly well! These pups are HOT and they scream when picked hard yet can also clean up with lighter picking which is good! Has a lot of bass along with mids so yeah they are perfect for metal! But I play blues and they can deliver the goods there also! I like them better than my EMG's as they have a fuller sound! Feature: SOUND! PERFECT!
5 of 5 people (100%) found this review helpful. Did you?
Thanks for your opinion!
close [x]

Thank you. Your vote has been counted. Could you briefly tell us why the review was or was not helpful?

"It screams!!!" submitted April 21, 2011

By a customer from gmail.com
Overall
Sound
Features
Ease of Use
Quality
Value
Manufacturer Support
The Wow Factor
Musical Background: Hobbyist, musician, recording engineer in training
Music Style: progressive
Back to Product Information
VERIFIED BUYER
zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.
Sound: This pickup is definitely the hottest, non-active pickup I have played. Replaced my stock PRS bridge pickup with the D-Activator and I cannot put the thing down. My music friends love the sound as well. DiMarzio is by far my favorite pickup company!! Buy this if you want to have a super hot, heavy sound!!! Feature: Came with an allen key to adjust the poles. Ease of Use: Easy install dirrections Quality: DiMarzio Rocks!!! Value: Great price for a great pickup Manufacturer Support: Won't ever need it! The Wow Factor: Adds so much appeal to my PRS Overall: will never buy another pickup
Did you find this review helpful?
Thanks for your opinion!
close [x]

Thank you. Your vote has been counted. Could you briefly tell us why the review was or was not helpful?

"Active-sounding pickups for a Passive Price. Brillant" submitted October 3, 2008

By a customer from yahoo.com
Overall
Sound
Features
Ease of Use
Quality
Value
Manufacturer Support
The Wow Factor
Musical Background: "active musician"
Music Style: Metal all of it
Back to Product Information
Sound: Being passive, My EMGs sound a lot more metal. However these are "The Best" passive pickups, sound wise, of all I have used. Feature: The feature of not replacing batteries is very useful. Active volume control makes it easy not to kill people when switching between pickups. Ease of Use: Solder those puppies up and start playing. Amazing. Quality: dimarzio made these pickups very well. Enough said. Value: These are active sound for passive price. Manufacturer Support: I have not contacted them, but I have for other pickups. Nice people, easy to talk to. The Wow Factor: These and a xiphos. Groupies need to stay in a line
Did you find this review helpful?
Thanks for your opinion!
close [x]

Thank you. Your vote has been counted. Could you briefly tell us why the review was or was not helpful?

"Best passive pickups for metal!!" submitted March 1, 2008

Sound: Wow.. these D activator pickups are really rich in harmonics, and delivers with out edgy-ness. I have a miny P.A. system at home (4[2x15]cabs,2[2x18]subwoofers and 6 power mixers) and use these pickups with my Schecter Damian fr and line 6 pod xt live(with metal shop[and racks that include;aural exciter 204,dbx compression, and pretube mp rack.).....AWESOME TONE when direct to P.A. Quality: obviously not active right...... but easy to have installed and no batteries. Overall: Really gives you superior tone...check out necophagist at youtube.. the guitarist use these pickups.....
9 of 11 people (81.82%) found this review helpful. Did you?
Thanks for your opinion!
close [x]

Thank you. Your vote has been counted. Could you briefly tell us why the review was or was not helpful?

"The best pickups in the market...Guaranteed" submitted August 13, 2007

By a customer from hotmail.com
Overall
Sound
Features
Ease of Use
Quality
Value
Manufacturer Support
The Wow Factor
Musical Background: Guitarist
Music Style: Hard Rock, Alternative Rock, Pop-Rock, Grunge and General Rock, Rock N' Roll
Back to Product Information
Sound: The sound is clear....precise and unlike most other active pickups it does not have that uneasiness.....however an awesome "PASSIVE" pickup carrying out the amazing features of the famed active pickups.... These are THE PICKUPS for all metal players and pther genre players too
4 of 6 people (66.67%) found this review helpful. Did you?
Thanks for your opinion!
close [x]

Thank you. Your vote has been counted. Could you briefly tell us why the review was or was not helpful?

"Best Pups for $$$$!" submitted April 8, 2010

By a customer from sbcglobal.net
Overall
Sound
Features
Ease of Use
Quality
Value
Manufacturer Support
The Wow Factor
Musical Background: wanna be
Music Style: ALL!
Back to Product Information
VERIFIED BUYER
zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.
Sound: Considering what they were trying to do I think they came close? I do think they sound good and have a very UNIQUE sound (GOOD) played with my XPT700 Xiphos! I do like NOT having to buy a battery every time I gig! Yes it has an active sound but it is very important to have your guitar PROPERLY set up along with your pups at the right distance from the strings. Adjust until you find the tone. Feature: NO BATTERY NEEDED! That makes for a 10! Ease of Use: Plug in a WAIL! Quality: I think there is room for improvement as in everything so I give it an 9 Value: Price EMGs and then add oh say 100+ batteries and see what you come up with! I guarantee it will be a lot more than 70.00. Manufacturer Support: Very helpful and eager to help! The Wow Factor: I have it so no want it........ Overall: As long as my Xiphos can play I shall LOVE my pups!
2 of 4 people (50%) found this review helpful. Did you?
Thanks for your opinion!
close [x]

Thank you. Your vote has been counted. Could you briefly tell us why the review was or was not helpful?

"Not what I had hoped for..." submitted October 31, 2007

By a customer from aol.com
Overall
Sound
Music Style: Rock/Metal
Back to Product Information
VERIFIED BUYER
zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.
Sound: I've read a few negative reviews claiming this pickup was "lifeless" and weak, and given the specs on the DiMarzio site I found that hard to believe. Actually trying the pickup, however, was a bit of a surprise. DiMarzio claims they were trying to capture the feel of a pickup that behaves in a manner much hotter than what it specs out to be, but my findings turned out to be quite the opposite. The pickup did feel to be moderate in output, as if certain key "power" frequencies were missing. Palm mutes were not as sharp and present as the JB, and the mids, while prominent in certain areas, lacked life and "zing." The distorted tone also felt very flat and sterile, much more so than other DiMarzios. The Evolution is almost vintage sounding compared to this pickup. I suppose this shouldn't be a surprise given this pickup is designed to emulate EMGs, but I actually did have faith in DiMarzio's claims that they had eliminated the sterile qualities of active pickups and increased the headroom of the pickup for a more natural and uncompressed response. This pickup does not show the nuances of the player or allow for much feel. While most DiMarzios introduce a bit of this in a pleasant way (seems to make them easier to control, this pickup takes that quality to an extreme. The other reviewer who mentioned a lack of character was spot on. On the positive side, the pickup is not fuzzy in any way, and the chordal clarity is quite good in certain cases. I found some chords worked better than others, with some sounding muddier than on other pickups...strangely enough. Overall: I've been playing 8 years and have been through a fair amount of pickups -- mostly DiMarzios. I tested this pickup through a Single Rectifier and Marshall JCM 900 SL-X. Both amps were feeding VHT fatbottom 2x12 cabinets with P50E speakers. The signal was split using a Radial Tonebone SwitchBone to run both amps at teh same time... Overall this pickup was a let down. I was really hoping for something that felt hotter nad the sterile quality has turned me off to DiMarzios for the time being. I still have them in my other guitars, but I think I'm going the way of Duncan now. Even the Evolution and Super Distortion feel much more powerful than this pickup, and those both have less output in MV. I was looking for a less extreme X2N humbucker, as that pickup was too over the top for me and picked up too much "thud" noise on the guitar.
3 of 12 people (25%) found this review helpful. Did you?
Thanks for your opinion!
close [x]

Thank you. Your vote has been counted. Could you briefly tell us why the review was or was not helpful?

"What a letdown" submitted December 3, 2011

By a customer from yahoo.com
Overall
Sound
Value
The Wow Factor
Music Style: Metal
Back to Product Information
VERIFIED BUYER
zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.
Sound: I wasn't impressed with this pickup at all. They came standard in my Ibanez XPT700 and I immediately replaced them with EMG-HZs. The attack is weak, and they have a very warm, rounded sound that doesn't have any real ompf behind it. If I were playing blues, or some clean stuff, they would work great, but for metal, they dont compare to active pickups at all. Ease of Use: Its a pickup. Not hard to use. Quality: They seem to be made well, but its difficult to rate durability when you remove them right away. Value: For what I was looking for in a pickup, they didn't produce. I wanted a pickup that screams when Im soloing, making my harmonies really pop. They most certainly didnt do that. For the price that they are, there are a number of better sounding pickups for actually less money. Manufacturer Support: Never called The Wow Factor: DiMarzio makes them so the name adds to the want factor. Overall: If you've ever played out of any EMG pickup and loved the attack those bad larrys have, then steer clear of these guys. If you want a very warm and weak distortion, then these are the pickups for you.
Did you find this review helpful?
Thanks for your opinion!
close [x]

Thank you. Your vote has been counted. Could you briefly tell us why the review was or was not helpful?

DiMarzio D Activator Customer Review submitted December 20, 2009

Overall
Sound
Features
Ease of Use
Quality
The Wow Factor
Back to Product Information
Sound: i got mine factory in a ibanez x 700 the sound was worse than the cheap pick ups on my washburn but every one says they r awesome so im having mine adjusted hopefully they turn out as great as they say they r and dean guitars rule Feature: its a pick up not very many features love ceramic magnets tho Quality: hav only played it for 3 hour lets hope they work long enough The Wow Factor: their reputation is huge but not the best passive on the market Overall: i wasnt even loooking at these some1 bought me the guitar as a gift i wanted a dean because there super hot pick ups
Did you find this review helpful?
Thanks for your opinion!
close [x]

Thank you. Your vote has been counted. Could you briefly tell us why the review was or was not helpful?

BizRate Customer Certified (GOLD) Site
Questions? Our gear experts can help!
800-zZounds (800-996-8637)
When you call, mention priority code QT7-V937. Llame Gratis en Español: 800-460-7976
Lunes-Viernes de 9AM a 5PM EST
Customize Search Results for Your Location
Shop with those who respect your privacy — we do. Copyright © 1996-2013, zZounds Music, LLC. Terms of use apply.
[x] close

ALL ACCESS PASS

5 reasons YOU should sign up for the zZounds newsletter

  • 1. Weekly deals
  • 2. News about zZounds giveaways
  • 3. Interviews with cutting edge artists and producers
  • 4. Limited-time payment plan offers
  • 5. Features on your favorite gear
To get your cool stuff, we'll need your address:
close [x]What is this?
A temporary customer reference number is assigned to each customer only while they are shopping on zZounds.com. If you call our customer service department for assistance, this number makes it easier for us to answer any questions you have about products, services or purchases.
 
close [x]What is this?
A temporary customer reference number is assigned to each customer only while they are shopping on zZounds.com. If you call our customer service department for assistance, this number makes it easier for us to answer any questions you have about products, services or purchases.
close [x]

1. We offer the most flexible payment plans in the biz

zZounds offers a number of different installment payment plans that make it affordable and convenient for you to get the gear you really want today, without racking up risky credit card debt.

Other stores offer house credit cards that require you to fill out an application and pass a credit check--and, if you qualify, leave you vulnerable to exorbitant interest charges once the initial promotional period ends. zZounds payment plans are easy to get and simple to use; plus we'll never charge you interest!

zZounds payment plans details »

2. We guarantee the lowest price

If we don't already have the lowest price, just send us a link to any legitimate competitor's offer, and we'll beat their price as long as we're not losing money on the deal.

To submit a request for a lower price, click "Seen it for less?" on any product page. We answer most lowest price requests within two hours. For extra peace of mind, you also have 30 days after your purchase to find a lower price; if you do, we'll refund the difference.

zZounds.com price match details »

3. You'll get your gear fast

Because we have two well-situated warehouses--one on each coast--nearly three- quarters of the US population is located within our two-day shipping zones. Plus, we keep both warehouses well stocked with all the most popular products, so you'll usually get your gear fast without having to pay more for expedited shipping.

In fact, zZounds offers free two-day delivery on many of our best-selling products!

zZounds.com shipping details »

4. We make returns super easy

You have 30 days to try your gear at home, in your practice space or studio. If you're not absolutely in love with the sound you're getting, just let us know. We'll promptly arrange for an exchange or a refund without the hassles or hidden charges you face with some of our competitors. If there's something wrong with the gear you bought from us, we'll email you an electronic return label so you can return it easily and free of charge.

zZounds.com return details »

5. Our customer service is consistently rated the best

zZounds customer service is consistently rated at or near the top on every major comparison shopping website--probably because we only hire experienced musicians with outstanding customer service skills to work in our call center, and they don't work on commission. To us, this is our most meaningful measure of success. zZounds has served over a million customers since 1996, and they're the only critics whose reviews really matter to us.

zZounds.com customer service »
close [x]
Available on
orders $249+
learn more

Need it now but short of cash? All we need is the first payment up front and the rest in easy monthly payments!

Fast approval.
We approve everyone, with very few exceptions, as long as we can verify your identity.
No interest. Ever.
It's just as if you paid the whole amount up front!
No paperwork. Nothing to track.
No application to mail or fax, no bills to pay. We automatically charge the payments to your credit card.

We'll wait on your money so you don't have to wait for your gear!

When you checkout, just click the Play as you Pay checkbox to indicate which installment plan you wish to use.

close [x]
on most orders $49+

Just $2.99 on
smaller orders

Really heavy stuff might cost you a
little more

learn more

Why fight traffic and pushy salesmen when we'll bring your gear straight to your home, free of charge?

zZounds free shipping is really free!
No hidden charges or hassles on returns.
Fast, reliable delivery
We have warehouses on both coasts, so most shipments arrive in 3 days or less.
We don't collect sales tax. Bonus!
Only NJ residents pay tax during checkout.
close [x]

A guarantee so solid, you never have to worry about price when shopping at zZounds

We'll beat any price
Simply click the Seen it for less? link next to the gear you want or call us at 800-zZounds (800-996-8637)
Got a coupon from another site?
Use it with us - we'll beat those prices, too!
Find a better price after buying from us?
No problem. We'll refund you the difference for 30 days, so you'll never regret buying from zZounds.

You'll still get the trustworthy service you've come to expect from zZounds, without paying more for your gear!