Humbucker comparison! Starstuck vs Dimarzio x2 vs Irongear

    I wanted to try out a few pickups to see what I like best for certain applications...
    So here's 4!


    Video (sorry!!! I have NO idea how to make texts in my stupid video editing program!!! I will release this video anyway because I have no patience to wait)

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    00:00 Starstruck Custom
    00:16 Dimarzio Super Distortion
    00:30 Dimarzio EVO
    00:45 Irongear Steam Hammer


    GUITAR ONLY!!!
    01:02 Starstruck Custom
    01:18 Dimarzio Super Distortion
    01:32 Dimarzio EVO
    01:47 Irongear Steam Hammer



    Full mix (same order as above of course);

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    Guitars only (same here too)

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    MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS!


    The Starstruck Custom was possibly the worst sounding of these for rhythm guitar.
    It's just mushy and has no bite in the pick attack.
    However I have had it for a while and I know I like it for leads so it's not a big deal.


    Dimarzio Super Distortion and EVO sounding surprisingly similar even tho of course, the Super Distortion is a bit darker.
    But the difference is not huge.


    However! The Irongear Steam Hammer absolutely annihilated all three previous pickups in rhythm!
    It's much tighter, and has a great pick attack, really making the "hammer" in the name fulfill it's promise. :thumbup:


    And the Irongear costs almost half the price of the others (the Starstruck, since being a custom made, is even in the $110 range...)


    Sure, this was a rhytm comparison only, but the Irongear HAMMERED the others! Glad to find a new favorite pickup! :thumbup:

    Quote from schreckmusic

    I have never heard of Irongear. Looked it up on Google and seems like I cannot find where to buy them in the states?


    Sounds killer!

    They are only buyable from the brand themselves; they don't use resellers. I didn't have an issue with this really but then again I'm in Sweden so I guess the shipping price is decent


    Thanks!

    Quote from Netheravon

    Wow those Irongear are cheap! How do they compare to Bareknuckle, which are much more expensive?

    Never tried BKPs... First they are too expensive for me and also I'm a bit of someone who doesn't fall into stuff that's trendy at the moment :D I'm sure they make great pickups but until I've tried one, I have no idea what the "blessed" fancrown of BPKs refers to as being so superior to other pickups. Isn't all pickups basically magnets and winding? Different quality sure, but in this test the cheap one outdone the others in clarity... I'm sure there's some great equivilents in the Dimarzio sortiment too, but I dont wanna go around find it, now when I have the Steam Hammer :thumbup:


    Yup, but seems well made enough to make me prefer it to the others (especially the Starstruck custom I ordered for $120 :rolleyes: )


    But then again; they sound slightly different and can't really say one is better than the other. They all have their uses :)
    The EVO wins my "all-around" so I put that in my main guitar. It will sound good for rhythm, solo and it's my live guitar too.


    The Steam Hammer will probably be used mainly for rhythm recording in the studio.

    Personal experience on pickup swaps:-


    It's a mixed bag and there is no one brand that is magic. As with profiles on the Kemper, the difference between OK and awesome is often the ears and taste of the person listening. If you swap pickups then you'll have a guitar that will sound different. That difference can be subtle or huge and it can be positive. It can also make it worse.


    I've had a couple of sets of iron gears. They're made in the Far East and are machine wound. Great value for what they are.


    To the best of my knowledge, SD's are also machine wound in the Far East until you get to the antiquity range so if you look at production methods then iron gears vs Duncan's are 'equivalent' but the iron gears are half the price. One of the iron gear sets I had made a really positive difference. The other set didn't make much difference which tells me that the pickups already in there were pretty good and also taught me that you don't always need to go swapping stock pickups.


    I haven't had Bare Knukles but I have had 3 sets of Bulldog pickups. They're made by a really nice guy who worked with Bareknuckle for a while. With Bareknuckles and Bulldogs (plus other boutique style) they are scatter wound by hand. Other differences too but my understanding is that the scatter winding reduces capacitance in the pickup. Clarity and top end seem to improve. Scatter winding is what they used to do so the practice has vintage mojo or snake oil depending on your world view. That's the theory and I've really liked the three sets of Bulldogs I have as all made a big difference that my ears like. Ears being ears, it's possible you might not like them or may love them.


    Another nice thing about Bulldog is you can talk to him about what you like, your amp, the guitar it's going in etc. He'll then wind something to go in the direction you want and he's very good at it.