DiMarzio to Release Tosin Abasi Signature Ionizer 8 Pickups

DiMarzio to Release Tosin Abasi Signature Ionizer 8Pickups -

DiMarzio, Inc. welcomes Tosin Abasi, trail-blazing pioneer ofmodern heavy music and lead guitarist of progressive instrumentalband Animals as Leaders to its roster of endorsers. DiMarzioannounced it will release three new Ionizer 8™ pickups developedfor Abasi's new signature 8-string Ibanez guitar in January of2013. DiMarzio will also make the Ionizer 8™ pickups available forretail sale.

It has taken DiMarzio nearly two years to develop the pickupsTosin Abasi envisioned because Abasi wanted them to be capable of awide range of sounds.

The Ionizer 8™ Neck Model (DP809) is warm and open like avintage humbucker, solid and tight like a modern metal pickup, andperforms like a classic single-coil in split mode. It's unusual fora player to request a humbucker with the single-coil sound asimportant as the series humbucking sound, but Abasi was clear onthis point. The split mode has lower resistance than a vintageStrat® 6-string pickup in order to let the 7th and 8th strings stayclean, but all the other specs nail the classic Strat® sound.

DiMarzio specifically created the Ionizer 8™ Middle Model(DP810) single-coil to work with the Ionizer 8™ Neck and BridgeModels. It's clean, bright, and well-balanced. Although itsconstruction bears little resemblance to a vintage 6-stringsingle-coil, it performs similarly. Treble response is brightwithout being thin, and bass response is clean and solid.

When Abasi described what he wanted for the Ionizer 8™ (DP811)humbucking Bridge Model, he said it is all about the mids. 8-stringguitars have extended low-end response, and the mids need to powerthe bridge position so the sound doesn't wash out. It also needs tohave enough output to overdrive an amp without making the soundmuddy, and enough headroom to clean up when the volume is rolleddown.

The long scale length of an 8-string guitar can make the soundof the unwound strings brittle, but the Ionizer 8™ Bridge Model hasa low resonant peak that warms them up, and the high E doesn'tsound thin, even at the upper frets.

The 4-conductor wired humbuckers allow multiple coilconnections, enabling a wealth of diverse sounds within the Ionizer8™ three-pickup combination.

DiMarzio's new Ionizer 8™ Neck, Middle, and Bridge Model pickupsare made in the U.S.A. and will be available from DiMarzio dealersin January of 2013. Suggested List Price for the Ionizer 8™ Neckand Bridge Models is $139 each, and the Ionizer 8™ Middle is $79.DiMarzio will show the pickups at the January 2013 NAMM Expo inAnaheim.

For more information about Ionizer 8™ pickups, visit theirwebsite at www.dimarzio.com.