DiMarzio DP227F LIQUIFIRE & DP228F CRUNCH LAB F-Spaced Guitar Pickup Set, WHITE

One thing has stayed consistent throughout John Petruccis long and successful career: the DiMarzio pickups in his guitars. John has been pushing the envelope of progressive metal since the late eighties, and the DiMarzi® LiquiFire Neck Model & Crunch Lab Bridge Model resulted from our most recent collaboration with John. He used them throughout Dream Theater's tenth studio album, "Black Clouds & Silver Linings". John swears this is the best live and studio sound he has ever had.

Since the mid 1990s, John's neck pickup sound has been based on either the standard Air Norton or the custom version in his Ernie Ball guitars. The LiquiFire has several significant differences. Its treble response is warmer and smoother while bass response is tighter and brighter. The total sound has a more focused voice which works equally well for highly overdriven solos and complex, clean chords.

The Crunch Lab is noteworthy (bad pun alert) for what it doesnt do: it's not a screamer, and it's not about thundering lows. Its physical appearance is identical to the D Sonic, but the internal design is a lot different. It's louder, and the highs have more depth. The lows and mids are more open, and this is crucial for playing chords with body and presence through a gained-out amp. The voicing of the pickup is also different enough to the point that John prefers the Crunch LabT to be installed in almost all of his guitars (including the JP Bari) with the solid bar toward the neck, regardless of the guitar's tuning.