Featuring a BC-1 pickup in the neck, Chopper in the middle, and a BC-2 in the bridge, the Billy Corgan prewired pickguard lets you get a deep sound from the low strings without losing any punch, and won't muddy the sound when you play through high-gain amps. To accomplish this, DiMarzio lowered the frequency response of one of the coils in each pickup just enough to boost the bass while opening up the mids. The end results are the guitar pickups that are now in Billy's signature Strat. They do exactly what he wants in humbucking mode, and he's found they work really well in split mode as well.

When DiMarzio started working with Billy Corgan on the pickups for his signature Strat, they sent him several models to try out. He liked the Air Norton S in the neck, Chopper in the middle and Tone Zone S in the bridge. After playing them on several gigs, he asked for some changes in the neck and bridge pickups. He wanted a deeper sound from the low strings without losing any punch, and he didn't want the sound to get muddy with high-gain amps. To do this, DiMarzio lowered the frequency response of one of the coils in each pickup just enough to boost the bass while opening up the mids. The end results are the pickups that are now in Billy's signature Strat. They do exactly what he wants in humbucking mode, and he's found they work really well in split mode as well. 

BC-1 pickup is recommended for: All positions, especially neck.

Tech Talk: The output and DC resistance specs of the DiMarzio BC-1 and DiMarzio BC-2 are very similar to those of the Air Norton S. The difference is in the tuning of the coils, and how this affects the way they interact with each other. It can be described as more of a "feel" than a sound difference - Billy's pickups seem to move more air.

BC-2 pickup is recommended for: All positions, especially bridge.

Tech Talk: The output and DC resistance specs of the DiMarzio BC-1 and DiMarzio BC-2 are very similar to those of the Air Norton S. The difference is in the tuning of the coils, and how this affects the way they interact with each other. It can be described as more of a "feel" than a sound difference - Billy's pickups seem to move more air. 

If you're a serious traditional Strat player, you probably won't want to know about pickups with side-by-side coils. But if you're the player who's up for something more modern with no 60-cycle hum, string drop-outs or sustain-killing magnet pull, DiMarzio designed The Cruiser for you. Harmonic overtones are right where you expect them to be from a true single-coil, and the mid-range is open and vocal-sounding. It's hotter than the traditional single-coil, and the bass strings have a bit more chunk; this is an excellent pickup to combine with medium-output humbuckers, and it maintains its tonal identity with high-gain amps and multiple effects. 

Recommended For: Bridge position with DP186 or Virtual Vintage models in neck and middle, or neck and middle with hotter bridge like Fast Track 1, Chopper, Pro Track or full-size humbuckers.

Tech Talk: The obvious question about the Cruiser is "How real is the sound?" DiMarzio feels that the unwound strings (E, B and G) are very close, and the wound strings (D, A and low E) are a little fatter-sounding than a true single-coil. This is really effective for getting big-sounding chords, because high and low strings sound more spread out from each other. Having a total magnet pull that's about 40% less than standard single-coils also means the Cruiser can be adjusted much closer to the strings for more power than stock pickups can achieve.