DiMarzio DP256 Illuminator Neck Humbucker Pickup F-Spaced Black

Designed for John Petrucci's Music Man JP13 guitar, the new Illuminator Neck and Bridge Models are the next generation in John's signature pickups with DiMarzio. John says he looks for versatility in his pickups so that he's able to span a multitude of different sounds within one guitar, going from massive overdrive, very tight, rhythmical and aggressive to "more expressive, dynamic and very liquid" when he plays solos. They're a bit bold - with more of the clarity and presence that John demands.

John used the new Illuminator and Illuminator 7 pickups during the recording of Dream Theater's self-titled album.

Recommended for neck position.

Tech Talk
John wants his neck and bridge pickups to occupy separate musical spaces that "speak" to each other, with individual voices that both blend and stand on their own. The Illuminator Neck Model is louder than a typical vintage humbucker, and it has more headroom and a wide-frequency bandwidth. It has a lot of clarity with a clean amp, and warmth without muddiness with heavy overdrive.