This post is my honest DiMarzio CrunchLab and LiquiFire Review. The pick up set DiMarzio DP228 (Crunchlab) bridge, and DP227(LiquiFire) neck, is one of the most popular sets of pickups I have installed on customer’s guitars. I have also installed these pickups on my personal guitars. I have been modifying and repairing guitars for more than 17 years.
What is Crunchlab and LiquiFire Pickups?
It is nice to note that these pickup sets have the reputation as the longest John Petrucci of Dream Theater ever used. It took him a very long time to switch to his new signature Illuminator Pickups.
I have installed this pickup sets on Fender Stratocasters, Ibanez, Jacksons and a Fender Squier Stratocaster. All have positive results, especially on the Fender Squier Stratocaster. The stock pickups on the Squier are so iffy, and it is the reason why there is a tremendous improvement after the installation.
DiMarzio Crunchlab and LiquiFire Review
Summary
Name: DiMarzio Cruchlab and LiquiFire Set
Manufacturer: DiMarzio
Price: $149
Pros: Good all around pickup
Cons: Nothing to mention
Star Rating: 4.5/5
Pros
What I love most on these pickups, is how it handles coil splitting. I love the sound of the LiquiFire on parallel mode. Parallel means both coils are connected in parallel instead of the default series connection.
Both pickups handle single coil applications as well. Both coils on both pickups are superb when used as single coil pickups.
This pickup set complement each other as they are well balanced. One of my Ibanez Jems has these set while another Jem has only the LiquiFire on the neck. I have no plans to change pickups as they suit my needs.
I wired these pickups using two push-pull knobs and a pickup and a three-way selector switch. I have a full humbucker, parallel humbucker, single coil North and single coil South option. North means the coil close to the neck while South means closer to the bridge.
These pickups play so well clean, and the overdriven sound is top notch. I have a DiMarzio Gravity Storm on the bridge on one of my Jems, but the CrunchLab is still my favorite bridge pickup.
Cons
Nothing to mention
Price
The set is priced at $ 149 and I think it is a good deal.
Conclusion
Overall this is a well-rounded pickup set, and it is a very worthy upgrade. If you want to sound closer to John Petrucci’s Musicman JP6, this is the pickup installed.
So upgrade now and be impressed.
At a Glance
DiMarzio Crunchlab and LiquiFire Review
Summary
Name: DiMarzio Cruchlab and LiquiFire Set
Manufacturer: DiMarzio
Price: $149
Pros: Good all around pickup
Cons: Nothing to mention
Star Rating: 4.5/5
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Hello Everyone,
I am Belden but friends call me Den, and I am the owner of this Website.
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You will mostly find me hanging out at the coolest site to learn anything about online business.
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Nice review of John Petrucci’s signature pickups. This must be a very good set if he used it for a long time. This is a really good read. You also mentioned this pickup is good for coil splitting which even make this pickup and all rounder. Great detailed information for someone who is just now starting out. Which guitar do you feel is a good buy?
Hi Patrice,
The CrunchLab and LiquiFire Pickup set is excellent for all genre. It is actually a very versatile pickup. For a beginner I would recommend the Fender Standard Stratocaster if you have the budget or the Fender Squire Stratocaster if you need a cheaper guitar.
Thanks for the comments,
Den
Hi Belden I am novice but really found the information here very informative.My brother on the other hand has been playing for around 40 years. I will be sending him a link to this site. I know he will enjoy the article. My daughter is a drummer and my mom played accordion. So I have been around musicians all my life. My question is do you do the upgrades if so can we send you a guitar to have these pick ups installed?
Hi Bill,
Shipping a guitar is very expensive, so it is better for you to have the pickups installed by a local guitar technician as there is nothing to it actually. Changing guitar pickups is very easy, a lot of guitar players are doing it themselves.
Thanks for the comments,
Den
If it’s good enough for the legendary John Petrucci then who am I to argue it’s merits. The only guitar I have owned is a Fender Stratocaster which I play every once in a while. I am just a novice. One question, what improvements in the sound when you have both of these pickups on the Strat? Is the distortion better? Thanks
Hi, Jason!
These pickups are good for the Strat. The distortion would be much better because these are humbuckers. You will also eliminate the hum. The good thing is you can still have that Strat tone by coil splitting these pickups using push pull potentiometers. Now you have a Strat tone plus a fat sounding Strat due to the pickups in humbucker mode. You need to change the pickguard to H-S-H. Humbucker-Single-Humbucker configuration.
Thanks for the comments,
Den
Cool, sounds like an awesome pick up set, I like thet fact that these pickup sets have the reputation for being the longest John Petrucci ever used, what a legend! Being that i have a Fender Stratocaster, its good to know that this Dimarzio pick up is compatible, becaue your right the stock one is a bit dodgy lol. Any guitars that this pick up set wouldn’t work with?
Hi, Marley!
John Petrucci is a living legend and he used this pickup set for the longest time. He must have liked a lot this pickup set. This has been my favorite ever since. This is a very well rounded pick up set ideal for all genres and very good when split coiled. My favorite mode for this pickups is the CrunchLab in parallel humbucker mode.
Thanks for the comments,
Den
That’s a pretty good endorsement if it comes from John Petrucci! I’ve never really experienced single coil. I’ve only owned guitars with humbuckers. Do you find that in single coil mode that these, whether they’re in series or separate, are particularly noisy? At least, are they an improvement over stock single coils in the noise department?
Excellent review, Den.
Hi Steve,
These pickups when split coiled are not noisy but remember that when you split the humbucker coils into single coils you will get the hum on high gain setting.. That is the disadvantage of single coils. These pickups are very good as full humbucker, parallel humbucker or as single coils.
Thanks for comments,
Den
Hi Den,
My favorite subject and passion in life “Guitar Playing”. I really enjoyed how you have set everything up on your site and covered a lot of ground. So these pick ups work best on a Fender?
I’m a Les Paul fan and I’ve noticed a huge difference in the sound and play ability from the lower end models to the upper end after having owned both. Les Paul Standard is the best in my opinion hands down. That’s the guitar Jimmy Page uses and a whole lot of other players like Joe Walsh etc…
Jam Play is a great site to get lessons from accomplished musicians in the industry, great job in choosing them to affiliate with.
Been playing 33+ years and still loving it and learning new things all the time. Music is endless and so much variety one can never get bored.
So I own a Les Paul standard, which has the humbucker pick ups, what’s your view of this kind of pickup?
Really enjoyed the information that you have provided for us music lovers. Thanks, Den!
Hi Rich,
These pickups are as good as they are or split coiled. It can produce a good single coil sound for the Fender Stratocaster. Your Les Paul Standard has very good pickups. Some players still would swap it with their choice pickups, though. Even Slash has a different pickup on his signature Gibson .The Dimarzio CrunchLab and LiquiFire pickup set is an excellent pickup for upgrade. This is the pickup set that’s been used by John Petrucci (Dream Theater) for a very long before he changed it to the Illuminator.
Thanks for the comments,
Den