Manlius 70s Super D

[Luke Duke]

[FONT=&quot]Alright, I've got to give it to Mick....this is a great pup. I went out on a limb to try it because it essentially costs the same as a vintage one, but I couldn't find one in black very easily!

I tossed it in my '86 LPC about 3 weeks ago and have had 1 practice with it so far, and have another tomorrow. I say all that to say I've had experience in a group setting.

First of all the actual pup looked great. It looked like a bona-fide NOS Super D from the 70s.

The clean tone is a hard, darker, thicker type of tone. I think it's a real cool tone that is useable for a different clean tone than most run-of-the-mill sounds you hear.

The distorted tone has a nice crisp edge to it that is bright but not overly so. I can go from a real nice mellow Jeff Carlisi tone to a spitty Ace Frehley tone to thick Dave Murray or Adrian Smith tone then morph into a more modern scooped tone with a lot of presence. It has a lot of output and compression, but not a ridiculous amount like many newer pickups. I can listen to it and understand where it came from.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]The really interesting thing to me is the presence doesn't really become noticeable till you are using an amp that's overdriving.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] Overall I think it's a great pickup and well worth the coin. [/FONT]

 

[OldBenKenobi]

Hows it compare to a modern Dimarzio?

 

[Luke Duke]

I'll be honest, it's been a while since I've tried one in a Les Paul. One thing I really like is that the pup has polished bobbins rather than matte. That's one thing I do not like about Dimarzios because of their matte finish they look strange mixed with other pickups.

The last Dimarzio Super D I played with was in a Fender FSR strat. The thing that really sticks out in my mind was that there wasn't the clarity and high end sizzle to the Dimarzio that I hear with the Manlius.

 

[Luke Duke]

Oh yeah, here are the pics!

 

[50WPLEXI]

I thought all Super D's had the hex screws on both bobbins. The Manlius has regular screws on one side. That seems a bit interesting!

 

[Luke Duke]

I thought all Super D's had the hex screws on both bobbins. The Manlius has regular screws on one side. That seems a bit interesting!

That was a request on my part. I don't think Dmz even offers that flexibility, but I could be wrong. Mick told me that the filister screws shouldn't change the tone too dramatically. In my conversations with people much smarter than me in pup world I've been told the filister heads have a little looser bass and smoother treble.

I asked Mick about gold plated hex screws but he said he never really gets requests for those. That was part of my reason for filister on the outside coil.

 

[50WPLEXI]

Sounds cool. Always good to have more tweaking options!

 

[winexprt]

Mick makes great pickups at a very fair price. EXCELLENT customer service.

Can't recommend Manlius pickups enough.

 

[darthphineas]

I've been looking forward to your comments on this pickup. Sounds very cool.

 

[Benjammin]

Bump. Any new users out there?

 

[2001standard]

Mick is the man, I've tried his Humbuckers, Landmark,Fat Diane,T-tops, and vinyl.

All were Great!!!

Also his tele and strat pickups are really fantastic.

Great product, Service all at a fair price.

David

 

[Guitaraxe]

Pretty cool!

 

[pbecker314]

I have Manlius 70s Super D bridge pickups in both of my Les Paul Standards now and am really enjoying gigging with them. They’re a more refined version of the DiMarzio Super Distortion. More organic, sweeter high end, also a more tailored and sweet bass response. Plus, Mick made custom versions for me in PAF dress with nickel covers and 6 slotted nickel fillister screws. They look like traditional PAFs but are actually sleeper pickups, secret weapons! Great pickups!

 

[pbecker314]