Dimarzio IGNO DP285 Review
Guitar based music has always had its trailblazers. Certain bands or guitarists serve as inspirations for young people, steering them toward playing the guitar. We witnessed this in the '70s, '80s, and '90s. Guitarists capable of inspiring massive crowds to pick up the “electric guitar” seem to be scarce now. In my opinion, there isn't a new Eddie Van Halen, and the future doesn't seem to promise one either. However, this mission isn't entirely lost. I believe that within the last decade, two of the most influential young guitarists for the younger generation could be the guitarists of Polyphia. In this regard, it was a sensible and accurate move for Dimarzio to offer a signature pickup to Scott LePage, the talented guitarist of Polyphia.
As you may know IGNO is (or was) signature model for Scott LePage. However, the agreement between Scott and the Dimarzio has ended now and the description on the website has changed. Since Scott has signed with a new company there is absolutely no input on the official website anymore about Polyphia or Scott. But once the official description was like this;
“Polyphia’s sound is characterized by sleek, upbeat melodies and catchy hooks that have been described variously as progressive, djent, funky, melodic, EDM, and trap. They don’t quite fit into any existing category. Mostly they’re just having fun, making unique music that is inspired by stuff they love.
Scott LePage wanted a bridge pickup that had the power to dig in when needed. Alnico 8 was used to increase the output. The IGNO features DiMarzio’s dual resonance design with both coils scatterwound to produce a warm response yet not too high in the mids. This keeps the clarity and separation between the treble and bass.
Tech Talk: Scott combines the IGNO with the True Velvet Neck and Middle for the output and warmth of the classic Polyphia lead tone sound.”
And Larry Dimarzio youtube channel still has the video above.
Admittedly, I'm not a Polyphia fan. They're very talented individuals and I truely respect their skills, but that's where my all is.
Installation
When i received my IGNO i installed on my custom made guitar: Hantug Titania, somewhat copy of Suhr Modern but with more additions. One piece body with tone chambers and mahogany cap cut from the same body chunk, one piece mahogany neck, dark indian rosewood fretboard, 25” scale, Stewmac Jumbo frets, Sperzel tuners, PATB-1n neck, custom made vintage style single coil on the middle (~5,5Kohms – Alnico 5), 500K Bourns pot on volume & 250K Push/Pull pot on tone controls, onboard booster within and titanium fixed bridge and one piece tone block as ferrule. Its essence (unplugged) tone is fairly warm yet clear; mids are pronounced non-excessively.
Evaluation
As i have said, i individually purchased IGNO and since i can’t be considered as a Polyphia expert, i'm evaluating it independently from the tone of Scott LePage and his tonal perspective. Let’s see the measurements and technical nerdy stuff :)
Dimarzio DP285 IGNO
Magnet – Alnico 8
Advertised DCR: 12,69K Ohm (Series)
Measured DCR: 13,62 K Ohm (Series)
Measured DCR: 6,07K Ohm (Slug Coil)
Measured DCR: 7,54 K Ohm (Screw Coil)
Inductance @100Hz: 6,96H
Measured C: -20,6 nF
Output: 385 Milivolts (advertised)
EQ (B/M/T) – 6,5/6,5/4,5 (advertised)
Wire Gauge: 42 & 43 AWG
Patents: Dual Resonance
The very first thing i noticed was the power. Alnico 8 makes a massive difference. IGNO has been told as “PAF Pro with more power”. Even though I felt this way in the first few minutes, as i continued to use the pickup, i realized that the situation wasn't exactly like that fully. Maybe because of the influence of the review on me. PAF Pro has tighter bass, brilliant top end, moderate amount of mids and relatively speaking don’t have that compression. On the other hand IGNO is naturally compressed humbucker which i don’t like this much. I don’t say it is all negative specification; depending on your tonal vision or your needs, it could be a thing, a good thing. But i prefer my bridge humbuckers to be more dynamic with limited amount of natural compression most of the times. Yes, if i am about to design a configuration for a guitar for metal, especially the music like Polyphia with lots of compression then i’d go for higher wind pickups with more compression but my general idea about bridge pickups is like i’ve told you. That’s why i enjoy Virtual Hot PAF (please bring it back Dimarzio guys).
Anyway, IGNO has spongier basses (not as spongy as alnico 2, somewhere between alnico 2 and alnico 5). Clearly prounced mid response, on my guitar with a mahogany neck and mahogany body, mid frequencies became even more pronounced and warmer hi end with shrill thank to its lively hi-mids. That mid response gains IGNO to have note definition in the hi-gain zone.
In general, I didn't quite like two aspects of this pickup; first one as i've told you, the compression. I can understand a guy like Scott LePage would want that kindo compression because that level of compression can cover minor faults on phrasing etc. So i’m sure this will help him a bit. And the music of Polyphia is as far as i heard not rich for the Dynamics and phrases. I mean its horizontally rich but not vertically. So compression is your friend in that position. So while evaluating IGNO you must consider that if you want that compression or not. Okay, don’t you think that IGNO is way too compressed just like very well known active humbuckers, not that level. Nevertheless, still i feel whats absence.
Next one is the reaction to the volume pot manipulations. I don’t know if it is because of only the compression or the power it has or what else but i couldn’t get what i like to have with my other humbuckers. I can’t control it as well as i like. When you are in a super crunch, it gets into overdrive too soon and when it does you just can’t control it with your volume knob satisfactorily.
What did i like about IGNO? The power, the growling nasal AAWWWs (yep, you may sound like Angus Young so easily with the right set up), the sustain, the meat… IGNO has the balls. Igno can turn a mosquito-like guitar into a roaring tiger :)
Verdict
I liked the general tone, i liked the power, i like how singing mids flow through, i liked the note seperation and clarity under hi-gain, i liked the harmonics flow around. Not my favourite bridge humbucker because of the reasons i’ve told. Nevertheless i feel like i should try it also on my brighter guitars with lower natural mids. If you are in modern progressive music of todays with lots of slides and taps, be sure you will love it. Metal players, you may like it, too since IGNO suits impressive with those hi-gain tones.
Dimarzio IGNO DP285 Review
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