Pricing and availability
We compare 600+ stores and found this item at 6 stores. Prices updated .
Store
Reviews
Price
Average Price: $94
Budget/Beginner
$99
$200+
Price Tier
Budget
Standard
High-end
Price History
Based on price data from 3 merchants for "DiMarzio DP100 Super Distortion". Prices shown reflect NEW condition. Tracking began Apr 2, 2026.
* Product prices and availability are updated by Equipboard every 24hrs and are subject to change. Equipboard may receive compensation for purchases made at participating retailers linked on this site. This compensation does not affect what products or prices are displayed, or the order of prices listed. For more information, please refer to our affiliate disclosure.
Description
Introducing the DiMarzio DP100 Super Distortion, a guitar pickup that was born to rock. This high-output humbucker is an ode to the 70's and 80's hard rock era, designed to push your tube amplifier into overdrive. With its rich, fat tone, and thick, boosted mids, this pickup is perfect for any musician looking to add a touch of vintage rock to their sound.
The DP100 Super Distortion has a heritage that can't be ignored. It's the pickup that started it all, with many of the iconic rock guitar sounds of the past being produced by this very model. But don't let its legacy fool you; this pickup is far from outdated. Artists from various genres, from Al DiMeola and Frank Gambale to Iron Maiden and Ace Frehley, have chosen the Super Distortion as a crucial part of their signature sound.
Ideal for solidbody guitars, the DP100 Super Distortion is primarily a bridge position pickup, but it also shines in the neck position with lower-gain amplifiers. The pickup features a versatile 4-conductor wiring, allowing for various tonal options including coil splitting for a Strat-like tone and parallel wiring for a humbucking, yet slightly more hollow sound.
Key Features:
- High-output humbucker pickup
- Designed for solidbody guitars
- Primarily used in the bridge position
- Versatile 4-conductor wiring
- Ceramic magnets
- Output: 425
- DC resistance: 13.68
- Tone guide: Treble: 5.5, Mid: 7.5, Bass: 8
- Emphasized mids for a vintage hard rock sound
- Coil splitting and parallel wiring options
- Colour: Black
Product specs
| Type | Humbucker |
| Position | Bridge, Neck |
| Active/Passive | Passive |
| Magnet Material | Ceramic |
| Number of Conductors | 4 wire plus ground |
| DC Resistance | 13.68K |
| Connectivity | Soldered |
| Number of Strings | 6 |
| Covering | Uncovered |
FAQs
-
What type of music is the DiMarzio DP100 Super Distortion best suited for?
-
The DiMarzio DP100 Super Distortion is ideal for rock and metal genres, offering high output and powerful midrange tones that cut through the mix, making it a favorite for heavy riffing and lead solos.
-
Can the DiMarzio DP100 Super Distortion be used in both bridge and neck positions?
-
Yes, the DiMarzio DP100 Super Distortion is versatile enough to be used in both bridge and neck positions, providing consistent high output and tonal characteristics across different guitar setups.
-
What kind of magnet does the DiMarzio DP100 Super Distortion use?
-
The DiMarzio DP100 Super Distortion utilizes a ceramic magnet, which contributes to its high output and aggressive tonal profile, making it suitable for heavy and distorted guitar sounds.
-
Is the DiMarzio DP100 Super Distortion suitable for a 6-string guitar?
-
Yes, the DiMarzio DP100 Super Distortion is designed for 6-string guitars, ensuring optimal performance and tonal response for standard guitar setups.
-
How is the DiMarzio DP100 Super Distortion wired for installation?
-
The DiMarzio DP100 Super Distortion features a 4-wire plus ground configuration, allowing for versatile wiring options, including coil-splitting and series/parallel setups for expanded tonal possibilities.
Videos
LarryDiMarzio
Phil Collen for DiMarzio Super Distortion Pickup
Reviews
PROS
-
Classic rock and metal tone, used by iconic bands and artists
-
Versatile with great clean, crunch, and distortion tones
-
Fat, dynamic sound with excellent sustain
-
High note articulation and string separation
-
Sensitive to EQ adjustments, adaptable across various genres
-
Excellent for thick, chunky rhythm and screamy lead tones
-
Rich in harmonics, enhances both chords and single notes
-
Compatible with various guitar models and setups
-
Improves the overall sound and playability of lower-end guitars
-
Easy installation with multiple wiring options
CONS
-
Can be too thin and brittle with inadequate bass response for some
-
Requires careful height adjustment for optimal sound
-
Mismatched string alignment can affect sound quality if not F-spaced
-
Wiring color conventions differ from some other brands, leading to installation errors
Owner Insights
We analyzed real musician discussions from forums and Reddit to find what players love, question, and tweak about DiMarzio DP100 Super Distortion.
Use cases and applications
-
A user successfully installed the DiMarzio Super Distortion in both the bridge and neck positions without experiencing muddiness, indicating its versatility across positions.
Source -
Using the neck position with the Super Distortion can effectively capture the tone of solos in Dismember covers, indicating its utility for specific musical styles.
Source -
The Super Distortion is praised for its performance in H-P90 setups, combining humbucker and P90 characteristics for a versatile sound.
Source -
The Super Distortion is linked to heavy 70s and 80s sounds, prominently used by Ace Frehley, offering a distinct "Ace vibe."
Source
Comparisons
-
The DiMarzio Super 2 is mentioned as the neck version of the Super Distortion, offering high output power comparable to the X2N in the bridge position.
Source -
Compared to a stock Bridge P90, the Super Distortion offers a slightly brighter clean tone and increased output, especially noticeable with overdrive.
Source -
The DiMarzio Super Distortion uses a powerful ceramic magnet and hot winding, contrasting with the smoother, clearer tones of a PAF 36th Anniversary which uses A5 magnets.
Source
Features and functionality
Mods and upgrades
Critic Reviews
4.5 out of 5
Based on 12 Reviews and 50 Ratings
41029
growing on me
A crusty old pair of double-cream 80s super distortions came in my vintage washburn. At first I had weird feelings about them, but they are growing on me quite a bit. This is one seriously mean humbucker. The bridge cops a lot of 80s hard rock sounds that are difficult to get with PAF style pickups. I find myself breaking into early priest licks all the time with this guy. I wouldn't say the sound is 'me', but its not bad and I get why these pickups have been so popular for so long with hard rockers and post-EVH soloist types.
The neck pickup is awful though. Mud city!
UPDATE: I just spent an hour and a half riffing through a blazing loud AC4 and 2x12 cab. I was rocking all sort of heavy Queen riffs on the bridge position... "Stone Cold Crazy", "we will rock you", "brighton rock", "gimmee the prize (from highlander, dude)", "I'm in love with my car", "Death on Two Legs" and on and on... the enormous output was really fun and gave me that extra push over the cliff to rip it up on the riffiest section with my guitar volume gunned. I need to touch up the wiring for coil taps, a phase switch on 1 pickup and a master series/parallel to get the most common brian may tones, but these super distortion really hit a vox in just the right way to do late 70s and early 80s Queen stuff, and that's a big deal to me. Also, the guitar they're in is very red-specialish in its own unique way. I think some humbcker covers with Adeson Trisonic coils hiding inside, epoxied in place might take this guitar over the top for BM tone, but the super distortions are right there copping s a lot of my favorite bridge/middle sounds from Queens arena days just riding the volume on the bridge pickup.
167
It fucks
This thing absolutely fucks hard.
Buy one, two or twelve. You won't regret it.
397
435
My favorite humbucker
I have this in my Jag-Stang and it's my absolute favorite humbucker. It has amazing tonal characteristics and such a nice warm low end sound. It's so smooth, I am always amazed that it's a 70s humbucker andI I've never heard anything better than it.
143
I have it on 2 of my main guitars!!
I have two custom guitars, an Ibanez RG370 DXZL and a custom Partcaster, both of them have Super Distortion in the bridge, sounds killer, you can play everything on them!!
268
101
Classic hard rock tone
I bought this to replace the stock pickups of a Jackson King V. It sounds killer as a bridge pickup. Can be matched to Super 2 and PAF in neck position.
Artist usage
Add artist
In a Rig Rundown video by Premier Guitar, Josh Rand discusses using the DiMarzio DP100 Super Distortion in several of his guitars.
In a video from Digital Tour Bus's "Gear Masters" episode 547, Alan Day of Four Year Strong demonstrates his live rig, revealing that his main guitar, a modified Fender Fat Strat, features a hss configuration. The middle pickup is essentially a dummy pickup that isn’t wired in. The guitar features DiMarzio DP100 Super Distortion pickup in the bridge position.
"The white SG as well as my red 1995 SG both came with Gibson ’57 Classic pickups, but I swapped out the bridge pickup in both of those guitars for a DiMarzio Super Distortion."
In this video Sergey Mavrin says he prefers to use Dimarzio Super Distortion pickups for a big part of his guitars
As based on the interview of this video, Ian Fowles uses Dimarzio Super Distortion Pickups
In an interview featured in Vintage Guitar® magazine, John Seagall is noted for using the DiMarzio DP100 Super Distortion pickup.
As quoted in the article:
Gear-wise, Rousseau plays a custom Ernie Ball Music Man Valentine electric guitar with DiMarzio Super Distortion pickup through Neural DSP's Archetype: Gojira plugin.
In this video at 0:18, we can see Hampton with a heavily modified sunburst Fender Stratocaster equipped with three DiMarzio Super Distortion humbuckers and a reversed headstock.
This guitar is also mentioned in a March 8, 2016 Interview with Premier Guitar:
[Premier Guitar]: Michael, there’s a video online of “Red Hot Mama” and you’re playing a guitar that looks like a Strat but it has a reverse headstock and it’s got three humbuckers. What is it and how did you get it to sound so good?
[Michael Hampton]: It’s a Strat. I put the left-handed neck on and three DiMarzio Super Distortions—I just went crazy with that guitar. I had an Alembic preamp they made back in the day—that kind of blew out later. I always liked funny cars and hot rods and that’s basically as close as I’m going to get for the guitar [laughs].
Plus, I would just crank the guitar, man. I would turn it all the way up. Most of the time everything would probably be at 10. I guess it came from the pickups itself and the actual makeup of however it resonated. I pulled the saddles all the way back, too, so I could get more flexibility and more play in the string, and it wasn’t intonated correctly. The guitar was intonated with itself—if I hit everything open and you gave me all the strings open on the keyboard, then the guitar would be kind of out. But that might have a little to do with the tone, too, because there was more play in the strings. But it’s got to be those preamps, that Alembic preamp was probably working at the time, and those Super Distortions along with it probably gave it that tone.
Not to give it all up to me, but some people actually say it’s in your fingers. And I guess there is some truth to that, but I’m just trying to stay humble on that one. I’m pretty sure we’re talking about the electronics [laughs]. And the strings probably were definitely somewhere near new. Because I used to change them every two gigs or something, keeping the strings fresh.
John Jeffers uses a DiMarzio DP100 Super Distortion pickup in his 1990s Gibson Les Paul, which was gifted to him by Cody Tate's uncle, as detailed in the Premier Guitar Rig Rundown by Chris Kies.
Album Usage
The DiMarzio DP100 Super Distortion has been featured on the following albums:
Genre Usage
Based on how artists on Equipboard use this gear, it is most commonly found in the following genres.
Used With
Based on how musicians on Equipboard use DiMarzio DP100 Super Distortion, it is most commonly used with the following gear.
Community setups
Show yoursSimilar
Add recommendation1 alternative for DiMarzio DP100 Super Distortion, curated by the Equipboard community.
More DiMarzio Electric Guitar Pickups
Accessories & Related Items
Gear Guides
Most Popular Electric Guitar Pickups
Most Popular Brands
-
Added to Equipboard on by
austinmwGear IQ 5227
-