Dimarzio Transition
One of the most respected studio guitarists in the world of popular music is undoubtedly Steve Lukather. The man has everything you could ever want—no, everything you’d be willing to sacrifice a lot for: deep knowledge of music theory, musical creativity, arranging skills, experience in production, collaborations with global superstars and legendary producers, exceptional instrumental creativity, and a lifetime devoted to music. On top of all that, we also know that Lukather has an impeccable taste in guitars—Les Pauls, Strats, James Tylers, and his signature Valley Arts models. And finally, for many years now, his long-standing "Luke" journey with Ernie Ball Music Man. That said, I can’t say I’ve ever fully agreed with his taste in pickups, as I’ve never been a fan of active pickups in general. While I can understand, to some extent, why Lukather prefers them, my personal preference has always leaned towards passive pickups. And that, in itself, was a mystery to me. After using active pickups for so many years, what kind of sound was he looking for in a signature passive pickup?
The Test Guitar
‘Transition’ still standing on my “Pink Tiger” for a while. That pink tiger is a superstrat has a Jackson Dinky body made of alder, one piece maple neck in modern C profile, German made Jackson Floyd Rose tremolo with Japanese stainless steel saddles, 25,5” scale, nickel silver frets, Alpha 500K pots and elixir strings in E-std tuning. Guitar has Dimarzio Air Norton neck and No-name blade style middle pickups(~9K thou). Its primary (unplugged) tone is neutral to fairly bright.
Evaluation
Let’s read the desciption first, as always;
“Transition Neck & Bridge Model pickups were designed for Steve Lukather and Luke's new LIII Music Man guitar. The pickups are named after Steve’s new album, Transition (release date January 21, 2013). Lukather played the LIII guitar with Transition pickups throughout the new record. The passive Transition humbuckers are both subtle and tough. They have power and they have depth. Steve says they’re organic, and they allow him to own his sound. “These days I like it simple and direct,” he shares. Steve says he's started over sonically and is into a more organic sound these days, but the Transition Bridge Model has a tough, in-your-face sound that's also perfect for shredding and technical playing.
A powerful magnet and coils tuned to slightly different frequencies create very strong fundamental tones, with sustained notes that resolve easily to first- and second-order harmonics. The output rating isn’t as high as our loudest models, but the Transition Bridge Model puts a lot of impact into every picked note...”
…And, my measuremens are here;
Dimarzio Transition DP255
Magnet – Ceramic
Advertised DCR: 11.05 K Ohm (Series)
Measured DCR: 10.84 K Ohm (Series)
Measured DCR: 5.48 K Ohm (Screw Coil)
Measured DCR: 5.43 K Ohm (Slug Coil)
Inductance @100Hz: 6.51 H (Series)
Inductance @100Hz: 2.83 H (Screw Coil)
Inductance @100Hz: 2.86 H (Slug Coil)
Measured C: -27.2 nF (Series)/ -51.9nF (Screw Coil) / -53.1nF (Slug Coil)
Output: 390 Milivolts (advertised)
EQ (B/M/T) – 6/7/4.5 (old catalog data) 5/6/6.5/4.5 (official website)
Gauss: 520G screw, 550G slug (measured at top center of D&G pole pieces)
Patents: Virtual Vintage
Ambient Measurement Temperature: 21C
Visually examining the pickup, we can say that it looks like a typical humbucker—your standard, traditional humbucker form. However, if you inspect the coils under the right lighting, you can spot traces of Virtual Vintage slugs. Unlike a typical DiMarzio humbucker, it features a nickel-silver baseplate. Another detail worth mentioning is that its polepiece screws are shorter than those found in classic PAF clones. Since the DP255 houses a large ceramic magnet, I measured some seriously high magnetic flux density values. While its official output rating is 390mV, the magnetic flux strength I recorded is nearly on par with the Super Distortion. And that means a lot of power.
While measuring the coil windings, I noticed a resemblance to another DiMarzio pickup I acquired relatively recently and absolutely enjoy. When I put the results into a table, the similarities turned out to be far from insignificant. That pickup is the DP202 Al Di Meola Bridge. Here are the results—don’t you think they’re remarkably close?
Defining the tonal character of the Transition isn’t particularly difficult. Although its official EQ chart suggests a stronger emphasis on low and mid frequencies with slightly recessed highs, what I actually hear is a relatively flatter EQ response. Yes, EQ chart is not wrong but just not as emphasised as it states to me. The pickup I had installed right before the Transition was the Norton, which is rich in mids. Coming from such a mid-heavy pickup, I don’t perceive the Transition as having a particularly pronounced midrange that much. Yes, the mids are there, and they are clearly audible, but they’re not overly focused. I’m not a big fan of using the term “balanced” too often—it’s one of the most overused words in pickup discussions and forums. But in this case, the Transition truly is balanced. :)
Alright, let’s consider how similar it actually is to the ADM Bridge, DP202. Architecturally, these two pickups are quite different. The ADM Bridge features hex-head pole pieces, dual metal spacers, a brass baseplate, and a powerful Alnico 5 bar magnet, without any "Virtual Vintage" slugs. In contrast, as I mentioned earlier, the Transition follows a more classic PAF-style design but incorporates "Virtual Vintage" slugs and a strong ceramic magnet. I suspect that the Virtual Vintage slugs are there to compensate for the lack of an Alnico bar magnet, helping to maintain a balanced inductance.
Even though my measurements—DCR and inductance values of the coils and their series configuration, and even my inevitably inaccurate capacitance readings—are strikingly close, there are some clear tonal differences. The ADM Bridge sounds more “organic” and warmer/rounder, whereas the Transition has a relatively crisper character. However, the most noticeable difference between them is output: the Transition is significantly more powerful. Yes, DiMarzio rates it at 390mV, but if I were to judge based purely on my ears and past pickup experiences, I would have guessed it was over 400mV. I’m aware that Steve Lukather describes this pickup as "organic." However, maybe that perception comes from years of using active pickups, lol As I mentioned earlier, to my ears, the ADM Bridge sounds even more organic—whatever that truly means. The same goes for the Norton…
Evaluating its dynamic range was a bit surprising for me. For a long time, I kept reading about how dynamic the Transition is—how responsive it is to different picking techniques and attack strengths. But honestly, I don’t think that’s the case at all. Yes, the Transition isn’t an active pickup, and it certainly has a much wider headroom compared to typical active humbuckers. However, when compared to a truly dynamic and articulate humbuckers, I’d say it feels… hmm, a little too compressed. Its response to pick attack, as well as its reaction to volume pot adjustments, remains within a somewhat limited range. I’d say this was the one aspect I liked the least. Thinking back to the comments I read years ago about how “dynamic” the Transition is... I just can’t agree. Maybe those people were coming from an even more compressed pickup, so by comparison, the Transition felt more dynamic to them. That’s the only explanation I can come up with. As you know, I constantly swap pickups in this guitar, and the others I’ve used in this position were noticeably more responsive to phrasing and volume knob adjustments. Of course, dynamics aren’t everything. If your playing style doesn’t involve a lot of dynamic shifts—if you play in a more linear fashion—this could actually be an advantage. But for my personal taste, I generally prefer pickups with a bit less compression.
One of my favorite aspects of the Transition is probably its versatility. I used this term in my Norton review as well, and if I compare the two, I’d say the Norton has sligtly broader range thanks to wider dynamic range of the Norton. Still, the Transition feels like a more powerful version of the Norton, with slightly less pronounced mids—especially in the mid midrange. Its tones are quite fat. It’s not as in-your-face or as dense as the Super Distortion or the Tone Zone, but it has a very satisfying feel. If I had to describe its tonal character with an analogy, I’d say it’s like the legitimate offspring of the Norton and the ADM Bridge—about 60–70% Norton, with the remaining part coming from the ADM Bridge. And as I mentioned before, it has more output than either of them.
The Transition is a pickup that can successfully handle many tasks within rock genres, adapting to various guitars with different wood types, constructions, scales, and pickup configurations. And that’s exactly how it should be—after all, this pickup was designed for a musician who embodies the pinnacle of musical versatility.
The Transition pairs well with the Air Norton in the neck— On the other hand, slightly brighter neck pickups like the PAF Pro would be a more suitable choice, IMO.
Conclusion
Come on, guys—can something designed and chosen by a master musician like Steve Lukather really be bad? The worst thing that could happen is that it doesn’t fit your personal preferences. For instance, I’m not a big fan of the neck profiles on the Luke series, which is why I’ve always been a bit distant from his signature EBMM guitars. That being said, the Transition covers just about everything a typical rock guitarist would need. It’s powerful, but not too much. It cuts through the mix, but not to the point of overpowering everything else. It’s not overly focused, which is actually one of its advantages in terms of versatility. Because of this, the Transition could also be a solid option for guitars with mahogany necks/bodies and shorter scales.
If you play rock or its subgenres, I think it’s very unlikely that you won’t like the Transition. It delivers solid classic metal tones. However, if you’re into modern metal subgenres or pure blues, I’m not sure how well it would meet your expectations.
And if you’re still on the fence about whether to buy a Transition or not, just spend some time with Lukather’s Transition album. Especially the track named "Transition" that i've post above. I think you’ll find your answer there...
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