DiMarzio DP193BK

This was a neck pickup to be paired with a Super Distortion in the bridge and the DiMarzio site mentioned this one as a good match. The guitar I am using has a basswood body.

The output is similar to the SD in the bridge so there is no volume drop when switching pickups. At the same time it is not a very hot pickup, so it still sounds clear when playing clean. It gives the warm tones you would expect in the neck position. It does not have a specific emphasis in the tone shape so both bass and treble are even. It has a nice sweet, warm tone when playing round the 12th fret.

To be honest I was half expecting it to be more radical, as some other DiMarzios have a distinctive voicing. But this feels like a good all round tone for the neck position without focusing on only bass, mid or treble, with a bit more output than most stock pickups.

I agree with the advice from DiMarzio that it pairs well with the SD in the bridge. If you are using hotter bridge pickups or you are looking for a specific tone with more bass response then you may have to look for something else.

I had this pickup in nearly all my guitars. This is my "go to pickup" for the neck position, because of its versatility. It delivers a warm and creamy tone, which is awesome for soloing a la John Petrucci with super fast runs or singing leads are
I would describe it as a bit more vintage or warm as the Liquifire model, so I go with this one in combination with the Crunch Lab or the D-Sonic. I enjoy the cleans as well. It never sounds harsh or sterile!
Even lower tunings and thicker strings are no problem!

I play a lot of progressive stuff, with big chords and ambient melodies. The Air Norton is the right choice!

If works fine with all styles of rock and metal. Blues works fine too!

To judge the overall tone, enough videos have been made that no written review can add anything meaningful to that body of knowledge. I just want to point out my personal feeling, the very warm sound of this pickup, noticeable especially in the highs. Not all recordings allow a detailed analysis of this, the more complete the mix, the harder it gets.

So warmth seems to be its more prevalent virtue. By the way, I first soldered it following the standard Duncan Humbucker/Humbucker, 3-way selector, 2-pots schematic. But Di Marzio and other makers use the same wire colors with different soldering points, so look at conversion charts before you start the job. I had only soldered noiseless single coils and Duncan double-coils before, so I didn't know.

Lastly, this pickup is very nearly the tonal equivalent of the Fender Shawbucker I placed in the bridge. Switching between them feels like switching between pickups of the same make, not like they are from different makers and different generations. The match is perfect.