This was formerly Yngwie Malmsteen's neck pickup Dimarzio HS4 (DP217). I used to run an HS3(DP117) in both the neck & Bridge position the HS3 sounds brilliant in the bridge position but in the neck position it sounded to bass heavy a little muffled (unclear) Whereas the HS4 (DP217) is really clear and articulate in the neck position possible because the bass on the HS4 compared on the to the HS3 is slightly rolled off.
I love the sound of the HS3 in the bridge position & the HS4 in the neck position they give a clear articulate sound, this used to be Yngwie's pickup setup until from 2010 he switched to Seymour Duncan STK-S10 YJM "Fury" Model pickups. The HS4 sounds beautiful if your into sweep picking, the sound is very detailed & precise but remember it will also show up your mistakes if you are a sloppy inaccurate player.
The noise on these is low hum cancelling(due to them being a stacked humbucker pickup) . They have a fairly weak output as based on a 50's pickup, (theory being high output pickups loose there detail) so need an overdrive pedal or high-gain amp if your after a rock sound but clean you can get a surprising funk type rhythm sound. Also with single coil type pickups they have a smaller window for picking up the sound so you get a more personal sound of your own(if that makes sense)
If your after the Malmsteen sound these were the pups he used through most of his career only switching to the Seymour Duncan STK-S10 YJM "Fury" Model pickups in 2010. I personally think together the Dimarzio HS3(bridge) & HS4(neck) make a winning combination for the Yngwie style of playing the hard part is being able to play with the speed & accuracy of the player.
To summarize from Blues to Hard Rock they sound great, having a very detailed accurate sound. Love these pups.
