I have the six-tring D-Activator and they're quite big on the low end in Basswoods.... Great pick-ups if you're purely into gain-y tones ..not a fan of its cleans though lol.. I even prefer the D-Activator over the EMG.
Gravity Storms I find are more rock pickups, also remind me a bit of the Mo Joe in terms of thickness, but, the low end is not tight on them. Great for rock, standard tuning etc.
DActivators I've kind of found too grainy for me, jsut never got on with them well, but, i've only ever had them in mahogony guitars so I may have to try them in a basswood to see what that's like...
I really liked the D'Activator in the RG456 I had, and the Xiphos for that matter. I took them out of my RGT though. They sounded really bland and sterile in that guitar and I can't put my finger on why. They just sounded very plastic and uninspiring.
I've had gravity storms in 2 550's and a 560 and I agree with 7 dying Trees, better suited to Rock I thought they were too "loose" on the bottom
end for metal, but that looseness made for a really good lead pickup in standard tuning. One my my favorite Dimarzios in Basswood.
I know it shouldn't have been so surprising but i have never done an a b comparison like that. I had mainly just relied on YouTube videos. The gravity storms were by choice i was looking for a more rock tone. The d activator came with the guitar. I made thst purchase as i wanted to have a seven string. Mind you i am concentrated on six string for now.
I will have to see what the d activator sounds like if i turn down the gain. On the peavey i tend to leave things at 6666 and the post volume at about 1 for bedroom levels.
My taste is fairly retro so while the growl and low end was exciting i can't say i necessarily need it.
I may need to think about a more subtle seven string pick up. No rush as i dont see myself doing much with the seven in the next while.
Radically different pickups - the Gravity Storms are basically hotter PAFs, the DActivators are extremely hot, and IMO fairly thin. I suspect on their own the Gravity Storms are thicker, but the DActivators, much like EMGs, hold up to high gain better thanks to their brightness and clarity, which for highly saturated metal riffing makes them SEEM more "growly." At the gain levels I play, I had the opposite problem; they had NO growl, and were thin and sterile while the Blaze 7 sounded thicker and more growly by a long shot.
This was in that awesome, awesome RG1527 with DActivators I should never have sold. :/ A pickup swap and it would have been a keeper.
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