Larry DiMarzio is a trailblazer when it comes to pickup design. After holding various positions involving music and gear, DiMarzio released his first line of pickups back in 1972 and shortly after became the first person to offer replacement pickups to the masses. Decades into his storied career, DiMarzio is still innovating when it comes to bass and guitar pickups, now boasting over 200 models. His creations adorn the instruments of countless low end masters, from Billy Sheehan to James LoMenzo to Tanya O’Callaghan, and many others.

New to his line is his Relentless series, offering J, P, and PJ sets. With the hands-on help of Sheehan, the pickups went through many iterations and evolutions before their final form. With his team, DiMarzio set out to boost the volume and sound quality of passive pickups, which he did by incorporating Neodymium magnets that produce 15-25% more output than traditional passive pickups.

To keep them quiet and eliminate buzzing, he employed metal covers and foil-shielded cables, which cancels any hum. To give them a beautifully unique look with an engineered advantage, he removed the hard edges from the pickups and added an arch to the top to bring the sensing coils and pole pieces closer to the strings. The result is a strikingly sharp look offered in Gold, Nickel (silver), and Black Gloss Metal.

Now, rarely do we do pickup reviews, as not only do we need basses to pop them into, but the subsequent turnaround time can delay the process. But after speaking with both Sheehan and O’Callaghan about these pickups, we couldn’t resist taking them for a spin. We received sets of Relentless P and PJ pickups and decided to test them out on an Squier Eva Gardner Signature Precision and a 1999 Fender American PJ. After months of waiting for our preferred luthier to solder them in for us, we were finally able to test them and take a deep dive into their sound.

The first thing we noticed upon picking up the basses is the objectively stunning look of the pickups. The all-gold finish of the PJ’s sparkle in any lighting, and the black P pickups are instantly noticeable atop the black backdrop of the Squier bass. The second thing we took in was the vastly different feel of them. While planting my thumb and using fingerstyle, these pickups are comfortable to the touch and offer a different surface than the previous Fender pickups, as their curved edges and recessed corners make a cozy platform for you to anchor to. This goes a lot further than you think when it comes to long gigs and studio sessions.

Relentless Volume

To test out the Relentless pickups I employed a range of amps, including a Markbass Ninja 250-watt 2×10 combo, a Bergantino Forté head through an NXT 2×12 amp, and an Ampeg SVT through an 8×10 SVT cabinet. Plugging in the PJ first, followed by the Squier P, the most immediate impression is the obvious surge of volume both basses gain from the pickups. With the increase of sound comes a whole new level of clarity which captures the full spectrum, high to mid to low.

The Neodymium magnets and their broad magnetic field make the pickups sound almost active with their punch, but without any unwanted distortion or break up. This is thanks to each pickup being fully potted and being fitted with metal covers and foil-shielded hookup wires, dramatically reducing other types of unwanted stage noise. Even cranking the basses to loud volumes with increased gain on each of the amps, there was no excessive or even audible sound aside from the notes produced.

Dynamic Range

Through each of the three amps, the tone of both basses remained consistent despite the wattage and speaker size differences. The Fender American PJ naturally boasts a more powerful output, so I decided to isolate the pickups to see how the P and J responded independently. Rolling off the P volume and cranking the back J to full, the bass copped a midrange-heavy tone that got especially punchy and gritty with the tone rolled on with treble. This comes from an invention by Larry himself, which he calls “parallelogram-shaped” coils, along with giving the pickups an arch in their design to bring the coils closer to the strings. While J bridge pickups often lose volume due to their placement, these remained loud and distinct, even while playing with a staccato feel.

Isolating the P pickup provided a traditional P sound that bordered on active, which was confirmed by plugging in my Fender Mod Shop Precision to A&B the volume differences. Not only were the DiMarzio pickups louder and brighter, but they also held more depth and sustain in the low end. The brightness of the highs and mids is matched with the booming body of the low notes at the bottom of the register, which held strong whether playing fingerstyle of with a pick. Rolling off the treble and fully raising the bass produced a powerfully warm feel. Attacking it with a pick, slapping, thumbing, and digging in with your fingers make this sound like a passive Precision on steroids.

Top Picks

Regardless of how I EQ-ed both basses, the range of sound produced covered a lot of ground. These two already solid instruments now seem to have new life to them and entirely different sonic personalities. The physical attributes of the pickups make them feel like nothing I’ve played before thanks to their rounded and contoured edges and meticulously crafted design. The comfort of grounding your thumb to them and moving back and forth between placements make it hard to go back to traditional pickups. The more time I spent playing them, the more evident it became how painstakingly detail-oriented DiMarzio was in thinking of everything for his Relentless series. The volume boost alone will be a major selling point for players looking for a broader sound, but the clarity of notes, comfort of play, and encompassing range make these pickups something truly special. After 200+ models of pickups, DiMarzio is still pushing boundaries and innovating at the highest level, and the Relentless series is a true testament to his lifetime of making us bassists sound as good as possible. We’re looking forward to the next series that DiMarzio is unveiling in 2025.

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