Alan Holdsworth playing an Ibanez Roadster with a DiMarzio super distortion pup.

equalsql

Thought this might interest a few oldies like me out there.

digitalkettle

From another planet.

Philly_Q

His music is usually way beyond my comprehension, but I enjoyed that clip.

Being pedantic (sorry), I don't think that's a Super Distortion (unless the bridge pickup is).

Philly_Q

Interestingly, they used a picture of him with that very guitar for the cover of the Eidolon compilation.

scrumhalf

I saw Holdsworth live a few times, I don't think I ever saw him get that animated whilst playing.

Philly_Q

I wonder why he took the knobs off the guitar?  Weird.

Funkfingers

That guitar is, to all intents and purposes, a prototype Ibanez AH-10/-20 signature model. The stock pickups were nothing to write home about. 

The double cream bobbin humbucker in the video is almost certainly a DiMarzio but not necessarily a Super Distortion. 

In several interviews, Holdsworth mentions using DiMarzio PAF models. He grumbled about the cream bobbins not looking right against the black scratchplate of the AH-20. He eventually obtained and installed the black bobbin version.

Later in the Eighties, the DiMarzio PAF Pro was flavour of the month with the likes of Gilbert, Satriani and Vai. By then, Holdsworth had signed with Seymour Duncan. The Holdsworth signature model humbucker was essentially a JB with an A2 bar magnet and twelve adjustable polepiece screws.