This pickup sounds incredible- it's a high output pickup, but it is on the lower side of the higher output pickups. It gets fantastic distortion and an almost piezo sounding clean tone. I've been using this pup in the bridge position of my Schecter hellraiser, and I run this through a pod hd500. The tone is very middle biased, with a good amount of bass, there is a little less treble but I really don't mind because it sounds fantastic, and it still has all the bite that I need in a bridge pickup. I use it with the bar facing the neck so I get a slightly bassier tone. Reliability & Durability: I have only had the pickup in for about a month, but it seams rock solid, and I'm positive it will last forever. Handmade in new york, and its dimarzio, so you know you can count on the quality...