What products are Duncan working on for the future?

[DreX]

Re: What products are Duncan working on for the future?

Guitarists who play metal are some of the most critical people with gear.

I'm not even saying I understand metal players, I don't, but on the other hand, saying that metal players are highly critical of gear plays to my statement that amps and pedals are more crucial to metal tone than pickups relative to other genres. Blues players sometimes pride themselves on an attitude that "tone is in the fingers" and that the gear itself doesn't matter.

Metalheads buy aftermarket pickups for the same reason jazz guys do. It's to bring out the full potential of the guitar in question.

That's fairly vague, and the vagueness lends to my assertion that the finer nuances of aftermarket pickups are immaterial when you're dealing with metal levels of gain. What are the qualities of a "good" metal pickup?

[xxxplorer]

Re: What products are Duncan working on for the future?

It's always the blues and jazz old farts that pick on us guys that like the heavies... and then they rant saying how they can play death metal on a fender champ with single coils... well... that's nice. It still sounds weak. More is more! And pickups absolutely matter for metal... I'd say even more so than most other rock styles. When you're pumping gain, tuning low and chugging it out and playing some of the stuff that's nuts, you have specific requirements.

And all this crap about high gain amps don't need high output pickups... who cares!?!?! Look at 90% of all the pro players and dudes with signature pickups out there. Most are way above the precious and hyped PAF style pickup that most of the cork sniffing scarf wearing blues wanna be forum trolls havn't even heard a real example of.

Guys like Keith and Ola have inspired some great products for the dark side of the force and just because it doesn't have alnico 89 doesn't mean it ain't a viable product.

Thank you drive through.

[Jeff5]

Re: What products are Duncan working on for the future?

It is inaccurate to say that pick ups don't matter as much to metal/higher gain players. Pick ups are as much a part of our tone as they are for those of other styles.

I have used many of Duncan's products over the years. No matter the level of gain, a Custom, big Custom, JB/Custom, Distortion, PATB-2, Custom Custom, Blackouts, Dimebucker and Hot Rails all sound EXTREMELY different with my amps.

Kojak, Duncan is trying to capitalize on a growing market for the higher gain/metal type of player. SD has for years had quite a great array of vintage to mid-output pick ups and they continue to still play in this space. (Custom/59 hybrid and Whole Lotta Humbucker being two examples) It makes sense for them to capitalize on the large number of players who demand higher output pick ups and diversify that produce line to suit the different styles and tastes of those types of players.

[Rockstar216]

Re: What products are Duncan working on for the future?

Does the world REALLY need another Death Metal p'up?

Depends does the world REALLY NEED another P.A.F clone?

[Rockstar216]

Re: What products are Duncan working on for the future?

I'm curious what metal players look for in a pickup. They typically use so much gain that most of the adjectives you'd use to describe the clean / dirty tones of a pickup don't apply or don't matter much. It seems like all the color comes from the amp and pedals and all you need the guitar do is put out a hot, sustainy tone to produce notes. To that end, this 48k pickup seems very on the nose.

Metal players are just as adverse as blues guys when it comes to tone. Some wouldn't know tone if it was two feet in front of them and vice versa. Old school metal has a different tone from modern metal and different pups through the same amp will give a different tone.

[xxxplorer]

Re: What products are Duncan working on for the future?

Exactly... and my post was mostly tongue in cheek, but seriously... just because you don't like a style of music doesn't give you permission to whine about it. I'd even say most metal guys have a deeper appreciation for other styles of music and incorporate those styles into metal to broaden the palete. We don't always bash the blues guys, jazz guys and what not. Sadly, it's not the same the other way around.

I was looking for some pickups to put in my new Jackson JJ-4 I picked up for $150, and now I know what I'm putting in there!

[Jeff5]

Re: What products are Duncan working on for the future?

That's fairly vague, and the vagueness lends to my assertion that the finer nuances of aftermarket pickups are immaterial when you're dealing with metal levels of gain. What are the qualities of a "good" metal pickup?

The answer is it depends. Hair metal, thrash, doom, death metal, djent, modern metal, etc., can all require a different type of pick up. It also depends on if someone plays rhythm only or both lead and rhythm. Type of amp and cabinets also come into play.

I play lead and rhythm and a mix of styles. My personal preference is for a pick up to have great singing highs, good mids and a nice punchy low end for palm mutes. I want articulation and to hear every note. I tend to stay away from pick ups with really scooped mids although most higher output pick us usually have a decent amount of mids. I tend towards smoother and less fizzy pick ups with good bite.

That's me, and for what I play and the types of amps I use. (More in the Mesa vein) Others will vary.

[dominus]

Re: What products are Duncan working on for the future?

While some people have been able to get decent metal tones out of 59s, there's been WAY more done with the JB and Custom.

I haven't seen very many postings on the Jazz and classical forums about which pickups people should get. The metal forums though...

http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=jazz+humbucker&word2=metal+humbucker

http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=classical+humbucker&word2=metal+humbucker

[SGFanatic]

Re: What products are Duncan working on for the future?

I don't think the rock and roll guys have to worry much about concerning the Slug. It'll probably be a custom shop model, at least for a while.
I liked it! I'll try it, but I'm a sucker for marketing

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: What products are Duncan working on for the future?

The planets have aligned. As I find 100% of what LtK is saying/asking to be on-target.


Sent from my armored battle station using Tapatalk

Does ANYONE else want to see something released as part of the standard line up between a custom and jb other than me? The jb/c hybrid is already an idea to use.

[marvelous_seven]

Re: What products are Duncan working on for the future?

One thing to note from that video: Rhodes amp Keith uses on every Seymour Duncan demo has exceptional clarity. I can't believed that he tuned to drop G, sounds like he plays on B or C.

[LtKojak]

Re: What products are Duncan working on for the future?

Depends does the world REALLY NEED another P.A.F clone?

And where did I even ask 'about making a PAF clone, not only in this thread, but in ANY thread since August 2006?????

[Gibson 1964]

Re: What products are Duncan working on for the future?

I play some metal, some hardcore, some other, softer stuff.
What I look for in a pickup is really that it brings out the sound I want in my head. The pickup does not have to be raging hot.

What I look for in a pickup is:

Low noise threshold. (This is not so apparent at classic rock levels, but not all humbuckers are even close to equal)
Sufficient treble. (As the gain goes up, the lower frequencies get more prominent.)
Sounds nice in my wood combos. Believe it or not, us high gain guys can absolutely hear the difference in woods and pickups in the same way a jazz guy can. I suspect our ears are tuned to what we play, so I am far more critical of a metal or high gain tone than a jazz or classic rock tone.

I could say jazz players just need a guitar to put a clean, slightly treble rolled off tone as well, and I'd generically fit a stereotype. A hot sustainy tone is not all that is needed for a good high gain sound. In fact, I prefer what I would call a more open tonality to my high gain tones.

I also want my metal pickups to sound good clean and anywhere in between. Which is why I love my black winters. No, I don't play black metal, but those pickups are fantastic clean, low gain or high gain.

One of the big things to realize is that your ears really are tuned to what you play. You might not hear a tonal difference in high gain, but I sure do. In fact, when you crank the gain, I hear it far, far more pronounced than at lower gain levels. I might not hear the difference between 4 PAFs or strat single coils or whatever you happen to be into so clearly at a low gain level.

P90s are a different story though. I love p90s and am a fanatic of those to a ridiculous extent. I might be able to match somebody in my neuroticisms about their tones.

[Jeff5]

Re: What products are Duncan working on for the future?

That's a really good post Gibson 1964 and great points made. I agree whole heartedly. And yet ANOTHER person makes me G.A.S. for Black Winters! =D.

[Scott Olson]

Re: What products are Duncan working on for the future?

I should probably note, the metal pickups (SLUG/Black Winter) are almost exclusively developed from a rogue new products team that operates outside the normal new products team. So, it's not a matter of deciding to do vintage or metal pickups, we really are doing more for each concurrently. There are some things being planned that I've seen some of the forum guys asking for a long time that may be coming to be available this year. I'm excited about that but it's a bit too early to be more specific than that.

I'm pretty sure at this point SLUG will not be Custom Shop. You can likely expect the price to be somewhere between a JB and a CS pickup.