pinch harmonics and sustain on sd distortion

[Chazzy]

so ive been having a hard time finding the right pups for me... ive pretty much settled on a jazz bridge model in the neck my mahogany schecter as it still has the smoothe tones of the jazz and 59 but it has more bite then with slightly more output, also probably drives more like a 59 but still clearer... anyway i wanted to know your opinions on the duncan distortion in mahogany for pinch harmonics, sustain, chugging, drop d and c#... thats all i need from it, itd be under high gain probably about 99% percent of its usage... ive heard the jb is good but that its bass isnt quite as tight, ive heard the dimebucker is ultra clear but lacks mids and gets fizzy... and so far im thinking distortion... (as long as it has good sustain enough bass and good pinches)... what do you guys think?

id be running it through a schecter avenger 6 fr and a marshall with high gain.

id be playing alot of metallica, slayer, pantera, avenged sevenfold...

[Masta' C]

Re: pinch harmonics and sustain on sd distortion

The Distortion is a GREAT pickup for what you describe...tight, punchy, great harmonics and definitely reasonable sustain as long as you don't put it too close to the strings.

You might also want to take a look at the Black Winter bridge model. There's quite a bit of info on it in some other threads and several members have transitioned to the BW from the Distortion with positive remarks, especially when tuning down.

I'd also point you toward the recently released "Nazgul", but there's not much info on it yet and I haven't tried one myself.

Still, there's something classic about the good ol' Distortion

[Gibson 1964]

Re: pinch harmonics and sustain on sd distortion

I'd go black winter. IMO it is just clearer and sounds better with gain.

The Nazgul 7 I have tried as well and prefer it to the distortion as well. Both are very much in the same camp as the distortion, but I would view both as a more modern and improved distortion. The BW I believe is higher output as well than Nazgul or distortion.

The BW is tighter and is ridiculously easy to do pinch harmonics on.

[Aceman]

Re: pinch harmonics and sustain on sd distortion

Distortion would be perfect IMO.

Haven't played a black winter - but consensus is that one or the other what you'll want. Matter of taste between them, they appear to be similar.

[Demanic]

Re: pinch harmonics and sustain on sd distortion

I think that the good ol' Distortion would be perfect. Though I haven't tried the Black Winter.

[superpete]

Re: pinch harmonics and sustain on sd distortion

i haven't tried a black winter, but from what I have tried the distortion is the easiest pu to get pinch harmonics with.

[Chazzy]

Re: pinch harmonics and sustain on sd distortion

weird, ive heard many people say its hard to get pinches from it...altho everyone on this thread says distortion so i think thats the answer

[King IzzO)))]

Re: pinch harmonics and sustain on sd distortion

Pinch harmonics is mostly technique, and there's nothing hard about getting them on a DD.

[Ace Flibble]

Re: pinch harmonics and sustain on sd distortion

Pinch harmonics are all technique. You can get them ringing out on an acoustic guitar if your technique is good enough. I abuse pinch harmonics worse than Billy Gibbons and they come out the same with all my guitars, whetehr they have Burstbuckers, Full Shreds, EMG 60AXs, Tele single coils and everything else... if you're having trouble getting them out clearly, what you need to do is slow down and focus on sharpening your technique. Pickups are irrelevant.

Sustain is another thing pickups can't really help with. Using a pickup with less magnetic pull will help the strings ring out as long as possible, but it's still really down to the nature of your guitar and a weaker magnetic field usually means less output, which is going to be an issue if you want a high output pickup to get heavier distortion. The solution there is to use active pickups, but that will mean revamping your guitar's electronics and ditching the idea of a Jazz in the neck.

The Distortion will certainly do what you're after. It's powerful, it chugs, the treble isn't as smothered as much in other higher-output pickups. The Alternative 8 will also get you there, as will the Custom and D Activators. I also really like the Evo 2 and Full Shred, though they may not have enough power for you, depends how much output you really need.

[treyhaislip]

Re: pinch harmonics and sustain on sd distortion

Hmmm, I always got better pinch harmonics out of a JB...I will say I got a fair amount out of the Distortion but always felt I was able to get more out of the JB.

[audiocheck]

Re: pinch harmonics and sustain on sd distortion

Pinch harmonics are all technique. You can get them ringing out on an acoustic guitar if your technique is good enough. I abuse pinch harmonics worse than Billy Gibbons and they come out the same with all my guitars, whetehr they have Burstbuckers, Full Shreds, EMG 60AXs, Tele single coils and everything else... if you're having trouble getting them out clearly, what you need to do is slow down and focus on sharpening your technique. Pickups are irrelevant.

Sustain is another thing pickups can't really help with. Using a pickup with less magnetic pull will help the strings ring out as long as possible, but it's still really down to the nature of your guitar and a weaker magnetic field usually means less output, which is going to be an issue if you want a high output pickup to get heavier distortion. The solution there is to use active pickups, but that will mean revamping your guitar's electronics and ditching the idea of a Jazz in the neck.

The Distortion will certainly do what you're after. It's powerful, it chugs, the treble isn't as smothered as much in other higher-output pickups. The Alternative 8 will also get you there, as will the Custom and D Activators. I also really like the Evo 2 and Full Shred, though they may not have enough power for you, depends how much output you really need.

I will agree and disagree here. I do agree that it is technique and if done right you will get harmonics out of any pickup. I will disagree because of the feel! Some pickups just feel like harmonics come out better than on others. With Gibson PUps I always feel like an uphill struggle to get the feel right. Now why some folks may complain about getting harmonics out of a Distortion would probably be because the distortion is too close to the strings. Grant it, that when a distortion is close it sounds amazing. I find that backed off a bit I get more string separation, honk and better dynamics. I will also state that the demon allows pinched harmonics to soar.

Btw, I am from the same BFG school of pinched harmonics.

[King IzzO)))]

Re: pinch harmonics and sustain on sd distortion

All I know is if you can't make them pop on a DD you're doing it wrong.

[Chazzy]

Re: pinch harmonics and sustain on sd distortion

sustain also can be better with a high output pup but farther from the strings...

[Chazzy]

Re: pinch harmonics and sustain on sd distortion

not entirely true imo, i can do very aggressive harmonics well on my neck pup on the higher strings, but not on the heavier strings, however on my bridge pup i can do the lower strings