I think Seymour Duncan pickups are the best made.

[Xeromus]

I've used Dimarzios, EMG's, and I keep coming back to the Duncans. The tone is there, as well as quality and customer support. These guys have the whole package. I like my EMG's, and some Dimarzios, but to me both can wear me down and tire me of their "signature" sound. Duncans on the other hand are just real musical and organic, All the pickups I've tried, though very different, I can't say any of them sound bad or hurt my ears.

reason I come to this conclusion: after supporting EMG pickups for a long time, I'm really starting to dislike mine. I find the Duncan Distortion to be just as nasty as the 81 and still have some character to it. The EMG actives kind of have that one dimensional characterless vibe to them. Though they do sustain forever and rock hard with high gain. I can't use them clean.

I don't like the buzz buzz of Dimarzios. Again, they make some damn nice pickups, and some sound great, but I think Duncan has done a better job.

I LOVE my Rio Grande Big Bottom set in my tele. Man I can't complain about those. I've never tried their humbuckers. If they are as good as their single coils these guys rock.

Overall I keep coming back to Duncan to outfit my versatile axes. The guitars I outfit with EMG's or Dimarzios end up being one trick ponies that don't get picked up much anymore.

also, Even though Dimarzio's got a new interface, it's the same clumsy site, with no sound clips. Post-produced clips of songs don't count because they are manipulated. I like how duncan's clips are the same lick and direct comparisons of each other, you really can't get any idea of how Dimarzio's pickups differ from each other by those clips.

I like the chick on the straps page though, yum.

[ranalli]

Re: I think Seymour Duncan pickups are the best made.

I like all the brands actually.


I've never heard of Dimarzios being "buzzy" though.

[Stevo]

Re: I think Seymour Duncan pickups are the best made.

I am a pretty big SD fan myself

[\m/(00)\m/]

Re: I think Seymour Duncan pickups are the best made.

[qoute] i think seymour duncan pickups are the ebst made![/qoute]

join the club

[some_dude]

Re: I think Seymour Duncan pickups are the best made.

I find the oposite. Although Duncans definatly have the advantage in build quality, I sometimes get tired of my JB and I keep going back to my trusty old DiMarzio Super Distortion.

It's not that I dislike the JB, quite the opposite. It's just that it gets old sometimes.

[Metalman_666]

Re: I think Seymour Duncan pickups are the best made.

SD pups are quite well made yes, but I recall reading something somebody said about commercializing, and advertizing. They said that its possible the reason we like SD so much is that they are very widely advertized, and dimarzios aren't. But Dimarzio has been putting more adds in Guitar ONE and Guitar World, so they're working on it.

[papersoul]

Re: I think Seymour Duncan pickups are the best made.

Have you tried some of the high end hand made pickups on the market? Somce guys think they are worth it...some not.

That said, I love Duncans but I also love Rio Grandes.

[Metalman_666]

Re: I think Seymour Duncan pickups are the best made.

Do ppl that use the boutique pups find they're worth it?

[Truthsayer]

Re: I think Seymour Duncan pickups are the best made.

There is no such thing as an organic pickup. The idea that a pickup is organic or has a "signature sound" is marketing nonsense. Pickups don't produce any sound of their own at all.

Other than getting a wiring diagram, I can't imagine what kind of customer support you would need from a pickup manufacturer. I've never heard of a pickup breaking down, falling apart, or wearing out, regardless of whether the pickup was "high quality" or "low quality" or "better built" or not.

Do ppl that use the boutique pups find they're worth it?

I'm sure they do because they keep buying them.

[ranalli]

Re: I think Seymour Duncan pickups are the best made.

Other than getting a wiring diagram, I can't imagine what kind of customer support you would need from a pickup manufacturer. I've never heard of a pickup breaking down, falling apart, or wearing out, regardless of whether the pickup was "high quality" or "low quality" or "better built" or not.

I agree with this part. Who ever heard of a pickup wearing out?? It's not like a car tire....I don't care how it's built as long as it doesn't crumble in my hands.

I've had $10 pickups that have held up for years....sound like crap but held up for years. It's metal/plastic....what's the magic in that?

[Duncan]

Re: I think Seymour Duncan pickups are the best made.

Do ppl that use the boutique pups find they're worth it?

Over at the Les Paul Forum there are a strong hardcore of boutique pickup afficionados...

Rolphs, Timbuckers, Voodoo's, Fillmores... If you're seriously into finding more info out about boutique pups, take a stroll over there...

[jeremy]

Re: I think Seymour Duncan pickups are the best made.

There is no such thing as an organic pickup. The idea that a pickup is organic or has a "signature sound" is marketing nonsense. Pickups don't produce any sound of their own at all.

Other than getting a wiring diagram, I can't imagine what kind of customer support you would need from a pickup manufacturer. I've never heard of a pickup breaking down, falling apart, or wearing out, regardless of whether the pickup was "high quality" or "low quality" or "better built" or not.

i have had pups crap out, had a few go microphonic (gibson, epiphone and fender) and one stop working due to a shorted coil (ibanez). ive heard of people getting brand new pups from mf that didnt work too. not all that common but it does happen

obviously a pup isnt organic, it isnt "Using or produced with fertilizers of only animal or vegetable matter." "Of or derived from living organisms." from which the first is derived or the one used in chemistry: "Of or designating carbon compounds."

but organic is a term used to describe the sound. a pup isnt warm, fat buttery, tight, hot, clear, screaming, or crunchy (actualy it probably is, never tasted one) either, but we use those terms all the time to describe tone as esoteric as it might be. and i think most good pups do have signature characteristics. the jb has an upper mid peak in any guitar that you put it in, an evolution has a strong top end ect...
the tone you get will depend on everything in your rig, some things more than others

[kevlar3000]

Re: I think Seymour Duncan pickups are the best made.

There is no such thing as an organic pickup. The idea that a pickup is organic or has a "signature sound" is marketing nonsense. Pickups don't produce any sound of their own at all.

Other than getting a wiring diagram, I can't imagine what kind of customer support you would need from a pickup manufacturer. I've never heard of a pickup breaking down, falling apart, or wearing out, regardless of whether the pickup was "high quality" or "low quality" or "better built" or not.



I'm sure they do because they keep buying them.

Pickups surely have a signature tone, thats why they all sound different. Try a CC and a C5 and tell me they sound the same.To some music is not some sterile explanation magnetic or electrical properties but is an artistic process that is shaped by the colors of tone we create. Pickups can enhance and artists ability to create. In fact many if not most musicians identify with that more. Rock and roll ain't science man, at least not for those that play it.

[Wattage]

Re: I think Seymour Duncan pickups are the best made.

As a whole I don't think SD has an equal. There may be some better pickups here and there but as a whole line company it isn't even close SD is the best!!!

[Truthsayer]

Re: I think Seymour Duncan pickups are the best made.

the tone you get will depend on everything in your rig, some things more than others

My point entirely. If you put a JB into the neck position of a Les Paul, and play it through a Soldano Amp at full gain and put another JB pickup in the bridge position of a Fat Strat and play it through a Fender Twin Reverb, there is no way you are going to be able to recognize that they are the same pickup. Thus my statement that a pickup does not have a "signature sound."

That is not to say that all pickups are the same. Pickups have different output levels, have different sensitivities to picking dynamics, tend to emphasize different frequencies over others, have varying magnetic fields, etc. I realize that otherwise why would I have ten guitars with after market pickups? But take for example the Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates pickup (one of my favorites). ZZ Top uses them and System of a Down uses them. Completely different sounds using the same pickups. Which of them would you consider the typical Pearly Gates signature sound. You see, there is no such thing.

A better way of putting it is: A pickup enables you to get certain sounds from your guitar rig and avoid certain others, thus making your own signature sound possible.
BTW, for the sake of argument I'll agree that "organic" is a word used to describe a certain sound. Now please explain to me what sound "organic" is supposed to describe. Unlike Fat, Warm, Tight, Open, Bright, etc..., which all have meanings we are all familiar with, I have yet to meet anyone who can describe for me what the term "organic" is supposed to mean when used to describe a pickup.