SD Equivalents to PRS, Gibson, Dimarzio

[alex1fly]

This may be an odd request, but I am auditioning several humbucker guitars after leaving the Strat world and have been working to get familiarized with all the tones they have to offer by recording, running through various amp/cab setups at home, and doing social distance band rehearsals. I was thinking that it would be helpful to list out some of the pickups that are in these guitars to see if there are any Duncan equivalents. Reason being, I may want to do some pickup swaps on these axes and knowing kind of where these pickups line up with the Duncan lineup might help me understand how to best proceed with any changes.

So, (and hopefully this will be helpful for future readers too) does anyone feel like the pickups below bear any kind of resemblance to any SDs?

PRS 85/15
PRS Santana
Gibson 57 Classic, Classic +
PRS 245
Dimarzio Air Zone
Dimarzio Virtual P90

[vinta9e]

I think it is completely unreasonable to expect Seymour Duncan to mass produce copies of existing competitor pickups.

Same reason why Apple doesn't make a Galaxy Note clone - it would be a PR disaster if anyone commented that "the market leader is now a copy shop".

[BluesIsBlood12]

I just replaced some 85/15s with a set of Whole Lotta Humbuckers. I do like them better, but it's not a huge difference. Maybe a little more clarity, but they're in the same ballpark.

[alex1fly]

I just replaced some 85/15s with a set of Whole Lotta Humbuckers. I do like them better, but it's not a huge difference. Maybe a little more clarity, but they're in the same ballpark.

Interesting! Same ballpark in tone, output? Hard to imagine more clarity than the 85/15, these things seem to cut no matter what position they're in

[alex1fly]

I think it is completely unreasonable to expect Seymour Duncan to mass produce copies of existing competitor pickups.

Same reason why Apple doesn't make a Galaxy Note clone - it would be a PR disaster if anyone commented that "the market leader is now a copy shop".

Edited original post so it's hopefully more clear. More wondering if anyone finds similarities between the pickups listed and any Duncans, so I can better understand these guitars I've got and make more informed decisions about modifications

[beaubrummels]

There aren't sonic equivalents, but you could match by 'intent' of the pickup. For example Gibson 57 is supposed to be a reasonable affordable facsimile of a PAF but modernized with wax potting. The Duncan 59 set or Pearly Gates set might be the equivalent by intent, but doesn't sound nearly the same as the construction and components are different. I'm overgeneralizing, but the point is there aren't equivalents in terms of sound.

[superpete]

There aren't sonic equivalents, but you could match by 'intent' of the pickup. For example Gibson 57 is supposed to be a reasonable affordable facsimile of a PAF but modernized with wax potting. The Duncan 59 set or Pearly Gates set might be the equivalent by intent, but doesn't sound nearly the same as the construction and components are different. I'm overgeneralizing, but the point is there aren't equivalents in terms of sound.

exactly. you might want to look at, say, high output ceramic offerings across brands or hot vintage A5 humbuckers as opposed to whats a DiMarzio JB or a Duncan Norton.

[Archer250]

I think it is completely unreasonable to expect Seymour Duncan to mass produce copies of existing competitor pickups.

Same reason why Apple doesn't make a Galaxy Note clone - it would be a PR disaster if anyone commented that "the market leader is now a copy shop".

Which is extremely ironic considering pretty much everyone has a JB clone of some kind.

[esandes]

I don't know much about the PRS pickups but I do know about SD, DiMarzio and Gibson pickups.

There are fundamental differences between SD and Dimarzio in terms of baseplate materials and vintage authenticity. Gibson and SD pickups are more similar in terms of design philosophy but they also have some differences in tone.

[alex1fly]

There aren't sonic equivalents, but you could match by 'intent' of the pickup.

You've put it more eloquently than I. Another way to phrase it could be "what family are these pickups in, and are any Duncans in that same family" rather than "exact tonal copies".