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Is this a real Seymour Duncan?

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  • Here we go again.

    So I'm looking for pickups for an LP copy. It had a JB/Jazz set, but that is going into a reheaded headless project.
    Found this Seth bridge at a domestic online seller, used but prime condition, and the price is acceptable.

    But...is it real? Is...anything real?
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    The seller states specs:
    - A2
    - Silver-nickel cover and baseplate
    - Unpotted
    - Butyrate plastic bobbins
    - Enamel wire
    - Wooden spacer...is I guess the correct-ish translation?

    I guess it's easy enough to c/p some spec sheet, but upon visual inspection, what do you think? This thing legit?

    Oh, you enchantress, you irresistable succubus that is The SDUGF Collective, I beseech - ney - I pray to thee, at thyne shrine of astral wisdom and protocosmic experience.
    Will thee bless the unworthy with answers which he so humbly seeks?
    I thank thee with mine sincerest of hearts.

    Eternally shackled in gratitude for thyne benevolence,
    Dan the Flan
    The biggest difference between Chet Atkins and Dimebag? Probably the beard...

    Comment


    • Looks right to me. Date codes match. Visually looks right.

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      • Originally posted by beaubrummels View Post
        Looks right to me. Date codes match. Visually looks right.
        When you beau, you know! Tnx, ordering.
        The biggest difference between Chet Atkins and Dimebag? Probably the beard...

        Comment


        • Originally posted by DCikes88 View Post
          When you beau, you know!
          Ha! That's good

          Comment


          • Neck Hot Rails: Old or Fake?


            Ordered off of Amazon preowned -- which, now that I see a whole forum sticky dedicated to this topic, makes me feel stupid. I have to return it no matter what (no multimeter reading between white and black) but I'm curious: This isn't an old-but-legit Duncan, is it?

            The container it shipped in definitely looks real (I got some brand-new Duncans a little while ago so I recognize it well), but (A) the pickup doesn't say Duncan anywhere on it, (B) while my Lil 59 fits in my pickguard just fine, this one is slightly too big (I have a Washburn Mercury from the '90s), and (C) while the ends of the wires had been soldered, there's a film of some kind covering the screw holes, which is weird for a used pickup. The box also included the apparently never-used screws (which by itself isn't too odd because someone might have reused the screws from their previous pickup). The packaging mentions the Duncan website so it can't be *that* old. The resistance I can measure seems not quite right either, about 6.4k between red and green which seems high for one neck coil. The whole pickup is supposed to be 10.8k.

            Seems fishy, but one thing I can't do is recognize old pickups on sight. Is this vintage rather than fake? Back has the number 1050 at the top, plus IN 1 and IN 2 on the right and END 1 and END 2 on the left.

            Comment


            • Definitely doesn't look like an SD to me.

              For a start, as you mention there is no SD printed on the pickup, there is no model label. Comparing it to a newer model Cool Rails, both back and front look quite different. The top is molded as a single piece, not two separate half size covers like in your pictures, the back is completely different.

              I don't have an older model hot rail etc. to compare. I guess it would be closer, but still different from what I can find of images on Google. As far as I can tell the single piece molded cover hasn't changed since the older model, but I couldn't be sure of that. The colour of the wires doesn't even match up from what I can see online.

              In addition, there are a couple of things that I just can't quite identify that seem off, like maybe something with the blades themselves.

              As always, I'm happy to be corrected by someone more knowledgeable than myself, eg. as DCikes88 mentioned above.

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              • Older Hot Rails don’t have a circuit board. I sold a 96 a while back.

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                • Thanks to both of you!

                  I'm glad this wasn't the first aftermarket pickup I ever bought and I knew enough to run some tests and have some red flags go up. A year or two ago I probably would have cut my pickguard to fit it and started soldering away without checking the readings or asking too many questions about why it doesn't have a logo on it.

                  Comment


                  • Originally posted by robertv4311 View Post
                    Thanks to both of you!

                    I'm glad this wasn't the first aftermarket pickup I ever bought and I knew enough to run some tests and have some red flags go up. A year or two ago I probably would have cut my pickguard to fit it and started soldering away without checking the readings or asking too many questions about why it doesn't have a logo on it.
                    The thing is that the circuit board side looks super familiar but I can’t put my finger on it. If I remember what it is I’ll circle back. It’s been killing me all day lol

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                    • Originally posted by Blille View Post

                      The thing is that the circuit board side looks super familiar but I can’t put my finger on it. If I remember what it is I’ll circle back. It’s been killing me all day lol
                      This probably isn't it, but another thing that set off my Spidey Sense is that the whole thing looks suspiciously close to the $12 Musiclily rails, though the number on the back of the Amazon picture doesn't look like 1050: https://smile.amazon.com/Musiclily-H...79&sr=8-2&th=1

                      Comment


                      • This just looks like a case of someone bought a Duncan to replace a cheap pickup, put the cheap pickup in the empty Duncan box, then years later sold the Duncan box with the cheap pickup in it as if it was the Duncan. Can't say if deliberate or just a mistake, but it happens.

                        Comment


                        • Originally posted by beaubrummels View Post
                          This just looks like a case of someone bought a Duncan to replace a cheap pickup, put the cheap pickup in the empty Duncan box, then years later sold the Duncan box with the cheap pickup in it as if it was the Duncan. Can't say if deliberate or just a mistake, but it happens.
                          Love how you give folks a chance to not be scum

                          Originally posted by robertv4311 View Post

                          This probably isn't it, but another thing that set off my Spidey Sense is that the whole thing looks suspiciously close to the $12 Musiclily rails, though the number on the back of the Amazon picture doesn't look like 1050: https://smile.amazon.com/Musiclily-H...79&sr=8-2&th=1
                          Looks super similar, maybe that was it.

                          Comment


                          • Originally posted by Blille View Post
                            Love how you give folks a chance to not be scum


                            ...
                            Errr on the side of grace.

                            I miss the 80's (girls) !!!

                            Seymour Duncans currently in use - In Les Pauls: Custom(b)/Jazz(n), Distortion(b)/Jazz(n), '59(b)/'59(n) w/A4 mag, P-Rails(b)/P-Rails(n); In a Bullet S-3: P-Rails(b)/stock/Vintage Stack Tele(n); In a Dot: Seth Lover(b)/Seth Lover(n); In a Del Mar: Mag Mic; In a Lead II: Custom Shop Fender X-1(b)

                            Comment


                            • Originally posted by beaubrummels View Post
                              This just looks like a case of someone bought a Duncan to replace a cheap pickup, put the cheap pickup in the empty Duncan box, then years later sold the Duncan box with the cheap pickup in it as if it was the Duncan. Can't say if deliberate or just a mistake, but it happens.
                              Sounds about right -- although the film that covers the screw holes seemed still intact, as if it had never been installed in a guitar at all. I wonder if they replaced a normal single coil, knew it couldn't be passed off as a hot rail, and got a $10 knockoff hot rail to sub in. (Which would mean it wasn't innocent alas.)

                              Comment

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