Questions about duncan distortion

[Mikelamury]

I recently acquired a Duncan distortion and it sounds like ****! The E and A strings totally mush together and the overall vibe of the pickup is very thick, heavy and mushy. Did I get a bad pickup or is this common? I'm using a 500k liberater pot and a 500k tone pot.

[jeremy]

ive had a bunch of distortions over the years and i never thought they were mushy. it is a thick pup for sure, especially if you are used to more low output and medium output pups

[Mikelamury]

Single notes on the low strings have definition but a incomplete power chord is pretty mushy I like the JB and alt 8 but this just seems too mushy

[beaubrummels]

My Distortion is one of the tightest pickups I own. My first thought is it must be something else.

[JOLLY]

What kind of guitar is it in?

[weepingminotaur]

I'll begin by asking if you've checked the pickup height for the Distortions (bass and treble side). If you lower the bass side and raise the treble, you'll get more bite and less mush. I'll then follow up by suggesting you use Black Winters instead.

[ArtieToo]

A Distortion can be dark, but I'd never call it "mushy."

I like the JB and alt 8 but this just seems too mushy

I hope this isn't a dumb question, but is your amp dialed into the JB? And you just plugged in the Distortion? You might need to tweak some tone controls. I'm not talking down to you. Just curious.

[AdrianSD]

Bought it new from an authorised dealer? Hopefully it's not a fake. I had an SH-6 in the bridge and it was everything BUT mushy.

[Iron1]

I have a Distortion in one guitar and an HB103 (Duncan Designed Distortion) in another and neither sound anything like what you're describing. My first thought is either something is wired wrong, or as mentioned above, the pickup height is totally jacked.

Also, are you using the exact same pedal/amp settings you used for your previous pickup? Cause that might be part of the issue as well.

[Aceman]

Lets discuss the amp, the fx and the settings.

Could be pimp-slapping a dirt box or tube into oblivion. It is pretty hot...

[David Garner]

Double check the wiring and the soldering on the grounds. Does the tone pot work normally (obviously it's dark, but does it get darker as you turn it down)?

[Oldfart_Shredman]

Could be pimp-slapping a dirt box or tube into oblivion. It is pretty hot...

Getting a nice visual from that.
"That dirt box/tube is MY hoe!"
This could be a pickup UpGrayyed if you know the movie reference...

[alex1fly]

Lower the pickup as far as it'll go and then slowly raise it as you play it. Forget about any recommendations that you read online or that came with the pickup. Use your ears to find the sweet spot.

Your description sounds exactly like my experience of having my pickups too close to the strings.

[GuitarDoc]

Some very excellent observations and suggestions here so far. Like everyone else said, I have never had a "mushy" sounding Distortion, and I've had quite a few. Very tight lows...tighter even than the Alt8.

I agree that the first thing you need to do is lower the pup, especially the bass side...it really sounds like it is too close to the strings (I really think this is all you'll need to do).

The second thing to do, if needed, would be to adjust your amp settings from how you had it set for the JB.

[Mikelamury]

I think I might have an answer as to what happened. I traded pickups with someone and they just let me know that they accidentally gave me a distortion with an A5 in it. I'm glad he was honest and let me know it was an accident. Whoever said that a distortion and JB are same wind with different magnet well it didn't work out here. The A5 in this distortion sounds like **** and is mushy.