Strange SD Duckbuckers pickup

[TB85]

Hi everybody.

I just received my Duckbuckers which I hooked on ebay.
So, the pickup has no decals, no "Seymour Duncan", nothing.

I thought, I'll give it a try. I installed it into my Strat, plugged in, but I got weak output. I have Hot Rails in bridge position, and it's a lot hotter. I know, that Hot Rails has higher output than Duckbuckers, but I can't get that "twang" and quack from Duckbucker. Even Squier pickups are hotter than this Duckbuckers.

Tell me, should I be worried? What can cause such low output in pickup? Should I try different switch position? Till then my switch worked ok, so I wouldn't say it got broken at that precise moment.

Thanks for your help.

[Robert S.]

Re: Strange SD Duckbuckers pickup

The first thing to do is to unsolder the Ducks from the guitar and measure the DC resistance with an ohm meter. You should get an aprox reading of 2.7k ohms across the leads. If those readings are to spec, resolder the pickups into the guitar.

The HR is significantly hotter than the Ducks and you will hear a volume drop when switching, but the ducks shouldn't be lower in output compared to the Squire pickups. Because of their humbucking design, the Ducks can be located closer to the strings than true single coils and raising the Ducks closer to the strings may improve your output.

[BluesJunkie]

Re: Strange SD Duckbuckers pickup

Yeah, the Ducks are really low output. I have a pair in a Strat with a Little 59 in the bridge, and the 59 blows them away output-wise.

I couldn't get any quack at first with mine either, but after moving them closer to the strings, they had plenty of quack. The quack's in there. You just have to adjust the heights until you find a sweet spot.

[tone4days]

Re: Strange SD Duckbuckers pickup

yup, what they said is what i experienced - i raised it up and it sounds incredible ... also, be mindful of wiring it up correctly so as to avoid out-of-phase problems when in combination with other pups ... this mistake can cause a low output and generally crappy sound

good luck
t4d