Re: Any Les Paul/Duncan Custom Users?
Don't have one in a Les Paul currently, but have had them in a few paulas as well as Explorers, a V, a Strat, etc over the years.
It's a thick crunchy pickup..lots of low mids, and "regular mids" with a cutting/slicing top end under "moderate" gain. It also has a slight roll off in the bass frequencies....somewhat like a wah pedal depressed between 1/3 and 1/2 way.Put alot of gain on it, and the top end gets really compressed like a DiMarzio Super D (in fact the two pups are VERY similar....but the Super doesn't have the rolled off bass frequency and the top end is more "rounded" from the get go) They both have that "awww" sound to them.
I don't think they do blues very well...or cleans...I usually paired mine with a 59 or such, and it just wasn't "right" when I flipped to the middle position. Rolling off the guitar volume for cleans...meh...thin...not warm at all. This is where the SuperD surprises me...it actually has decent cleans rolled off. Not warm either, but more...pleasant...sounding.
In a Gibson style instrument ,IMO it's best suited for one thing: hard rock...april wine/kansas/later thin lizzy type stuff through 80s metal. It's not quite tight or articulate enough for modern/thrash metal, and not warm/dynamic enough for blues/classic rock. It's a late 70s/80s kinda sound.. but it's not terribly versatile in a Gibson.
This is all through a Marshall type amp. Perhaps in a Boogie or other "american" voiced amp, it may be a different animal.
