Anybody done a pup swap on a 2016 Fender Duo-sonic HS?

[DiscoVietnam25]

Hello everyone! Long time lurker first time poster! Here goes...

So I have a stock duo-sonic HS and I really want to upgrade the humbucker on it. I've got kind of a weird situation so some pickup advice would be nice.

So the band I'm playing with is kinda like weirdo noisy punk garage stuff. Kinda like the first Yeah Yeah Yeahs EP and album. We wanted to go as simple as possible and see what we could do so no bass player. Just guitar, drums, vocals. I use a POG and holy grail reverb pretty much always on to fill out the sound, an OCD for when the POG isn't on, and then like delay and phaser and stuff for different things. It all goes into a Fender Bassbreaker 45 head that I keep juiced and just use the output to go up and down in loudness. I was using an LTD ec-500 (I think that's the model) with active EMGs that were really rad but the guitar had an accident and the neck got broke. I replaced it with the Fender cause I like the short scale and it looks cool. The humbucker is pretty lame though. I'm not able to fill the sonic space that I was with the active pickups, however, I noticed the active pickups sound pretty sterile so I'm trying to get a happy medium. I was thinking maybe a JB4 or Distortion or a DiMarzio Super Distortion but really I don't know how to really narrow it down. So if anybody had some advice, that would be cool. Like pickup advice not find a bass player advice. Really just need something that can push enough signal into the POG so I get a nice rich frequency and drive the amp real well. And you know, enough bottom end to have some booty without sacrificing the higher frequencies. And some nastiness as well.

Thanks dudes!

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Anybody done a pup swap on a 2016 Fender Duo-sonic HS?

I don't know, the JB is popular/famous, but I couldn't recommend it to anyone who didn't want the JB sound; not just something "less lame." I love the JB but to me it isn't reminiscent of any other pickup. That is to say, if it wasn't ubiquitous it'd be a bit of an oddball. If you just want something heavier, that's probably a Duncan Distortion or something in the Custom family.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Anybody done a pup swap on a 2016 Fender Duo-sonic HS?

I would think a Custom might be better than a JB, or just go full actives again if you liked that sound before. This sounds like a perfect job for the new Duality pickup as well.

 

[DiscoVietnam25]

Re: Anybody done a pup swap on a 2016 Fender Duo-sonic HS?

Hey thanks everyone!

I think custom might be the way to go as well. I would hesitate to go active with it because I don't know what that would entail installation-wise. It's a smaller guitar so I don't know if I'd have the room to install all the electronics necessary. I was actually looking at the Invaders as well. I know they're kinda taylored more for metal but I think it might get pretty close to what I need. Just so many awesome options hahaha. I appreciate the feedback though and I hope I didn't come off too pretentious.

 

[darthphineas]

Re: Anybody done a pup swap on a 2016 Fender Duo-sonic HS?

I would think a Custom might be better than a JB, or just go full actives again if you liked that sound before. This sounds like a perfect job for the new Duality pickup as well.

what about the Duality makes it more preferred for this than the other options?

 

[stratguy23]

Re: Anybody done a pup swap on a 2016 Fender Duo-sonic HS?

I've not owned or done a pup swap on the Duo-Sonic HS, but I've spent a good amount of time playing various models in stores. It's a way cool guitar.

OP, I"m assuming that you're not caring about even output between neck and bridge pickups, because you're talking about high output pickups, and the neck single in the HS is really wimpy. Even the stock humbucker overpowers the stock neck single.

So, assuming that neck-bridge output balance isn't a consideration, and that you want "hot" and "nasty for punk garage" and "bottom end", Super Distortion is a good suggestion. Maybe even try the Tone Zone for more bottom end, or X2N for full-on all-frequencies on 11.

On the Seymour Duncan side, I would suggest the Invader. That's the closest SD offering to "fat nasty bottom end" I can think of. The SLUG might fit that bill, but it's Custom Shop, weird sized, and $$$$ - probably not what you're going for.

I would avoid the JB. It has loose/not much bass, and is meant to cut through with high midrange in a full band situation. In a no-bassist situation like yours, you need to dominate more low and low-mid frequencies than guitarists normally do. Dimarzio has more of those kinds of pickups, but the Duncan Invader also fits the bill, and is the coolest-looking pickup out there.

 

[darthphineas]

Re: Anybody done a pup swap on a 2016 Fender Duo-sonic HS?

Dimarzio has more of those kinds of pickups

agreed

 

[DiscoVietnam25]

Re: Anybody done a pup swap on a 2016 Fender Duo-sonic HS?

I've not owned or done a pup swap on the Duo-Sonic HS, but I've spent a good amount of time playing various models in stores. It's a way cool guitar.

OP, I"m assuming that you're not caring about even output between neck and bridge pickups, because you're talking about high output pickups, and the neck single in the HS is really wimpy. Even the stock humbucker overpowers the stock neck single.

So, assuming that neck-bridge output balance isn't a consideration, and that you want "hot" and "nasty for punk garage" and "bottom end", Super Distortion is a good suggestion. Maybe even try the Tone Zone for more bottom end, or X2N for full-on all-frequencies on 11.

On the Seymour Duncan side, I would suggest the Invader. That's the closest SD offering to "fat nasty bottom end" I can think of. The SLUG might fit that bill, but it's Custom Shop, weird sized, and $$$$ - probably not what you're going for.

I would avoid the JB. It has loose/not much bass, and is meant to cut through with high midrange in a full band situation. In a no-bassist situation like yours, you need to dominate more low and low-mid frequencies than guitarists normally do. Dimarzio has more of those kinds of pickups, but the Duncan Invader also fits the bill, and is the coolest-looking pickup out there.

Nailed it! I really appreciate this man, I feel like you really get me hahaha. Yeah, the neck pickup is pretty weak. I just don't use it at all, generally forget that it's there, etc. I'll do some research on the Tone Zone and the X2N! Thanks again!

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Anybody done a pup swap on a 2016 Fender Duo-sonic HS?

Those new Duo Sonics are gorgeous guitars; I did prefer the single coil neck pickup to the stock humbucker. But you wouldn't be using it much for metal.

 

[elelpe]

Re: Anybody done a pup swap on a 2016 Fender Duo-sonic HS?

P-Rails bridge and a tele neck pickup would be interesting.