Damm you Seymour Duncan Distortion (and boutique pickups)

Blackie13

Blackie13

New member
It's not a rant...

Here's the story, just about a year ago, I got made a new guitar, a star shaped maple body-maple neck and board. Such a great and balanced instrument, not bright or thin sounding at all...
My first choise, just to cure my George Lynch shit was the Seymour Duncan Distortion...

Damm it works great on this setup...and that distortion pickup can do about anything, I use a medium gain amp, a slightly modded 2204 with 6550s in std tuning....
You all know the drill...distortion is not a boutique pickup and has fizzy treble and cloudy mids...

So there starts the story of a numerous pickup changes throughout the previous year...bare knuckles, local boutiques and so on...
From pafs to hot pafs, from ultra high output to medium output and so on...
I spend more than 500$ to find something boutique...

Well guess what...dat 50$ SD Distortion is back in...and I am not willing to spend another dime on pickups...

Those boutique pickups tend to get very tone specific...you can get somebody's tone with easy but that's it...you can get a very organic paf, but won't push the front end of your amp...you can get a tighter and clearer pickup...but your tone can gt thin an tiny...

The SD classic line can be a bit of a "I ve heard that tone before" but DEFINATELY gives you room to work with your other stuff...

If something works, let it work...
 
The Distortion is a great pickup for what it does. More modern metal pickups will have better clarity but sound thinner, like you said, and for some styles you really don't want more clarity. When I hit a power chord and I'm playing something thrashy, I don't want to hear every note individually. I want the power chord to blend into one gigantic sound like it's supposed to.

When people say pickups are not forgiving and that they show flaws in your technique, the Distortion is the opposite. The compression will even out your pick attack. It's not as easy to play as an EMG 81 but it's the second easiest pickup I've ever played.

I thought about taking the Distortion set out of my Eclipse for something with better clarity but I decided to get a different guitar for the ultra-clear modern metal thing instead.

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk
 
Blackie13 said:
It's not a rant...

Here's the story, just about a year ago, I got made a new guitar, a star shaped maple body-maple neck and board. Such a great and balanced instrument, not bright or thin sounding at all...
My first choise, just to cure my George Lynch **** was the Seymour Duncan Distortion...

Damm it works great on this setup...and that distortion pickup can do about anything, I use a medium gain amp, a slightly modded 2204 with 6550s in std tuning....
You all know the drill...distortion is not a boutique pickup and has fizzy treble and cloudy mids...

So there starts the story of a numerous pickup changes throughout the previous year...bare knuckles, local boutiques and so on...
From pafs to hot pafs, from ultra high output to medium output and so on...
I spend more than 500$ to find something boutique...

Well guess what...dat 50$ SD Distortion is back in...and I am not willing to spend another dime on pickups...

Those boutique pickups tend to get very tone specific...you can get somebody's tone with easy but that's it...you can get a very organic paf, but won't push the front end of your amp...you can get a tighter and clearer pickup...but your tone can gt thin an tiny...

The SD classic line can be a bit of a "I ve heard that tone before" but DEFINATELY gives you room to work with your other stuff...

If something works, let it work...
Click to expand...

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. My JB/Jazz set is staying in my guitar.
 
Before you go on a tone quest, define the aim clearly, simply and briefly. If you wind up just 'searching', it is more likely to be a sideways step.
 
Blackie13 said:
The SD classic line can be a bit of a "I ve heard that tone before" but DEFINATELY gives you room to work with your other stuff...

If something works, let it work...
Click to expand...

Honestly, there's a LOT of truth to this. The first 10 humbuckers SD created could arguably cover the needs of 99.9% of players. However, because most of us have been trained since birth to become lifelong consumers victim to the perception of "product obsolescence", we're always looking for the "next best thing" when the "best" was largely established very early on.
 
bigcupholder said:
The Distortion is a great pickup for what it does. More modern metal pickups will have better clarity but sound thinner, like you said, and for some styles you really don't want more clarity. When I hit a power chord and I'm playing something thrashy, I don't want to hear every note individually. I want the power chord to blend into one gigantic sound like it's supposed to.

When people say pickups are not forgiving and that they show flaws in your technique, the Distortion is the opposite. The compression will even out your pick attack. It's not as easy to play as an EMG 81 but it's the second easiest pickup I've ever played.

I thought about taking the Distortion set out of my Eclipse for something with better clarity but I decided to get a different guitar for the ultra-clear modern metal thing instead.

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

So true...
Vintage style amps need that 80's kerrang...you just cannot have it with those new super clear pickups...
The same happens with the new amps...they seem to work better with newer pickup designs...

I wouldn't say that 81 is an easy pickup...I think that it is one of the most difficult for me...Distortion is so easy and fun...love the way it cleans up too...much better than the jb or the thrash factor that I tested...
 
Y'know, putting an A8 mag into the Distortion helps tame the fizz, and IMO makes it more responsive to touch & dynamics.
Was an improvement in both bridge and neck Distortions, for my tastes anyway.
Might've clarified the mids a bit too, though it's hard to be sure - it's been a year since I played mine at battle volume.

Double thick alnico bars are available from Cermag in the UK.
Forum member Clint 55 also makes them - he can even make hybrids using two different magnets.
 
Distortion is my absolute favorite Duncan Screamer. Currently:
2 guitars with real Distortions (Cadillac & Les Paul)
2 with Duncan Designed Distortion (Jackson Dinky and V)
And probably one with copies by the manufacturer. (Jackson V)

And just for reference, 2 with SuperDistortions.

Hmmm...I notice a trend here.....
 
I love the Distortion. It has a character that lends itself well to gain.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk
 
I'm a Distortion fan. In the '80s it nailed the George Lynch tones in my roll-your-own Super Strat. Today it's in my back-breaking Les Paul Gold Top. Sounds great through one of my Classics, Windsors, my JSX 212 and my VIP.
 
Last edited:
By and far the Distortion is my fave pickup Ive tried. Had one in an old an old RG570 and currently one in my Iceman, love it.
 
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