Distinguishing b/w Seymour Duncan and Duncan Design pickups

[whalerfisher]

I am considering buying a used Jackson Randy Rhoads RR3 Pro guitar. I have found information online that says that these guitars come with Seymour Duncan pickups and sales ads that say they come with Duncan Designed pickups. I haven't seen the guitar yet but the seller assures me that it has Seymour Duncan pickups and that the top of the pickups say "Seymour Duncan". I have seen pictures of pickups that say "Seymour Duncan" on the top and pictures that say "Duncan Designed" on the top.

1. How can one visually identify whether the pups are "Seymour Duncan" or "Duncan Designed"?

2. If the pickups say "Seymour Duncan" on the top does that definitely mean that they are Seymour Duncan and not Duncan Designed pickups?

3. Or can pickups that say "Seymour Duncan" on the top still be Duncan Designed pickups?

Thanks for any help with this issue.

 

[dominus]

Re: Distinguishing b/w Seymour Duncan and Duncan Design pickups

Seymour Duncans will always say Seymour Duncan
Duncan Designeds will always say Duncan Designed

The older RR3s had SDs, (JB/Jazz) the newer ones have DDs. (HB-105s, which are Distortion/59 with Invader poles.)

 

[whalerfisher]

Re: Distinguishing b/w Seymour Duncan and Duncan Design pickups

Dominus: Thanks for the reply. Do you happen to know when the RR3 Pro last came with SDs?

 

[PonyKiller]

Re: Distinguishing b/w Seymour Duncan and Duncan Design pickups

IIRC the change from Duncan Design to Seymour Duncan pickups came along with the change from chrome to black hardware.
If the guitar has a black floyd rose bridge, tuning machines and pickup bezels, then it is highly probable that there are a set of genuine Seymour Duncans in there.

The change was the other way around. Up to like 2004-2005 the pro series 3 models had chrome hardware and Duncan Designs. From like 2006-2007 until end of production on 2011 they had black hardware and Seymour Duncans.

 

[gatorbait58]

Re: Distinguishing b/w Seymour Duncan and Duncan Design pickups

The pickup covers on the Duncan Design pickups have "Duncan Design" printed on them for a reason. The Duncan Design pickups are produced off shore to Seymour Duncan's specifications for imported guitar manufacturers who wish to provide a better quality pickup in a more affordable guitar. I have much experience with the Duncan Design pickups as they come stock in the Schecter Diamond Series guitars which I've been gigging with for 8 years now. I have experience with the USA made Duncan Distortion pickups as well. The Duncan Design pickups have way more output and better tone than the USA Duncan Distortion. The only guitar I have with more balls is the Schecter Hellraiser with EMG actives. My recommendation is that you don't judge these pickups by what is printed on the cover. Plug and play, compare with what you are accustomed to, you may be surprised. 2 years ago I replaced a stock pickup in a $250 Ibanez with a Duncan Distortion, for a client. The output of the guitar suffered immensely. I then tested the resistance on both pickups (should have done that first, just assumed the Duncan would be hotter) and to my amazement the stock pickup on the Ibanez was way hotter than the Duncan. Don't be to hasty in your judgment of an inexpensive imported guitar until you've taken a ride on one.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Distinguishing b/w Seymour Duncan and Duncan Design pickups

I haven't tried them myself, but I hear that the Duncan Designed HB-105s are really good pups.