Duality Pickups Videos, Reviews & Info ?

[insidethegrave]

Hi all,

I just recently pulled out a Blackouts set from my main guitar and have been thinking on ways to get a high output passive pickup (dynamics and sound) but I still want to use the battery cavity. Have been going back and forth with the idea of buying a pre-amp pot (Seymour Duncan Blackouts Modular Preamp or Guitar Fetish) and test some passive pickups, however I'm also very interested in the "Duality" pickups since they were announced, but it seems there's no videos, (further) info, reviews, etc about the set. I'm looking for a "Duncan Distortion" sound and dynamics with a bit more headroom and a tad more tight bass response. The EQ chart for the "Duality" says it has exactly that (more bass than the Duncan Distortion, plus more dynamics due to the Alnico 2 magnet and more headroom from the preamp).

Anyone that might tried this set ?, or lead me to other recommendations ?.

Best Regards

 

[Mincer]

Re: Duality Pickups Videos, Reviews & Info ?

There was/is a recent discussion of this very set here.

 

[allstarrme]

Re: Duality Pickups Videos, Reviews & Info ?

Have you checked out the fish man fluence line?

They're not exactly passive, but super innovative.

 

[insidethegrave]

Re: Duality Pickups Videos, Reviews & Info ?

There was/is a recent discussion of this very set here.

Thanks for the link. I did check that post a few days back. I think I'm more visual-hearing type of person, so I had a very difficult time trying to understand the explanation of the sound described. What made lots of sense is the fact that a lot of people that bought "Duality" pickups are putting them up for sale at eBay, craiglist, etc, which makes me wonder even more if the pickups are so versatile that doesn't exactly fit in for specific needs ? or if they are so specific sounding that might not cover everything what they are meant to be made for ?

 

[insidethegrave]

Re: Duality Pickups Videos, Reviews & Info ?

Have you checked out the fish man fluence line?

They're not exactly passive, but super innovative.

I've been looking at the videos since NAMM 2016, they look and sound terrific, however the brand grew up very fast in marketing for the last few years and so far I don't know a person (friend or relative) that have made a purchase of a set of Fishman pickups to give it a try. Also, I'm a bit worried about something in particular about Fishman, there's no EQ chart for the pickups, I wonder if the EQ is flat ?

 

[allstarrme]

Re: Duality Pickups Videos, Reviews & Info ?

Fishman as a brand has been around forever, mostly for acoustic pickups.

It's also no secret that frank falbo left Seymour Duncan and went to fishman to help develop these. They are easily the most cutting edge pickup and there's plenty of info on this forum about them. I have a set just waiting for a guitar to put them in.

I think the eq is flat and the preamp adds some shape to them. They have a much broader range compared to any other pickup, passive or active.

Maybe check out some demos online, also the Gus G set is pretty great if your ok with the looks.

 

[insidethegrave]

Re: Duality Pickups Videos, Reviews & Info ?

Fishman as a brand has been around forever, mostly for acoustic pickups.

It's also no secret that frank falbo left Seymour Duncan and went to fishman to help develop these. They are easily the most cutting edge pickup and there's plenty of info on this forum about them. I have a set just waiting for a guitar to put them in.

I think the eq is flat and the preamp adds some shape to them. They have a much broader range compared to any other pickup, passive or active.

Maybe check out some demos online, also the Gus G set is pretty great if your ok with the looks.

I have an acoustic guitar with Fishman pickup and know the brand has been the top seller of acoustic pickups across the board for the last 15-20 years. What gave me the odds is the roster that Fishman build for their Fluence Modern pickups is mostly (not totally) people that sell good (KsE, Lamb Of God, Deftones, Animals As Leaders) and friends of Ken Susi, so the marketing is top notch, not saying it's not true. Now what you mentioned is also right, I saw a couple of videos of Frank Falbo with Fishman, and I was like "When did he dropped Seymour Duncan to join Fishman ?". Gus G set was/is also another option, however the look is pushing me back honestly, that's the reason why I wanted to make some research and see if someone has more info or videos of the duality pickups.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Duality Pickups Videos, Reviews & Info ?

There's literally nothing out there on the Duality pickups. Sadly, Duncan is doing a terrible job marketing them (as usual) :stooges:

The first demo video was great, but 8 months have passed since and nothing else has been said about them. SD will never compete with the likes of Fishman in the active market moving forward if their marketing approach is simply to let new products simmer on the backburner. They should hire Frank back, LOL!

Ultimately, you'll just have to get a set and try them for yourself. They are really cool pickups, but hard to explain in words. Not quite what I was after, but definitely have more passive character than previous models, including the Gus G set.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Duality Pickups Videos, Reviews & Info ?

I admit that there isn't a ton of info about the Dualities, but they are constantly working on new videos and stuff, so who knows. It isn't a sound that *I* generally go for, but I can see how others would totally dig them.

 

[insidethegrave]

Re: Duality Pickups Videos, Reviews & Info ?

There's literally nothing out there on the Duality pickups. Sadly, Duncan is doing a terrible job marketing them (as usual) :stooges:

The first demo video was great, but 8 months have passed since and nothing else has been said about them. SD will never compete with the likes of Fishman in the active market moving forward if their marketing approach is simply to let new products simmer on the backburner. They should hire Frank back, LOL!

Ultimately, you'll just have to get a set and try them for yourself. They are really cool pickups, but hard to explain in words. Not quite what I was after, but definitely have more passive character than previous models, including the Gus G set.

Totally agree. I saw your post about the "Duality" pickups and it clears lots of doubts I had about how they behave and react, however as you mention I think I will need to buy a set and give it a try, see if I like it or not. Based on your experience with that particular set, would you say they sound closer to a certain model of the SD passive humbuckers ?.

And yeah, SD haven't payed much attention to the active market since day 1, Blackouts were promoted in a shy weird way (I think I heard about them from other YouTube channels and users rather than SD channel). EMG also fell asleep for a while after the 57/66 sets and the Retroactives doesn't seem like something I'm looking for now, but Fishman's humbuckers marketing is amazing (even the packaging looks like you are buying some sort of Apple made pickups).

 

[insidethegrave]

Re: Duality Pickups Videos, Reviews & Info ?

I admit that there isn't a ton of info about the Dualities, but they are constantly working on new videos and stuff, so who knows. It isn't a sound that *I* generally go for, but I can see how others would totally dig them.

Haven't seen much videos lately from Keith, Ola and other people who used to promote SD a lot, even the Loomis set haven't been promoted properly. Will give the Duality pickups a try.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Duality Pickups Videos, Reviews & Info ?

Based on your experience with that particular set, would you say they sound closer to a certain model of the SD passive humbuckers?

Honestly, I can't compare any standard SD pickup to the Duality. The closest would probably be a mix of the Pearly Gates and a Custom 5 with a broader frequency response in the top end. Or maybe something like the George Lynch "Super V" if it was active...ha ha!

Like I said, you have to play the pickups in person to really understand what they're about.