'Duncan Designed' pickups - question

[Ro_S]

Are 'Duncan Designed' always branded on the pick-ups as such? Have they always been so?

Do 'Duncan Designed' humbuckers always have 4 wires? And has that always been so?

I have a 2002 year/model Squier Jagmaster (Standard Series, made in China) guitar, owned since new. I'm trying to find out what make and model the stock humbuckers are. I believed they were 'Duncan Design' but now I'm not sure.
They're uncovered black humbuckers, completely unmarked on top and they have nothing stated or stuck on the bottom plate. They have two output wires. The DC resitance is c. 14k (bridge) and 12k (neck).

Can anyone advise/help?

Thanks!

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: 'Duncan Designed' pickups - question

Are 'Duncan Designed' always branded on the pick-ups as such? Have they always been so?

Yes and no. Duncan Designed pickups are an OEM fitment only. In their market sector, the brand name is a selling plus point. Hence, it is commercially advantageous to have it showing. The logo can (and will) rub away with use.

When the SD "offshore" line of pickups first appeared, it was labelled Duncan Performer. Some of the DD and DP are pretty much identical but get different model names.

Do 'Duncan Designed' humbuckers always have 4 wires? And has that always been so?

The majority of the passive humbucker models have 4-con + shield output cable. Active humbuckers come with 2-con + shield. (Signal/ground/+9v). Some single coil models also come with 2-con + shield cable (start/end/screen) although, strictly speaking, they only require two conductors.

I have a 2002 year/model Squier Jagmaster (Standard Series, made in China) guitar, owned since new. I'm trying to find out what make and model the stock humbuckers are. I believed they were 'Duncan Design' but now I'm not sure.
They're uncovered black humbuckers, completely unmarked on top and they have nothing stated or stuck on the bottom plate. They have two output wires. The DC resitance is c. 14k (bridge) and 12k (neck).

Those readings suggest the HB-103 B/N pair. (Based on the USA Duncan Distortion pair.)

 

[Swyse]

Re: 'Duncan Designed' pickups - question

The "Duncan performer" series is basically the same as duncan designed, but for retail instead of stock in guitars. The Duncan USM in washburns is the the same thing as well. I've never heard of unmarked duncan designed pickups, but I'm by no means an expert. It would be weird to pay for the duncan product/name on an inexpensive guitar and not use the branding to help sell them.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: 'Duncan Designed' pickups - question

Regarding the output cable conductor count.

On relatively basic OEM installations, the red and white conductors of DuncDes humbuckers only need to be soldered together and insulated. You may find that they are folded back along the length of the insulated output cable and secured with either heatshrink tubing or electrical insulation tape.

 

[Evan Skopp]

Re: 'Duncan Designed' pickups - question

When the SD "offshore" line of pickups first appeared, it was labelled Duncan Performer.

Actually, when the line first appeared, they were all labeled "Duncan Designed." The "Duncan Performer" series happened several years later and was a Guitar Center / Musicians' Friend exclusive that included retail packaging.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: 'Duncan Designed' pickups - question

Those readings suggest the HB-103 B/N pair. (Based on the USA Duncan Distortion pair.)

The DD H103 set readings are 7.8K neck, 16K bridge. And you'd be surprised how PAFish-sounding that H103N p'up is! It really shines with an A4 mag. Ask me how I know... ?

OP, chances are, those readings are from generic OEM p'ups, not Duncan Designed.

HTH,

 

[dominus]

Re: 'Duncan Designed' pickups - question

They're uncovered black humbuckers, completely unmarked on top and they have nothing stated or stuck on the bottom plate. They have two output wires. The DC resitance is c. 14k (bridge) and 12k (neck).

Not Duncan Designed humbuckers.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: 'Duncan Designed' pickups - question

Squier in-house, perhaps?

The man to ask would be Kam. He owns - and has worked on - a Squier Super-Sonic.

 

[TommyG]

Re: 'Duncan Designed' pickups - question

The DD H103 set readings are 7.8K neck, 16K bridge. And you'd be surprised how PAFish-sounding that H103N p'up is! It really shines with an A4 mag. Ask me how I know... ?

OP, chances are, those readings are from generic OEM p'ups, not Duncan Designed.

HTH,

I wonder if the neck pickup is really based on the Duncan distortion. At 7.8k is almost seems like an HB102 (59).