duncan detonator hb 108 ?

[gearhead63]

Re: duncan detonator hb 108 ?

I've been doing a little mods on my HB108 pickups, I have the neck and bridge units. If you take a row of those hex head bolts out, get an old pickup and knock the solid slugs out with a hammer and drift, they'll pop right into the Detonator! I figured that out when I took a screw out and it actually threads into NOTHING! Just a slight press fit to the coil. I did my bridge unit, took away some of the bottom end and brightened it a good bit. Gonna do the neck pickup also. I looked at the bottom plate, it looks like a normal duncan, and uses #3-48 threads like regular American made pickups use. Not metric **** from china. I think the coils look the same, although I believe they are "F" spaced. I haven't taken the coils loose from the base to look at the magnet.

 

[pawleep]

Re: duncan detonator hb 108 ?

I've been doing a little mods on my HB108 pickups, I have the neck and bridge units. If you take a row of those hex head bolts out, get an old pickup and knock the solid slugs out with a hammer and drift, they'll pop right into the Detonator! I figured that out when I took a screw out and it actually threads into NOTHING! Just a slight press fit to the coil. I did my bridge unit, took away some of the bottom end and brightened it a good bit. Gonna do the neck pickup also. I looked at the bottom plate, it looks like a normal duncan, and uses #3-48 threads like regular American made pickups use. Not metric **** from china. I think the coils look the same, although I believe they are "F" spaced. I haven't taken the coils loose from the base to look at the magnet.

Don't people want the bridge pup to have good bottom end?
Have a HB103b and HB108b and not sure which one to try in a firebird clone bridge.
Am probably going to do a spin split as well.
Any thoughts appreciated! p

 

[gearhead63]

Re: duncan detonator hb 108 ?

I have that set of Detonators in an Ibanez SZ720FM, I left one row of slugs and one of screws in the neck pu, it has a serious deep sound, not really muddy though. I also tried swapping the thick ceramic mag for a regular size, and tried an alnico V, in the bridge pu, not really much difference in the tone. So the bridge pu has the original screws and magnet back on it. Has some serious "growl" to it. My other guitars sound a little smoother with distortion, even the LP style double cut I have with an Invader in it. Might be the guitar, not sure.I'm using it for some downtuned (drop C and B) material we are playing. Works pretty well. I experimented a bit with different value pots, different tone caps etc just to see. The pots have the greatest impact from what I found. I put a 1Meg pot in one of my axes, was a bit bright, so tried different resistors across the outside lugs till I got it about where I wanted it.

 

[alessandroarzilli]

Re: duncan detonator hb 108 ?

Hello! Sorry for resuscitating this very old thread, but I didn't want to create a new one and pollute the forum. I recently bought a Jackson KE3 MIJ and it's got two Duncan Designed Detonators HB108 pickups (I've completely disassembled the guitar, cleaned it and re assembled it back).
https://ibb.co/1RzYZRJ
I'd love to swap the magnets inside them. From what I've read here, they should come with a double stack of ceramic magnets each, my goal would be to put one Alnico 5 magnet inside each.
Since I'm looking for a guitar tone similar to the Custom 5 SH-14, would this be a good idea?
Any particular tips? I've found alnico 5 magnets for just 10 dollars on eBay...

 

[Mincer]

Re: duncan detonator hb 108 ?

Hello! Sorry for resuscitating this very old thread, but I didn't want to create a new one and pollute the forum. I recently bought a Jackson KE3 MIJ and it's got two Duncan Designed Detonators HB108 pickups (I've completely disassembled the guitar, cleaned it and re assembled it back).
https://ibb.co/1RzYZRJ
I'd love to swap the magnets inside them. From what I've read here, they should come with a double stack of ceramic magnets each, my goal would be to put one Alnico 5 magnet inside each.
Since I'm looking for a guitar tone similar to the Custom 5 SH-14, would this be a good idea?
Any particular tips? I've found alnico 5 magnets for just 10 dollars on eBay...

Yup, that's all there is to it. I don't know how close the wind is to a Custom wind, but switching out the mags to A5 is the right step in that direction.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: duncan detonator hb 108 ?

The wind of the HB-108 is much closer to the "Distortion" and "JB" models.

That said, an A5 mag would definitely be a step in the right direction for what you're after and you might really like the results.

 

[alessandroarzilli]

Re: duncan detonator hb 108 ?

Thank you very much Mincer and Masta'C!
After reading your comments, I immediately bought a pair of Alnico 5 magnets from Alegree for 11.83 euros. Can't wait for them to arrive! Just wondering... If the original HB108 detonators have 2 ceramic magnets, how would I know the correct polarity orientation when swapping them with the new Alnico 5? Also, do I have to put something between the new Alnico 5 magnet and the pickup's external plate, to fit the previous height? Thanks again

 

[Masta' C]

Re: duncan detonator hb 108 ?

I can't recall 100%, but I believe the HB-108 had a standard-height ceramic magnet, so no major tweaking necessary.

As far as magnet orientation, find yourself a small compass and place it near each long side of the pickup. Keeping in mind that opposites attract, the "N" on the compass will be pulled toward the south "S" pole of the magnet and the "S" on the compass will be drawn to the north pole of the magnet. Simply ensure that the replacement magnets are oriented in the same way as the ones you remove and that's it! It can be helpful to mark the north side of each magnet with a marker as you go to help keep track.