paperbacknovelty
New member
Will these two pups mesh well in my blacktop tele?
Duncan Distortion(B) & Humbucker from Hell(N)?
- Thread starter paperbacknovelty
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CTN
The Drama Dude
Re: Duncan Distortion(B) & Humbucker from Hell(N)?
heh. that's the exact combo I have in my mahogany set neck ibanez.
depends what you want to achieve. If you want a nice PAF tone in the neck, there are better pickups that the HFH. IMO it is pretty bright, but it just doesn't have a single coil sound. Very polite sounding. not much character.
It has DRAMATICALLY less output than the DD. Like if you are using the DD with your amp set to a light crunch, switching to the HFH may well eliminate your crunch altogether and leave you with a clean sound.
My Ibanez is my dedicated metal guitar, and I was hoping the HFH would give me a killer piercing single coil type brightness with PAF-ish output, but boy was I wrong. It's a lot warmer than a single coil, but decently bright for a humbucker. the main thing is the output. it has so little, that it cannot keep up output wise with a DD.
I might get a Full Shred neck to replace the HFH since it has more output and a very similar EQ.
heh. that's the exact combo I have in my mahogany set neck ibanez.
depends what you want to achieve. If you want a nice PAF tone in the neck, there are better pickups that the HFH. IMO it is pretty bright, but it just doesn't have a single coil sound. Very polite sounding. not much character.
It has DRAMATICALLY less output than the DD. Like if you are using the DD with your amp set to a light crunch, switching to the HFH may well eliminate your crunch altogether and leave you with a clean sound.
My Ibanez is my dedicated metal guitar, and I was hoping the HFH would give me a killer piercing single coil type brightness with PAF-ish output, but boy was I wrong. It's a lot warmer than a single coil, but decently bright for a humbucker. the main thing is the output. it has so little, that it cannot keep up output wise with a DD.
I might get a Full Shred neck to replace the HFH since it has more output and a very similar EQ.
idsnowdog
Imperator of Indignation
Re: Duncan Distortion(B) & Humbucker from Hell(N)?
IME the HFH is very weak and only sounds good with a maple fretboard. The problem with the HFH is it is completely transparent and it takes on the personality of the fretboard material. The HFH is not corrective surgery as Dimarzio would have you believe. Instead it faithfully conveys the character of the instrument. This means with rosewood it is dark, rich and mellow. With ebony it is dry, crisp and smooth. With maple it is bright, lively and snappy.
IME the HFH is very weak and only sounds good with a maple fretboard. The problem with the HFH is it is completely transparent and it takes on the personality of the fretboard material. The HFH is not corrective surgery as Dimarzio would have you believe. Instead it faithfully conveys the character of the instrument. This means with rosewood it is dark, rich and mellow. With ebony it is dry, crisp and smooth. With maple it is bright, lively and snappy.
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dvadneau
New member
Re: Duncan Distortion(B) & Humbucker from Hell(N)?
^ This.
I purposely put a HFH into a guitar I sold a friend of mine because I understood what he was after. It was a Squier Tele with a maple neck. He never switches between pickups - usually just sticks with one for everything. But, he does like to play clean on occasion. The bridge is a 59/Custom, which is brilliant in that guitar, dammit. The HFH is a large contrast in output. It isn't particularly bright in that guitar, because it's not a very bright guitar, but the guitar does have a good sound and the HFH shows that. It lets him start off with a clean sound on his amp then switch to the bridge - it's like kicking on the overdrive switch for his amp.
When I got the HFH, I was expecting a single coil sound, or a very bright sounding humbucker, so immediately threw it into the neck of my LP. I hated it. It was warm and mellow like I had turned down the volume and tone pots to 3 or 4. I should note that I might not have had it in the best possible direction - I didn't know at the time, but there is only one coil of wire.
I knew not to expect what the name implied, from reading forums and reviews, but DiMarzio's description is so off, it's just wrong. I'd love to know what amps and guitars they used to come up with that description.
^ This.
I purposely put a HFH into a guitar I sold a friend of mine because I understood what he was after. It was a Squier Tele with a maple neck. He never switches between pickups - usually just sticks with one for everything. But, he does like to play clean on occasion. The bridge is a 59/Custom, which is brilliant in that guitar, dammit. The HFH is a large contrast in output. It isn't particularly bright in that guitar, because it's not a very bright guitar, but the guitar does have a good sound and the HFH shows that. It lets him start off with a clean sound on his amp then switch to the bridge - it's like kicking on the overdrive switch for his amp.
When I got the HFH, I was expecting a single coil sound, or a very bright sounding humbucker, so immediately threw it into the neck of my LP. I hated it. It was warm and mellow like I had turned down the volume and tone pots to 3 or 4. I should note that I might not have had it in the best possible direction - I didn't know at the time, but there is only one coil of wire.
I knew not to expect what the name implied, from reading forums and reviews, but DiMarzio's description is so off, it's just wrong. I'd love to know what amps and guitars they used to come up with that description.
zenmindbeginner
New member
Re: Duncan Distortion(B) & Humbucker from Hell(N)?
Humbucker from Hell and Screamin' Demon are 2 very misnamed pickups.
But then again, most of DiMarzio's pup names mean absolutely nothing.
Norton, Evolution, Area, Injector, FRED etc are meaningless to me YMMV.
Humbucker from Hell and Screamin' Demon are 2 very misnamed pickups.
But then again, most of DiMarzio's pup names mean absolutely nothing.
Norton, Evolution, Area, Injector, FRED etc are meaningless to me YMMV.
Rand-O-Monium
New member
Re: Duncan Distortion(B) & Humbucker from Hell(N)?
Didn't care for the HFH for the reasons described.
Didn't care for the HFH for the reasons described.
RayBarbeeMusic
New member
Re: Duncan Distortion(B) & Humbucker from Hell(N)?
I disagree with most of what was said above.
The HFH is not weak, in fact its a bit hotter than most neck PAFs. It will certainly match or over power a Duncan Distortion in the bridge for volume; remember neck pickups see a lot more string vibration so don't need nearly the wind or magnet strength. If you are finding that not to be the case, you're backing it too far off the strings.
I always find I have to back the neck pickup off a hair to not overwhelm something like a JB, C5, Distortion, etc in the bridge, even with the bridge pup is more or less kissing the strings. It wont keep up with an X2N but it will keep up with a Super 3, which is blistering hot. If your crunch goes away or it sounds weak, move the HFH closer or check your wiring, something is not right.
It also isn't super bright. Its a tad brighter and tighter in the bass than something like a Jazz, with a touch more output, but it isn't night and day at all.
I do agree that it has no single coil properties. It sits very much in the "neck PAF" tonal range, although the brighter/tighter side of it. It's just a couple houses down the street though, not next neighborhood over.
I disagree with most of what was said above.
The HFH is not weak, in fact its a bit hotter than most neck PAFs. It will certainly match or over power a Duncan Distortion in the bridge for volume; remember neck pickups see a lot more string vibration so don't need nearly the wind or magnet strength. If you are finding that not to be the case, you're backing it too far off the strings.
I always find I have to back the neck pickup off a hair to not overwhelm something like a JB, C5, Distortion, etc in the bridge, even with the bridge pup is more or less kissing the strings. It wont keep up with an X2N but it will keep up with a Super 3, which is blistering hot. If your crunch goes away or it sounds weak, move the HFH closer or check your wiring, something is not right.
It also isn't super bright. Its a tad brighter and tighter in the bass than something like a Jazz, with a touch more output, but it isn't night and day at all.
I do agree that it has no single coil properties. It sits very much in the "neck PAF" tonal range, although the brighter/tighter side of it. It's just a couple houses down the street though, not next neighborhood over.
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