Duncan Distortion Bland Need Replacement

S

SavageRiffer

New member
I got a Mayhem set a while back and have been rather underwhelmed with the tone. To me it sounds kind of bland. Something is missing somewhere but I can't figure out what exactly that is. They are supposed to be high output pickups but they feel kind of dry and only give me a liquid feel when they're fed a lot of distortion. Isn't that kind of the opposite of what high output pickups are supposed to accomplish? I thought they would give my amp a little more push and put some liquidity in my solos without having to saturate my tone with overdrive.

Well I should probably swap them out but not sure what to go for. I want something versatile enough to sound good clean and for other styles, but I definitely want to get good metal tone too. None of my guitars are suited for active pickups and I don't want to screw around with batteries anyway. Also I love to solo in the neck position so I want a neck pickup that can cut through and do good harmonics. What Duncan combo would you suggest?
 
Re: Duncan Distortion Bland Need Replacement

Well, maybe the Hot rodded set? If you want to sell them, let me know?

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Re: Duncan Distortion Bland Need Replacement

Did I just buy a Mayhem set?

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Re: Duncan Distortion Bland Need Replacement

Well, I am sure I can find a good place to put them.

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Re: Duncan Distortion Bland Need Replacement

My personal favorite Duncan pickup. The BKP Painkiller is very similar but a bit less compressed (probably because of the scatter winding).
 
Re: Duncan Distortion Bland Need Replacement

SavageRiffer said:
I got a Mayhem set a while back and have been rather underwhelmed with the tone. To me it sounds kind of bland. Something is missing somewhere but I can't figure out what exactly that is. They are supposed to be high output pickups but they feel kind of dry and only give me a liquid feel when they're fed a lot of distortion. Isn't that kind of the opposite of what high output pickups are supposed to accomplish? I thought they would give my amp a little more push and put some liquidity in my solos without having to saturate my tone with overdrive.

Well I should probably swap them out but not sure what to go for. I want something versatile enough to sound good clean and for other styles, but I definitely want to get good metal tone too. None of my guitars are suited for active pickups and I don't want to screw around with batteries anyway. Also I love to solo in the neck position so I want a neck pickup that can cut through and do good harmonics. What Duncan combo would you suggest?
Click to expand...

What amp and guitar are you playing through? A vintage style amp with a lower amount of headroom will be able to get a good amount of push from the pickups alone. Modern high gain amps have such high headroom that your pickups would have to be hot to the touch to get that kind of drive from just your amp and guitar. This will also help us to identify what pickup may work best with the wood and hardware in your guitar.
 
Re: Duncan Distortion Bland Need Replacement

I think of dryness and liquidity as being more a function of your amp settings and effects than one of pickups. If you are looking for something with smoother distortion characteristics, maybe a Custom5 bridge and 59 neck?
 
Re: Duncan Distortion Bland Need Replacement

Mr. B said:
I think of dryness and liquidity as being more a function of your amp settings and effects than one of pickups. If you are looking for something with smoother distortion characteristics, maybe a Custom5 bridge and 59 neck?
Click to expand...

I have a Diezel. It's definitely not my amp.
 
Re: Duncan Distortion Bland Need Replacement

I don't really mean which amp you have, but rather how you have it set up, and what effects you are using to keep your tone from sounding "dry". When I hear "Dry", I think of running straight into an amp with no reverb or delay. When I think of the Distortion Set, the words grainy, raw, and aggressive come to mind. The opposite of that might be something smoother and less aggressive, like the Custom 5 and 59n.
 
Re: Duncan Distortion Bland Need Replacement

Johnny the Kid said:
My personal favorite Duncan pickup. The BKP Painkiller is very similar but a bit less compressed (probably because of the scatter winding).
Click to expand...

Agreed, my favorite Duncan as well. Not even slightly bland coming from my amp. :cool:

I also have the Nail Bomb and it could be described as a bit more hi-fi and perhaps slightly meaner, although that doesn't diminish the Distortion at all. Just a different stripe.
 
Re: Duncan Distortion Bland Need Replacement

MkIII Renegade said:
Agreed, my favorite Duncan as well. Not even slightly bland coming from my amp. :cool:

I also have the Nail Bomb and it could be described as a bit more hi-fi and perhaps slightly meaner, although that doesn't diminish the Distortion at all. Just a different stripe.
Click to expand...

Yeah absolutely. I think that the BKPs are fantastic pickups, but I don't know that I like them any more or less than the Duncans. Just a different sound.
 
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