Duncan Distortion Mayhem set mods.What to expect?

J

JHN

New member
Some time ago a put a DD set in an Ibanez rg550 rosewood fretboard along with wiring for Series/parallel switches in each humbucker and autosplits in positions 2 and 4 plus middle single coil in position 3 of the switch,thanks of course to Artie who kindly did the diagram for me(thanks Artie).
Now,I think there is room for improvement in both humbuckers.

Starting with bridge Distortion,I like it enough but always thought that if i could just make it's voicing a little less bright,i'd like it more,plus the parallel option would be even better as it would have a little more prominent low mids(I am realistic,I don't really expect as much lows when in parallel mode).
Option 1 A8 or A5UO
Option 2 Half air the screw coil
Option 3 A simple 500k resistance in parallel for the bridge humbucker
only to drop the volume to 250k when full


The DDn is a little too much in bass and low mid when in series and a little louder overall than i want it to be.Parallel mode is GREAT,kinda p90ish.As is,I have it it actually flush with the pickguard which sounds good enough in series mode(I can't go lower as it touches the wood).
I think that loosing some Bass/low mid would be enough to tame the output a little AND improve it eq wise and in general as I could make up in height and having a volume advantage in parallel and split with middle single modes.
Option 1 0.047 or less capacitor in neck position only
Option 2 Half or fully airing the pickup
Option 3 Alnico 3 maybe?

Keep in mind that I am actually going with a "finetuning" mentality on the idea,as I think that with the change I could get from pleasing sounds to Grrrrrrrrrrreat.
I know the simple answer is "Get your lazy ass trying",but since with the exception of A8 and A5uo and 250k volume thingy,I have never tried any of the other options,any ideas based on personal experience would be taken with great gratitude if you think one of these options would result closer to what i want.
Thanks in advance guys :D
 
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Re: Duncan Distortion mayem set mods.What to expect?

Re: Duncan Distortion mayem set mods.What to expect?

Distortion. Mayhem.
 
Re: Duncan Distortion mayem set mods.What to expect?

Re: Duncan Distortion mayem set mods.What to expect?

Oops.Sorry for the spelling mistakes,I try to edit them out,English is not my native language.
 
Re: Duncan Distortion Mayhem set mods.What to expect?

Remember that thing is got an oversize magnet in the bridge, BUT I think A8 in the bridge is great, if is still too hot: A2
 
Re: Duncan Distortion Mayhem set mods.What to expect?

JHN. I was not attempting to mock or correct your spelling. My intention was to suggest that the product description given by Seymour Duncan Inc. was pretty darned accurate.

Crank your amplifier gain. Get shredding.
 
Re: Duncan Distortion Mayhem set mods.What to expect?

JHN said:
The DDn is a little too much in bass and low mid when in series and a little louder overall than i want it to be.Parallel mode is GREAT,kinda p90ish.
Click to expand...

I'm just getting ready to go out for awhile, but when I get back, I'll look through my archives. I seem to remember a variation of my de-mud mod that was bypassed when switching to parallel mode. It might be the perfect fix for your neck DD.

I'll get back to you soon.

Artie
 
Re: Duncan Distortion Mayhem set mods.What to expect?

I don't have a problem with the output really,I intentionally went with these pickups as i want this to be my facemelting instrument :P
I am mostly trying to fine tune eq issues and relative level differences between neck and bridge.I think maybe some of these options might make the guitar more natural and coherent sounding in what I am going for.
Edit:Once again thanks Artie :D
 
Re: Duncan Distortion Mayhem set mods.What to expect?

On the DD, run a 250K vol pot or try the A8. The UOA5 is much more like a JB than a DD. If you play metal you'll probably want the A8 or big ceramic in there. If you put in an A5 what you'll have is a normal JB for all intents and purposes.

On the neck pickup, I like the DDn with an aired A5 and an A4. I tried a normal ceramic, but it had the opposite effect it should have, so I guess I had an overly strong ceramic. I suspect you'd be happier going with a 59 or a jazz if you don't like the low end of the DDn though.
 
Re: Duncan Distortion Mayhem set mods.What to expect?

Good info King,I don't actually want to turn the Distortion closer to a JB.So I think I'll probably start with the volume mod since i expect it to have the less obvious change,and see where it goes from there.
Now as far as the neck goes,I think the whole low/lowmid content is too much and actually the thing that makes the perceived volume as more than it should.If I could magickly remove some db from 200 hz and below,I think I could even raise it to more normal height and that would benefit all sounds involving the neck pickup.I don't want a '59 style or Jazz in this guitar.Wanna keep it hot in the neck.
 
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Re: Duncan Distortion Mayhem set mods.What to expect?

Any opinions on the results of airing the screw coil(closest to bridge) of the Distortion bridge?Wouldn't it tame the high end a little?Would you expect it to loose too much "push" this way?
 
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Re: Duncan Distortion Mayhem set mods.What to expect?

Never tried it, the "air mod" usually takes away some low end though, so I wouldn't suggest that. Might work for you on the neck pickup though.
 
Re: Duncan Distortion Mayhem set mods.What to expect?

Hmmm I thought that "lowering" the output of the brightest sounding screw coil (because of placement and field under the strings)would result in the perception of loosing some treble,but I can't actually predict the effect it would have regarding the slight loss of output in series and i fear that might result in a loss of mids and push going in the preamp.I also fear that it might actually result in a thinner parallel mode.This is regarding the bridge pickup,hoping to avoid confusion.
 
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Re: Duncan Distortion Mayhem set mods.What to expect?

Nah, don't mess with the bridge pickup. Like I said, do the 250K, see if that gets you where you want to go because it's the easiest and least invasive. If that doesn't work then try the A8, and you'll need regular sized spacers for that if your pickup has thicker ones.

On the DDn, try it with an A4 or take out the keeper bar under the screw coil and "air" it, same deal as above with the spacers. I liked it with the vari-air thing Falbo came up with, mag touching the slug coil on the bass side, mag touching the screw coil on the treble side, kinda crooked in there.
 
Re: Duncan Distortion Mayhem set mods.What to expect?

Yeap.It seems the easiest mods are the ones to start with.So for starters I parallel the bridge with a 500k resistor(that will get me a 250k volume in positions for bridge series,bridge parallel,and split bridge+middle single).
I will try the demud mod in neck first as I have a feeling that I will get where I want without the whole air and/or magnet change plus it will not be a change to the parallel mode for the DD6n and the split+middle sound(did anyone think lazy-ass again?).
Many thanks for sharing the experience,good advice is what makes this forum so good.
 
Re: Duncan Distortion Mayhem set mods.What to expect?

I found it. This is simple. I only recommend this for a muddy, bassy neck humbucker. Parallel mode stays "normal".

demud05.png
 
Re: Duncan Distortion Mayhem set mods.What to expect?

The DD bridge is perfect through a 300k Gibson pot. Or use that...what's it called? Tone knob!

Just drop the neck side a touch on the neck pup, raise a couple of poles.

sheesh - you are particulalr!
 
Re: Duncan Distortion Mayhem set mods.What to expect?

Not everyone gets along with ceramic presence, with some guitars/rigs it can be very unpleasant. Or some ears may be more sensitive to it...

I don't see anything wrong with trying to fix it, especially by easily undone pickup hacks that will give you useful knowledge for matching pickups to other guitars, or getting them where you want when they don't. Plunging in instantly with 50 pickup swaps, now that's another story. Better to start from modding, it'll give you a better idea of what you are looking for and how to get there.

A really easy mod is to swap out the standard (0.75" fillister) polepiece screws under the 3 wound strings for 0.5" hex screws. Can get them from Addiction-FX (a good source for magnets as well). Easily reversed as well, but it does affect parallel, unlike that variant of Artie's de-mud mod.

That'll add a bit of bite on the low strings, and cut the bass and low mids a bit. Great for bringing blatty/farty low strings under control, without making the high strings harsher. And no soldering required, don't even need to remove the pickup.

With the vari-air, wouldn't the opposite slant (magnet touching screw on bass side, slug on treble side) keep the high strings smoother and the bass strings tighter?
 
Re: Duncan Distortion Mayhem set mods.What to expect?

Despair said:
With the vari-air, wouldn't the opposite slant (magnet touching screw on bass side, slug on treble side) keep the high strings smoother and the bass strings tighter?
Click to expand...

Not on the neck pickup.
 
Re: Duncan Distortion Mayhem set mods.What to expect?

Yeah,I know I get pretty particular here.Point is neck does not go lower,it touches wood,I like using the tone in this guitar as a whole instrument brightness modifier and I don't have the luxury of changing tone any time I change pickup position.1 master tone in this instrument and it stays like that because that is how I use it.
I like ceramics,in fact my favourite higain stock duncans are the custom and this very one distortion bridge, often with 250k or 300k volume pots.I have modded enough and have changed magnets,also hybridised coils and still do when needed.It is just this is finetuning the instrument,making it sound like it was born to do that from day one,trying it to omogenise a little the sounds.I am pretty sure tha de-mud will get me close enough if not perfect with neck position,still trying to figure out the bridge situation.
Artie,the diagram will see good use for sure.Lowering value of capacitor diminshes the range of frequencies effected,right?Sort of lowering target frequencies in a high pass filter?
 
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Re: Duncan Distortion Mayhem set mods.What to expect?

Well, if you spun the pickup so screws were away from the neck, it'd be smoother my way. But you're right, I was forgetting orientation as a factor.
 
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