Duncan Distortions with Series/Parallel

[gamb]

Normally I don't bother with series/parallel switching for humbuckers; I've experimented in the past and found that in my opinion, it's best to not bother trying to coax different sounds out of them by changing up the wiring. Having said that, I'm considering adding series/parallel switching to a pair of Distortions for a few reasons:
- I'd like to add some brighter, less aggressive sounds for cleans to this guitar
- I've noticed it's one of the few humbuckers that people do generally seem to agree can work in parallel
- Coil splitting not an option, single coil hum is just not something I want to work with

Does anyone have any experience with the DD wired in parallel that cares to share their thoughts?
Thanks!

 

[Hiwatts and Gibsons]

Normally I don't bother with series/parallel switching for humbuckers; I've experimented in the past and found that in my opinion, it's best to not bother trying to coax different sounds out of them by changing up the wiring. Having said that, I'm considering adding series/parallel switching to a pair of Distortions for a few reasons:
- I'd like to add some brighter, less aggressive sounds for cleans to this guitar
- I've noticed it's one of the few humbuckers that people do generally seem to agree can work in parallel
- Coil splitting not an option, single coil hum is just not something I want to work with

Does anyone have any experience with the DD wired in parallel that cares to share their thoughts?
Thanks!

Do you already have the pickup, or are you shopping? If you're shopping then I would recommend grabbing a pair of Steven Kersting's Dual Tone II humbuckers. They combine a bar magnet steel pole coil (think P90), and an A5 rod magnet coil (think Strat/Tele). In parallel they have a gorgeous hot PAFish tone with clarity and are very responsive to volume knob riding. In series they are very hot and sound great for heavier tones with a solid bottom and plenty of midrange cut.

In either mode the pickup combines the best of ceramic and A5 magnet characteristics.

if you change your mind about coil splitting the bar magnet steel pole clone dies a very legit beefy P90 tone, and I have had numerous P90's to compare it to. The A5 rod magnet coil covers gorgeous alnico single coil tones that were every bit as good as my Strat, and come damn close to the quality of tones I get from my Dynasonics, and Gibson Staple pickups.

 

[Chistopher]

DD wired in parallel is pretty great. The neck version, albeit not actually the same pickup, sounds better in parallel than series if you ask me

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I run my Duncan Distortion neck thrug a single 1 Meg pot. Sounds great clean. Adds some sparkle that the pickup doesn't naturally have.

That being said, it's kind of like an EMG 60 clean... sorta that Metallica-ish kinda clean which is cool, but I understand it might not be for everyone. I prefer the Distortion Neck clean (and overdriven) compared to my Duncan '59N, personally.

 

[NotDemanic]

Do it, you won't regret it.

 

[jeremy]

series/parallel works well with the distortion set. still sounds big, but cleaner and brighter. much better clean tones.

 

[freefrog]

IME / IMO, there's no reason for a high gain / high inductance humbucker to sound bad in parallel. That's how Paul Gilbert had his DiMarzio's permanently wired in his pink Epi Wilshire, if memory serves me, and as soon as a PU with symetrical coils is in the 8H range, it can deliver a convincing clean sound in parallel. A Dimebucker, for instance, sounds surprisingly Fenderish in this case...

 

[Aceman]

Never did a Duncan Distortion. But I have done Dimarzio X2N's and the P-Rail (which is 18k in series). I think it would work great.

I would mention, that consensus seems to be that a Distortion cleans up pretty well as the volume goes down. However, if it is losing treble that bothers you consider a Treble Bleed or 50's wiring.

But hard to argue with a switch or push /pull straight to Parallel either.