HB-112 love

75lespaul

75lespaul

New member
I have had the Duncan Designed HB-112 sitting in my pickup box for many years. I had put it in a guitar, possibly and Agile Les Paul, but felt it didn't live up to the hype. May have just been the guitar, but never used it again. Got the bug to tinker again so I removed the ceramic and replaced it with an A8, then wired it into my basswood Chibson SG and wow, was I shocked at how great it sounds. Nice really full sound, full but not muddy bass, nice present but not overbearing mids and highs that are not quite soft, but not harsh at all. I'd say they sing. Dropped the E to D and it chugged so nice and heavy. As I said in another post, the tone I thought of when I cranked up the amp was Tony Iommi's The Mob Rules with standard tuning. I don't see much any more about the HB-112 on the forum and I think it's a gem of a pickup that seems to be really good with a magnet change if you don't like it in stock form.
 
The HB-112 is based on the HB-103. The core wind is in the ballpark of the JB and Distortion. It's a very flexible pickup from a mag-swap standpoint.

Personally, I love that it has the pole piece arrangement of the Screamin' Demon. Looks cool and you can tweak pole pieces to fine-tune the pickup easily.
 
I love this pickup as-is in my Ibanez Saber Classic. I need another for the same guitar to tune 1 1/2 steps down and drop B.
 
I haven't tried the Duncan Designed version, but the SD Distortion sounds REALLY great with an A8 mag. MUCH better than with the ceramic mag. Like you said, " Nice really full sound, full but not muddy bass, nice present but not overbearing mids and highs that are not quite soft, but not harsh at all".

I find that typically the ceramic mag makes the highs sound very harsh and "brittle" like they are on the verge of self destruction. The A8 smooths the highs but they are still very strong. The lows may not be quite as tight as with the ceramic but they are still strong and tight.
 
I had one of these sitting around in a drawer for years. Like an idiot, I sold it before I tried it. :banghead:
 
I've had no problem or complaints with any of the Duncan Designed line of pickups. There is no reason I can think of why they would suck.
 
I love the 103's. Wouldn't mess with them at all.

Is the 112 the "Invader" style? AKA the Detonator?
 
Ah yes - 108 = Detonator, which is really a Distortion with Invader caps

Didn't know there was a Duncan designed Demon!
 
Yeah, I never swapped that pickup out of this guitar. It soinds perfect to me with the A8. Love it. Also, just got a Schecter Diamond wiith the HB-103 and it is outstanding.
 
Rex_Rocker said:
It's not really a Demon other than aesthetically. It's just a HB-103 with allen screws in place of slugs.
Click to expand...

That makes sense too...

So

103 = Distortion (or close enough that I don't care IMO)
108 = 103 + Large caps
112 = 103 + Allen screws

Which leads me to say...

The large heads take some edge off the Distortion tone, which is kind of nice. Tight, without quite the scream. A little more deep than bites.

What do the hex screws do?
 
GuitarDoc said:
I haven't tried the Duncan Designed version, but the SD Distortion sounds REALLY great with an A8 mag. MUCH better than with the ceramic mag. Like you said, " Nice really full sound, full but not muddy bass, nice present but not overbearing mids and highs that are not quite soft, but not harsh at all".

I find that typically the ceramic mag makes the highs sound very harsh and "brittle" like they are on the verge of self destruction. The A8 smooths the highs but they are still very strong. The lows may not be quite as tight as with the ceramic but they are still strong and tight.
Click to expand...
Brittle highs that sound like they're on the verge of self destruction. Thanks Doc, now I finally understand why I love the Distortion.
But a Distortion wind with Demon poles and an A8, that would be nice.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk
 
Ace, hex screws tend to tighten the overall attack. Narrower magnetic field than a standard slug or Filister screw. The opposite is the big hexes on the Invader. Huge spread out field. But bolstered by a lot of gauss.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk
 
Demanic said:
Brittle highs that sound like they're on the verge of self destruction. Thanks Doc, now I finally understand why I love the Distortion.
But a Distortion wind with Demon poles and an A8, that would be nice.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

:D
 
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