Help Identifing SD Pup.

[Nervustwitch]

Ok this weekend I tore down my Jackson Rhoads to clean it up and fix some wiring issues. Ive had this guitar for about 12 years,its a 1996 model and the wife got it for me used but looks brand new.
Most I did was clean it up then and gave a look to see what pups where in it. The bridge has an SH4 and the neck has a SD but never found any markings on the bottom saying what it was.

Had a bad switch, but my neck pup was sounding a bit odd and have no idea how long its been sounding off, I never use the neck in this guitar.

So I pulled the pup to see what exactly I had in there.
This pup does not have the "Seymour Duncan" branding on the top. But the main bottom plate is the normal Seymour Duncan. I can clearly see where the glue is for the factory ID sticker thats in alot of the SD's. I found the sticker in the pickup cavity. It says its an SH-6 but I dont believe it is an SH-6. Sounds too weak.

I put the meter on it and the resistance reads 8.4ohms. The SD site shows a SH6 to be about 16.6 and the neck version being about 12. The way this is installed it looks like its a bridge pup turned around so that the bobbin screws are oriented at the top. Both coils are working and I checked the pups while not wired to the guitar since I was rewiring it with CTS pots,Switchcraft jack and switch and some good wire not whatever overkill gauge wire was used in this,not original wiring.
Also the SH4 only reads around 14.4, is that normal. These readings and just all the crap wiring is why I chose to replace it all. I have double checked my wiring....all good.

The only ones on SD's site to show and 8.4 in the bridge is the Slash and Pearly Gates. I'm fairly certain its not the Slash since it has 4 conductor wire. Now I had a Pearly Gates 2-3 years back in another guitar but sold it. The PG I had is the only other SD pup I have ever owned that doesnt have the "Seymour Duncan" branding on the top of the pickup.

Also the 2 lips that the adjustment screws go through to hold it onto the pickup ring are about twice as long or more than any of my other SD's and I have full sets in 3 other guitars.

So is this an SH6 gone bad or does it sound like something else altogether and if so any more definite way to ID this thing?

 

[gregory]

Re: Help Identifing SD Pup.

Possibly a Duncan SH-1B.

Pictures???

 

[Mincer]

Re: Help Identifing SD Pup.

Welcome to the forum!

You can't really go by the branding on the top- for many years, no pickup had any branding, and many people (and OEM orders) choose to get them without the branding. It could be a '59, or maybe a JB with 1 coil not working.

 

[Nervustwitch]

Re: Help Identifing SD Pup.

Welcome to the forum!

You can't really go by the branding on the top- for many years, no pickup had any branding, and many people (and OEM orders) choose to get them without the branding. It could be a '59, or maybe a JB with 1 coil not working.

Tested both coils and both are working.
Yeah I know about branding, my Slash pups have none. But my other SH4 that I bought 20 years ago has branding.

As for pics I would need to pull it apart again. The bottom plate looks like all other SD's I have ever owned but the sticker has fallen off that labels it. Only difference are the mounting tongues are longer than any on my other SD's.

EDIT: The bottom plate is stamped with "Seymour Duncan".

 

[Mincer]

Re: Help Identifing SD Pup.

No sticker on the bottom plate?

 

[Nervustwitch]

Re: Help Identifing SD Pup.

No sticker on the bottom plate?

Nope. Looks like it has fallen off. I assumed it was an SH6 since I found a sticker laying loose in the pickup cavity that the pup is in. But with the resistance its showing its only about half the ohms but both coils are working when I put the meter on them.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Help Identifing SD Pup.

Hmm, how does it sound? Does it sound like an SH-6? Did you test the coils when not wired into the circuit?

 

[Nervustwitch]

Re: Help Identifing SD Pup.

Hmm, how does it sound? Does it sound like an SH-6? Did you test the coils when not wired into the circuit?

As stated above I tested while the pups were removed since the guitar needed a rewire and some new electronics.
Does not sound like an SH6 or at least I dont think so,too weak. But then again Ive never owned an SH6. Ive had plenty of SH4,SH5 and a couple sets of Alnico 2's.

If I compare the sound of this pup to my Slash set,specifically the neck it does not sound as good or as strong as the Slash.
Also the SH4 thats in there shows to be less resistance than what SD shows. reads about 14.4ish instead of the 16.4 I think I recall.

So quick rundown,
-Pup tested out of guitar and circuit
-Resistance is 8.4k, SH6 on Duncan site says it should be about 16.6k.
-Both coils are working
-The model sticker has come off but found an SH6 sticker in cavity so assumed thats what it was. But the bottom pup plate has the engraved Seymour Duncan logo.
-Mounting tongues are longer than my 9 other SD pups I have. Never seen them long like that.
-Wired up with the red and white together and not used,green and bare together and grounded and black to hot. And installed new CTS pots and Switchcraft jacks and switch.v

 

[hamerfan]

Re: Help Identifing SD Pup.

As stated above I tested while the pups were removed since the guitar needed a rewire and some new electronics.
Does not sound like an SH6 or at least I dont think so,too weak. But then again Ive never owned an SH6. Ive had plenty of SH4,SH5 and a couple sets of Alnico 2's.

If I compare the sound of this pup to my Slash set,specifically the neck it does not sound as good or as strong as the Slash.
Also the SH4 thats in there shows to be less resistance than what SD shows. reads about 14.4ish instead of the 16.4 I think I recall.

So quick rundown,
-Pup tested out of guitar and circuit
-Resistance is 8.4k, SH6 on Duncan site says it should be about 16.6k.
-Both coils are working
-The model sticker has come off but found an SH6 sticker in cavity so assumed thats what it was. But the bottom pup plate has the engraved Seymour Duncan logo.
-Mounting tongues are longer than my 9 other SD pups I have. Never seen them long like that.
-Wired up with the red and white together and not used,green and bare together and grounded and black to hot. And installed new CTS pots and Switchcraft jacks and switch.v

What do the separated coils measures?

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Help Identifing SD Pup.

4 wire both coils have to be tested. You already have the red and white soldered together, you don't need to pull them apart. Just put the black meter lead on the red/white pair, and then measure first to the black wire, and then to the green wire.

 

[Nervustwitch]

Re: Help Identifing SD Pup.

What do the separated coils measures?

I dont remember the exact measurement but they were about half of both coils, of which both coils were 8.4 together.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Help Identifing SD Pup.

I think you've got a possibly a 59B or Pearly in the neck. You'd have to slide the magnet out to tell. The SH 6 sticker is unrelated and throwing you off.

I think you've got a possibly a JB/C hybrid in the bridge.

Is the SH4 a four-conductor ? Short legs? Can you measure the individual coils of the SH4?

 

[Nervustwitch]

Re: Help Identifing SD Pup.

I think you've got a possibly a 59B or Pearly in the neck. You'd have to slide the magnet out to tell. The SH 6 sticker is unrelated and throwing you off.

I think you've got a possibly a JB/C hybrid in the bridge.

Is the SH4 a four-conductor ? Short legs? Can you measure the individual coils of the SH4?

Yeah the sticker was throwing me off, Im sure its not an SH6 and reason Im here.

What is a JB/C hybrid? I usually myself buy just the JB's but again I didnt buy this one so....

Sh4 is 4 wire and short legs. I'll try an measure the individuals on the JB but it appears to be working fine and as intended, its that neck one throwing me off.
How can I tell the difference in the magnets? What would I be looking for?

 

[gregory]

Re: Help Identifing SD Pup.

Perhaps he's got a hodgepodge Dimebag set: Seymourizer II (SH-6N Distortion Neck) in the bridge, 59B in the neck?

EDIT: I found this...
http://www.deanguitars.com/query?upc=814064029095
The neck pickup on the Dean FBD guitar is a Super-D, though.

So, yeah, SH-6N bridge pickup, SH-1B neck pickup. That's my final answer.

Someone somewhere has a Dimebucker and a Super-D. I'd probably put a Super 2 in the neck instead.

...and I get to be wrong!
In the picture below whatever is in the bridge is not an SH-6N. If that's the pickup that measures 12k then it's something else. And now I'm seeing it was 14.4k and not 12k at all. Oh well. FWIW, a JB/C hybrid would be more like 15.4k.

 

[Nervustwitch]

Re: Help Identifing SD Pup.

I took the mag out,nothing to note what it was. Just nickel colored bar.
I'll upload a pic if someone thinks that will help.

That white scratch isnt a scratch BTW....its a dog hair...lol. This guitar has no paint missing or scratches anywhere at all, just the normal surface marks. Not bad for 20yr old V.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Help Identifing SD Pup.

The end of a Duncan mag should have a color on it with felt pen. The different colors tell the type of mag, e.g. A2 or A5. That would help tell if it's a 59 or Pearly.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Help Identifing SD Pup.

If the bridge pickup is 14.4K, it could be one of the Custom variants. The neck pickup sounds like a 59B or Pearly Gates as suggested previously.

 

[Nervustwitch]

Re: Help Identifing SD Pup.

If the bridge pickup is 14.4K, it could be one of the Custom variants. The neck pickup sounds like a 59B or Pearly Gates as suggested previously.

Thats what i was thinking.

Best I remember when I had my Pearly Gates in a Les Paul Elite that was stolen some years ago, this one sounds somewhat familiar to it. As for the 59B, never had one and the closest I have had to any of those are the Slash set and another set of Alnico II pups years ago that I cant remember what they were.

I put the Jackson up for the day so later I'll look at that mag again for those colored markings.

As for the JB possibly being a custom variant,guess I didnt realize there were any. I'll check the ohms on a couple other JB's that I bought and installed in couple other guitars. At least in those I know exactly what I put in them. That way I can compare and see how much variation there may be in ohms between the same pups but bought threw the years. I have a late 90's,early 2000's and the version that comes in my 2006 Jackson DK2M Pro.

Thanks for all the info