Highest Output Humbuckers Available?

M

MacBradley

New member
Hello. I use mostly single coil or low output humbuckers in the necks of my guitars. I don't use the bridge pickups too often unless I'm going for a very specific and different sound, usually for layering parts. In my next project guitar (telecaster) I'm going to to similar for the neck pickup as I usually do. Current bridge pickups I have or recently have had are JB, Screaming Demon, 1/4 pounder tele bridge, lil 59, Jazz bridge model, and a Dimarzio Steve's Special. They all have they're place and I enjoy all of them. They cover a lot of ground from vintage to high gain. I own a Mesa Tremoverb.

With that said, I would like to try something that will hit the input REALLY hard. I don't play extremely heavy types of metal music or anything, but I do love high energy and in your face sounds. I use pitch shifters, octaves, and modulation as well as synth effects a lot. I'm looking for a high out put pickup because I want to make compressed synth like aggressive distorted tones. What I'm wondering, is what some of the highest output humbuckers out there are, and also what your guys opinions of them are who have tried them. I also have a soft spending cap of $100. No actives pickups. I'm curious on opinions about this models, and also any other suggestions you might have.



Here's what I've looked at online so far:
- Duncan Black Winter
- Duncan Invader (I'm very curious to hear more about this one)
- Duncan Dimebucker (worried about excessive treble)
- Duncan Distortion (worried about excessive treble)
- Duncan Alternative 8 (hmm interesting)
- Duncan Distortion Parallel Axis PATB-2

- Dimarzio X2N (worried it won't be dark enough from reading reviews)
- Dimarzio D Activator-X
- Dimarzio Super 3 (25 k resistance!?)

- Lace Sensor Dually Red (30.5 k resistance!?)
 
Re: Highest Output Humbuckers Available?

Black Winter: Balanced, articulate, takes effects well. Very loud, but really behaves more like the pickups you are used to. I would say sounds like a flatter frequency response version of the distortion. A great all arounder
Invader: Muddy, no treble, no definition
Slug: Over your price cap, as it is $130. But it is what you are describing in that it will slam your input. It keeps definition better IMO than an invader even with its 48k resistance. It oddly reminds me of what you would get if you made the worlds most powerful noiseless p90. It is dark and clear and powerful all at the same time. Best way to describe it is more of everything. It is not what I was expecting from the specs. I bought one, thinking I'd probably end up flipping it. I ended up buying a set of neck and bridge and building a guitar around them.
PATB-2: Sounds cool, but has a definite 80's vibe to me, not in a bad way, but something in the harmonic content makes me hear that, yeah, stryper used this one.
Duncan Distortion: Bigger bass and more scream than a black winter. Sounds more compressed, and a bit boxier to me.
I own an alternative 8, but have not gotten around to installing it.
 
Re: Highest Output Humbuckers Available?

I'd say Black Winter or Alternative 8. The Alt.8 is probably a bit darker than the BW, but still quite a powerful pickup with highs that don't sizzle.
 
Re: Highest Output Humbuckers Available?

dominus said:
Resistance does not equal output.
Click to expand...

I never said it did, hence the question mark. The words don't mean the same thing, and although resistance isn't linearly related output, it is related. When a pickup has around 6 times the output of a classic strat pup, chances are its a very high output pickup. I'm hoping someone has more info on those specific pickups, other than a response to a claim I never made.
 
Re: Highest Output Humbuckers Available?

1M pots help the muddiness of the Invader, I've never had a problem with them.

Red Duallies are fun, wouldn't own one myself though.

DiMarzio X2N was a huge disappointment to me.

BW are great pickups, but not necessarily loud.

Distortion is loud, but bland IMO.

Personally for you I'd suggest an Alternative 8, P-Rails Hot, or a Wilde Pickups L-500XL (my personal pick).
 
Re: Highest Output Humbuckers Available?

MacBradley said:
although resistance isn't linearly related output, it is related. When a pickup has around 6 times the output of a classic strat pup, chances are its a very high output pickup.
Click to expand...

Yes but not always... It's interesting to compare DCR and output in mv in the pages below:

http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/strat/standard-strat/true-velvet-bridge

http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/strat/standard-strat?view=grid

http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/strat/hum-canceling-strat/hs-3

http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/strat/hum-canceling-strat


That said and to reply to your question: on the basis of your first post, a Bill Lawrence L500XL (a vintage or Wilde one rather than a BL USA) might fit your needs - or a Dimebucker. If it's too bright, just mount it with lower DCR pots and/or add a small value capacitor in parallel with it...
 
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Re: Highest Output Humbuckers Available?

Wait... a SH6 is bland but a L500XL isnt? Curious indeed.

OP If your looking to just slam in the input why not just buy a booster? So many to choose from. Ive used the TC Electronics Line Driver Dist + plus for years as a clean boost and it works farghen great for just smashing inputs.
 
Re: Highest Output Humbuckers Available?

freefrog said:
Yes but not always... It's interesting to compare DCR and output in mv in the pages below:

http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/strat/standard-strat/true-velvet-bridge

http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/strat/standard-strat?view=grid

http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/strat/hum-canceling-strat/hs-3

http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/strat/hum-canceling-strat


That said and to reply to your question: on the basis of your first post, a Bill Lawrence L500XL (a vintage or Wilde one rather than a BL USA) might fit your needs - or a Dimebucker. If it's too bright, just mount it with lower DCR pots and/or add a small value capacitor in parallel with it...
Click to expand...

People always throw this crap out when talking resistance. So you give examples of pickups that use what are essentially dummy coils to prove a point but in reality its a case of different pickup design is different.

To throw you a bone here are 2 pickups that are the same design as being discussed that can be used as examples

http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/humbuckers/steve-morse-model-neck

http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/humbuckers/high-power/steve-morse-model-bridge

There are a few other high output but not necessarily high resistance pickups kicking around such as the BKP Black hawk.
 
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Re: Highest Output Humbuckers Available?

Edgecrusher said:
People always throw this crap out when talking resistance. So you give examples of pickups that use what are essentially dummy coils to prove a point but in reality its a case of different pickup design is different.

To throw you a bone here are 2 pickups that are the same design as being discussed that can be used as examples
Click to expand...

There's no need to throw a bone to freefrog since he's not a dog: he's a 51 years old user who tinkers with pickups for approximatively 34 years.

You're totally right when you say that such different designs aren't comparable. I've intentionally selected apples and oranges in order to recall that DCR is definitively not a reliable parm, bar none. I consider as "simple and instructive examples" what you call "crap" and it tells much more about our attitude than about the subject discussed. :-)

Regards. Have a nice day!
 
Re: Highest Output Humbuckers Available?

Sorry about the crap remark but that is the way I feel when people present information that is misleading. Why throw out oranges when there are perfectly good apples available for comparison?

I will also pose this question to you, Why is it that pickup companies (including SD) continue to claim resistance equals output? One of the latest videos from SD makes a comment to this effect. Why do the companies themselves perpetuate this myth? Especially in light of SD just having released their own mV numbers... its curious really.
 
Re: Highest Output Humbuckers Available?

Edgecrusher said:
Sorry about the crap remark but that is the way I feel when people present information that is misleading. Why throw out oranges when there are perfectly good apples available for comparison?

I will also pose this question to you, Why is it that pickup companies (including SD) continue to claim resistance equals output? One of the latest videos from SD makes a comment to this effect. Why do the companies themselves perpetuate this myth? Especially in light of SD just having released their own mV numbers... its curious really.
Click to expand...


It means less people get to know how pickups work.
 
Re: Highest Output Humbuckers Available?

Why is it that pickup companies (including SD) continue to claim resistance equals output?
Click to expand...

Because it’s the case to some extent: IF we augment ONLY the DCR of a PU by adding turns of wire to it, its inductance will rise proportionally (although not in a linear fashion) and, all other parms being equal, more inductance = more apparent output.

Now, we know that output is far to be due only to inductance… and that inductance can be increased by other ways than a higher DCR… and even that a high DCR can be related to a low inductance.

Hence my answer above to the “more DCR = more output” equation: “yes but not always”…

FWIW, I've here some anonymous PAF clones measuring 10k and 12k: they are NOT more powerful than a pair of underwound Skatterbrane measuring 7,2 and 7,8k. It's even the contrary: the Skatterbranes are less compressed and have a stronger attack, delivering more output voltage. Suggestively, the inductance values of these two sets are exactly the same, despite of their vastly different DCR's...
 
Re: Highest Output Humbuckers Available?

Yes I understand the properties of it. Thats why we wind up with pickups like the BKP blackhawk. I was more asking philosophically why perpetuate this myth. But your explaination this time was 100000 times better than the oranges were. Which was the crux of my post... educate people instead of confuse apples and oranges at the same time
 
Re: Highest Output Humbuckers Available?

Edgecrusher said:
educate people instead of confuse apples and oranges at the same time
Click to expand...

Eh eh eh…

Fully agreed although I prefer to “share” and “help” than to “educate”, and such was the goal of my first post. ;-)

Now, logically, IF apples and oranges can be measured in terms of DCR, then DCR in itself might create a confusion between different things...

Is it fair to attribute this confusion to someone who underlines it? The answer doesn’t matter to me personally but for people who like to think "philosophically", it might be an interesting question. :-))

To the OP: sorry for the OT. I stand on my advices above. Good luck in your quest!
 
Re: Highest Output Humbuckers Available?

The slug isn't that hot, actually. I was surprised that it gave me a super-saturated tone, but not really that much... juice? The fullshred/JB hybrid I made (and even more so, the Fullshred/Alt8!) was about as hot but was a lot more aggressive, less smooth, more articulate and a lot, and I mean a lot, more nasty.

If you wanna go hot, take the Blackout 3.
 
Re: Highest Output Humbuckers Available?

Just get Blackouts and go 18v and be done with it.
 
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