I fell out of love with the SH-6

Chuck_Norris

Chuck_Norris

New member
Hi everyone and happy New Year!

It's been a while. I've had the SH-6 for almost 10 years now and used it for downtuned Death Metal riffing (B standard and drop A). The other day I came to the conclusion that I really dislike it and will stop using it for good. Ironically, it is probably THE most popular Seymour Duncan pickup for all things Metal.

What really puts me off is that extremely annoying upper-mid grind that is just impossible to dial out. It also has a lot of "hair" which can make it sound a bit like a chainsaw on the low strings, severely reducing clarity and attack.

These days, I mainly use the SH-5 for Metal. It is very tight and punchy, has a great low-end that doesn't get muddy, and has a pleasant PAF-ish voicing (somewhat scooped). The mids are still there. They just aren't unnecessarily pronounced like on the Distortion. Fast palm-muted riffs sound huge and tight, open chords ring with clarity and the lead tone is just beyond amazing. It loves mids so be sure to set them fairly high on your amp. It completely annihilates the SH-6 in every way possible. Oh, it also has better cleans.

Some people say that the SH-5 has too much treble. I disagree. A good pickup needs treble. PAFs also have a ton of treble. The key is to use the mids on your amp's EQ to balance it out so that it doesn't sound thin or ice-picky. If you scoop your mids too much, it will definitely sound a bit thin for leads.

What are your experiences with the SH-6 and SH-5? Are there any newer SD pickups that can compete with the SH-5 for Metal and have that punchy, tight, articulate and balanced tone?

Best,

Chuck
 
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Re: I fell out of love with the SH-6

Nazgul, Black Winter, PATB-2, Pegasus and Perpetual Burn all come to mind.

I love my SH-5 in my LP Custom for metal. I have had issues with the ice-pick, by my LP is of the extremely dense pancake variety with a '60s profile maple neck and ebony fretboard. The ice-pick can be dialed out though.

I have never been a fan of the SH-6 with a double-thick ceramic for the very reasons you cited.
 
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Re: I fell out of love with the SH-6

SH-6 is Duncan Distortion and SH-5 is the Custom, for those who don't know. For the OP, have you ever tried the SH-6n (formerly known as the SH-7, or Seymourizer) in the bridge? It's a decent metal pickup. Kind of like a lite version of the Distortion.
 
Re: I fell out of love with the SH-6

It depends on your rig and the sounds your aiming for. Some actually want the known attributes from the SH-6, while others want the more clear, reigned in sound if the SH-5. Neither pup is actually "better" overall than the other.
 
Re: I fell out of love with the SH-6

I think our ears can either just change or get tired of the same sound for several years. No biggie- there are lots of good metal pickups to choose from.
 
Re: I fell out of love with the SH-6

Love the Pegasus. At 1st it seemed to be lacking aggression. Now? Its so neutral you can dial in the aggression with the amp settings. Still tons of power, harmonics, just not overly nasty. I also have the Nazgul. You would either love it or hate tho. Just has a growl all its own. The Sentient is an awesome neck pup IMHO. Black Winter is next. All I read is great things about the BW
 
Re: I fell out of love with the SH-6

happy new year Gregory.
 
Re: I fell out of love with the SH-6

esandes said:
I'd never use a ceramic mag pickup. Not even A8.
Click to expand...

Why not? I understand if your amp doesn't have the right level of headroom to deal with the output and I also understand not liking ceramics. But how many A8 pickups have you tried? A lot of the earlier ones were wound by smaller winders that didn't really understand the magnet and just used it as a sort of a gimmick, but now we have masterpieces such as the Crazy 8 and Alternative 8. If you haven't done it in a while, it wouldn't be bad to give them another chance.

There's also a myth that the A8 is somewhere between an A5 and a ceramic. That's also not true. It's closer to a loud A2 with more bass and a little more highs.
 
Re: I fell out of love with the SH-6

I have noticed that the DD can really only handle tunings down to about C/C# and after that, it is mush.
 
Re: I fell out of love with the SH-6

I could live the rest of my life playing just Distortions and Customs
 
Re: I fell out of love with the SH-6

Stronger mag, stronger string pull and everything associated with that.

Have I tried a stronger mag than A5? No. I'm partial to A2 now after using an A5 humbucker for more than 10 years exclusively. The A2 sounds mellower and more balanced, organic that I prefer for my music. I think using stronger mags-which have their purpose-would take the tones in the opposite spectrum of what I prefer in a HB.
 
Re: I fell out of love with the SH-6

The SH-6 was my "go-to" pickup for about 25 years I'd say. Les Paul, Explorer, SG, McCarty, Everything but Stratocasters! It just worked for me. Then I bought a Custom Shop Les Paul with PAF style pickups and I took a giant leap towards the sound I've been chasing all these years. Had I been going about it all wrong? Now I use Burstbucker 3s, which I LOVE, Duncan 78, Slash, Pearly Gates, Fralin, Guitarforce Eruptor,......something wound to about 8.5 to 9k with an A2 magnet. Game changing moment for me. I still have a few guitars with the Duncan Distortion and I still have a dozen or so DD's in the drawer incase this turns out to be just a phase!!
 
Re: I fell out of love with the SH-6

I never really bonded with Distortions, but that doesn't mean I won't give them a try again in the future =D. I do love the stock Custom, and have tried an liked the BW set and PATB-2.
 
Re: I fell out of love with the SH-6

I've had mine for the last few years myself. I'm thinking about trying the Dimarzio D activator X next.
 
Re: I fell out of love with the SH-6

@Chuck Norris: First, hey Chuck Happy New Year to you too! So, sounds like you've been at it quite a long time and obviously know what you're doing, but had you given any thought to (or actually tried) mag swapping in that SH-6?

Correct me if i'm wrong, but doesn't the standard Custom/SH-5 use a single-thickness ceramic? I wonder how the Distortion would sound using the Custom magnet?

I don't own any guitars right now with a Custom installed, but i did have an LTD MH-1001 (mahogany body w/maple cap, maple neck w/rosewood fretboard), with a 59 neck/Custom bridge installed. That set-up sounded really good in that guitar, although i did try it with the Distortion bridge as well. (I finally settled on the Custom w/Alnico-8 magnet, which sounded perfect! I should've never got rid of that guitar. But that's how i now have an extra single-thickness ceramic magnet to play around with.)

Right now i'm using the Distortion bridge, and 59(w/A-4)neck, in a MIJ Jackson Soloist, all mahogany w/mahogany neck and ebony fretboard. It seemed to be able to handle a variety of music pretty well- 80's rock to modern metal- but i got the itch to experiment, and have an Alnico-8 in the Distortion right now. THAT is not a combo i'll stick with.

Given the construction of the Jackson, i'm not sure how a Custom would do there, and for now mag swaps suit my budget better, anyway. Just curious which mag swaps would benefit the Distortion, thin ceramic, A4, A2, etc., or should i just go back to the stock Distortion and call it "good enough"? Thanks for any and all opinions and advice!
 
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