Info on Duncan Designed pickups?

alexh9

New member
Hi all, I was perusing some old posts on here, and noticed at some point there was a blog post made on this site outlining more details about the Duncan Designed pickups, and which models they were similar to. However, this page is no longer accessible on the SD website. Does anyone have another way to view this information? For reference, this is the original link, but it just redirects to seymourduncan.com for me:

https://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/product-news/duncan-designed-pickups
 
I know many blogs (including well over 100 I wrote) just simply vanished. However several people here know a lot about DD pickups, so maybe they saved that info. If you have specific questions, ask away.
 
I'm one of the people who saved that page in PDF format. But I don't think the forum will let me upload a PDF. Also, I'm not sure if I'd need their (Seymour Duncan & Co.), permission since it is their intellectual property. I suppose you could PM me your email addy and I could send it to you.

If Seymour Duncan et al., don't mind.
 
Re: Duncan Designed Vs Usa Made

Careful with your model numbers there, Limbsy. From the SD website "Products" page:

The HB-101 was patterned after the Seymour Duncan SH-1 '59 Model humbucker set. It uses an Alnico 5 magnet and winding spec based on the revered 1955 - 1960 Gibson P.A.F.

The HB-102 was modeled after Seymour's favorite humbucker combination, the USA-made SH-4 JB bridge and SH-2n Jazz Model neck set. Like the HB-101s, these pickups also use Alnico 5 magnets, but have a hotter winding spec, based on the world's most popular "hot-rodded" humbucker. The bridge pickup is Trembucker-spaced.

The HB-7 is a seven-string version of the HB-102 set.

The HB-103 was patterned after the SH-6 Duncan Distortion set. It uses ceramic magnets and powerful coil windings to deliver a high output tone with lots of crunch and harmonics. The bridge pickup is Trembucker-spaced.


I asked this same question recently, because I bought a guitar that supposedly has an HB-102 set in it and I'm trying to figure if I should upgrade or not.


Welcome t the forum!
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In case people can't read the link posted:

The Duncan Designed line of pickups was started in 1995 at the request of several of our larger original equipment manufacturer ("OEM") customers who wanted to offer a pickup tied-in to the Duncan identity on their mid-level instruments. While USA-made Seymour Duncan and Basslines pickups are intended to fit on instruments with list prices over US$800, the Korean-built Duncan Designed pickups are intended for OEM use on guitars and basses with retail prices between US$300 and $800. The Duncan Designed club members include Fender/Squier, Jackson, ESP Ltd, Schecter Diamond Series, Hamer, and Aria Pro II.

There are currently several humbuckers available in the Duncan Designed range, each of which is neck or bridge position-calibrated and was modeled after a USA-built model.

The HB-101 was patterned after the Seymour Duncan SH-1 '59 Model™ humbucker set. It uses an Alnico 5 magnet and winding spec based on the revered 1955 - 1960 Gibson P.A.F.

The HB-102 was modeled after Seymour's favorite humbucker combination, the USA-made SH-4 JB™ bridge and SH-2n Jazz Model™ neck set. Like the HB-101s, these pickups also use Alnico 5 magnets, but have a hotter winding spec, based on the world's most popular "hot-rodded" humbucker. The bridge pickup is Trembucker-spaced.

The HB-7 is a seven-string version of the HB-102 set.

The HB-103 was patterned after the SH-6 Duncan Distortion™ set. It uses ceramic magnets and powerful coil windings to deliver a high output tone with lots of crunch and harmonics. The bridge pickup is Trembucker-spaced.

The HB-104 is a high-output blade humbucker that's based on a design we created for England's Patrick Eggle Guitars. The guitar was short-lived, but the pickup lives on in some recent guitar designs from Schecter and Jackson.

The HB-108 is called the Detonator™ and is based on the high-output, Seymour Duncan SH-8 Invader.

The P90-1 is a stacked-coil P-90 that offers series, parallel and out-of-phase switching capabilities.

The SC-101single coils represent a tonal cross between Seymour Duncan's SSL-2 Vintage Flat and SSL-6 Custom Flat models. Unlike many inexpensive single coils that have a large ceramic magnet glued underneath non-magnetic steel slugs, the SC-101s use real Alnico V rod pole pieces with a flat magnet stagger for exceptional string balance. The three single coil models are each specially calibrated to either bridge, middle or neck positions, with the middle pickup reverse wound, reverse polarity. The tone is chimey and bright with exceptional "quack" in the notch positions.

The HR-101 is based on the popular Seymour Duncan SHR-1 Hot Rails™, but with increased output.

The LS-101 is a Lipstick Tube design pickup.

There are also on-board electronics for bass and guitar.

The GEQ-1 Firestorm™ 20dB gain boost circuit for solid body electrics takes a standard looking axe and, with the flick of an innocent looking mini-toggle switch, turns it into a weapon of mass destruction.

For bass, there are two circuits, the BEQ-2 two-band and the BEQ-3 three-band.

In addition, there are numerous offerings for bass in standard Jazz Bass®, P-Bass®, soapbar and Music Man® formats.


Jazz Bass and P-Bass are registered trademarks of FMIC. Patrick Eggle is a trademark of Patrick Eggle Guitars, UK. Music Man is a registered trademark of Ernie Ball. Seymour Duncan is not affiliated with these companies.
 
I had a Squier Jaguar and a Squier JM with duncan designed PU , I remember the bridges were pretty hot, about 12/14K, and the neck lower than a vintage Jag or JM , I don't know what pickup they were after, I guess the corresponding Hot for bridge and Vintage for neck
 
The SC-101 looks like it fills a pretty substantial hole in the SD single coil portfolio, ie between SSL1/2 and SSL5/6
 
Thanks for posting these! I was also interested in the Duncan Designed Jaguar/Jazzmaster/Mustang pickups used in Squier guitars, and which ones they are modelled after.
 
Yes, thank you for posting this information! It is good to have it on this forum, searchable by Google. It will help a lot of people.
 
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