Jalen 78 vs Duncan 78

P

PDC

New member
Has anyone here on the forum tried both the Duncan 78 and the Jalen 78 (maybe even in the same guitar?) and have any thoughts on how similar or dis-similar the two actually are?

I've got a guitar that came with the Jalen 78 - and while it sounds great to my ears (having never played a guitar with a Duncan 78) I'm wondering if there is anything left on the table so to speak with the Jalen as opposed to a Duncan.

FWIW I have several Jalen Franky's and a Jalen Bee and I find them all to be really nice pickups. Great quality, great tone, top notch customer service.

Thank You!
 
Van Halen 1 First album was recorded with a ibanez super 70 pickup alnico 8 magnet (Ibanez Destroyer)non term songs the franky strat had a Mighty Mite 1300 pickup basically a copy of the Dimarzio Super Distortion. Van Halen 1 first album was recorded in 1977 and released In 1978. Eddie changed the pickup in the franky after Van Halen 1 was recorded
 
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Yo PDC!!!
What’s up man!
I have been dying to try a Jalen pickup. What do you think of it?
Scott has been using them in all of his personal guitars lately and his clips sound phenomenal.
 
Hey GTR Jr! All good here! The Jalens I have sound great. I’ve got one ‘78 in a hard ash Eruption Tribute and several Franky’s in various Super-Strats. I’ve got one ‘Bee that I swapped the magnet for an un-oriented rough cast A-5 (the ‘Bee comes with an A-8). They are all incredible pickups. I’ve never tried the Duncan ‘78. Wondering how it compares ...
 
pittbull said:
Van Halen 1 First album was recorded with a ibanez super 70 pickup alnico 8 magnet (Ibanez Destroyer)non term songs the franky strat had a Mighty Mite 1300 pickup basically a copy of the Dimarzio Super Distortion. Van Halen 1 first album was recorded in 1977 and released In 1978. Eddie changed the pickup in the franky after Van Halen 1 was recorded
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I agree with this but in most parts of the world it would be considered blasphemy to utter such things...
 
FWIW - I ran into a thread on another forum where Al Estrada had posted a demo vid of the Jalen ‘78. Another member was curious how the Jalen ‘78 compared to the Duncan ‘78. This was Al’s reply:

“I a/b'd this in the same guitar/amp, the Jalen '78 to the Duncan '78 and there's no difference whatsover..same feel and tone!“
 
An idea what the price difference is?

I have checked out Jalen’s FB page but there’s not really a comprehensive list of his pickup models that I callus see.

And if memory serves, the Duncan 78 isn’t a production model so it’s more expensive?
 
You are correct - Jalen’s FB page does not provide a list of models and specs. And I have yet to find even a small website that has that info. But he is fantastic about replying to pm’s on the FB page. I think his basic winds are the ‘78, the Franky (I think the Franky and the Pinnacle are the same offering), the Bee (A-8 Magnet) and one he calls the Madman thats a bit hotter wind. But he will wind literally anything you want - and for those who are not tech/spec savvy, he will discuss your gear, the guitar the pickup is going in and the general sound you are looking for and then make a suggestion. He recently wound a clear bobbin Bee with a rough cast A5 mounted on an EVH stripe series base for my Yellow and Black stripe guitar. It looks and sounds incredible. $80.00.

And yes, a new Duncan ‘78 will run $150 - $160.
 
PDC said:
You are correct - Jalen’s FB page does not provide a list of models and specs. And I have yet to find even a small website that has that info. But he is fantastic about replying to pm’s on the FB page. I think his basic winds are the ‘78, the Franky (I think the Franky and the Pinnacle are the same offering), the Bee (A-8 Magnet) and one he calls the Madman thats a bit hotter wind. But he will wind literally anything you want - and for those who are not tech/spec savvy, he will discuss your gear, the guitar the pickup is going in and the general sound you are looking for and then make a suggestion. He recently wound a clear bobbin Bee with a rough cast A5 mounted on an EVH stripe series base for my Yellow and Black stripe guitar. It looks and sounds incredible. $80.00.

And yes, a new Duncan ‘78 will run $150 - $160.
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$80 is more than reasonable.
As soon as I get a few extra bucks I may reach out to him and see what he can do.

I just spent a ton removing and pruning a crap ton of trees from my yard, my taxes just went up a little and by default my mortgage as well. So extra spending is off the table for the time being until I can get a few bucks banked again.
 
Masta' C said:
This is precisely why SD needs to start offering their classic "Custom Shop" pickups as top-tier production models. That said, it's awesome that Jalen makes such nice pickups at reasonable prices!
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100%. There's too much competition to spend $160 for the 78 these days. If I was in the market for a Duncan 78, I'd probably end up with a Jalen Origin or a Pariah Pasadena White over a 78...they are half the price! But if I could get a 78 for close to the same price, it'd be a different story.
 
pittbull said:
Van Halen 1 First album was recorded with a ibanez super 70 pickup alnico 8 magnet (Ibanez Destroyer)non term songs the franky strat had a Mighty Mite 1300 pickup basically a copy of the Dimarzio Super Distortion. Van Halen 1 first album was recorded in 1977 and released In 1978. Eddie changed the pickup in the franky after Van Halen 1 was recorded
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By his own admission eddie used a rewound gibson P.A.F which more than likely wound up being the duncan custom.
everything about the sh-5 screams old VH tone, souped up P.A.F tone with the traditional look of a gibson humbucker. also this super 70 talk? How do you explain his tone having the same drive/gain on both the strat and destroyer?
the super 70 is a weak pu(7.4K) compared to the MM or DSD(13.6K)
I have a old ibanez with super 70's and they need a pedal or high gain amp.
 
I never intended (but reluctantly expected) my original post to break ground on yet another tunnel to the rabbit-hole of Ed’s gear before, during and immediately after the VH-I recording sessions. I just hear great guitar tone in the vast majority of vids featuring the Duncan ‘78 and Al Estrada’s video featuring the Jalen ‘78 and wondered if anyone who had experience with both versions - maybe in the same guitar - had identified any differences between the two. Al answered that in one of the threads on another forum where he indicated the he could tell no difference between the Duncan and the Jalen in the same guitar through the same signal chain into the same rig. (I only ran into that post after starting this thread) I’ve had very good results from the other Jalens in my current line-up of ‘main’ guitars, so I just ordered his version of the ‘78 (the ‘Origin’) and I’m betting I will be glad I did.
 
SAVAGE DISTORTION said:
By his own admission eddie used a rewound gibson P.A.F which more than likely wound up being the duncan custom.
everything about the sh-5 screams old VH tone, souped up P.A.F tone with the traditional look of a gibson humbucker. also this super 70 talk? How do you explain his tone having the same drive/gain on both the strat and destroyer?
the super 70 is a weak pu(7.4K) compared to the MM or DSD(13.6K)
I have a old ibanez with super 70's and they need a pedal or high gain amp.
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Just popping in to say that the Super 70's were some of the first to come with Alnico 8 magnets. The whole point of them was to be a higher output version of the classic (Gibson) design. No, they are not quite as "hot" as a MM or Super D, but DCR doesn't tell the whole story, so throwing those specs around when making comparisons can be a little misleading.

PDC, I can't wait to hear your impression of the Jalen. I was tempted by them many times. That said, Al Estrada can make practically anything sound like EVH, sort of like EVH himself :)
 
Masta' C said:
Just popping in to say that the Super 70's were some of the first to come with Alnico 8 magnets. The whole point of them was to be a higher output version of the classic (Gibson) design. No, they are not quite as "hot" as a MM or Super D, but DCR doesn't tell the whole story, so throwing those specs around when making comparisons can be a little misleading.

PDC, I can't wait to hear your impression of the Jalen. I was tempted by them many times. That said, Al Estrada can make practically anything sound like EVH, sort of like EVH himself :)
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I’ve got a Jalen ‘78 in a very high quality ‘Eruption’ tribute that a luthier in OK assembled for himself - and sold. Hard Ash Musikraft Franky Body, 6-screw Trem, Musikraft ‘Grail’ neck. And that guitar just sounds incredible. Of course, it does the early VH thing really, really well. But the pickup cleans up so nicely with the volume control that it really encourages lots of different styles. I’ve got a clear bobbin Jalen ‘Bee in one of my super-strats. Really cool, but I found the A8 magnet to be a little ‘hard’ sounding for lack of a better term. I swapped in a Rough Cast, Un-Oriended A5 and the pickup softened up and opened up nicely. I love his Pinnacle / Franky wind which I think is a little hotter at 14.4 with an A2. It sounds good in just about any guitar.

And I so agree with your thoughts on Al Estrada’s playing. Just like Pete Thorn, Estrada can make any piece of gear sound sensational, and he really has the right phrasing and ‘vibe’ so get the listener hearing Ed no matter what guitar or amp he’s playing throug. Always a chase!
 
Eddies rewound pickup was done after the recording of Van Halen 1, it’s all marketing BS look at all the SO-CALLED Van Halen sounding pickups that are out there almost all of them are considered high output,all the Eddie designed pickups are high output
 
Pete thorn showed the difference between a Dimarzio Super Distortion and a PAF type pickup and the dimarzio super distortion was much closer to Van Halen 1 then a PAF. PAF would be good for Van Halen 2 not Van Halen 1
 
The 1176 compressor had a lot to do with Eddies sound on Van Halen 1 which was used . Don Landee and Ted Templeman(recording engineers if some of you don’t know)used the 1176 which gave Eddie aggressive sound it added to it
 
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