Need an 80's Duncan Distortion for bridge, no logo on front

caesar81

New member
Hey guys,

I need a bridge humbucker for my Jackson King V Pro. I'm looking for the 80's Duncan Distortion with no logo on the front. Logo on the back is what I need with a "DDJ" or "JBJ" sticker.

Thanks guys,

Dave
 
Re: Need an 80's Duncan Distortion for bridge, no logo on front

Even if you can only find one with the logo, they are simple to remove. Don't let that influence your decision.
 
Re: Need an 80's Duncan Distortion for bridge, no logo on front

Here you go. It's a neck version, but I'd bet it sounds killer in the bridge. It's old enough to have the sticker that say SEYJ, which means it was wound by MJ as well. Probably doesn't get a lot better than this.

http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-80s-Seymou...4QQihZ012QQcategoryZ41430QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Here's the pre-2002 sticker link, giving all the sticker codes, and the pickups they correspond to.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/labels.shtml
 
Re: Need an 80's Duncan Distortion for bridge, no logo on front

I'm cool with one with a logo, but it needs to be of the "DDJ" or "JBJ" type. These seem to be much better than the new ones from what I'm told for the classic Megadeth sound.
 
Re: Need an 80's Duncan Distortion for bridge, no logo on front

having a no logo "DDJ" in my epiphone superstrat guitar with a old kahler...

and a recent lodo'd production model in a MIM floyd strat of my brothers...

I call tell you aside from some "piece of mind knowing who wound it and its vintage"...

they were pretty much the same animal...

wait it out for awhile and DDJ's with no logo pop up on ebay all the time for $40->$60
 
Re: Need an 80's Duncan Distortion for bridge, no logo on front

Thanks Brian,

This confirms to me that they are the same then. I'm going to buy a DDJ with logo, that should be pretty good for now. Thanks for the heads up on the DDJ's coming up often on eBay. Thanks Man !
Dave
 
Re: Need an 80's Duncan Distortion for bridge, no logo on front

yea i got a DDJ On the ebay for like $50 like a month ago
 
Re: Need an 80's Duncan Distortion for bridge, no logo on front

I'm cool with one with a logo, but it needs to be of the "DDJ" or "JBJ" type. These seem to be much better than the new ones from what I'm told for the classic Megadeth sound.

Once again IMO, the Plecebo effect.

Get a regular one and be done with it.
 
Re: Need an 80's Duncan Distortion for bridge, no logo on front

Once again IMO, the Plecebo effect.

Get a regular one and be done with it.


Yeah. I used to buy those things up for like $25 and $30 tow years ago...then someone got in there mind there was this magical fairy dust that was sprinkled in the windings and the prices shot up.

Seriously, there is NO difference besides the ones you want to hear. Duncans have always been really consistent, that's why they have been so successful.
 
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Re: Need an 80's Duncan Distortion for bridge, no logo on front

See, I disagree. I took an older (5-6 years old) zebra APH, with the old sticker, out of my strat and replaced it with a brand new double creme APH, new sticker version. The baseplate stamp is different as well.

The new APH is noticably brighter, in the EXACT same guitar, vs the old one. No matter how I adjust it....it's brighter.

The windings may be the same, but there IS something to the magnets aging, and the pickups getting used over time that mellow's them. If there wasn't any difference in things getting older, then why would Seymour bother to Dun-age his magnets for the Antiquities to get them to sound closer to the original PAF's and Strat pickups?

You can call it whatever you like, but the older a pickup gets, the sound does change somewhat.
 
Re: Need an 80's Duncan Distortion for bridge, no logo on front

The windings may be the same, but there IS something to the magnets aging, and the pickups getting used over time that mellow's them. If there wasn't any difference in things getting older, then why would Seymour bother to Dun-age his magnets for the Antiquities to get them to sound closer to the original PAF's and Strat pickups?

5 years old? I don't think it's possible for a magnet to degauss enough to make it audible in that short period of time.
 
Re: Need an 80's Duncan Distortion for bridge, no logo on front

Its all in the ears of the beholder.
 
Re: Need an 80's Duncan Distortion for bridge, no logo on front

I had an older JBJ that was wound to 17.04k, and it was the best sounding JB I've ever had. I have no doubt that if I got a new one wound a little hot like that, it'd sound great too.
 
Re: Need an 80's Duncan Distortion for bridge, no logo on front

I have a few Duncan Distortions from different eras, 80's 90's and 2000 >. Placebo or not the 80's DDJ's sound better to me than new logoed DD's. Consider this: The materials that were available back 25 years ago are probably not exactly the same formula to say the plastic bobbins, the wire is probably manufacturered differently, everything in the manufacturing process of raw materials a pickup is made from was probably streamlined over the years and the change though slight, will have some impact on the final product. However small it will be there.

This is all assuming the same companies provide Seymour Duncan with the same raw materials they did back in the 80's. My bet is they shop around for the best deals for materials to help the bottom line. See where this can deviate to different parts over the course of 25+ years?
 
Re: Need an 80's Duncan Distortion for bridge, no logo on front

even if they sound better because they've aged...

he wants the sound they had when they were new :laugh2:
 
Re: Need an 80's Duncan Distortion for bridge, no logo on front

Identical new and old pickups with a stock ceramic magnet? I'd really like to see a blindfolded hearing test based on, "older is better" with this one.

I had a boss years ago who used to constantly say, "People love to be ripped off". This instance apparently is part and parcel of what he was talking about.
 
Re: Need an 80's Duncan Distortion for bridge, no logo on front

Can anyone honestly say that any company making widgets for 25 + years, use the same exact raw materials are used that many years later? Think of cost cutting, buying materials off-shore etc etc. I'm not saying older is better, only that older is different, it HAS to be. Unless the raw materials being used today to make new pickups are from a huge purchase made way back in 1983, but even then the storage of said materials is due to the changes 25 years makes, which goes back to the differences in sound of something made today. Vicous circle.

I want to add that if you want to compare look at the Duncan Designed line, they are modelled after the US line but the sound difference is night and day. While the raw materials are obviously different specs, you can easily hear the difference. It's something along those lines between the pickups of 1983 and 2006 only more subtle. Like I said even if the same company providing the raw materials were used througout those 25 + years, the manufacturing process leads to a company to trim things here and there to save them money. Am I the only one that sees this?
 
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Re: Need an 80's Duncan Distortion for bridge, no logo on front

Perfect recent example... It didn't take long when the Digitech Bad Monkey pedal came out and it literally flew off shelves, before the internal components were shifted from Japan to Korea or China. Anyone recall that? I may be off on the country but they did shift the manufacturing to some other country. While yes it is the same, in all honesty it is completely different. That's why the first editions are the ones being sought out, not the ones they are currently selling.
 
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