Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
I have this PRS SE Nick Catanese that used to have a set of Black Winters which I loved. Having a pretty bad case of OCD, I always want to try new pickups out, lol. So I swapped those BW's out of it, and I put them into my other fiddles, which left me with a pickup-less canvass. For a while, I pondered what I should try out in it... so I finally decided on a set consisting of the Dimebucker in the bridge and an SH-6N in the neck. These are my first impressions:
Dimebucker
I'm a HUGE Pantera fan. Unlike many, I love Dime's tone, so this pickup had me wondering. I have heard many clips where it seems like it's unbearably bright, though. So I took a gamble, and decided to install it using a 250K volume pot.
Well... I wouldn't say the 250K pot was enough. I'm sure it helps and all, but this pickup is REALLY bright. I was also expecting blisteringly high output based on what the Duncan site describes it as. It's nowhere near as hot as the Black Winter. If anything, it's around Distortion Bridge levels, if not a bit tamer.
On to the positive, it's REALLY tight. Even moreso than the Black Winter, dare I say. It's got a very nice lightning-fast low-end and a very present attack. It's not a bassy pickup, but the low-end is firm. It's also really open-sounding. Definitely not you usual mid-focused hot pickup. I'll give it a few more days to see if it redeems itself. I'm not giving up on it just yet.
Distortion Neck
The Distortion Bridge is one of my favorite pickups. Before I tried the Black Winter, I would've said it was my number one, even, so naturally, I was very interested in trying the neck version. I was also very curious about how it compared to the Black Winter Neck. I'm not usually a huge fan of Duncan 7K-ish neck pickups, especially matched with a high output bridge pickup, so I figured this was worth a try.
So far, I'm impressed! It definitely shares a similar DNA with the Black Winter Neck. It's not as hot, though, and not as smooth, but it seems to have a hint more articulation. Clean tones are alright. Definitely not as open and sparkly as the Phat Cat (which I love clean, but I feel it falls apart under lots of gain), but I'm sure that it would sound better split than the average underwound neck pickup. I rarely ever play cleans, though, so that's not a concern.
So yeah. I dig the Distortion Neck, but the Dimebucker didn't have the best first impression with me.
Dimebucker
I'm a HUGE Pantera fan. Unlike many, I love Dime's tone, so this pickup had me wondering. I have heard many clips where it seems like it's unbearably bright, though. So I took a gamble, and decided to install it using a 250K volume pot.
Well... I wouldn't say the 250K pot was enough. I'm sure it helps and all, but this pickup is REALLY bright. I was also expecting blisteringly high output based on what the Duncan site describes it as. It's nowhere near as hot as the Black Winter. If anything, it's around Distortion Bridge levels, if not a bit tamer.
On to the positive, it's REALLY tight. Even moreso than the Black Winter, dare I say. It's got a very nice lightning-fast low-end and a very present attack. It's not a bassy pickup, but the low-end is firm. It's also really open-sounding. Definitely not you usual mid-focused hot pickup. I'll give it a few more days to see if it redeems itself. I'm not giving up on it just yet.
Distortion Neck
The Distortion Bridge is one of my favorite pickups. Before I tried the Black Winter, I would've said it was my number one, even, so naturally, I was very interested in trying the neck version. I was also very curious about how it compared to the Black Winter Neck. I'm not usually a huge fan of Duncan 7K-ish neck pickups, especially matched with a high output bridge pickup, so I figured this was worth a try.
So far, I'm impressed! It definitely shares a similar DNA with the Black Winter Neck. It's not as hot, though, and not as smooth, but it seems to have a hint more articulation. Clean tones are alright. Definitely not as open and sparkly as the Phat Cat (which I love clean, but I feel it falls apart under lots of gain), but I'm sure that it would sound better split than the average underwound neck pickup. I rarely ever play cleans, though, so that's not a concern.
So yeah. I dig the Distortion Neck, but the Dimebucker didn't have the best first impression with me.
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