No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

[RG 2570]

I ask this because many opt for duncans over dimarzio,like most top guitar makers use duncans in the guitars for public sale,like jackson,schecter,moore, fender,gibson(they had a special issue Les paul with 3 duncan distortions! :saeek: ) charvel, and many ,many more. even parker is using the JB/jazz set on the fly mojo!
now on the other hand many top PLAYERS use dimarzio and not all are just rock guys like al dimeola,eric johnson, and many more.
what is it that a duncan pickup does or has that dimarzio lacks?
i keep hearing the duncans are more organic?????? what does that mean?
I would like straightforward mature replies :thanks: :fing2:

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

Duncan Pickups remind me more of vintage Gibson and Fender pickups than DiMarzios. Even the hot Duncans like the JB and Custom, Custom 5 and Custom Custom have more of the classic tone and vintage vibe I prefer. DiMarzios are fine pickups, but to me they sound like the way some New Yorkers talk! ( LOL! ) Kind of aggressive and in your face! I've owned quite a few DiMarzios...I prefer Duncans. I guess Seymour and I both like similar tone...because I just feel more at home with Duncans.

 

[WARRENLEELYNCH]

Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

Lew pretty much hit it on the head :notworthy
duncans are voiced more vintage overall, like if you listen to a 59 and a virtual paf , the V paf sounds more modern.
from my understanding dimarzio is about making modern classics, like one time i asked steve at dimarzio how vintage P.A.F is a V paf amd the reply was " it preforms like a old P.A.F with a modern twist" in other words it is not as technically accurate as a seth lover or antiquity.
I think you should use what YOU like and not worry about what tom,**** and harry use
even IF i tell you "yeah duncan are just better!" that is only a opinion not a absolute fact, ask steve vai,joe satriani, or any other dimarzio user and you will hear the opposite

 

[RG 2570]

Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

well for now i will stick to dimarzio . see i was told that the dimarzio's are better suited for ibanez RG guitars than duncans?

 

[papersoul]

Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

But, don't for a minute think you can't get modern tones from a Duncan. A LOT of that is in the amp! My C-5 loaded LP can do classic rock to 80s metal to NU metal with a flip of the amp channel. Look at the modern metal guys using Duncans. Godsmack - Pearly Gates, System of a Down - Pearly Gates, George Lynch (not modern metal) - JB, Jerry Cantrel - JB, Adam Jones of Tool - JB, etc, etc.

George Lynch said it well when he mentioned that Duncans seem to breathe better.

I am starting to realize less of a desire to seek out the hand wound boutique p'ups when there are so many Duncans from which to choose. :32:

I think what Lew said is a big reason Duncans work so well in Gibsons.

I still hear the Dimarzio Air Zone is one of the best p'ups to own.

 

[Neeradj]

Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

well for now i will stick to dimarzio . see i was told that the dimarzio's are better suited for ibanez RG guitars than duncans?

Not better suited, they just fit better :laugh2:
I once heard someone say Ibanez hates Seymour Duncan pick ups, and I defenitely knew what he was talking about when I tried to fit my JB into my Ibanez :smack: . The sideplates only fitted the triangle shaped DiMarzio makes.

Don't be mistaken, Ibanez, Gibson, Jackson, Fender and many more use DiMarzios. I'm just as experienced with Duncans as I am with DiMarzios, but I never wanted to try the vintage pick ups on both so I guess that's where I lack knowledge. I wouldn't say Duncans are more organic, they're just so specific in a good way. Like nailing the '70's rocktones with the '59, the DiMarzios are less targeted and some of us think that's a major flaw. Let's say Duncan makes a pick up for a specific group of players (old school?), and DiMarzio makes a pick up for a wide range of guitarplayers including those. Those players will be able to nail the sound they're looking for with that Duncan, but the others will get that "not quite yet" feeling with the DiMarzio. At least that's my experience with both, I am kinda pushed to the Duncan side because I can get 'em cheaper from the USA than DiMarzios. DiMarzio does make excellent targeted pick ups, like the Humbucker from Hell, but pups like the Tone Zone only slightly cover enough ground, if you ask me.

Even players like Jason Becker and Joe Satriani went both brands and always sounded amazing, so it's kinda like a player: "What sound do I want today?"

 

[Fatty]

Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

Honestly, I've only tried Duncans. But if it ain't broke, why fix it?

 

[plesk00]

Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

Wait a minute....Papersoul, do you know what kind of pickups Adam Jones uses?

 

[yes-fan]

Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

i prefer dimarzios

 

[Nightburst]

Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

The only advise I can give you is, listen closely to your favorite tones from artists/bands and find out what pickups and gear they are using. It's one orientating step in your tone quest, in search of your ultimate tone. I don't think Dimarzio or SD is better/worse than the other, it's just a choice you have in aftermarket pickup replacement and maybe one company policy will suit you more than the other. It's all buisness but in the end your choice to make.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

As a firm believer of boycotting products for reasons of egregious business practices (another thing Dimarzio is good at), I´ll stay out of this for the most part. Most of what I could add Lew took out of my mouth anyway

But I must add that I wasn´t happy with DImarzios when I still used them in Customer axes, there was always something about the way they were constructed that I didn´t like. Seemed "cheap" to me, like a Korean Epiphone pickup. They never fell apart or anything, But I did have a constant fear that they would sooner or later

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

DiMarzios are fine pickups, but to me they sound like the way some New Yorkers talk! ( LOL! ) Kind of aggressive and in your face! .

Hey Lew, You try'in ta say I talk like a DiMarzio??? FUHGEDABOUTIT ! (LOL !!)
HA HA !! I only had one Dimarzio,And I hated it. It was Loud and aggressive
and in your face. :yell: I hope I don't sound like Dat to the rest of the
country?? :smack: I'll have to move to Florida then. LOL !!

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

I don't like pickups that don't look like original equipment on guitars. Duncans look
better, even though I wish they'd do away with the logo alltogether.

As for sound, I don't like sifting through boutique pickups, because they cost more and don't sound any better, in my experience. I'll never buy any DiMarzio's because every one I had got sold or returned for not being the sound I wanted. Not to mention, Duncan provides us this board for free. The least we can do is support them for that!
I don't even like talking about DiMarzio's. I will say that if you look at the artist roster for Duncan and compare it to DiMarzio's, you'll see that the guys with fat tones use Duncans and the guys with "Bumblebee Tone" are using DiMarzio's. It's so dramatic, it's almost not even debateable.
uke:

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

Hey Lew, You try'in ta say I talk like a DiMarzio??? FUHGEDABOUTIT ! (LOL !!)
HA HA !! I only had one Dimarzio,And I hated it. It was Loud and aggressive
and in your face. :yell: I hope I don't sound like Dat to the rest of the
country?? :smack: I'll have to move to Florida then. LOL !!

:smack: :blackeye: LOL!

 

[ranalli]

Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

Both companies make great pickups IMO. Duncan makes traditional "play it safe" type pickups for the most part that don't stray very far from sounds of the past whereas Dimarzio doesn't focus as much on that but on breaking new ground with some wild sounding pickups that focus on a lot of different things.

And the same goes for the users too.....seems like alot of the hardcore SD guys stick to only a few pickups out of the whole line......how original is it to have a JB-59 combo anymore??? The hardcore Dimarzio guys will try anything....HFH with a Norton??? Sure....you got it.

Myself...I fall somewhere in the middle...both companies make great pickups that don't really overlap on one another....you won't really find any one Duncan that sounds exactly like a Dimarzio and vice versa.

 

[fenderiarhs]

Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

duncans better than dimarzio?no.....just different

 

[papersoul]

Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

Wait a minute....Papersoul, do you know what kind of pickups Adam Jones uses?

Yes, he has a JB in the bridge of his Silver burst.

 

[Farkus]

Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

I don't like pickups that don't look like original equipment on guitars. Duncans look
better, even though I wish they'd do away with the logo alltogether.

As for sound, I don't like sifting through boutique pickups, because they cost more and don't sound any better, in my experience. I'll never buy any DiMarzio's because every one I had got sold or returned for not being the sound I wanted. Not to mention, Duncan provides us this board for free. The least we can do is support them for that!
I don't even like talking about DiMarzio's. I will say that if you look at the artist roster for Duncan and compare it to DiMarzio's, you'll see that the guys with fat tones use Duncans and the guys with "Bumblebee Tone" are using DiMarzio's. It's so dramatic, it's almost not even debateable.
uke:

Agreeing with the above, I have to say that I can usually tell when a player is using DiMarzio (especially PAF pros and the like). The first time I ever heard Dream Theater I was like...'wow what a great player. He sounds...thin...though. Sounds like DiMarzio'. One of my best friends and I made a pact that we wouldn't inflict pain on each other by playing DiMarzio equipped axes when we jammed (not a joke). On the other hand, I have tried and liked one of their single coil pickups, I think it was the FS-1. It sounded quite good, actually. But their humbuckers...forget about it. If you like that tone, use them. But, for the most part, if you decide you don't like that sound, you'll be changing pickups; I've had zero luck with changing settings on my amps to get more tones. This is what seperates Duncans from DiMarzios to me. I don't hate DiMarzios, I just don't use them.

Of course this is all opinion, just my 2 cents worth...

Farkus

 

[kevlar3000]

Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

I use whatever works for the particular guitar I am playing. I use both lines as well as Fender neck pickups in my Tele and Strat. One maker has not satisfied all of my wants so my mind is wide open as far as what to use. For the marketplace more choices is better than less choices for me the consumer. This us versus them thing is really missing the point. It comes down to what tools can help me to be creative and both companies more than have a place in my gear.

 

[brinton]

Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

I love My blue velvets