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

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

my two cents based on what I have and use:

Duncans are buttery and smooth, crunchy and velvety

Dimarzios are harsh, aggressive, raw, maybe a little buzzy fuzzy and noisy

EMGs just sustain freakin' forever and sound real damn nice in my opinion.

these are based on these pickups I've owned or used:

Duncan: JB, Distortion, Screamin' Demon, Jazz

EMG: 81,85

Dimarzio: H2 single coils and Tone Zone bridge

I think I'm going to put some duncans in my Ibanez to replace the Dimarzios. I like the raw edge but they just hurt my ears after a while.
 
Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

I would say no one is better than the other, it's just a matter of what you are looking for. Do you like Fords or Chevys or Chrysler? The key is to keep an open mind and look over everything to get you the sound that is in your head.
 
Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

Hey, here comes my 2 cents. If you want a vintage vibe in a humbucker. buy a gibson, single get a fender. If your lookin for a nice hotrod, get a JB or a Superdistortion. Every Guitar "God" got famous using one of the 2. Both DiMarzio and SeymourDuncan will bend over backwards to please customers. They both make great products. You wont be dissapointed with either.
 
Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

ive always thought about this. what if someone gave you a les paul with dimarzios in it, and you played it, and you loved it. but you didnt know they were dimarzios...then someone gave you a les paul with duncans in it, you played it and loved it and you didnt know they were duncans. then the person told you who made the pickups. what if you hated dimarzios but you liked the sound of the dimarzio equiped one better? would you change your mind?
 
Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

I've had both and it's hard to say, really..I had a hot rails ni the first guitar Is tarted to play way back when and I LOVED it..

My esp came with a Demon in it. Wasn't really for me. So I replaced it with a Distortion. Still, wasn't for me. It's in the shop getting a JB as we speak. hopefully that'll be the last time I have to put a pup in that thing. So we'll see how I feel about that probably this week.

I have a new EBMM axis..has a custom wound dimarzio in it. I didn't like it at first, then I screwed with the action and the pole peices and whatnot and in about 10 minutes, I loved it. I'll never take that thing outta that guitar. It just sounds and feels too good..Would there be a duncan that would sound good in it? I'm sure there is. But I ain't gonna mess with it =)
 
Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

Xeromus said:
my two cents based on what I have and use:

Duncans are buttery and smooth, crunchy and velvety

Dimarzios are harsh, aggressive, raw, maybe a little buzzy fuzzy and noisy

EMGs just sustain freakin' forever and sound real damn nice in my opinion.

these are based on these pickups I've owned or used:

Duncan: JB, Distortion, Screamin' Demon, Jazz

EMG: 81,85

Dimarzio: H2 single coils and Tone Zone bridge

I think I'm going to put some duncans in my Ibanez to replace the Dimarzios. I like the raw edge but they just hurt my ears after a while.
Click to expand...

This is what i'm talking about....somebody tries TWO pickups of their whole line and then makes a blanket statement that Dimarzios are harsh, buzzy and noisy....please.

FYI I found the Duncan Distortion to be way more "harsh" than the Super3 IMO. And I also found the JB to be way more agressive in a good way than the Super Distortion. Every pickups is different...it's tough to make blanket statements without playing a lot of pickups.

And dont' forget that everyone is using different amps/guitar too. A "harsh" pickup on someones amp is smooth on someone elses.
 
Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

ranalli said:
This is what i'm talking about....somebody tries TWO pickups of their whole line and then makes a blanket statement that Dimarzios are harsh, buzzy and noisy....please.

FYI I found the Duncan Distortion to be way more "harsh" than the Super3 IMO. And I also found the JB to be way more agressive in a good way than the Super Distortion. Every pickups is different...it's tough to make blanket statements without playing a lot of pickups.

And dont' forget that everyone is using different amps/guitar too. A "harsh" pickup on someones amp is smooth on someone elses.
Click to expand...
I totally agree, I don't think someone could make such huge generalizations with that experience, I myself don't have tons of experience with duncans I usually just play used equipment that happen to have duncans or dimarzios or emgs. I'll then take it to a room with all their super merchandise and do comparisons through nice amps. If I don't have the experience I don't give the advice, seems easy enough. I wouldn't want my opinion to be influenced by someone who says dimarzios all sound compressed because he played a Evo through a crappy amp :dammit:
 
Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

I agree that it's really hard to make broad generalizations because both companies offer SUCH a huge variety in their product line. People say Duncans are more "vintage" and "classic" sounding, but I'm not hearing "vintage" and "classic" when I play a Dimebucker or Invader. Likewise, DiMarzio has this reputation for being overly gritty, gruff and fuzzed out. But they offer over a couple dozen pickups... how could they all fall under one convenient categorization?

I play Duncans and I will continue to play Duncans exclusively.. not because I think there's only one sound they offer, but because I've had a few different Duncan pickups in my life and not one of them has less than blown my mind. DiMarzio's might also, but why switch when you've found something you love? I have no hatred for DiMarzio, but I just don't feel the need to spend my money on pickups I'm not familiar with.

Besides, Duncan is such a great company to buy from. They give you that cushy guarantee, not to mention this great website plus this user forum plus free schematics. Duncan knows how to treat their customers, plus they make the best pups I've heard, plus they don't cost so much I have to sell my car to buy a new set. Why switch now?


There's only one good argument that Duncans and DiMarzio offer brand-specific tone and that is this:
Gearjoneser said:
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.
Click to expand...

That's very true... kind of makes you wonder. Chalk it up to coincidence, maybe?
 
Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

In my experience, Dimarzios have a lot of high end and high output, but are lacking in overall tone. No warmth. However, it has only been in guitars that had Dim's as stock pickups, like Deans and Ibanezes. I've never used a Dim as a replacement. But, when I replaced a Dim with a Dun in an Ibanez, the Duncan ruled.
 
Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

Gearjoneser said:
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.
Click to expand...

This is totally incidental, and not at all important in the grand scheme of things, but I LOVE the logo. Without the logo, they just look like boring old stocks. That's what I want to avoid. The current "Seymour Duncan" logo looks cool without being flashy and gaudy... just perfect. Hey, if you've got some sweet new pickups, they should look the part.
 
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Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

As for comparing a crummy OEM stock pickup to a real Duncan....of course the Duncan is going to win out...same if you put a Duncan Design vs any Dimarzio. That comparison is plain silly.
 
Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

I love Virtual PAF. It neither looks nor sounds like any Dimarzio I have known.
 
Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

there was a thread about this on the old board, and even showed the materials in the pups, and it clearly showed that duncan uses better quality parts.


does that mean they sound better? no. both companies are different.
 
Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

I'd love to see that thread.... just to satisfy my own curiosity. Can you link to it? Do you know where the info came from?
 
Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

I've played a les paul with dimarzio's and the first thing that came to my mind is "processed". The tone sounded like it was played through thousands of dollars of rack gear. And Adam Jones uses a JB in the bridge of all his Les Pauls.
 
Re: No biased opinions! are duncans just better than dimarzio's?

i played a les paul with a super distortion in bridge, i actually liked it alot. sounded pretty good through the peavey XXL i played it through. i think it had a super distortion in neck too, and it sounded great in there also!
but i prefer duncans, the Custom murders every dimarzio i've ever played. i love it too pieces!
 
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