Reviews of Duncan Humbuckers for Metal & Heavy Distortion

[motorhead]

Re: Reviews of Duncan Humbuckers for Metal & Heavy Distortion

I had a Demon in a BC Rich Super Strat for 11 years. Loved it - I did everything with it. It's a Super PAF.

It worked very well with the 2 single coils (Voodoos or DiMarzio SDS-1). The only reason I changed it was because the Gibson Iommi came out. I was curious, tried the Iommi and realised it's probably the best distotion PU available today. Plus, it's constructed for high volume playing i.e. hardly ever feeds.

The only drawback of the Demon are the Harmonics don't jump out as much as on a JB, Distortion, Allen Holdsworth or Iommi.

 

[philthis]

Re: Reviews of Duncan Humbuckers for Metal & Heavy Distortion

one of my guitars is an american strat-maple neck-floyd rose equiped guitar with 2 humbuckers. the floyd rose trem robs base and volumn as some of you may have experianced. I wanted somthing in the neck that would be strong enough to sound good clean with the floyd but still have good strat type tones even when it was split in single coil position. I put in the full shred neck pickup and man was I happy with that. it sounds realy full and lush clean and split clean it sounds pretty close to how a regular single coil sounds. dirty it gets a real cool bluesy clip (unsplit) without it getting to basey and I find my self useing it for some realy cool lead tones. split dirty you can get some great jimi hendrix or stevie ray tone out of it as well. I would highley recomend this pickup for anyone with a strat style guitar equiped with a floyd rose type tone arm.

 

[take2]

Re: Reviews of Duncan Humbuckers for Metal & Heavy Distortion

anybody else have a review of the dimebucker?

 

[motorhead]

Re: Reviews of Duncan Humbuckers for Metal & Heavy Distortion

one of my guitars is an american strat-maple neck-floyd rose equiped guitar with 2 humbuckers. the floyd rose trem robs base and volumn as some of you may have experianced. I wanted somthing in the neck that would be strong enough to sound good clean with the floyd but still have good strat type tones even when it was split in single coil position. I put in the full shred neck pickup and man was I happy with that. it sounds realy full and lush clean and split clean it sounds pretty close to how a regular single coil sounds. dirty it gets a real cool bluesy clip (unsplit) without it getting to basey and I find my self useing it for some realy cool lead tones. split dirty you can get some great jimi hendrix or stevie ray tone out of it as well. I would highley recomend this pickup for anyone with a strat style guitar equiped with a floyd rose type tone arm.

I always thought the FS neck would be a better choice than the Jazz neck.

Especially if you like distortion and a clean sound. Never got around to testing my theory.

 

[philthis]

Re: Reviews of Duncan Humbuckers for Metal & Heavy Distortion

yup that full shred neck cleans up without being thin sounding or basey muted sounding and it wont fart out your speakers at big volumn. it also has a wicked distortion sound and you can get some great lead tones out of it as well as roll of the volumn nob to 8 and get big fat blues-all this with tone sucking floyd rose trem on my guitar. its the best pickup i have heard for pairing a heavy metal bridge pickup and heavy and clean tone neck pick up for a floyd rose trem. I like it much better than the jazz.

 

[Farkus]

Re: Reviews of Duncan Humbuckers for Metal & Heavy Distortion

Yeah, Prophet is right...I LOVE the FSb pickup in my ash American Strat. In fact, I like it so much, I'm thinking about chucking the neck pickup, the Pearly Gates, in favor of the Full Shred neck pickup. I was using the neck PG for sweet, smooth leads...and it DOES that, and holds up well with considerable gain. But, now I'm finding since I record a lot, I can switch guitars for that. Now I'm jonesing for a tight, focused neck pickup to go with the FSb; from what I've read the FSn will do that. The FSb gives me Yngwie smoothness with less squeal than HS-3's.

The PGn is probably going into my Wolfgang...along with a black JBb. Many will balk at this choice. But, I'm not afraid to try them or to eq aggressively and adjust pup height, which helps immensely. For example, the ash strat was said to run the risk of being too bright for the FS ( and I appreciate the advice!)...but man, it can cut like crazy, but still has great, fat tone without being shrill in the least. The bottom end? Chunky, tight and responsive. (Prophet, if you get the chance you should try it...amazing tone!)

My other favorite pup is the JB...what a killer pickup. Neck or bridge position for me. You have to put it in the right guitar...preferably one a little light on the mids, to my ears. When you find the right guitar, the JB is probably the best pickup on the planet overall. I'd say that the JB and the FS are neck and neck in the high gain category though...both are great. Nothing says 80's metal like the JB though...

Farkus

 

[JSS]

Re: Reviews of Duncan Humbuckers for Metal & Heavy Distortion

I own a Dimebucker and a Distortion (both in my SG). I love them both, but they are extremely different. I consider them to be like thunder and lightning. The Dimebucker is certainly the lightning, razor sharp, screams with precision. I think it's a great pickup, and, considering how much my amp loves bass, I am actually able to cut through with highs using this pickup. In the neck position, the Distortion is thunderous. It is booming and heavy, and far more low end than the Dimebucker. I can roll the tone back on that one and get some great sounds, whereas rolling the tone off my Dime kills the tone, IMO. I think both pickups are great, and if you love playing really heavy stuff, this is a great combo. I, unfortunately, will be getting rid of these pickups soon because I can only take one electric guitar to college in September, and those pickups are way too heavy to be the only style I can use up there. If anyone is interested in this set, send me a PM.

 

[JBlaze]

Re: Reviews of Duncan Humbuckers for Metal & Heavy Distortion

So far I like the Distortion the best. The JB seemed to have cardboard highs, and the Dime seemed to have a hollow sound in it. But the Distortion does sound muddy in dark Mahogany guitars. I havn't played the Invader enough to really say about it. I tried the pickups in an LP, and a Strat. I also used Mesa 50 Caliber amps, as well as Marshalls.

 

[Jono_L]

Re: Reviews of Duncan Humbuckers for Metal & Heavy Distortion

yup that full shred neck cleans up without being thin sounding or basey muted sounding and it wont fart out your speakers at big volumn. it also has a wicked distortion sound and you can get some great lead tones out of it as well as roll of the volumn nob to 8 and get big fat blues-all this with tone sucking floyd rose trem on my guitar. its the best pickup i have heard for pairing a heavy metal bridge pickup and heavy and clean tone neck pick up for a floyd rose trem. I like it much better than the jazz.

Amen bro!

FSn believer right here. The thing always stays clear, sweet, and articulate, no matter how much or how little gain you have. Havn't found a better neck pickup for what I play yet!