So close to finally getting my hands on the DD HB-105/7's and I have been crushed!

[DamianSicks]

Long story short, Schecter Damien 7...stock pups are atrocious. I am on a VERY limited budget and played a guitar with the Duncan Designed HB 105/7 string version. They sell real cheap and will fit right into my guitar with no issues. I HAVE BEEN LOOKING ALL OVER THE NET FOR HOURS AND HOURS ON END WITH NO LUCK! Then finally this pops up: https://www.dhgate.com/product/seymour-duncan-active-pickups-7-string-electric/403195150.html A seller in China has HUNDREDS of sets hes looking to sell but he is trying to pass them off as Seymour Duncan "Made In The USA" (They also looked used from the pics provided) but it Clearly says "Duncan Designed" right there on the pickup in the pics. Worst part is that this guy is trying to sell them for an outrageous price! $170 US almost gets you a brand new real SD set! I have contacted customer service and have pointed out the fraud and im so desperate for a set of these things I just am hoping CS can convince this guy to sell me a set for a correct price. OMG FML. Wish I would have known all this before buying my guitar. Anyways I thuoght you guys would like to see this listing and give me yuor thoughts.

 

[Starman]

Re: So close to finally getting my hands on the DD HB-105/7's and I have been crushed

How old are you?

 

[metalchurch79]

Re: So close to finally getting my hands on the DD HB-105/7's and I have been crushed

My thoughts are buy Seymour Duncans to begin with.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: So close to finally getting my hands on the DD HB-105/7's and I have been crushed

Here's the deal with limited budgets: Don't spend the little you have now. Put back whatever you can afford. Let's say that's $5 a week. After a year, you'll have enough to buy the real Duncan pickups, with plenty of money left over.

Now, here's the benefit to sitting on money: It's very unlikely you'll wind up paying full price. Chances are if you keep your eyes open, you'll see a killer deal, and because you saved your money, you'll be able to jump on it.

 

[jeremy]

Re: So close to finally getting my hands on the DD HB-105/7's and I have been crushed

yep. save for the real thing and in the mean time use what ya got and work on your chops. ive made the mistake many times of only having $X amount of money, really needing $XX but blowing $X only to regret it down the road when i should have saved $XX and got the thing i actually wanted. learn from our mistakes. its awesome to get new stuff and exciting!! but thats short lived

 

[Masta' C]

Re: So close to finally getting my hands on the DD HB-105/7's and I have been crushed

No one is going to tell that seller what price to charge, so you're only hope is to contact them directly and ask them to lower the listing price (good luck).

How much are you looking to spend?

You could shoot this guy an offer on his EMG 707X set (already a great price at $70 + $8 shipping, but maybe he'll do $70 shipped?): LINK

Alternatively, you could grab this brand new set of EMG 81-7 and 85-7 pickups from an authorized retailer for only $130 shipped after the 40% off code on the page: LINK

 

[DamianSicks]

Re: So close to finally getting my hands on the DD HB-105/7's and I have been crushed

Here's the deal with limited budgets: Don't spend the little you have now. Put back whatever you can afford. Let's say that's $5 a week. After a year, you'll have enough to buy the real Duncan pickups, with plenty of money left over.

Now, here's the benefit to sitting on money: It's very unlikely you'll wind up paying full price. Chances are if you keep your eyes open, you'll see a killer deal, and because you saved your money, you'll be able to jump on it.

All of you guys have very valid and logical ideas you shared but here is the deal: I have a limited window in which im able to record (I dont have a band so I have to record and write all the parts) and that window is now and inspiration has hit. There is no way I can record the guitar with the stock pups, it is atrocious and lacks any dynamics or definition which causes it to not sit well in the mix. My whole writing career has always been making music electronically first and then writing guitar afterwards to fit in. This approach has not worked well in my eyes so the whole idea was to buy a 7 string and start with the guitar and build on top of it which would shake things up in a well needed way.

I wanted to just get something cheap that would sound better then the stock pups, im not exagerating when I say how bad they sound, which is why I went for the DD HB105/7 because I have played them, I approve of the sound and they would drop right in easily without routing or new hardware. I still need to buy/rent a mic and maybe even a new interface as it is so it was important that the guitar was on point so I could at least write and record as much as possible while getting that other gear.

I hear you guys, if time was not a factor trust me I would be saving up for a great set and I plan to do that anyways when I'm able to. Bottom line is money is very tight, it doesnt stay in the account very long right now so I have a stupid and unique situation where unfortunetaly I have to find solutions withe extremely limited resources. Thanks for all your help and advice guys. Ill look into all that was said here.

 

[DamianSicks]

Re: So close to finally getting my hands on the DD HB-105/7's and I have been crushed

How old are you?

34, why?

 

[metalchurch79]

Re: So close to finally getting my hands on the DD HB-105/7's and I have been crushed

So youre trying to buy a set of Duncan Designed pickups that youve never heard from a guy in China, and you have a recording date which must be met. What guitar did you use to write the songs?
Best thing I can say given your situation, try to borrow a guitar from someone for the session and look into buying or trading for a set of used Blackouts from a reputable source.
Perhaps go to guitar center and try out a few sets of different active and passive pickups to get some hands on experience and go from there.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: So close to finally getting my hands on the DD HB-105/7's and I have been crushed

Seriously...You're in a rush and want to buy from China?

Minimum 2 weeks to get here, assuming the seller gets them out quickly. With the current delays I've been seeing on my own shipments from China, the wait is more like a month right now (customs has been slow). And that's not to mention you haven't even secured a decent price on them yet.

Did you check either of the links I posted?

Those are great deals on great pickups! (You know the architecture/winds of the HB-105 set were based on EMGs, right?).

Either of those EMG sets I posted links to will be a HUGE improvement over those clumsy EMG-HZ passives in your guitar.

Personally, I'd go with the 81-7/85-7 set, since those will likely be the closest to the HB-105 set in voicing and are new, so they come with pots and wiring, but you could probably buy the cheaper 707X set, which is a steal, and scrounge wiring parts together by asking nicely around here

If getting nicer pickups for a good price and getting down to recording as soon as possible is truly your top priority, then Chinese sellers and overpriced stock pickups shouldn't even be a consideration.

In the short-term, if you insist on being stubborn about the HB-105 set, perhaps you can reach out to people with the Schecter guitars that came with those pickups and see if they want to sell them? Alternatively, you could post a "Wanted" thread in this forum's Trading Post section and see if you get any bites.

:dunno:

 

[DamianSicks]

Re: So close to finally getting my hands on the DD HB-105/7's and I have been crushed

I have indeed played the DD 105-7's...they are the pups that actually got me hyped into getting a seven string. The EMG 707's are not what im looking for, they are alnico mags I believe and low output. Im looking for high output and maybe ceramic mags. As far as the 81-7's I have only seen them going indvidually for around $130 ea and thats beyond budget to get a set. I of course am not going to get that set from China especially at that price. I seen a cheap set of used SD blackouts for $60 but they did not have any hardware or pots and I don't know if you can get those seperately or not so maybe you guys can tell me about that. I'm looking on reverb and ebay every few days but prices seem to stay steady so I will try to see if I can luck out on a set but right now no luck.