Just did the Duncan Audio samples test blindfolded - Wow!

[Anficht]

Incredible! Goes to show how names of pickups have serious impact on how I percieve the sonic characteristics of a pickup.

I downloaded all dirty bridge audio clips of the different humbuckers and had my girlfriend rename them with random characters (e.g. "ehudjasdipbs") and put them in a folder.
Due to cosmetic reasons I can only choose bridge humbuckers that have white color and normal spacing. So I downloaded only those that would be a potential candidate for that particular guitar I want to put them in.

Then I listened to each clip several times always stopping before the guy at the end would say what pickup it was.
Last, I ranked them by renaming each file with a number.

Anyway, up until now, where I knew what clip I had just listened to, I liked how the "A2ProBridge" and "Sh-11 CC" aswell as the "Screamin' Demon" sounded.
The blindfold test gave me the following ranking:

1.)JB Model (that's right, JB Model!)
2.)'59 Model
3.)Pearly Gates bridge
4.)Jazz model (WTF?)
5.)Custom Custom
6.)Alico2Pro
7.)Sh-5 Custom
8.)Full Shred
9.)Duncan Distortion
10.)Screamin' Demon (holy s@#t! Last in place!)

Pretty amazed by these results...
Try it yourself

[theodie]

I have tired it and I have owned all of those and all of duncans buckers. Fact of the matter is, sound clips dont capture the true mojo and personality of a pickup. If you get 2 of any of them and compare them though your setup, the differences between the pickups will be alot bigger than what you gather from the sound clips. As far as I am concerned, you are far better getting recommendations from the folks on this forum than going off of sound clips alone.

[Anficht]

Wow, all of them? That's great!
Can you recommend me a bucker that's in a way like the '59bridge model, but warmer (more mids) and will have a bit more power?

I tried a Sh-5 Custom aswell, and it was a bit too much and boomy, yet the high strings had too much (annoying) presence...
The '59 sounds pretty good and has decent power but is a little too scooped for my taste and therefore tends to get lost when I'm with the band (I have to turn up the amp more than usual).

[theodie]

Wow, all of them? That's great!
Can you recommend me a bucker that's in a way like the '59bridge model, but warmer (more mids) and will have a bit more power?

I tried a Sh-5 Custom aswell, and it was a bit too much and boomy, yet the high strings had too much (annoying) presence...
The '59 sounds pretty good and has decent power but is a little too scooped for my taste and therefore tends to get lost when I'm with the band (I have to turn up the amp more than usual).

Yes, all of them. As far as a pickup recomendation, there are alot that will get you close but, I cant think of one that nails what you want.

I say an Alnico II pro might be a great choice but, it has a bit less power than the 59B. The tone would be in the right neighborhood though.

The Custom 5 would would be good but, it can be a bit scooped too and if you didnt like teh highs of the 59, you probably would not like this either. Though it has more power.

The Scremin Demon, a bit more power but, can be very harsh and bright in the wrong guitar. It is somewhat 59 like though.

The Custom Custom may be good but, you just want a tad warmer right? This will be a good bit warmer. If you still have the Custom, pop an Alinco 2 magnet in it and give it a shot. This will make it a CC.

The Custom shop 78 would be great but, if you are spending custom shop type of money, you can get any dam thing you want made anyway.


I think what you are looking for is the allusive pickup on here we all want that Duncan does not make.

[Anficht]

Thanks a lot for that theodie.

Actually, I have an A2Pro on order - if the tone is there, I probably won't care if it has a tad less power than the '59 model - but I have to try it first and see.

The '59 can be a bit bright at times, and I feel it really lacks just a bit of mids.
The SH-5 Custom that I tried had just too much and some really annoying treble response at times - I guess that's due to the Ceramic magnet.

The Custom5 is probably not for me, seeing that it doesn't have more mids than the '59. Custom Custom will be too much mids again (I suspect).
Screamin Demon will be much too bright if it has more highs than the '59...

Custom Shop is interesting but a pain in the backside when you live in Europe and have to contact the local distributor through a musicstore to get what you want. That would probably take months (knowing local musicstores).

I wonder if the Brobucker would be the '59 with more mids and power, yet not as bright?
I guess th '78 model would fit the bill aswell

[theodie]

Anficht, you ever considered adding a pre-amp in your guitar rather than one of the tone knobs? Take a look at the EMG SPC. Turned down the sound is the same as if it was not in the circuit. When you start turning it up, it adds power and also mids. Take a look at it.

[Anficht]

No, I thought those were only for active pickup designs...
Plus, I'm kinda ignorant on this and thought these controls also added noise etc.
I'll check it out if it works with passive pickups aswell.

[wanmei1]

I think what you are looking for is the allusive pickup on here we all want that Duncan does not make.

Wow.........Thems mighty powerful words !
Definitely worth thinking about.
I think I agree ....and You ?

[theodie]

No, I thought those were only for active pickup designs...
Plus, I'm kinda ignorant on this and thought these controls also added noise etc.
I'll check it out if it works with passive pickups aswell.

No checking needed! They work with any pickup...I repeat.....ANY PICKUP!!!!!!! I have used them with various passives myself.

Cranked all the way up they may add a hair bit of noise but, if you crank it all the way you are playing with a good amount of gain anyway so, IMO it doesnt really matter.

[jimijames]

also, you can try degaussing to warm up the 59 - it'll pull back the treble and bass some, so you'll hear more low mids, but the output will be lower (but not by much). Just pick up one of those neo disk magnets (and a polarity tester) from stew-mac, I got the 1/2" one and it works wonders for degaussing pickups - took my A2 59/Custom from being honky and middy (it was in my les paul after all) to more balanced with tighter bass, while still sounding as badass as fully gaussed A2.

[theodie]

Wow.........Thems mighty powerful words !
Definitely worth thinking about.
I think I agree ....and You ?

We have talked about it before and some people (one in particular) I will not mention at Duncan got their panties in a bunch over it and threatened to ban the next person that spoke about it.

[Benjy_26]

Get your 59 rewound to S Deco specs.


This one's the Brobucker killer.

[Anficht]

@Benji: Alright, you got me interested.

So, what's the difference between the S Deco and Brobucker?
And in what does the first kill the Brobucker?

[LtKojak]

you can try degaussing to warm up the 59 - it'll pull back the treble and bass some, so you'll hear more low mids

+ 1.

Degaussing is the best approach to fine-tune your p'up set.
I've tried with a Jazzb in neck + C 5... it took me about six passes of trial-and-error, but now I have EXACTLY the sound that I want from them, and I didn't notice any power loss...

It's not rocket science, it takes just a bit of time of trial-and-error... you don't need to take the p'ups out of the guitar, you can hear the result immediately. If it gets too dark, just invert the magnet and charge'em fully again. Then try again. You can't break'em!

Search for the Zhangliqun way of doing it... you can't go wrong.

HTH,

Pepe aka Lt. Kojak
Milano, Italy

[Benjy_26]

@Benji: Alright, you got me interested.

So, what's the difference between the S Deco and Brobucker?
And in what does the first kill the Brobucker?

The Deco's got bigger, tighter lows, fatter highs, and more agressive mids. It's a better rock pickup without losing too much of the sweetness of a more faithful PAF copy like the PGb and 59b.

[hanumanlangur]

I think what you are looking for is the allusive pickup on here we all want that Duncan does not make.

For vintage-type pickups, I think a degaussed A2 '59 is pretty close, since it's very balanced and warm, but with some of the treble/bass/clarity of the A5 '59.

I haven't tried an A8 '59, but that may be close if he's looking for a ballsier and more balanced '59.

[anewdefguitarist]

Wow, all of them? That's great!
Can you recommend me a bucker that's in a way like the '59bridge model, but warmer (more mids) and will have a bit more power?

I tried a Sh-5 Custom aswell, and it was a bit too much and boomy, yet the high strings had too much (annoying) presence...
The '59 sounds pretty good and has decent power but is a little too scooped for my taste and therefore tends to get lost when I'm with the band (I have to turn up the amp more than usual).

when you said this the first thing i thought was Alnico 8...maybe the custom 8 or new Alt 8 like others have said. from the descriptions ive heard, its got a powerful low end like that of a ceramic/A5 but the highs of the A2. (people who own one/both of these pups...am i way off in saying that?)