This is a great demo. I was just about to order an upgrade for my Duncan Designs when I stumbled on your video. Someone on another video was complaining that they are muddy. After seeing this I'm happy to say I'm staying with what I got. You saved me a lot of money and time. Thank you very much.
I have Duncan designed and tried out the Seymour Duncan’s in guitar center. Honestly the difference is pretty big. With the designed I have to palm mute strings I’m not playing to reduce harmonization on the open strings that gets caught in the pick up. With the Seymour’s, I did not have to. It was way more clear did not sound so muddy. Better sustainment too, I’d say there was at least twice as much sustainment on the Seymour’s. If you’re looking to upgrade I’d say definitely look into. I’m deciding right now whether I want to buy another guitar with Seymour Duncan pick up or if I want to just buy the pick ups and add them to my guitar. They’re definitely worth it
@Samuel-gv9rc it all has to do with the height of the pickup, the only thing you're paying for with the Seymour Duncan's is the consistency from set to set
Thanks for that comparison, To my Ears the Distortions had more attack and the Duncan's were a bit more smooth sounding (in a good way!). I think I Actually preferred the Duncan Designs!
I 'm agree with the previous comment, I own both pickups and the Distorsion sounds clearer than the HB103. The HB103 sounds a little bit more Bassy in the 6th string. An HB103 is equipped on my old Jackson DK2 and I love him, it's a good pickup , very agressive !
You should do this again, but do not show the guitar, just "pickup A" and "pickup B", then reveal at the end. I imagine that many of the comments would change. We have preconceived ideas that influence our opinions when we see which one is being played. Good video!
Not a whole hell of a lot of difference to me. Both sounded great. Thx for the comparison and the good metal demonstration. That's what us Jackson fans are looking for!
Just browsing around checking out pickup videos after SMG's video on pickups, and the comment section here is hilarious. You should've done a blind test because everyone's brand-brained. You would've probably gotten a 50/50 response, ha. Even you said that they pretty much sounded the same, which was my immediate reaction too. Not sure why everyone's all ride-or-die for pickups and their brands. Any tiny tonal difference isn't worth it (ESPECIALLY IN A MIX) when you could just use the money to upgrade mics, speakers, or room treatment. I have a Schecter C-1+ with the original Duncan designed pickups I've been thinking about replacing, but I'll be saving my money instead. Great playing and setup!
The Semour's did have a fuller tone with a little more balls to them. That being said the Designed sound pretty damn good, and way better than they used to.
Wow, side by side they're both pretty great. Tonally they appear to perform with incredibly similar characteristics with one thing in mind. I detected a tighter response from the SH6 than I did the HB-103. Whether that is from the pickup itself, how the pickup made you feel like playing or how that take was made is a variable to consider all in it's own. Based on this demo, for the styles you're playing, the SH6 worked out better but I do know people who like a loose sounding pickup. That's the preference.
I've got a load of "top end" pickups in guitars, and then two Aria guitars with Duncan Designed pickups in. They're easily of the same quality as anything else I've tried! Great vid man!
In my opinion, with a good eq you can obtain the sound you like. If stock pickups are really shit, it's a bit harder to do but - if PU are good, it's quite easy.
They are soooo close. I’ve done customer pickup swaps where they go from the Duncan Designed to the equivalent model Duncan in the same guitar and there is zero difference, or I’ve see times when the difference happened after upgrading to better pots/caps/switch, etc.
I just slapped a Duncan Distortion into my Jackson Dinky to replace the stock Jackson pickups and it was a huge night and day difference good. I thought the Jackson pups get my guitar work good until I play The Duncan distortion. At this point I am considering switching out the alpha pots on the guitar to CTS full-size pots but not sure if it would make a difference.. I am aware that I will have to bore the holes out from 3/8 to 5/8 ... but will replacing these potentiometers make a huge difference?
I had duncan designed in a solar I bought. Sounded horrible. Immediately switched them out to Seymour Duncans Black Winter, difference of night and day.
The Seymour Duncan seems to have more punch. I use the Seymour Distortion in a few guitars but I have the Duncan Designed in my main live guitar & it kills. It replaced a Seymour Invader & sounds way tighter.
The Duncan Distortion is a fucking monster! I've been using them for years, not just for metal but for jazz, blues, classic rock, even funky r and b. Just a great pickup.
Hmm the DD sounds clearer than the SD to me. The SD is just a bit more fuzzy. The mid peak seems to be different on both, the DD seems to have a boost in the « mid » uppermids, and the SD has a boost in the slightly higher upper mids, making it sound more trebly but also more mid-scooped. That being said the DD sounds better to me ears, less scratchy and more body.
I believe the biggest differences here isn't what the listener hears from the pickups. It's what the pickups are hearing from the guitars. I guarantee the two guitars sound different acoustically. And pickups can only reproduce what they "hear." The pickups themselves sound so close that it's a toss-up.
I missed which one was which at the beginning, but there's a clear difference between them to my ears. The purple one is clearer and more defined. Fuller bottom end, much more presence. The green one sounds good, but just a bit woofy and muddy by comparison. Wouldn't sit in a mix as well as the purple one.
So many variables between the guitars though. Bridge material will be different, guitar body will be different wood, fingerboard different wood, neck different wood, locking nut different material.
I agree with purple lizard there Mark. The pick attack is much better on the real Semour pickups. Cool comparison. Thanks for the info. Now I know for sure to never go the cheap route with sound. I recently put the bridge pickup from the EMG tele active single coil set in my Frankenstrat. I love the non dirty crunch i`m getting. Is close to the brown sound. A sharp crunch with no mud. Try that pickup everyone. Its the SHIT.
I just bought a set of hb 103s (used them before) to upgrade an old gibson flying v copy. They are second hand cost £40. Hard to beat performance /cost ratio!!
excellent, thank you!! just got a used HAMR (love it) with duncan designed....... sounds really muddy in distortion but your demo sounds good. so maybe it's a setup issue....... (PS, wish i could play that move, what sounds like galloping. it's a strum technique i have no idea how to do yet. but it really pulls out the differences between the two. heard it in person, now here.)
Listening on my studio monitors, there's absolutely a tonal difference between the two. The SD has more output, better low end and generally more presence.
Did I miss if you used brand new strings on both or not? That would make a difference. But to me, the Duncans had a tick bit more of a punch with more tone.
The HB103B DC resistance is 16.1k compared to an actual Duncan Distortion TB-6 at 16.8k. I think Duncan backed off the winding ever so slightly on the HB103 on purpose.
You should do the comparison without telling people which pickup is being played. This would eliminate any confirmation bias either way. Frankly, I couldn't tell a difference between the 2 pictures in your demo. I have a DD HB-102B (double space humbucker on a Squire VM 70' Strat and a SD Hot Rails (single space) humbucker on a 1982 American Strat. They sound very different but I like them both.
Funny how Mark, who is playing the guitars and listening to the direct amp sound, can't hear a difference, while all other people here can hear a difference through UA-cam compression. 🤨
I've got an ESP LTD I bought from Mars Music (Remember them?) In 99'. I love that guitar more than my USA strat. I know, single coil vs dbl hums but it's playability. I digress. Have duncs that I put in a schecter and kept the d designs in my ltd. No reason to change out the designs whatsoever. The Duncan's are a bit cleaner when going through my clean channels but if I'm recording and want something super clean I'll just use another ax our my acoustic Taylor. Great video. P.S. I'm bragging a bit about some of my gear but are not all proud of our toys?!! Check out peavey classics for more portable. And you can find a good traynor tube amp for a steal.
I remember Jackson stopped using Duncan designed for a bit and they are back at it. Seymour realized people were buying up the design more because they sound so close and are way cheaper. Don't think the company liked it that much because they felt like they were loosing out money on more expensive version.....maybe that's why I didn't see designs for a while?
No it was just Jackson can have the factory that builds the guitar in China or Indonesia build custom pickups for their guitars fire way cheaper than importing the duncan design from Korea.
i have one of the HB103B that I took out a guitar for a friend. It has the chrome cap on it. He said the pup was muddy. I wanted to put it in a guitar to use as my "rocker" with a vintage dimarzo PAF in the neck. I wonder if I take this metal cap off if it will help the frequency response and be more brighter? Your comparison sounded just about the same to me between the two.
On my Jackson I got those Duncan designed with no model number, and e they atcual seymores? Or somebody else? And they do have microphonic feedback problem at low volume level, should I replace them or what do you think?
I have been one to see colors in my minds eye when I here certain sounds. The whole time while you played both guitars, I saw like an emerald green color. When you played the green guitar, I saw was opaque green. when you played the purple guitar, the green was translucent.
The differences are not so big as to justify another expense, I think the difference is mainly psychological when people spend money they will try a little harder in playing to justify the inflated expense, those who have already bought and exchanged will rarely say they are sorry because it has already been done. I think you have to be a very, very high level guitarist to enjoy such pickups and notice the difference at all unless there is unnecessary money to spend
To my ears, the Duncan design in the green guitar sounded just as good or even better. that's my opinion about what I hear in this video. I have 2 Dk2M mij Jackson guitars with seymour duncan TB4 in the bridge Sh2n in the neck, and I have a DX10D mij jackson Dinky reverse maple body and neck,with the HB103 duncan design set and them Duncan Design pickups just rock the socks off of my Jackson DK2M With the seymour duncan pickups. I believe the guitar materials, the setup, and the size of brass block, quality springs, and brass trem claw can play a major factor on sound, tone on any quality made pickups. I was going to put name brand usa seymour duncan pickups in my Jackson DX10D but after my upgraded Brass claw, flyod Rose noiseless green springs, and a fat 30mm flyod brass block on my JT580LP, yep you heard me , this old licensed Floyd Rose trem works just fine, it hold tune just like the original Flyod rose trem (at least this one dose) anyway with a excellent guitar setup added, I get a clear, heavy metal, rock sounds that are not muddy in any way. I really do get long, clear, sustained notes that I like to hear from my duncan design pickups in my one guitar. There is no need for any pickup upgrades for me. Every guitar is different, though, in so many ways. Someday, I will replace the trem to a Flyod Rose Pro, though. Why fix something that isn't broken and sounds so good. I also have a Jackson SL1 USA but thats in a different category 😅
I've been thinking of bying that purple Jackson. That color, golden hardware and reverse headstock just looks so badass. Does it have finish blemishes? I bought a Jackson Pro Soloist couple of months back and the finish work is horrible. Paint and lacquer drips all over the Floyd and pickup cavities. Some black paint droplets under the lacquer. The guitar is white so it kinda stands out.
They sound the same to me, the differences between the two are minimal at best in my opinion, if we're talking about doing a complete tonal shift when it pertains to playing high gain distortion or fuzz, I'd be more inclined to spend my money on swapping out the speaker in my amp, ill save money for a more noticeable difference... That's just my opinion though.
The SD seems a little tighter than the Duncan Design. As far as tone they are almost identical till you hit the cleans. That to me is where the SD definitely outshined the Duncan Design.
I have a polka dot rx10d with duncan designs and a blue bengal maple top dx10d with duncan designed and a few other mij dinky dk2 dk2m dk2s and rr3 pro all with seymour duncan jb and whatever seymour duncan in the other position or positions, some are hss and some hh. love them all, no desire to change out the duncan designs at all especially in the rx10d. a few rhoads i have had with jb in bridge sounded honky or barky, like they were trying too hard or something, would much rather have duncan designed in those rather than the jb
on your amp add a little treble, drop bass a tiny bit, presence slightly higher and add a notch or two of gain and volume ln my experience makes the duncan designed almost jdentical to the seymour duncan
quantums are decent for high gain but you need to dial the height,they sound much cleaner backed off from the strings a bit,and infinity are just plain garbage.hb103 in comparison is waaaay better for high gain,especially if you're using more modern style of amp (like 5150 or rectifier).you can try to find dimarzio/ibz for a deal,there's bucket load of them on the used market for cheap and they're really good,proper dimarzios a bit less gain than hb103 but real tight and clear.
I bought a Scott Ian King V with Duncan Designed and before pluggin it, I though changing the bridge for a JB but after plugging the guitar and playing it into my rig, HB-103b are just fine...
Seymour Duncan do sound more clean tone, I think I like it better when clean , but however with drive… I like duncan better, cuz the bass tone sound more out
Compare a „pickup" with two different guitars is meant well but nevertheless a comparison between two guitars. It would have been better to remove the pickup and put it into the other guitar.
The Blackout "active" for Metal bridge pickup is the most amazing pickup I've ever heard and I mean damn both of these were killer.....but I can hear a slight difference and like you'd suspect the actual Duncan gets my vote! Cool comparison video on two smoking RR Jacksons!!!
I'm thinking of changing Duncan Designed HB-103b on my Hamer Stellar 3 to TB-6 Duncan Distortion, but after watching this video I'm not really sure it would have any sense. This is how Duncan Designed sounds btw ua-cam.com/video/wPqAaglT_PA/v-deo.html
if it's a basswood/alder thin body with a skinny neck and a tremolo do it,real DD just adds ton of body and makes those types of guitar sounding bigger and fuller,or you can simply get a bigger magnet and swap it and get 99,999 percent there because only real difference between hb103 and real DD is the size of magnets,construction,wind and wire is exactly the same.hb103 sounds good also with a a5 magnet but is a tad bit a too much of an overwind for a a5 humbucker IMHO.
A pickup is a pickup is a pickup. They are coils of wire that induce variable current that is amplified into a speaker. They are all the same, you pay for the brand name.
I am left-handed and have had the extreme displeasure of playing a lot of cheap low-end guitars for the past 30 years and because of this I have always said the same thing until recently. I just replace the stock Jackson Bridge pickup with a Seymour Duncan Distortion and holy cow... I play through the same rig without changing any of my settings and the difference between those pickups were night and day. I've seen a lot of different comparison videos and was on the Rocks about replacing it to begin with because the stock Jackson pups were not bad, they just were not voiced for the tone I was looking for.... all I can say is that the Duncan Distortion brought life into a $300 guitar that now sounds like an whole new guitar.... proving to me after all of this time that guitar pickups are indeed not created equal as I had previously thought.
Can’t go wrong with USA made products just like the real Seymour Duncan, Duncan Designed Pickups are cheaper that means cheaper materials and inferior sound.
Thanks for the comparison. The Duncan’s did sound clearer to me, but shows there is nothing wrong with the Duncan Designed pups either
This is a great demo. I was just about to order an upgrade for my Duncan Designs when I stumbled on your video. Someone on another video was complaining that they are muddy. After seeing this I'm happy to say I'm staying with what I got. You saved me a lot of money and time. Thank you very much.
I have Duncan designed and tried out the Seymour Duncan’s in guitar center. Honestly the difference is pretty big. With the designed I have to palm mute strings I’m not playing to reduce harmonization on the open strings that gets caught in the pick up. With the Seymour’s, I did not have to. It was way more clear did not sound so muddy. Better sustainment too, I’d say there was at least twice as much sustainment on the Seymour’s. If you’re looking to upgrade I’d say definitely look into. I’m deciding right now whether I want to buy another guitar with Seymour Duncan pick up or if I want to just buy the pick ups and add them to my guitar. They’re definitely worth it
@Samuel-gv9rc it all has to do with the height of the pickup, the only thing you're paying for with the Seymour Duncan's is the consistency from set to set
Thanks for that comparison, To my Ears the Distortions had more attack and the Duncan's were a bit more smooth sounding (in a good way!). I think I Actually preferred the Duncan Designs!
I 'm agree with the previous comment, I own both pickups and the Distorsion sounds clearer than the HB103. The HB103 sounds a little bit more Bassy in the 6th string. An HB103 is equipped on my old Jackson DK2 and I love him, it's a good pickup , very agressive !
Agreed!
If the HB103 sounds too muddy, lower the pickup on the bass side (left mounting screw).
Surprisingly the green guitar to my ears with the Duncan design sounded better
You should do this again, but do not show the guitar, just "pickup A" and "pickup B", then reveal at the end. I imagine that many of the comments would change. We have preconceived ideas that influence our opinions when we see which one is being played. Good video!
yeah maybe a little A vs B at the very end where you can't see guitars. might challenge whatever notions you had while seeing the guitars.
The difference to an advanced guitarist is obvious. The SDs are brighter without a doubt.
Not a whole hell of a lot of difference to me. Both sounded great. Thx for the comparison and the good metal demonstration. That's what us Jackson fans are looking for!
Just browsing around checking out pickup videos after SMG's video on pickups, and the comment section here is hilarious. You should've done a blind test because everyone's brand-brained. You would've probably gotten a 50/50 response, ha. Even you said that they pretty much sounded the same, which was my immediate reaction too. Not sure why everyone's all ride-or-die for pickups and their brands. Any tiny tonal difference isn't worth it (ESPECIALLY IN A MIX) when you could just use the money to upgrade mics, speakers, or room treatment.
I have a Schecter C-1+ with the original Duncan designed pickups I've been thinking about replacing, but I'll be saving my money instead.
Great playing and setup!
The Semour's did have a fuller tone with a little more balls to them. That being said the Designed sound pretty damn good, and way better than they used to.
Wow, side by side they're both pretty great. Tonally they appear to perform with incredibly similar characteristics with one thing in mind. I detected a tighter response from the SH6 than I did the HB-103. Whether that is from the pickup itself, how the pickup made you feel like playing or how that take was made is a variable to consider all in it's own. Based on this demo, for the styles you're playing, the SH6 worked out better but I do know people who like a loose sounding pickup. That's the preference.
I've got a load of "top end" pickups in guitars, and then two Aria guitars with Duncan Designed pickups in. They're easily of the same quality as anything else I've tried! Great vid man!
Green is DD and purple is SD. I wish you’d have put the text on the screen when you played
He said which was which at the beginning
In my opinion, with a good eq you can obtain the sound you like. If stock pickups are really shit, it's a bit harder to do but - if PU are good, it's quite easy.
They are soooo close. I’ve done customer pickup swaps where they go from the Duncan Designed to the equivalent model Duncan in the same guitar and there is zero difference, or I’ve see times when the difference happened after upgrading to better pots/caps/switch, etc.
I just slapped a Duncan Distortion into my Jackson Dinky to replace the stock Jackson pickups and it was a huge night and day difference good. I thought the Jackson pups get my guitar work good until I play The Duncan distortion. At this point I am considering switching out the alpha pots on the guitar to CTS full-size pots but not sure if it would make a difference.. I am aware that I will have to bore the holes out from 3/8 to 5/8 ... but will replacing these potentiometers make a huge difference?
that's wild! good to know, also! that some of the gear you won't notice till you upgrade other stuff.
The real seymour duncans are more full and focused, the duncan designs are a little bit more muddy and missing some top end.
Great playing by the way!
I had duncan designed in a solar I bought. Sounded horrible. Immediately switched them out to Seymour Duncans Black Winter, difference of night and day.
@@genustinca5565 yeah I'm sure it's a much more noticeable difference when playing in real life as a opposed to listening to a video of it
The Seymour Duncan seems to have more punch. I use the Seymour Distortion in a few guitars but I have the Duncan Designed in my main live guitar & it kills. It replaced a Seymour Invader & sounds way tighter.
The Duncan Distortion is a fucking monster! I've been using them for years, not just for metal but for jazz, blues, classic rock, even funky r and b. Just a great pickup.
Tough to compare since the wood on the guitars are different. Mohogony has more low end.
Hmm the DD sounds clearer than the SD to me. The SD is just a bit more fuzzy. The mid peak seems to be different on both, the DD seems to have a boost in the « mid » uppermids, and the SD has a boost in the slightly higher upper mids, making it sound more trebly but also more mid-scooped. That being said the DD sounds better to me ears, less scratchy and more body.
Happy with HB-103 sound at 1/10 the price.
I believe they sound almost the same. The Duncan Designed pickups are the same spec as the Seymour Duncan pickups just one is USA made and one isn't.
I believe the biggest differences here isn't what the listener hears from the pickups. It's what the pickups are hearing from the guitars. I guarantee the two guitars sound different acoustically. And pickups can only reproduce what they "hear." The pickups themselves sound so close that it's a toss-up.
I missed which one was which at the beginning, but there's a clear difference between them to my ears. The purple one is clearer and more defined. Fuller bottom end, much more presence. The green one sounds good, but just a bit woofy and muddy by comparison. Wouldn't sit in a mix as well as the purple one.
I got active Duncans in my VMNT. My favorite-sounding guitar.
So many variables between the guitars though.
Bridge material will be different, guitar body will be different wood, fingerboard different wood, neck different wood, locking nut different material.
They both sound rad but the Duncan's sound more crisp 🤘
I agree with purple lizard there Mark. The pick attack is much better on the real Semour pickups. Cool comparison. Thanks for the info. Now I know for sure to never go the cheap route with sound. I recently put the bridge pickup from the EMG tele active single coil set in my Frankenstrat. I love the non dirty crunch i`m getting. Is close to the brown sound. A sharp crunch with no mud. Try that pickup everyone. Its the SHIT.
Very similiar on my earphones. Tb-6 has more bite though. I guess live diferrence may be more noticable. Btw nice distortion sound.
I just bought a set of hb 103s (used them before) to upgrade an old gibson flying v copy. They are second hand cost £40. Hard to beat performance /cost ratio!!
They're close enough for it not to matter. Choice of cable probably going to make more difference :D
excellent, thank you!! just got a used HAMR (love it) with duncan designed....... sounds really muddy in distortion but your demo sounds good. so maybe it's a setup issue.......
(PS, wish i could play that move, what sounds like galloping. it's a strum technique i have no idea how to do yet. but it really pulls out the differences between the two. heard it in person, now here.)
Thanks for video, puts to rest the dissatifaction,with the " HB 103"s, as they sound almost identical.
Listening on my studio monitors, there's absolutely a tonal difference between the two. The SD has more output, better low end and generally more presence.
thanx for good comparison, I got my duncan designed pickup last year. I think it is still good pickup for my 7 string guitar
Dude, you've got some huge hands!
Did I miss if you used brand new strings on both or not? That would make a difference. But to me, the Duncans had a tick bit more of a punch with more tone.
The HB103B DC resistance is 16.1k compared to an actual Duncan Distortion TB-6 at 16.8k. I think Duncan backed off the winding ever so slightly on the HB103 on purpose.
A Duncan Designed 103B is a good pup with tons of personality.
You should do the comparison without telling people which pickup is being played. This would eliminate any confirmation bias either way.
Frankly, I couldn't tell a difference between the 2 pictures in your demo.
I have a DD HB-102B (double space humbucker on a Squire VM 70' Strat and a SD Hot Rails (single space) humbucker on a 1982 American Strat. They sound very different but I like them both.
Great comparison! Thx!!
Funny how Mark, who is playing the guitars and listening to the direct amp sound, can't hear a difference, while all other people here can hear a difference through UA-cam compression. 🤨
I've got an ESP LTD I bought from Mars Music (Remember them?) In 99'. I love that guitar more than my USA strat. I know, single coil vs dbl hums but it's playability. I digress. Have duncs that I put in a schecter and kept the d designs in my ltd. No reason to change out the designs whatsoever. The Duncan's are a bit cleaner when going through my clean channels but if I'm recording and want something super clean I'll just use another ax our my acoustic Taylor. Great video. P.S. I'm bragging a bit about some of my gear but are not all proud of our toys?!! Check out peavey classics for more portable. And you can find a good traynor tube amp for a steal.
I remember Jackson stopped using Duncan designed for a bit and they are back at it. Seymour realized people were buying up the design more because they sound so close and are way cheaper. Don't think the company liked it that much because they felt like they were loosing out money on more expensive version.....maybe that's why I didn't see designs for a while?
No it was just Jackson can have the factory that builds the guitar in China or Indonesia build custom pickups for their guitars fire way cheaper than importing the duncan design from Korea.
i have one of the HB103B that I took out a guitar for a friend. It has the chrome cap on it. He said the pup was muddy. I wanted to put it in a guitar to use as my "rocker" with a vintage dimarzo PAF in the neck. I wonder if I take this metal cap off if it will help the frequency response and be more brighter? Your comparison sounded just about the same to me between the two.
I have a Peavey Guitar with Duncan Performance and it sound awesome for metal
On my Jackson I got those Duncan designed with no model number, and e they atcual seymores? Or somebody else? And they do have microphonic feedback problem at low volume level, should I replace them or what do you think?
Duncan's sound a bit warmer but I like the tight in the DD.
Do you feel like Max Carlise playing them Jackson guitars?
I have been one to see colors in my minds eye when I here certain sounds. The whole time while you played both guitars, I saw like an emerald green color. When you played the green guitar, I saw was opaque green. when you played the purple guitar, the green was translucent.
I sometimes realize that certain chords to me are different colors. Sometimes I can zone in on it and sometimes I’m close, but hard to settle.
man the OGS have so much more definition
The differences are not so big as to justify another expense, I think the difference is mainly psychological when people spend money they will try a little harder in playing to justify the inflated expense, those who have already bought and exchanged will rarely say they are sorry because it has already been done. I think you have to be a very, very high level guitarist to enjoy such pickups and notice the difference at all unless there is unnecessary money to spend
You need to work on that pick technique. You can hear just squeaks every stroke.
What is the model name for the black Strat style in the background?
To my ears, the Duncan design in the green guitar sounded just as good or even better. that's my opinion about what I hear in this video. I have 2 Dk2M mij Jackson guitars with seymour duncan TB4 in the bridge Sh2n in the neck, and I have a DX10D mij jackson Dinky reverse maple body and neck,with the HB103 duncan design set and them Duncan Design pickups just rock the socks off of my Jackson DK2M With the seymour duncan pickups. I believe the guitar materials, the setup, and the size of brass block, quality springs, and brass trem claw can play a major factor on sound, tone on any quality made pickups. I was going to put name brand usa seymour duncan pickups in my Jackson DX10D but after my upgraded Brass claw, flyod Rose noiseless green springs, and a fat 30mm flyod brass block on my JT580LP, yep you heard me , this old licensed Floyd Rose trem works just fine, it hold tune just like the original Flyod rose trem (at least this one dose) anyway with a excellent guitar setup added, I get a clear, heavy metal, rock sounds that are not muddy in any way. I really do get long, clear, sustained notes that I like to hear from my duncan design pickups in my one guitar. There is no need for any pickup upgrades for me. Every guitar is different, though, in so many ways. Someday, I will replace the trem to a Flyod Rose Pro, though. Why fix something that isn't broken and sounds so good. I also have a Jackson SL1 USA but thats in a different category 😅
I've been thinking of bying that purple Jackson. That color, golden hardware and reverse headstock just looks so badass.
Does it have finish blemishes? I bought a Jackson Pro Soloist couple of months back and the finish work is horrible. Paint and lacquer drips all over the Floyd and pickup cavities. Some black paint droplets under the lacquer. The guitar is white so it kinda stands out.
They sound the same to me, the differences between the two are minimal at best in my opinion, if we're talking about doing a complete tonal shift when it pertains to playing high gain distortion or fuzz, I'd be more inclined to spend my money on swapping out the speaker in my amp, ill save money for a more noticeable difference...
That's just my opinion though.
The SD seems a little tighter than the Duncan Design. As far as tone they are almost identical till you hit the cleans. That to me is where the SD definitely outshined the Duncan Design.
The test would've been even more accurate if the purple guitar didn't have a tone control.
I have a polka dot rx10d with duncan designs and a blue bengal maple top dx10d with duncan designed and a few other mij dinky dk2 dk2m dk2s and rr3 pro all with seymour duncan jb and whatever seymour duncan in the other position or positions, some are hss and some hh. love them all, no desire to change out the duncan designs at all especially in the rx10d. a few rhoads i have had with jb in bridge sounded honky or barky, like they were trying too hard or something, would much rather have duncan designed in those rather than the jb
on your amp add a little treble, drop bass a tiny bit, presence slightly higher and add a notch or two of gain and volume ln my experience makes the duncan designed almost jdentical to the seymour duncan
Price would make the difference for me. Pedals can change everything. New sub here. Good job.
How does the LTD MH1000 compare with a Jackson Soloist SL2Q for guitars about a grand?
The Duncans have more output and top end. Nice chops
Both are great!
Are there any differences between the woods of the guitars, type of neck and the neck wood
They do sound different, I'm not sure which one I prefer
Thanks for the comparison ....👍
Seymour Duncan clearly sound more scooped, but if you are a newbie don't notice any major differences for sure
I think they sound pretty close. I have a set of Duncan design live pick ups that I like better than my jb59 set.
Couple times Guitar sounded more open than the blue one
Thanks great versus, like
The Duncan Designs are good pickups but they just don't have the clarity of the Duncans . You can really tell the difference in the clean tone !!
Does Duncan Designed pickups like Infinity or Quantum pups from Ibanez?
quantums are decent for high gain but you need to dial the height,they sound much cleaner backed off from the strings a bit,and infinity are just plain garbage.hb103 in comparison is waaaay better for high gain,especially if you're using more modern style of amp (like 5150 or rectifier).you can try to find dimarzio/ibz for a deal,there's bucket load of them on the used market for cheap and they're really good,proper dimarzios a bit less gain than hb103 but real tight and clear.
I like emgs more but I'm starting to really like Seymore Duncan's
Whats it like with actual music?
What is your strap?
i think mark plays the green jackson better then he does the purple with how he sets his hands and all
I bought a Scott Ian King V with Duncan Designed and before pluggin it, I though changing the bridge for a JB but after plugging the guitar and playing it into my rig, HB-103b are just fine...
Scott used a JB in the early days
@@scottdunn2178 he still using it to this day...
@@Cycopace As do I... great pickup.
Seymour Duncan do sound more clean tone, I think I like it better when clean , but however with drive… I like duncan better, cuz the bass tone sound more out
Hey man can we see rr24q vs jeff loomis kelly please?
Yes! I’ll have to do that.
Compare a „pickup" with two different guitars is meant well but nevertheless a comparison between two guitars. It would have been better to remove the pickup and put it into the other guitar.
I was listening with my eyes closed and I couldn't really tell the difference between the two
I have a duncan designed for 10 year and are good, but i hear that seymour duncan have more punch, thight sound and clarity.
Tb-6 on purple guitar or green guitar??
Purple
The Blackout "active" for Metal bridge pickup is the most amazing pickup I've ever heard and I mean damn both of these were killer.....but I can hear a slight difference and like you'd suspect the actual Duncan gets my vote! Cool comparison video on two smoking RR Jacksons!!!
I'm thinking of changing Duncan Designed HB-103b on my Hamer Stellar 3 to TB-6 Duncan Distortion, but after watching this video I'm not really sure it would have any sense. This is how Duncan Designed sounds btw ua-cam.com/video/wPqAaglT_PA/v-deo.html
if it's a basswood/alder thin body with a skinny neck and a tremolo do it,real DD just adds ton of body and makes those types of guitar sounding bigger and fuller,or you can simply get a bigger magnet and swap it and get 99,999 percent there because only real difference between hb103 and real DD is the size of magnets,construction,wind and wire is exactly the same.hb103 sounds good also with a a5 magnet but is a tad bit a too much of an overwind for a a5 humbucker IMHO.
The Duncan Distortions sound way better.. Clearer. JMHO of course.
I could’ve saw he said at the beginning the guitars were red and blue. Y’all are colorblind.
Distortion much better in my headphones
The Duncan designs have a lot more muddiness to them and don't sound as clear as the legit Duncans. They almost lag if that makes sense?
Duncan design is nasty,but in a good way..
Green sounded better to me, sounded clearer
A pickup is a pickup is a pickup. They are coils of wire that induce variable current that is amplified into a speaker. They are all the same, you pay for the brand name.
I am left-handed and have had the extreme displeasure of playing a lot of cheap low-end guitars for the past 30 years and because of this I have always said the same thing until recently. I just replace the stock Jackson Bridge pickup with a Seymour Duncan Distortion and holy cow... I play through the same rig without changing any of my settings and the difference between those pickups were night and day. I've seen a lot of different comparison videos and was on the Rocks about replacing it to begin with because the stock Jackson pups were not bad, they just were not voiced for the tone I was looking for.... all I can say is that the Duncan Distortion brought life into a $300 guitar that now sounds like an whole new guitar.... proving to me after all of this time that guitar pickups are indeed not created equal as I had previously thought.
Thanx for a great video bro 🤘 I like Duncan designed pickups more, but difference is rly only based by personal taste, for me green one 😁
No real difference except people that paid more to one or the other and have to say otherwise to Justify they spent too much...lol
HB103B is Gojira Tone
I could not tell the difference…
Duncan designed for me
The only difference in these pickups is one costs twice as much as the other because its made in America and not Asia.
If you were blindfolded couldn’t pick one from the either
Can’t go wrong with USA made products just like the real Seymour Duncan, Duncan Designed Pickups are cheaper that means cheaper materials and inferior sound.
Its going to cut more on a set neck or neck through and have more high mids and clarity. Cool comparison though.