You are partly correct. I used to work for a Seymour Duncan importer long before Duncan Design came out. We used to get a bucket full of defective US Seymour Duncan pickups returned every month. Therefore, even US made products aren't 100% perfect. There's really only one factory in Korea that makes quality pickups (although the Chinese are catching on fast) and Duncan Designed are most likely manufactured there as per SD's specs. There are pickups out there that sound identical to, and have the same specifications, as the Duncan Designed HB-102 because other brands buy these pickups and merely stamp their name on these mass-produced products. Seymour then probably gets royalties. Duncan Designed are in no way inferior to their US counterparts. Duncan Designed are not trying to mimic their US counterparts either. The HB-102 is essentially a Seymour Duncan SH2 (or Jazz pickup) but because the components vary slightly from the US factory compared to the Korean factory, they sound a bit different but not better or worse. I stopped buying US-made pickups 15 years ago when I took a handful of Asian pickups home and they sounded great.
I think Duncan Designed are made to sound very close to the original but they not always have the same specs. For example HB102 bridge is 98% similar to the JB, HB101 neck is dead on SH1, but HB103 neck is more like a jazz neck with ceramic magnet, but is again 95% similar in sound. I think if you like the sound of the Duncan Designed they should not be changed. They might not be exactly lile the USA version but are great pickups. (I have some from Ibanez, Jackson and Washburn guitars).
@@richar27Looks like*, has a ceramic magnet, my favorite pickup of all time, it's a cross of the Distortion and The invader ... it's basically a Distortion with ceramic magnet and the poles of an Invader ... but sound wise is heavier than the Distortion and "thicker" sounding than the Invader, awesome mids and lows, decently acceptable highs ... I absolutely love these for drop tunings and C standard ... This dude does a decent demo ... ua-cam.com/video/AS7DfkfyG6g/v-deo.html
If you guys ever watch Philip Mcknight, He has talked to Seymours wife and was told that the duncan design pickups were the same just made over seas. If you haven't checked him out you should , he is very up there in the know category as he is a tech and well known on youtube.
I agree with this... almost could come across as racist, or at least American Exceptional. No one mentioned the cost of living and cost of labor... 'we' extract labor value by off-shore manufacturing. Generally doesn't seem to drop the price that much--- manufacturer's pocket the difference. I have a Greg Bennet MIK Samick with Duncan Designed HB 101N and B, and coil splitting, set neck which sounds fantastic. The variation in tone and volume from it is great. I do not own any real SD Santa Barbara made pickup guitars. But you are paying for people to live in Santa Barbara and southern California, which is 'spensive! Listen to Jeff Beck play his SD telegib on Blow By Blow (and maybe Wired?) and you know SD can make the best of the best pickups. Its price/value balance. I am no Jeff Beck, I paid $225 for the Bennett, it is far better than I will ever be, and am very happy.
I've always found the DD's to be a little under performing but better than a lot of the cheaper options. Most other OEM options are underwound, ceramic magnet equipped and sound shrill.
i have to disagree, they sound every bit as great as American Seymour Duncans in some cases even better. Duncan Designed pickups tend to have more low-end causing them to sound warmer than Seymour Duncan pickups.
Got Duncan Designed in my Scott Ian King V. I 1st thought swapping them but when I 1st plugged my guitar I was positively surprised by their tone, they chug, that’s all I ask…😊
I have the DD HB102 in my Jackson and I found a great way to un-cheapen the sound is to raise the screws in the pickup a few turns. This will get rid of some of the mud and add a little more bite in the high end. This applies to any pickup that has screws for pole pieces, and vice versa if your pickup is too bright.
I own a Schecter Demon-6 with DD pickups. I am a beginner and have been happy with these so far. I'm not at the point where I demand the best stuff, so these are perfect. Thanks for the video!
Same here I got a demon 6 with the Schecter DD HB105s and was wondering if it's even worth putting the SD Blackouts or will they sound the same and be a waste of money to add to 400dollar guitar.
My old Schecter C1 Elite came with Duncan Designed pickups and I actually really liked them. It was my first experience having a coil tap as well which was nice but they hummed and buzzed louder than a cheap motel lobby.
I can tell you my experience. I have 2 guitars, one was my first and has a duncan designed humbucker, the second one that I got later has a Jeff Beck humbucker. They DO sound a lot different, I'm not sure which model the duncan designed is supposed to emulated but their character is very different. With that said, the duncan designed judged on its own still sounds pretty good and has a fairly high output, it's definitely versatile and has let me play anything from metal to calmer music.. In conclusion if you're considering a budget guitar with duncan designed don't be discouraged by them, they will do their job well, the reason I haven't sold my first guitar is that I still like it.
Honestly, he may not have said it the nicest way, but he's right. Pickups are an audio related thing, it doesn't really help not to hear a comparison, or see comparison in some way. The information given is helpful, as you said, you did a lot of research on it. But you didn't give the research and only spoke on it. The most helpful information was left out.
I think he was your verbal, here it is and what I know about them guy. Now your mission is to seek these bad boys out on a lesser priced guitar. Do a pickup swap for genuine SD pickups and do an A+B! Then come back to us with YOUR video telling us what you think!! Jaime!!
I have Duncan Designed Blackouts and I absolutely love them. I also have EMG 808 and Fishman Fluence Modern, and I definitely prefer Duncan Designed Blackouts to all of them, as D.Designed sound thicker and cover all sonic range from bass to highs while keeping clarity and low noise. Excellent pickups! Other pickups tend to cut highs and lows, which I don't like. I watched Duncan Designed comparisons to the original Seymour Duncan pickups, and I also prefer Duncan Designed because they sounded thicker in those comparisons.
I'm in love with the ducam designed in my squier jazzmaster, I played these for a really long time and always got compliments from soundguys and musicians
That's basically what I been searching for and can't find anything to answer if they are worth buying brand or just keeping the DD . Any difference in sound and is it a 200 dollar difference . I like the DD blackouts and for the price there great .just wanna know the difference in playability
I have played DD as well as branded. I find HB103's generally meh, but the HB101 and HB102 to be just as good as their bigger brother SD. YMMV. HB-101- Seymour Duncan ’59 Model SH-1 HB-102- Seymour Duncan Jazz Model SH-4 Bridge and SH-2 Neck set HB-103- Seymour Duncan Distortion SH-6 HB-105-Seymour Duncan Blackouts HB-108- Seymour Duncan Invader SH-8 HR-101- Seymour Duncan Hot Rails SHR-1 SC-101- Cross between Seymour Duncan SSL-2 and SSL-6
I have a set of singles Duncan Design in a Strat build and they sound fantastic. Just use 500K volume and no load tone and you'll be allright. They sound balanced, not that much nasal and somehow creamy. Oh, and they have a slightly hotter output than the ones stock on Squiers
I have a MiJ Jackson DK2 with two DD singles and a SD JB bridge. Can't say that the sound of the DDs really leaves me wanting for actual SDs, but I use the bridge a lot more often anyway. I think a lot of people get caught up on branding and location of manufacture and other stuff (tonewood is a big example) that really isn't as big of deal as it's made out to be.
I had Duncan designs stock in my schecter c1 elite way back in the day that I eventually upgraded to bkps. Around the same time as when I had the Duncan designs in that guitar I had a schecter PT blackjack with real sds and it was night + day the difference between the 2 when it came to pickups (I preferred the playability of the c1 elite though). The Duncan designs were just so much more muddier and less defined. This was a long time ago though Maybe the processes have changed on them.
I've got Duncan designed pickups in my b.c. rich mockingbird stq. They sound really good. I'm not going to change them out but if it came with no name brand pickups I would definitely go with Seymour Duncans.
Got to say i have some DDs in my MIJ jackson dinky i purchased about 20 year ago, ive never felt compelled to replace them, always sounded good to me. I think too much emphasis gets placed on pick up brand, you are talking about a magnet wound in coil wire, they are not complicated magical things, i bet there is no actual difference between the sound a SD and DD produce, obviously if you have spent lots of money on SD pickups, you wont want to entertain the thought a product made cheaper in Asia is equal in quality, but happier to let your ears deceive you into thinking there is a difference.
I have the HB105s in my schecter demon 6. They do sound a little warmer and muddy as he said but I do love that sound for most of the stuff I like to play. Including clean blues!
I have plenty of high end guitars with real Duncans and DiMarzios. I have a few lower level guitar that i put HB103s in. That set can always be found cheap, and they sound decent. They sound better than Dragonfires. The other Duncan Designed pickups i don't really care for. The Scorcher duel rail single space pickups sound really good but that's about it. The HB108 sounds muddy to me. The HB103s never fail in my opinion.
I have a Cort Sunset TC. It's a flat front les paul style guitar with a telecaster bridge. Not sold in the united states. It has duncan designed noiseless pick ups, a p90 neck and a telecaster bridge. They are very articulate. The bridge is a little bit less aggressive than the classic telly. For now i'm not changing um they sound really good.
Blah blah blah How about this: Compare a DD pickup with two pickups of its counterpart from different years (in order to account for manufacturing variation). Provide sound clips of clean, crunch and high gain, then share them. Having tried the DD version of the 59 bridge trembucker and the Ibanez/Duncan version of the 59 neck. I will say there was little noticeable difference, if any. Going with my gut, I will say the Ibanez/Duncan gave me better feelies than the 59 Neck and the 59 Bridge better than the DD. There’s some anecdotal evidence for you. I will posit that it is worth more than a video by a guy who provides no indication that he’s even done any comparisons. Now he seems like a nice guy and I bet I’d like his playing, so I have no qualms helping his channel out by leaving a post. This is due to the UA-cam algorithm, rather than insinuating that my input is worthwhile. Make of it what you will.
I have MIK hand wound Seymour Duncan pickups and they are made exactly like Seymour Duncan USA pickups the quality is the same and the price is not. The SSS STRAT SEYMOUR DUNCAN ARE AS GOOD AS THE USA PICKUPS! Indian rosewood is as good as Brazilian rosewood fretboards and the overseas guitars are much better today than 20 years ago. 20 years ago the quality was much worse in China than today.
I had a high end wiki Squier strat fsr model that has 3 single coils in a strat that sounded pretty dam good but just a bit on the muddy side but overall sounded quite good but I could definitely tell the difference withought a shadow of a doubt , seymore Duncan's sound much better period.
Sounds weird, but I prefer my Duncan designs over the Duncan’s they’re modeled after. I bought the real ones for my main Schecter guitar because of how much liked the OEM and was told the real ones were even better, it is now my back up to the Duncan designed OEM loaded Schecter 😔
My 1999 Schecter has "Duncan Designed" pickups. I have 40 different guitars, and these 24 year old pickups sound better than the majority of my guitars. it's literally my go-to instrument, over all others. My Fender Custom shop with SD's sits there, collecting dust. just saying!
I don't mind them when they are already in a guitar but it is definitely something I always think to upgrade first if I find them underwhelming. Do you all prefer to go from DD to SD or other brands like DiMarzio, Fishman, Bare Knuckle, Lace ,Etc?
I went from DD to the SD in one of my Schecters that they were modeled after, personally did not like the difference. The guitar sits in favor of its twin with the original DD. This time I’m watching all the comparison vids on UA-cam and choosing with my ears
I got a Jackson slx with Duncan designed pickups,. And it sounds heavy as fuck.. just how I like it. I have never even seen a lefty with propper Seymour's.. so I will happily make do with these..
I had a set of them in my SLXT Soloist and loved them. I swapped them out for some Invaders because I need something that articulates a little better. I am going to reuse the Duncan Designed ones in my Explorer and use it for my more punk stuff.
I wonder is this a new thing? Because I have real seymour duncan pickups in the 1996 RR3 Japan made Jackson. On the pickups it says made in the USA and has the seymour duncan symbol on them as well.
Duncan Designs in the Philippines? I need to check this out! By the way, I have a Duncan Designed on my Squier Vintage Modified Jazzmaster. And I really really like the sound of it. The only catch is, they're noisy. Hum noise, yes. And yes, it's a single coil pickup. I already sent it to my guitar tech to put copper shields on the crevices and the pickguard. But they didn't help. I am now considering in purchasing the Seymour Duncan Noiseless P90 bridge only and combine the Duncan Designed Neck (single coil) to it. Do you think it's okay to do this? In terms of tones? Thank you, Axe!
@@SandauxBeats if had guitar and mixed both. It sounded nice. There is no "perfect" tone out there. You may stumble upon a combination that works really well for you. you never know!
thank you very much for this somebody may or may not be trading me some duncan designed and i needed to know. do you have time to talk? a friend of mine just passed and i was gonna buy her a guitar if i could afford to get what she wanted, but in 7 string. she was a Gibson Girl so that was a bit of a trick, for more then one reason. anyhow thanks for this, this really clears up the difference between the 2.
This vid is bla bla, do a demo of a Duncan pickup vs the Duncan Designed counterpart and let owr ears decide. This isn´t even a show and tell vid, It´s jus a "tell" . Oh Made In America alone doesn´t mean It´s best than made in Korea or China. Don´t get me wrong I love USA made products for many reasons but take a minute to think about Squier Classic Vibe guitars, they are up there with SOME made in usa instruments. And they´re made in China and Indonesia, SO, neither anything made in China is crap nor everething made in China is great. In guitar market nothing is black or white. On the other hand with complex electronic gear such as amps (Soecially tube amps) It´s a different story, almost any amp made in China is inferior to the same models made in US or UK. that´s the case where US and UK manufacturers cut costs with China manufacture. So the "SOLVED" word of this vids tittle is a click bait made in USA.
I've had these Duncan designed in a few guitars and I promise they do NOT sound as good as real seymore Duncan . These have just like he said , more muddy tone point blank period not debatable .
I like your work my man. I find myself getting info on things that I didn't know I was interested in. If that makes any sense.
Hey Chad! That means a lot to me. Thanks for stopping by and hopefully I can keep bringing the good info!
You are partly correct. I used to work for a Seymour Duncan importer long before Duncan Design came out. We used to get a bucket full of defective US Seymour Duncan pickups returned every month. Therefore, even US made products aren't 100% perfect. There's really only one factory in Korea that makes quality pickups (although the Chinese are catching on fast) and Duncan Designed are most likely manufactured there as per SD's specs. There are pickups out there that sound identical to, and have the same specifications, as the Duncan Designed HB-102 because other brands buy these pickups and merely stamp their name on these mass-produced products. Seymour then probably gets royalties. Duncan Designed are in no way inferior to their US counterparts. Duncan Designed are not trying to mimic their US counterparts either. The HB-102 is essentially a Seymour Duncan SH2 (or Jazz pickup) but because the components vary slightly from the US factory compared to the Korean factory, they sound a bit different but not better or worse. I stopped buying US-made pickups 15 years ago when I took a handful of Asian pickups home and they sounded great.
What do you think of DiMarzio compared to Duncan in terms of sound and build quality.
@@sacredatavismagreed. Same experience here
I think Duncan Designed are made to sound very close to the original but they not always have the same specs. For example HB102 bridge is 98% similar to the JB, HB101 neck is dead on SH1, but HB103 neck is more like a jazz neck with ceramic magnet, but is again 95% similar in sound. I think if you like the sound of the Duncan Designed they should not be changed. They might not be exactly lile the USA version but are great pickups. (I have some from Ibanez, Jackson and Washburn guitars).
HB-101 set is based of a 59 set
HB-102 set is based on a JB and Jazz
HB-103 set is based on the Distortion set
HB-108 set (Detonator) is based on a Seymour Duncan SH-8 Invader set 👌🏻
@@richar27Looks like*, has a ceramic magnet, my favorite pickup of all time, it's a cross of the Distortion and The invader ... it's basically a Distortion with ceramic magnet and the poles of an Invader ... but sound wise is heavier than the Distortion and "thicker" sounding than the Invader, awesome mids and lows, decently acceptable highs ... I absolutely love these for drop tunings and C standard ... This dude does a decent demo ... ua-cam.com/video/AS7DfkfyG6g/v-deo.html
If you guys ever watch Philip Mcknight, He has talked to Seymours wife and was told that the duncan design pickups were the same just made over seas. If you haven't checked him out you should , he is very up there in the know category as he is a tech and well known on youtube.
I find it funny that everybody thinks, stuff from China et al. may be off less quality while everybody literally uses iphones from there.
I agree with this... almost could come across as racist, or at least American Exceptional. No one mentioned the cost of living and cost of labor... 'we' extract labor value by off-shore manufacturing. Generally doesn't seem to drop the price that much--- manufacturer's pocket the difference.
I have a Greg Bennet MIK Samick with Duncan Designed HB 101N and B, and coil splitting, set neck which sounds fantastic. The variation in tone and volume from it is great. I do not own any real SD Santa Barbara made pickup guitars. But you are paying for people to live in Santa Barbara and southern California, which is 'spensive!
Listen to Jeff Beck play his SD telegib on Blow By Blow (and maybe Wired?) and you know SD can make the best of the best pickups.
Its price/value balance. I am no Jeff Beck, I paid $225 for the Bennett, it is far better than I will ever be, and am very happy.
That’s a really good point about iPhones. Nailed it.
Cheers from Chile. Congrats, great vid as always.
Wow! Thanks so much my friend. Really appreciate you stopping by!
I've always found the DD's to be a little under performing but better than a lot of the cheaper options. Most other OEM options are underwound, ceramic magnet equipped and sound shrill.
i have to disagree, they sound every bit as great as American Seymour Duncans in some cases even better. Duncan Designed pickups tend to have more low-end causing them to sound warmer than Seymour Duncan pickups.
@@mattdylan664 I think we just see the same thing differently. a positive for you is a negative for me.
Got Duncan Designed in my Scott Ian King V. I 1st thought swapping them but when I 1st plugged my guitar I was positively surprised by their tone, they chug, that’s all I ask…😊
Hey man! If the shoe fits!
I was looking this video precisely to Buy that guitar 😁
@@renevillalba Thats awesome. I hope it helps!
I have the DD HB102 in my Jackson and I found a great way to un-cheapen the sound is to raise the screws in the pickup a few turns. This will get rid of some of the mud and add a little more bite in the high end. This applies to any pickup that has screws for pole pieces, and vice versa if your pickup is too bright.
Why not just put 500k pot in?
I think that question answers itself@@mikerobo2112
I own a Schecter Demon-6 with DD pickups. I am a beginner and have been happy with these so far.
I'm not at the point where I demand the best stuff, so these are perfect. Thanks for the video!
Same here I got a demon 6 with the Schecter DD HB105s and was wondering if it's even worth putting the SD Blackouts or will they sound the same and be a waste of money to add to 400dollar guitar.
My old Schecter C1 Elite came with Duncan Designed pickups and I actually really liked them. It was my first experience having a coil tap as well which was nice but they hummed and buzzed louder than a cheap motel lobby.
Lol
I can tell you my experience.
I have 2 guitars, one was my first and has a duncan designed humbucker, the second one that I got later has a Jeff Beck humbucker.
They DO sound a lot different, I'm not sure which model the duncan designed is supposed to emulated but their character is very different.
With that said, the duncan designed judged on its own still sounds pretty good and has a fairly high output, it's definitely versatile and has let me play anything from metal to calmer music..
In conclusion if you're considering a budget guitar with duncan designed don't be discouraged by them, they will do their job well, the reason I haven't sold my first guitar is that I still like it.
No sound clips, no audio comparisons, no construction comparisons, no measurements... just blablabla. Alright.
Love the insight Jaime!! Thanks for stopping by!
If this is true that’s pathetic I ain’t watching this shit
Honestly, he may not have said it the nicest way, but he's right. Pickups are an audio related thing, it doesn't really help not to hear a comparison, or see comparison in some way. The information given is helpful, as you said, you did a lot of research on it. But you didn't give the research and only spoke on it. The most helpful information was left out.
I think he was your verbal, here it is and what I know about them guy.
Now your mission is to seek these bad boys out on a lesser priced guitar. Do a pickup swap for genuine SD pickups and do an A+B! Then come back to us with YOUR video telling us what you think!! Jaime!!
I have Duncan Designed Blackouts and I absolutely love them. I also have EMG 808 and Fishman Fluence Modern, and I definitely prefer Duncan Designed Blackouts to all of them, as D.Designed sound thicker and cover all sonic range from bass to highs while keeping clarity and low noise. Excellent pickups! Other pickups tend to cut highs and lows, which I don't like. I watched Duncan Designed comparisons to the original Seymour Duncan pickups, and I also prefer Duncan Designed because they sounded thicker in those comparisons.
I'm in love with the ducam designed in my squier jazzmaster, I played these for a really long time and always got compliments from soundguys and musicians
It would be great to get a side by side D design and seymour duncan blackouts on a schecter demon
That's basically what I been searching for and can't find anything to answer if they are worth buying brand or just keeping the DD . Any difference in sound and is it a 200 dollar difference . I like the DD blackouts and for the price there great .just wanna know the difference in playability
As long as they're not literally fake pickups, they'll sound pretty good.
Change the plastic part for one printed "Seymour Duncan" and you will start to hear the difference. 😂
🤣
I have played DD as well as branded. I find HB103's generally meh, but the HB101 and HB102 to be just as good as their bigger brother SD. YMMV.
HB-101- Seymour Duncan ’59 Model SH-1
HB-102- Seymour Duncan Jazz Model SH-4 Bridge and SH-2 Neck set
HB-103- Seymour Duncan Distortion SH-6
HB-105-Seymour Duncan Blackouts
HB-108- Seymour Duncan Invader SH-8
HR-101- Seymour Duncan Hot Rails SHR-1
SC-101- Cross between Seymour Duncan SSL-2 and SSL-6
I have a set of singles Duncan Design in a Strat build and they sound fantastic. Just use 500K volume and no load tone and you'll be allright. They sound balanced, not that much nasal and somehow creamy. Oh, and they have a slightly hotter output than the ones stock on Squiers
I have a MiJ Jackson DK2 with two DD singles and a SD JB bridge. Can't say that the sound of the DDs really leaves me wanting for actual SDs, but I use the bridge a lot more often anyway. I think a lot of people get caught up on branding and location of manufacture and other stuff (tonewood is a big example) that really isn't as big of deal as it's made out to be.
Have Duncan Designed pickups ever been labeled (on the face of the pickup) just Seymour Duncan, rather than Duncan Designed?
I had Duncan designs stock in my schecter c1 elite way back in the day that I eventually upgraded to bkps. Around the same time as when I had the Duncan designs in that guitar I had a schecter PT blackjack with real sds and it was night + day the difference between the 2 when it came to pickups (I preferred the playability of the c1 elite though). The Duncan designs were just so much more muddier and less defined. This was a long time ago though Maybe the processes have changed on them.
I have a custom BC Rich mockingbird STQ 8. It came with Duncan designed pickups and they sound pretty good.
Sending American made pickups to Asia and mounting them there is pretty costly, so that's a reason you don't see them factory installed often.
I’m must be lucky since my $400 Jackson came with fake duncans and it sounds fantastic.
Nice!
Yes but..are Duncan designed alnico or ceramic pickups?
I've got Duncan designed pickups in my b.c. rich mockingbird stq. They sound really good. I'm not going to change them out but if it came with no name brand pickups I would definitely go with Seymour Duncans.
Got to say i have some DDs in my MIJ jackson dinky i purchased about 20 year ago, ive never felt compelled to replace them, always sounded good to me. I think too much emphasis gets placed on pick up brand, you are talking about a magnet wound in coil wire, they are not complicated magical things, i bet there is no actual difference between the sound a SD and DD produce, obviously if you have spent lots of money on SD pickups, you wont want to entertain the thought a product made cheaper in Asia is equal in quality, but happier to let your ears deceive you into thinking there is a difference.
I have the HB105s in my schecter demon 6. They do sound a little warmer and muddy as he said but I do love that sound for most of the stuff I like to play. Including clean blues!
I have plenty of high end guitars with real Duncans and DiMarzios. I have a few lower level guitar that i put HB103s in. That set can always be found cheap, and they sound decent. They sound better than Dragonfires. The other Duncan Designed pickups i don't really care for. The Scorcher duel rail single space pickups sound really good but that's about it. The HB108 sounds muddy to me. The HB103s never fail in my opinion.
I have a Cort Sunset TC. It's a flat front les paul style guitar with a telecaster bridge. Not sold in the united states. It has duncan designed noiseless pick ups, a p90 neck and a telecaster bridge. They are very articulate. The bridge is a little bit less aggressive than the classic telly. For now i'm not changing um they sound really good.
If Duncan Design bridge pickups for tele sound muddy compared to fender made,or Seymour Duncan made,inssrt 500k pot.
Great Great Great Review - So very helpful - THANKS!!!
Awesome thanks!
times have changed, my ltd ec-400vf came with real seymour duncan jb and 59 set and retailed for around 5-600 15 years ago
USA is NOT América!!
right , is Europa
Please the details of why they are diff, materials and specs
Blah blah blah
How about this:
Compare a DD pickup with two pickups of its counterpart from different years (in order to account for manufacturing variation). Provide sound clips of clean, crunch and high gain, then share them.
Having tried the DD version of the 59 bridge trembucker and the Ibanez/Duncan version of the 59 neck. I will say there was little noticeable difference, if any. Going with my gut, I will say the Ibanez/Duncan gave me better feelies than the 59 Neck and the 59 Bridge better than the DD.
There’s some anecdotal evidence for you. I will posit that it is worth more than a video by a guy who provides no indication that he’s even done any comparisons. Now he seems like a nice guy and I bet I’d like his playing, so I have no qualms helping his channel out by leaving a post. This is due to the UA-cam algorithm, rather than insinuating that my input is worthwhile. Make of it what you will.
Do they still make Duncan designed? Haven't seen any in years
Oh yeah. For sure. Jackson throws many of them in their x-series
I have MIK hand wound Seymour Duncan pickups and they are made exactly like Seymour Duncan USA pickups the quality is the same and the price is not. The SSS STRAT SEYMOUR DUNCAN ARE AS GOOD AS THE USA PICKUPS! Indian rosewood is as good as Brazilian rosewood fretboards and the overseas guitars are much better today than 20 years ago. 20 years ago the quality was much worse in China than today.
I had a high end wiki Squier strat fsr model that has 3 single coils in a strat that sounded pretty dam good but just a bit on the muddy side but overall sounded quite good but I could definitely tell the difference withought a shadow of a doubt , seymore Duncan's sound much better period.
Sounds weird, but I prefer my Duncan designs over the Duncan’s they’re modeled after. I bought the real ones for my main Schecter guitar because of how much liked the OEM and was told the real ones were even better, it is now my back up to the Duncan designed OEM loaded Schecter 😔
I have the neck version of sd invader and its just as good in my opinion . I have used it for around 6 years with no problems.
Bought a pair of Duncan designed pickups the other day have not put them in my axe yet.ok we will see..✌️🤘💪
My 1999 Schecter has "Duncan Designed" pickups. I have 40 different guitars, and these 24 year old pickups sound better than the majority of my guitars. it's literally my go-to instrument, over all others. My Fender Custom shop with SD's sits there, collecting dust. just saying!
I don't mind them when they are already in a guitar but it is definitely something I always think to upgrade first if I find them underwhelming. Do you all prefer to go from DD to SD or other brands like DiMarzio, Fishman, Bare Knuckle, Lace ,Etc?
I went from DD to the SD in one of my Schecters that they were modeled after, personally did not like the difference. The guitar sits in favor of its twin with the original DD. This time I’m watching all the comparison vids on UA-cam and choosing with my ears
I got a Jackson slx with Duncan designed pickups,. And it sounds heavy as fuck.. just how I like it.
I have never even seen a lefty with propper Seymour's.. so I will happily make do with these..
I had a set of them in my SLXT Soloist and loved them. I swapped them out for some Invaders because I need something that articulates a little better. I am going to reuse the Duncan Designed ones in my Explorer and use it for my more punk stuff.
I completely agree that Duncan Designed are way muddier that actual Seymour Duncan's.
My bass came with Duncan design in them sounds good for the most part im thinking about upgrading to some Delano pickups
I wonder is this a new thing? Because I have real seymour duncan pickups in the 1996 RR3 Japan made Jackson. On the pickups it says made in the USA and has the seymour duncan symbol on them as well.
But no sound comparison 🥴
Duncan Designs in the Philippines? I need to check this out!
By the way, I have a Duncan Designed on my Squier Vintage Modified Jazzmaster. And I really really like the sound of it. The only catch is, they're noisy. Hum noise, yes. And yes, it's a single coil pickup. I already sent it to my guitar tech to put copper shields on the crevices and the pickguard. But they didn't help.
I am now considering in purchasing the Seymour Duncan Noiseless P90 bridge only and combine the Duncan Designed Neck (single coil) to it. Do you think it's okay to do this? In terms of tones?
Thank you, Axe!
Sounds great!!
@@nikaxeguitar You mean, you did this before? Mixing Duncan Designed pickups and Seymour Duncan?
@@SandauxBeats if had guitar and mixed both. It sounded nice. There is no "perfect" tone out there. You may stumble upon a combination that works really well for you. you never know!
@@nikaxeguitar Yes. But it might have some issues on wirings, potentiometers, etc. This is why I research first before I go for the stumble.
@@SandauxBeats Sound like a plan!
I mean, he talked a lot but at the end he really didn't say anything..
thank you very much for this somebody may or may not be trading me some duncan designed and i needed to know. do you have time to talk? a friend of mine just passed and i was gonna buy her a guitar if i could afford to get what she wanted, but in 7 string. she was a Gibson Girl so that was a bit of a trick, for more then one reason. anyhow thanks for this, this really clears up the difference between the 2.
Sorry but you didn´t solve anything, just got paid by SD to say what they told you to say. Just my 2 cents.
Man. If SD paid me that would be sweet!
@@nikaxeguitar Came on, whe´re not children, payd ads exist from the early days of radio in de 1920´s
@@gerardoromano3436 I mean you might be, cause you didn't hear what I said...
Cheers from Anjou in France
Hey friend!!!
So you just talk but not play nor compare the pickups
Yeah!! Did you enjoy it??
Obviously, I'll tell my grandkids this story before they go to bed
@@jackparafina Fantastic. Thats great marketing for me!
Now which UA-cam troll is going to tell me how wrong I am. Speak up all trolls!
👀
Minor differences for metal.
I have ducan design pick ups but I’m gonna switch them out for EMGs
Nice!! That will be a good swap.
The Duncan design invader is amazing. The rest is trash
I like your content a lot but that permanent zoom-in / zoom-out really disturbs me 😅
Oh shoot. Is it distracting? Let me know cause I don’t really know what I’m doing lol
@@nikaxeguitar ha ha 😂 yes, a bit too much. I mean, it's fine when you want to emphasize something, but when it's all the time it's a bit disturbing.
@@fredericadda Thats for the tip man. I will definitely fix that! Appreciate it.
@@nikaxeguitar my pleasure! Love the content of your channel, especially “buy this not that”
No they are not.
This vid is bla bla, do a demo of a Duncan pickup vs the Duncan Designed counterpart and let owr ears decide. This isn´t even a show and tell vid, It´s jus a "tell" . Oh Made In America alone doesn´t mean It´s best than made in Korea or China. Don´t get me wrong I love USA made products for many reasons but take a minute to think about Squier Classic Vibe guitars, they are up there with SOME made in usa instruments. And they´re made in China and Indonesia, SO, neither anything made in China is crap nor everething made in China is great. In guitar market nothing is black or white. On the other hand with complex electronic gear such as amps (Soecially tube amps) It´s a different story, almost any amp made in China is inferior to the same models made in US or UK. that´s the case where US and UK manufacturers cut costs with China manufacture. So the "SOLVED" word of this vids tittle is a click bait made in USA.
Thanks so much! You’re just awesome!
Ah yes the “it’s american so it’s better” mindset again.
Where are sound comparisons? Is interesting for us your blablabla?
Grow up.
ww.....way to tell us nothing man
I've had these Duncan designed in a few guitars and I promise they do NOT sound as good as real seymore Duncan . These have just like he said , more muddy tone point blank period not debatable .
Well that was a waste of time
Dang. Sorry my friend. Any advice or suggestions? Anything helps! Have a great day