Duncan vs. DiMarzio

[Pigsinzen]

I have a Air Norton in the neck and a Norton in the bridge. Love Dimarzios.

They have a more modern sound than SD.

If I was looking for a vintage sounding pickup I might go for the SD.

[deldgeetar]

I am a fan of Dimarzios myself. All the Duncans I have owned and tried seem to have a spike in the upper mids that makes them very distinctive, and not to my liking. The test for me was watching my friend's band play. He has an Ibanez Jem with Evolutions and a Jackson USA Rhoads fixed bridge with the Jazz/JB combo. In all aspects the Jem sounded much better than the Jackson. The notes were crystal clear and cut through the band extremely well, while the Rhoads' Duncans were muddy as all hell. He tried to compensate by upping the midrange and lowering bass and gain, but couldn't get a useable lead tone. Eventually he just played the rest of the set with the Jem. That performance convinced me that Dimarzios are thicker, more lively, and generally sit much better in the mix. While I have EMGs in my Paul right now, any other guitars I buy will get Dimarzios, and the Paul even might if I get tired of the EMG sound.

[DracoAran]

It depends on the guitar, period.

Take the Duncan Distortion and the Dimarzio Super Distortion. The Duncan goes great on Les Pauls, specially if you're down-tuning. The Dimarzio is great on super strats to fatten them up and bring the lower mids.
The only thing in common between the 2 is the output.

Actually, a lot of Dimarzios are geared towards alder/basswood super strats. There are exceptions like the Virtual Hot PAF.

Most Duncans are geared towards Les Pauls and other fat sounding set necks (Explorer, V, SG). The Parallel Axis series and the Custom Custom are obvious exceptions.

As far as single coils, both companies are pretty even.

I do find the Dimarzio site to be more accurate in their descriptions, tone charts, and specs in general.

Here's a rant. Pickups get bad rep from idiots who totally disregard any tech info and put them in the wrong guitar. A Tone Zone in a Les Paul?. A full shred in an alder body, maple board, bolt on, floyd rose loaded super strat?. YOU DESERVE TO SOUND LIKE {censored} AND BE $60 DOLLARS IN THE HOLE.
Rant over.
I personally can't live without either company.

[wilmer]

Guess the reason for Dimarzio

[No Soul]

Originally posted by DracoAran It depends on the guitar, period. Take the Duncan Distortion and the Dimarzio Super Distortion. The Duncan goes great on Les Pauls, specially if you're down-tuning. The Dimarzio is great on super strats to fatten them up and bring the lower mids. The only thing in common between the 2 is the output. Actually, a lot of Dimarzios are geared towards alder/basswood super strats. There are exceptions like the Virtual Hot PAF. Most Duncans are geared towards Les Pauls and other fat sounding set necks (Explorer, V, SG). The Parallel Axis series and the Custom Custom are obvious exceptions. As far as single coils, both companies are pretty even. I do find the Dimarzio site to be more accurate in their descriptions, tone charts, and specs in general. Here's a rant. Pickups get bad rep from idiots who totally disregard any tech info and put them in the wrong guitar. A Tone Zone in a Les Paul?. A full shred in an alder body, maple board, bolt on, floyd rose loaded super strat?. YOU DESERVE TO SOUND LIKE {censored} AND BE $60 DOLLARS IN THE HOLE. Rant over. I personally can't live without either company.

 

 

here is somebody who gets it

[SirJackdeFuzz]

"Wilmer" . . .


. . . i think you hit the hammer on the nail, so to speak !

So, if HC has all the metal dudes here, where the hell does the seasoned muso's (gentlemen in the 40's and over) log onto then ?


OT : . . . i always find it just a little bit funny when some folks still try to match a hi-gain pu with body wood type - don't you !

I believe that the type of body wood is "NOT" revalent as soon as you play any kind of hi-distortion, like a 5150 past 50% amp gain !



********* "this was taken from another forum, with kind permission" *********





Back to topic :

On another "notorious flame-throw'ing" forum we talked about, "quality for the price you pay" on guitars and i mentioned that i did an AB with two simmilar looking guitars, although there was a $2000.00+, price diff. !!!

I made the statement (and i stick to it, because i heard it with my own ears) :

My $400.00 Epi LP sounded "no-differant" that an all origenal 1973 GIBSON LP STANDARD !

The rig(s) that was used : (yes we used TWO VERY diff. rigs)


** Boss SD-1 (gain @ noon) --> Peavey Bandit (gain @ 2 o'clock)

Result = both guitars sounded the same


** early 80's Marshall half-stack (50watt head), gain @ 3 o'clock)

Result - both guitars sounded the same



CONCLUTION (and getting back to THIS thread)


If neither me, nor two semi-pro muso's in their early 50's could hear ANY diff. in PICK-UPS, or over-all tone (that is what we tested, back then) then how can diff. types of wood make ANY DIFF at that kind of distortion ???

I honestly think that body-wood only comes into play, when you play clean, or VERY, VERY CLOSE to clean.

Add distortion (i'm not even talking about FUZZ), and diff wood-charactaristics goes, 'out the window' !

(all of the above said, is IMHO, and personal experience due to said experiment almost a year ago now)


**************************************



Make you think - doesn't it ! ! !


:idea: :idea: . . .

[DracoAran]

That's a huge pile of dung.

Muddy or Ice Pick to the ear are syndromes that happen at very high gain or clean settings.

Fairly common non-sense in this forum though.

But who am I to argue?. I guess cork sniffers are FAR more common than tone deaf internet heroes.

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

Originally posted by Ancient Mariner I've always been reasonably happy with the Dimarzio PUs I've owned, whereas I've never liked any duncan PUs either owned or tried.

This mirrors my thoughts and experience exactly.....theres summat a tad lacking about SDs....a certain dullness?

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

Originally posted by Pigsinzen They have a more modern sound than SD.

 

 

"modern sound"?

 

So much classic rock from the 70s was achieved with Super Distortions........

 

Class of 55 and Blue Velvets do superb vintage blues and country sounds.......

[Cougar Hunter]

both are very high quality.

I like them both

take two guitars, same model, same year, same pickups.

they will sound very different to my ears B/c every piece of wood resonates differently.

a piece of wood that sounds good will always sound good with high-quality pickups.

dimarzio:
satch, vai, malmsteen, eric johnson, petrucci, buckethead, tom scholz, steve morse, al dimiola, paul gilbert, kotzen

duncan:
friedman, mustaine, dimartini, slash, lynch, saraceno, bratta (before emg?),

they're pretty evenly matched.

ones I hated by both companies:

DMZ - fred, tone zone, VV heavy blues

SD - invader, jazz, screamin demon

[whoop]

i like dimarzios much better than sd. and when i buy pickups i usually buy dimarzios. but i have many guitars that came with SD pickups and i wouldn't change any of them out, even the low end "duncan designed" ones on my dean guitars and low end jacksons.

both dimarzio and SD are better than any pickups that guitar mfg make, like gibson for example.

[Cougar Hunter]

Originally posted by whoop both dimarzio and SD are better than any pickups that guitar mfg make, like gibson for example.

well, except for Suhr and Tv JOnes.

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

Originally posted by whoop both dimarzio and SD are better than any pickups that guitar mfg make, like gibson for example.

 

 

Hmmmm, the P90 gang will be along for a lynching in a minute I reckon....I'll start tyin some rope:D

[marloni]

dimarzio's vintage sound sucks.

[bubkus_jones]

I've only had a DiMarzio Super Distortion (which came stock on my first guitar), and no Duncans.

The only aftermarket pickups I've purchased have been Carvins (an M22-T and a pair of Twinblades, none of which are installed at the moment, due to the death of their intented project).

[peavey_impact]

Originally posted by marloni dimarzio's vintage sound sucks.

 

 

The Dimarzio Twang King neck pickup in my tele blows away any fender tele neck pickup I've ever used.

[metallica_00]

I always get the feeling that most people use DiMarzios for higher output stuff and Ducans for low ouput. You see alot of Tone Zones and Super Distortions out there, but not so many PAF Classics.

I have the PAF Pro and Tone Zone in my Ibanez and I think they sound great for just about anything. In order to assess Duncans properly I would have to own some.

[nothingstock]

Most aftermarket pickups that I've bought have been DiMarzio. I like thier build-quality and articulation. I know that Duncan makes some good stuff, but the Fasttrack T in my tele is GRRRRRRRRREAT, as were the Pafs I've used. In fact, my first boutique guitar, a 1980 Hamer Sunburst, came stock with the first boutique brand of pickups - yep, DiMarzio PAF's.

[wilmer]

"So, if HC has all the metal dudes here, where the hell does the seasoned muso's (gentlemen in the 40's and over) log onto then ?"

Fender Forum. . (But ok I

[Cougar Hunter]

Originally posted by wilmer "I believe that the type of body wood is "NOT" revalent as soon as you play any kind of hi-distortion, like a 5150 past 50% amp gain !" Yep, I believe you hit the hammer on the nail. Period. "If neither me, nor two semi-pro muso's in their early 50's could hear ANY diff. in PICK-UPS, or over-all tone (that is what we tested, back then) then how can diff. types of wood make ANY DIFF at that kind of distortion ??? I honestly think that body-wood only comes into play, when you play clean, or VERY, VERY CLOSE to clean. Add distortion (i'm not even talking about FUZZ), and diff wood-charactaristics goes, 'out the window' !

I'm not sure how much distortion you're talking about.

Do you mean Cannibal Corpse or Devourment or something?

at the gain level of Van Halen, Ratt, White Lion, etc., I'm pretty f-ing sure I can hear the difference in various pieces of wood (same species or different.)

maybe your ears are shot?

[wilmer]

I believe we mean full distorsion, Cannibal Corps and so on.

[Cougar Hunter]

Originally posted by wilmer I believe we mean full distorsion, Cannibal Corps and so on.

oh:thu:

thanks for clearin it up:D

[Karma1]

As others have said here, it depends on the guitar. There are too many variables to say that one is better than the other. I have one guitar (mahogany body) with Duncan Jazz/ Custom Custom and another guitar (also mahogany) with DiMarzio Air Norton/ Tone Zone and they both sound awesome. I also have a Duncan Seth Lover in the neck of my Les Paul and it's a great sounding vintage PAF-style pickup. You just need to find the pickup that sounds best for your guitar, amp, and style of music. But in my opinion Duncans and DiMarzios are both excellent.

[stangme01]

man i wanna try some dimarzios so bad but i know nothing about them. I get discouraged very quickly because there are SOOOOO many recommended different ones to choose from, its hard to pick one and say "this is the one to try". I've just been an EMG/duncan guy for so long now..... for duncan i like jb/custom/distortion type pickups for bridge and like something to riff with on the neck, not too worried about cleans, just needs to piss out tone so what would i use in dimarzio?

[marloni]

I bought a dimarzio PAF and it was the worst sounding after market pickup I heard. very flat sounding and lacking in warmth. even ibanez infinity stock pickups sounded more decent.