Members pathofspirit Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 Any thoughts on the "Duncan Designed" pickups that come on some of the Squire strats? Are they of a vastly different quality than Semour Duncans? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EMG_GUY Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 meh...just switch em out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Highway_61 Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 Haven't come across a Duncan Designed that I liked yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members docjeffrey Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 "The Duncan Designed line of pickups was started in 1995 at the request of several of our larger original equipment manufacturer ("OEM") customers who wanted to offer a pickup tied-in to the Duncan identity on their mid-level instruments. While USA-made Seymour Duncan and Basslines pickups are intended to fit on instruments with list prices over US$800, the Korean-built Duncan Designed pickups are intended for OEM use on guitars and basses with retail prices between US$300 and $800. The Duncan Designed club members include Squier, Jackson, ESP Ltd, Schecter Diamond Series, Daisy Rock, Hamer, Aria Pro II and Samick's Greg Bennett series. There are currently several humbuckers available in the Duncan Designed range, each of which is neck or bridge position-calibrated and was modeled after a USA-built model." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members docjeffrey Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 HB-103 * The HB-103 was patterned after the SH-6 Duncan Distortion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EMG_GUY Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 "The Duncan Designed line of pickups was started in 1995 at the request of several of our larger original equipment manufacturer ("OEM") customers who wanted to offer a pickup tied-in to the Duncan identity on their mid-level instruments. While USA-made Seymour Duncan and Basslines pickups are intended to fit on instruments with list prices over US$800, the Korean-built Duncan Designed pickups are intended for OEM use on guitars and basses with retail prices between US$300 and $800. The Duncan Designed club members include Squier, Jackson, ESP Ltd, Schecter Diamond Series, Daisy Rock, Hamer, Aria Pro II and Samick's Greg Bennett series.There are currently several humbuckers available in the Duncan Designed range, each of which is neck or bridge position-calibrated and was modeled after a USA-built model." ...lol thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pathofspirit Posted May 9, 2008 Author Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 "The Duncan Designed line of pickups was started in 1995 at the request of several of our larger original equipment manufacturer ("OEM") customers who wanted to offer a pickup tied-in to the Duncan identity on their mid-level instruments." Yeah - this is what I thought. OK. I'll probably take the advice above and swap them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jesse G Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 I've got the HB-105 set that came with my Schecter and never switched them out; to my surprise they were perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members D34dBaWx Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 i got HB-101. it was patterned after the Seymour Duncan SH-1 '59 Model humbucker set. i love it. but i had a DD detonator and it sucked Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SurveyofSociety Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 ignoring the snobs above for a few minutes, i had a Squier Tele Thinline with DDesigned pups and they were fantastic! the tone from the guitar was amazing and i never wanted to the change the pick ups as i was happy with what i got from it. they are better than Epiphones stock pick ups thats for damn sure!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Into Nation Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 HB-102's in my Schecter were not so hot. If you swap out to real Duncans, beware that the wires are backasswards on the DD, black = green and red = white. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Highway_61 Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 ignoring the snobs above for a few minutes, i had a Squier Tele Thinline with DDesigned pups and they were fantastic! the tone from the guitar was amazing and i never wanted to the change the pick ups as i was happy with what i got from it. they are better than Epiphones stock pick ups thats for damn sure!!! Dude, I'm anything but a snob, but I can only tell the OP my experience, and so far, I have not found a Duncan Designed pickup I liked. And this is not because the Duncan Designed pickups have not been equal to more boutique pickups.For example, the Duncan Designed lipsticks on the recent incarnations of Danelectro guitars are inferior to the lipsticks on the earlier reissues. The Duncan Designed mini-humbuckers on the Daisy Rock Retro H Special are vastly inferior to the mini-humbuckers on the Daisy Rock Retro H (Standard). I'm not comparing DDs with pickups costing a great deal more money; I am comparing them with pickups that probably cost less than DDs--and the DDs have not fared well in comparison. They have been shrill and without character. I'm happy that your experience(s) have been different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grantus Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 I've had a couple of guitars with them and found them uninspiring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RedJamaX Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 I have the HB103 (wanna be Duncan Distortions) on my M-255 and I actually like them quite a lot. NO, they are not like the Duncan Distortions which they were "modeled after" but they are not BAD pups either. Just dont buy them for or in a guitar and expect them to sound like the real Duncans. I do have plans to replace them with an Invader and a Dimebucker. Remember, "modeled after" in the music instrument industry is the same thing as "based on" in the movie industry. The BCRich pups in my Ibanez are BAD pickups, they really suck!! I would place them in the category with pickups you might find on those first act guitars. That would place the DDs at the midrange quality level, and of course Duncans, Dimarzio ect at the higher level. Just from what I have seen and played around with, it seems that the higher quality pickups tend to have better tonal response over a wider range of tone adjustment. Correct me if Im off here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RedJamaX Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 I should also mention that the HB-103s are the only ones I have ever played, as far as the DDs go, and only in my guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brian Krashpad Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 Have DD P-90's in a Schecter Tempest Special and they sound just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mondaymonkey Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 Perhaps perception has a thing to do with it. If you know you got {censored} pickups in then they are inyour mind {censored}. If you think they are some boutique pickups, then you'll play them like it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sleepeatplay Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 Mine went. Rio Grandes went in. The DD's were just alright for me dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jnapruitt Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 I've got the Schecter Stargazer. The HB 101's fit the guitar quite well. Here's what the SD site has to say about that PUP. The HB-101 was patterned after the Seymour Duncan SH-1 '59 Model Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ej Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 The neck pickup modeled after the '59 is excellent. The bridge pickup modeled after the Distortion is okay. Usable, but not amazing otherwise, i have now experience Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members brandass Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 I've got the HB-105 set that came with my Schecter and never switched them out; to my surprise they were perfect. That's supa sweet! Which model? I've fooled around with friends' guits with DD hums and it's been a mixed bag. Of course, so have been the guits. It may be a PU-guit match issue, but I've heard that there's a lot more variability in how they're constructed and wound compared to the real thing. Given all that my own philosophy is to value DDs no more (and no less) than nameless stock PUs - if they happen to come with a guit that I want I'll give them a go, assuming that odds are I'll want to swap them out, and be pleasantly surprised if they're nice and I stay pat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members clay sails Posted May 9, 2008 Members Share Posted May 9, 2008 I bought one bass with duncan designed pickups (Squier Vintage Modified) -- the pickups were lifeless. I own exactly one real seymour duncan guitar pickup and it is crisp and clear and wonderful. I don't know if this counts as a valid statistical sample, but I'll not be buying duncan designed pickups any time soon. I'll save up for the real thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members notryt Posted June 1, 2012 Members Share Posted June 1, 2012 Pots caps (250 pots will make pickups dull... and so will low value caps for tone. Ive used several DD pups and love the 102s... 103s are too hot for my style.. but they do work overdriven. and as one stated earlier its all in the perceptiion.. DDs are a poor mans duncans.. and sound as good as or better than depending on the wood you stick em in why are there so many pickups??.... not everyone is the same .. We are clones .. all for one and one for all... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members honeyiscool Posted June 1, 2012 Members Share Posted June 1, 2012 Two words: necro post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sammyreynolds01 Posted June 1, 2012 Members Share Posted June 1, 2012 I've played some that were good and I've played some that were absolutely awful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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