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I was on another site (it shall remain nameless) and there was a post regarding the sound quality of newer vrs older Duncan's. A number of posters felt that the old pre logo pickups are superior to the newer ones. It turns out that old ones go for a premium on (you guessed it) e-Bay. My initial thought was Bulls...t. One theory is that SD has a different source for magnets now. Anyway, does anyone have some thoughts on this?

My guess for this is it's just like every other quality guitar/accessory/amp. The older it becomes the more valueable. There probably are differences in the old an new. One being that most of the originals were hand wound, and many probably used the techniques now only used in the custom shop, such as scatter winding.

The magnets are a point of interest b/c over time magnets will lose power and give the pup a smoother sound, and less output. So yes the older pups will probably sound sweeter/smoother.

Luke

im guessing there isnt much difference. it takes at least 20 years or so for a magnet to deguass enough to change the tone noticably

I think some of the very early 80's ones with no logo on the BASEPLATE are pretty special sounding... probably because they were likely wound patiently by Seymour himself before the business became big and the forces of mass production took over.

the presence or absence of a logo on the bobbin is no indicator of timeframe of manufacturing ... i have brand new SD pups both with and without logos

your BS detector was tuned appropriately on this one ... some people just like to hear themselves talk (or read their own words) ... idiotscheers
t4d
cheers
t4d


Originally Posted by tone4daysthe presence or absence of a logo on the bobbin is no indicator of timeframe of manufacturing ... i have brand new SD pups both with and without logos

your BS detector was tuned appropriately on this one ... some people just like to hear themselves talk (or read their own words) ... idiotscheers
t4d
cheers
t4d

hehehe

I forgot my less than one y/o pups in my heritage have no logo....of course the baseplates do though....

Luke


Originally Posted by tone4daysthe presence or absence of a logo on the bobbin is no indicator of timeframe of manufacturing ... i have brand new SD pups both with and without logos

your BS detector was tuned appropriately on this one ... some people just like to hear themselves talk (or read their own words) ... idiots

cheers
t4d
cheers
t4d

Are you referring to the idiot that doesn't know the difference between a baseplate and a bobbin or the idiot that can't read?


Originally Posted by BachToRockAre you referring to the idiot that doesn't know the difference between a baseplate and a bobbin.. ?

I think the older bobbinplates are of far superior quality

BtR,

i exclusively intended my comment as a reference to the people that the original poster mentioned from the other website ... i apologize if i errantly left an inference that i was being deragatory to you or anyone else here ... i have no doubt that the distinction you described about logo vs non logo baseplates is real as you experience it

again, i apologize

cheers
t4d


Originally Posted by nuntiusI think the older bobbinplates are of far superior quality

Indeed the magnets windings were done with such care!

I think it would mainly have to do with old used pickups being de-gaussed slightly just by some of these factors....age, being stored next to other pickups, which can change the magnetic strength adversely, and by leaning a guitar against a speaker cab occasionally.

I remember at a clinic, Seymour talked about Andy Summers from the Police wondering why his strat got weaker sounding over time. Apparently, he'd lean it against a metal transformer at the subway station, while waiting to catch the train on his way to rehearsal everyday. It weakened the magnets. After he was famous, he had Seymour rewind his strat pickups, only to find that the sound was stronger, but lacked the sweetness that his strat had, years ago. Seymour also suggested to never lean your guitar against the front of your amp, for that reason, and to store pickups apart from each other....and parallel.