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Hey guys. Yeah yeah, I know, this pickup has been reviewed to death, but why not one more.

Anyways, after having identical setups in both my Gibson Les Pauls, I decided to make my black and chrome Les Paul Studio my quot;hard rock / metalquot; axe.

(In my Les Paul Standard, I have a 59 Neck and a Custom5 Bridge, which, in my opinion, is prehaps THE perfect pickup combo for a Les paul. vintage neck sounds, and a bridge that is loud and full, but not overly quot;modernquot; sounding)

Anyways, I threw in the DD, and all I can say is WOW. This pickup kicks MAJOR A$$. This is my first experience with a high powered ceramic bucker, but to my ears, this pickups seems to have ALOT of everything. Huge bass, tons of mids, and great cutting trebles. But none of the freqencies are overbearing or annoying at all, which is great. It sounds huge. But not flat or muddy like a Tone Zone. Huge, but alive and with tons of character, but still lets my Les Paul sound like a LP.

Leads just seem to literally jump out of the guitar, and it has tremendous post-attack sustain.

Although its high powered, and ceramic, the LAST word I would use to describe this pickup would be harsh. True, its loud, aggressive, but it still has that trademark quot;vintage-nessquot; going on. Which I love. It pairs up very well with a 59 in the neck.

Pickups that I would compare it to (as in, put in the same category) would be the Gibson 500T, and the PRS HFS. But, that being said, I think the Duncan wins over both of these. It has alot more character and tons more note definition than either one of these.

OK. Thanks for letting me yap. Peace fellas.

I don't know what your experience with the Tone Zone is, but the TZ I have in my Charvel is far from flat or muddy. As a matter of fact, it is explosive and dynamic and has a great tone. It will also ingest as much gain as you want to throw at it without ever getting muddy.

I guess I have become the Tone Zone defender here!!!

The D.D. sounds like it worked out great for you, btw.

Mike

Yeah, i guess it totally depends on the guitar. Probably why alot of people who threw the Duncan Distortion into an Ash Bodies strat said it was too bright. For me, with a LP, its perfect.

After hearing a DD, I'm really curious to hear a Duncan Custom. Are they brighter, or bassier, than a DD? Or is it like a DD with less mids?

i've replaced the ****ty stock p90 in my gibson les paul with a duncan distortion and the sh6b sounds great.
i've got an ibanez rg320 with dimarzio x2n. they have almost the same output, maybe the x2n is a little bit louder but the duncan's got more treble what i like.
great pick up!

I really like the DD for hard rock. It compresses nicely when you play big chords and it really sings smoothly when you solo. The clean tone is not bad either. That big ceramic magnet definitely gives it a personality.


Originally Posted by MBreininI don't know what your experience with the Tone Zone is, but the TZ I have in my Charvel is far from flat or muddy. As a matter of fact, it is explosive and dynamic and has a great tone. It will also ingest as much gain as you want to throw at it without ever getting muddy.

I guess I have become the Tone Zone defender here!!!

The D.D. sounds like it worked out great for you, btw.

Mike

The LP is the wrong guitar for the TZ. It is a good pickup in a lighter guitar,and a good pickup to defend MB.

I am glad RockStar likes the Distortion, it is a great pickup, and great to hear it worked out for him.


Originally Posted by RockStarNickYeah, i guess it totally depends on the guitar. Probably why alot of people who threw the Duncan Distortion into an Ash Bodies strat said it was too bright. For me, with a LP, its perfect.

After hearing a DD, I'm really curious to hear a Duncan Custom. Are they brighter, or bassier, than a DD? Or is it like a DD with less mids?

A little less mids, a little more bass, not quite a powerful, a little crisper.

How do u think the DD would compare if it was put side by side with a guitar with emgs? I have a DD set in my schecter and i love the bridge, but the neck sucks IMO. I wanna get an EMG 81b, and 60n. DO you think the emg's would sound better for metal than the DD?

will the dd sound good in a alder jackson rr1? im not very good with the wood stuff.


Originally Posted by guitarsrock5will the dd sound good in a alder jackson rr1? im not very good with the wood stuff.

plez i need an answer!

The DD sounds great in an alder bodies guitar, especially a maple neck thru like your RR1. That guitar was made to have a DD in the bridge.

Every time someone loves the DD, an angel gets its wings. And I shed a single tear.


Originally Posted by TravisThe DD sounds great in an alder bodies guitar, especially a maple neck thru like your RR1. That guitar was made to have a DD in the bridge.

Every time someone loves the DD, an angel gets its wings. And I shed a single tear.

Post of the day Travis.

Today, I installed DD in my Ibanez RG421 and I was BROWN AWAY. Who said DD is harsh? As Stevo said, DD is da pickup for hardrock. I really really love it!


Originally Posted by briskToday, I installed DD in my Ibanez RG421 and I was BROWN AWAY. Who said DD is harsh? As Stevo said, DD is da pickup for hardrock. I really really love it!

It is quot;thequot; pickup that started me in aftermarket pickups. Great distorted pickup.

Still one of my fav's, along with the Invader, Custom, and CC.

For those of you who have played both whats the difference between the Duncan Custom and Duncan Dist. I looked at all the specs and stuff but since I'm not totally sure what all that means it does me no good. Main think i'm looking for is which has more chunk and harmonics.

I mentioned it up above Frantic, but you can get some other opinions.


Originally Posted by frantic29For those of you who have played both whats the difference between the Duncan Custom and Duncan Dist. I looked at all the specs and stuff but since I'm not totally sure what all that means it does me no good. Main think i'm looking for is which has more chunk and harmonics.

Custom stills tries to sound like vintage PAF. Distortion doesn't give a #### about it.


Originally Posted by wixedmordsI mentioned it up above Frantic, but you can get some other opinions.

I thought you did a good job of explaining the contrast

More:
The DD is smoother when you solo up the neck. It's more compressed sounding. It's great with finger vibrato - it helps you sustain. It gets really fat under distortion.
The Custom has more treble/mid bite. It's a little sharper when you solo up the neck. It's very punchy, and does not seem to compress like the DD. The clean tone is very sweet - nicer than the DD in my opinion.

Got a question about the Distortion.

I'm a beginning player amp; I recently bought an Epi LP special II. I liked the overall tone for the price but thought the bridge was a bit muddy, wanted to brighten it up a bit and basically just enhance what was already there. Well, this pup is bright as hell in this guitar, it almost sounds like a single coil when playing individual notes, especially down on the fretboard.

However, if I hold a note for a while, as it begins to decay there is a very audible scratchiness or hiss in the background which to me is quite annoying.
Is this characteristic of this pickup, or maybe it just doesnt belong in this particular guitar? I have several amps and it happens in all of them, so I don't think there is anything wrong with the amps.

Thanks.