God Bless Keith Merrow! In this vid he plays most of the duncan lineup for Heavy bits. My personal fav, BIG SHOCKER!

1.)The ALNICO 8 ( I LOVE Alnico Magnet pickups. They don't "Sizzle" or "Darken" like some high output ceramic pickups)

2.)The DIMEBUCKER (Listen how it cuts right through the mix!)

WHICH IS YOUR FAV?
(On youtube, every other comment is praising/bashing a different set)



Also, what song is this? Is this off RETROSPECIAL?

This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Jul 19 2012, 09:40 PM

I like the gus g active
now , if he could do the same test with a clean tone ,

Great video !

I'm preferring the very first and very last !

Distortion
Gus G

My favorite was
Distortion.

I'll vote for the standard blackout.

Distortion or JB for me.

The replies are PERFECT! Notice how everyones picks yield some similar but some different picks? (The Duncan Distortion is a Legendary Pickup so I get why folks like it, tad crunched in the upper mid for my taste but that's just me) It's a pretty fair tone comparison in terms of axe/amp and what's being played so it really lets the pickups have some context which is awesome. hearing them without music doesn't really help in terms of knowing how they will sit in a mix so this video RAWKS.

I was actually shocked to hear how "dark" some of pickups sounded. Especially some that I expected to burn right through the speakers sorta sounded muffled/flat/buzzy not krunchy, etc. But again that's just my ears. The pickups that I thought were AMAZING are not ones that folks on you tube or this reply list would pick. Some folks on youtube hated them outright.

What I"m hoping this shows is that there is no "BEST" pickup. Even "BEST" for Metal doesn't work as all of these are built to rip/shred and each one sounds different and appeals very differently to each listener.

So if someone asked me,

"Should I get the XXXXX Duncan?"

I'd say,

"YOUR CRAZY! Get the Dimebucker or the Alternative 8!!"

to which other folks would reply

"YOUR INSANE! THOSE PICKUPS ARE TO BRIGHT/BRITTLE/HOLLOW and the BLACKOUTS/JB/DISTORTION are the way to go!"

Ahh Democracy!

In short, it's important to get advice but more important to trust your ears.

Todd

This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Jul 20 2012, 11:58 AM

I like the "Gus G Fire Active Humbucker" active sound with passive fat dynamics, but probably loud noise and hiss however from them if not careful.

The Dimebucker would take the cake in my books. You could get some searing, crushing, face melting metal from those babies!

Have you checked out the Bare Knuckle Pickups collection as well?

Wow, great stuff, I'll check it out later! Thanks for sharing!

The song is called "Pillars of Creation"
Beginning riff as awesome, I played it some time ago)

Yes, me too... I was amazed at the tonal difference in brightness. One pickup in particular, the ALTERNATIVE I think it was called, was completely scooped sounding !!

I quite liked the Dime but it could perhaps be a bight OTT in the brightness and presence areas but it does seem very reminiscent of Dime's cutting tone.

I'm with you on the DIMEBUCKER! Slices through the mix like a KNIFE. I have yet to get my hands on some BARE KNUCKLE pickups but God Bless those people for using ALNICO Magnets in the NAIL BOMB! Still hope to try a pair in something soon.



BINGO! The ALTERNATEIVE 8 uses ALNICO MAGNETS instead of Ceramic and has a great Scoop which makes it great for DJENTy stuff and Metal In General. But for leads you do have EQ in more Mids as they are just not present.

The DIMEBUCKER is waaaaay OTT In terms of brightness per the DIME SLIME sound. But you just gotta love how it makes a lead sit in a mix. But if you used them for rythm, you'd have to dial them back or they are almost overbearing.

If was building axes for recording, ALTERNATE 8 for Rythms and another guitar with DIMEBUCKER for Leads.

All that being said the DISTORTION is a wonderfully balanced mix of nearly the entire line and would work well for rythm and lead in just about any guitar. I had them in my MINARIK INFERNO and it was a beast. But the guitar was so heavy it would crack your spine.

That deserves an O.M.G

Found it! Thanks!


This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Jul 20 2012, 03:30 PM

I loved the first one! Very good and clear sound! Very nice pickup!

Distortion gets my vote as well. Has me thinking of getting one for myself. I also thought the 59/Custom had a interesting punchy tone.

I"m endorsed by the spiff folks @ MINARIK GUITARS and this one the second guitar they sent and it's a BEAST!

Damn... I couldn't see it yet.. hopefully, this time all of it will load

Sorry to hear your internet conection is still wonky!

It got better since August 1, and it just loaded. I'll watch

Loved them

I am prefering the Alternative 8, JB-4, Distortion and Gus G

I also kinda liked the Dimebucker, but for rhythm work only