Duncan JB or Duncan Distortion?

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On second thought, have you ever tried the Pegasus pick up?
I have one and an AC 1000 and the note separation and smooth tone and clarity. All together is quite interesting.
 
headlessdeadguy said:
I think I read somewhere that the pickup in his sig LP is a hot 500T. I have one and whatever it is sounds killer.
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It's a DDJ (Custom Shop Duncan Distortion wound by Maricela Juárez) in his Custom Shop Les Paul Custom replica sig.

His USA Les Paul Standard comes with a Gibson pickup wound supposedly to resemble the Duncan Distortion. That has not been confirmed, but I also highly doubt it's a straight-up 500T. I don't think they even label them as 500T's.

The 500T is not worlds apart from a Duncan Distortion anyways. Both are bright, grindy, dirty overwound Ceramic magnet pickups. The Duncan Distortion is more overwound (16-ish K) than the 500T (15-ish K), but AFAIK, both use close the same if not the same wire gauge. The Duncan Distortion has a single oversized Ceramic magnet while the 500T has an oversized Ceramic magnet coupled with two Ceramic flankers. Tonally, I'd say they're more similar than not. I'd say the Distortion is clearer/more refined in the mids while the 500T is all around dirtier and rougher around the edges. But in the grand scheme of pickups, they're more similar between each other than to, say, an 8K Alnico PAF-type. I'd personally even say the Dunca Distortion is more similar to the 500T than it is to the Duncan Custom, for example.
 
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Distortion over JB for me. But my favorite Duncan has become the original Custom. Especially with high gain amps. The slightly lower output gives it a little more definition IMO.
 
Honestly...I think you can probably hit A. Jone's tone with a Distortion, JB or Gibson 500T. They are all share some similarities, and are probably all really good choices in my opinion. I have not owned a Duncan Distortion in a while and recently dropped one into a Gibson explorer are really did not like it. I seem to do better with the JB and Custom. The Custom seems to really liven up darker / flatter sounding guitars with its bright, tight and percussive top end.
 
Can never go wrong with a JB.
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Rex Rocker said:
It's a DDJ (Custom Shop Duncan Distortion wound by Maricela Juárez) in his Custom Shop Les Paul Custom replica sig.

His USA Les Paul Standard comes with a Gibson pickup wound supposedly to resemble the Duncan Distortion. That has not been confirmed, but I also highly doubt it's a straight-up 500T. I don't think they even label them as 500T's.

The 500T is not worlds apart from a Duncan Distortion anyways. Both are bright, grindy, dirty overwound Ceramic magnet pickups. The Duncan Distortion is more overwound (16-ish K) than the 500T (15-ish K), but AFAIK, both use close the same if not the same wire gauge. The Duncan Distortion has a single oversized Ceramic magnet while the 500T has an oversized Ceramic magnet coupled with two Ceramic flankers. Tonally, I'd say they're more similar than not. I'd say the Distortion is clearer/more refined in the mids while the 500T is all around dirtier and rougher around the edges. But in the grand scheme of pickups, they're more similar between each other than to, say, an 8K Alnico PAF-type. I'd personally even say the Dunca Distortion is more similar to the 500T than it is to the Duncan Custom, for example.
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I'll chime in since I'm a 500T fan.

I personally prefer the 500T over the DD. The 500 is a little more open, not as compressed as the DD to my ears and a little more dynamic. Agree with @Rex Rocker that the 500 is rougher around the edges and to me, more grind whereas the DD is a little more polite...again, at least to me. Anytime I try the DD it's always missing "something". Whereas the 500T in my Les Pauls is perfect. That said I like the 500T in my Les Pauls only, it's a little too much (either dark or congested) when I put it in other guitars. All my Pauls (4) are 500T's except for one of my Customs that is the Psykes which I'm really digging as well.

Now comparatively between the JB and the DD, I've always been a JB fan in shred style guitars however they do not work me in a Les Paul. So if the choice is between those two for a LP...I'd go DD.
 
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jabps said:
I'll chime in since I'm a 500T fan.

I personally prefer the 500T over the DD. The 500 is a little more open, not as compressed as the DD to my ears and a little more dynamic. Agree with @Rex Rocker that the 500 is rougher around the edges and to me, more grind whereas the DD is a little more polite...again, at least to me. Anytime I try the DD it's always missing "something". Whereas the 500T in my Les Pauls is perfect. That said I like the 500T in my Les Pauls only, it's a little too much (either dark or congested) when I put it in other guitars. All my Pauls (4) are 500T's except for one of my Customs that is the Psykes which I'm really digging as well.

Now comparatively between the JB and the DD, I've always been a JB fan in shred style guitars however they do not work me in a Les Paul. So if the choice is between those two for a LP...I'd go DD.
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I don't really notice the compression thing since I'm a fortissimo guy 99% of the time, but I completely agree. I prefer the 500T as well. At least in a Gibson. But I do love the Distortion, personally. It was really the first passive that I thought "yeah, this thing rules". But the 500T fits the tone I'm going for better.

That being said, I don't think neither the JB, DD, or 500T are any different in the clarity department, personally. I don't have any problem getting the note separtion out of any of them, personally. It's just that the JB is a bit too round and lower-middy for my Les Pauls, I've found.
 
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Rex Rocker said:
I don't really notice the compression thing since I'm a fortissimo guy 99% of the time, but I completely agree. I prefer the 500T as well. At least in a Gibson. But I do love the Distortion, personally. It was really the first passive that I thought "yeah, this thing rules". But the 500T fits the tone I'm going for better.

That being said, I don't think neither the JB, DD, or 500T are any different in the clarity department, personally. I don't have any problem getting the note separtion out of any of them, personally. It's just that the JB is a bit too round and lower-middy for my Les Pauls, I've found.
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I find the JB has a slight roll off in the very high end which gives it great definition IMO, sometimes the Duncan Distortion can be a bit much in the presence frequencies (it's quite sizzly) that it covers up a bit of the tonal information. It's got great attack though. It really seems to depend on the rig your using it with.
 
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