Most popular 80's vintage heavy metal / hard rock pickup?

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TrueTone500":ifzk2jtc said:
That's easy... Duncan Distortion.

I don't know what happened, but Duncan's don't sound the way they use to. MIC?
Click to expand...

Yes, MIC just like they always have been. Made in California.

People were saying, "the new DiMarzio Super Distortions don't sound as good as the old ones do". Then Rockstah would record a clip and everyone would be raving about it, including the ones that said the new Super Distortion wasn't as good. Then I would ask Rockstah, old or new SD and he said brand new.

I'm just wondering how many people who say the new Duncans don't sound as good as the old ones are going by a 25 year old memory of a tone, on a rig they don't even have anymore. Or is it a tried and proven old guitar that they still have because it is killer versus a brand new guitar with the "same" JB in it, but the guitar just doesn't sound as good naturally.

I think this argument is begging for a comparison clip. BEGGING for it. I am going to work on this.

An old versus new Super Distortion in the exact same guitar, same day, same rig in my home studio. Then I will do an old JB, and the 35 anniversary JB that was made exactly like the old ones, and a brand new regular JB. I should also do a Trembucker versus regular spaced because some swear the regular spaced sound better.

The deal needs to be that it is a put your money where your mouth is sort of challenge. You have to pay to pick the pickups and if you can pick them right then all who picked correctly will split the winnings. :D
 
Dimarzio Dist, SD Distortion & JB, and who could forget about EMGs.
 
Chubtone":3khgm4o7 said:
TrueTone500":3khgm4o7 said:
That's easy... Duncan Distortion.

I don't know what happened, but Duncan's don't sound the way they use to. MIC?
Click to expand...

Yes, MIC just like they always have been. Made in California.

People were saying, "the new DiMarzio Super Distortions don't sound as good as the old ones do". Then Rockstah would record a clip and everyone would be raving about it, including the ones that said the new Super Distortion wasn't as good. Then I would ask Rockstah, old or new SD and he said brand new.

I'm just wondering how many people who say the new Duncans don't sound as good as the old ones are going by a 25 year old memory of a tone, on a rig they don't even have anymore. Or is it a tried and proven old guitar that they still have because it is killer versus a brand new guitar with the "same" JB in it, but the guitar just doesn't sound as good naturally.

I think this argument is begging for a comparison clip. BEGGING for it. I am going to work on this.

An old versus new Super Distortion in the exact same guitar, same day, same rig in my home studio. Then I will do an old JB, and the 35 anniversary JB that was made exactly like the old ones, and a brand new regular JB. I should also do a Trembucker versus regular spaced because some swear the regular spaced sound better.

The deal needs to be that it is a put your money where your mouth is sort of challenge. You have to pay to pick the pickups and if you can pick them right then all who picked correctly will split the winnings. :D
Click to expand...

I'd be interested in hearing the 35th JB vs. a new one. If the 35th wins I'd have you slap that in my new CS and keep the new JB.
 
yep...emg's too!!

i agree about what's been said...though i will add, some magnets get weaker over time, and to some ears sound sweeter.

i have an alnico2pro from 92ish i think, and a paf pro from like 89...going on 24 for that one and 21 for the a2p. i also had an sh5 from made by MJ that was nice sounding, but ALL my sh5 guitars sound nice to me. my paf pro sounds better to me than it did before. it sounded harsher, but again, given the rigs i was using, obviously factors in!

i love threads about guitar pickups though.....i think they're the ONE thing you can change quickly and cheaply in most instances that will give you different tones instantly out of your guitar(s)..and run the gamut from great in one guitar to blah in another with the same pickup...and vice versa.
 
Chubtone":3totu6e7 said:
TrueTone500":3totu6e7 said:
That's easy... Duncan Distortion.

I don't know what happened, but Duncan's don't sound the way they use to. MIC?
Click to expand...

Yes, MIC just like they always have been. Made in California.

People were saying, "the new DiMarzio Super Distortions don't sound as good as the old ones do". Then Rockstah would record a clip and everyone would be raving about it, including the ones that said the new Super Distortion wasn't as good. Then I would ask Rockstah, old or new SD and he said brand new.

I'm just wondering how many people who say the new Duncans don't sound as good as the old ones are going by a 25 year old memory of a tone, on a rig they don't even have anymore. Or is it a tried and proven old guitar that they still have because it is killer versus a brand new guitar with the "same" JB in it, but the guitar just doesn't sound as good naturally.

I think this argument is begging for a comparison clip. BEGGING for it. I am going to work on this.

An old versus new Super Distortion in the exact same guitar, same day, same rig in my home studio. Then I will do an old JB, and the 35 anniversary JB that was made exactly like the old ones, and a brand new regular JB. I should also do a Trembucker versus regular spaced because some swear the regular spaced sound better.

The deal needs to be that it is a put your money where your mouth is sort of challenge. You have to pay to pick the pickups and if you can pick them right then all who picked correctly will split the winnings. :D
Click to expand...
I have a new JB in my Kramer USA limited and it sounds KILLER. I had a Custom Shop Duncan Holdsworth in my JD Charvel and I didn't dig it at all. Replaced it with a new Dimarzio Super Distortion and the guitar sounds amazing now...

Steve
 
Chubtone":2lmv55c2 said:
TrueTone500":2lmv55c2 said:
That's easy... Duncan Distortion.

I don't know what happened, but Duncan's don't sound the way they use to. MIC?
Click to expand...

Yes, MIC just like they always have been. Made in California.

People were saying, "the new DiMarzio Super Distortions don't sound as good as the old ones do". Then Rockstah would record a clip and everyone would be raving about it, including the ones that said the new Super Distortion wasn't as good. Then I would ask Rockstah, old or new SD and he said brand new.

I'm just wondering how many people who say the new Duncans don't sound as good as the old ones are going by a 25 year old memory of a tone, on a rig they don't even have anymore. Or is it a tried and proven old guitar that they still have because it is killer versus a brand new guitar with the "same" JB in it, but the guitar just doesn't sound as good naturally.

I think this argument is begging for a comparison clip. BEGGING for it. I am going to work on this.

An old versus new Super Distortion in the exact same guitar, same day, same rig in my home studio. Then I will do an old JB, and the 35 anniversary JB that was made exactly like the old ones, and a brand new regular JB. I should also do a Trembucker versus regular spaced because some swear the regular spaced sound better.

The deal needs to be that it is a put your money where your mouth is sort of challenge. You have to pay to pick the pickups and if you can pick them right then all who picked correctly will split the winnings. :D
Click to expand...
My JB comments were based on the difference between one from the late 70's and one from the late 90's in the same guitar, but not a "same day, same room" comparison. Beyond that, it certainly could be an artifact of an old memory, but I'd be surprised if a pickup that I used to love and now rarely like is all memory based. Could be, but I doubt it.

And if nothing has changed, why release a 35th Anniversary model? I do believe they said they're made differently, correct?

As for the challenge, I'm game. I'd prefer to be actually playing the guitar as opposed to listening to a clip, but I'm curious enough to give it a go.
 
Pretty much all the players I knew back then all used Duncans or EMGs....It was the Distortion or JB as far as Duncans went....then the EMG 81......I'm guessing it wasn't till the later 80's when Ibanez became popular that the Dimarzio PAF Pro seemed to get popular. Seems the Super Distortion was more of a 70's thing?
 
in my 73 Strat, I have a JBJ in the neck, great pickup. The J at the end stands for Juarez, who is Maricella Juarez who was Duncan's top gun. If you can find these used on EBay, it's the top of the crop of the JBs.
In the bridge I have a late 80s Dimarzio PAF Pro, it stills hold up today, although I'm seriously considering replacing it with the new Transition.
 
I have a Dimarzio Super Distortion in my Paul, and haven't looked back. All around great pickup, lots of sustain and gain. I play a good mix of 80's metal. :rock:
 
Chubtone":1p4ib1za said:
TrueTone500":1p4ib1za said:
That's easy... Duncan Distortion.

I don't know what happened, but Duncan's don't sound the way they use to. MIC?
Click to expand...

Yes, MIC just like they always have been. Made in California.

People were saying, "the new DiMarzio Super Distortions don't sound as good as the old ones do". Then Rockstah would record a clip and everyone would be raving about it, including the ones that said the new Super Distortion wasn't as good. Then I would ask Rockstah, old or new SD and he said brand new.

I'm just wondering how many people who say the new Duncans don't sound as good as the old ones are going by a 25 year old memory of a tone, on a rig they don't even have anymore. Or is it a tried and proven old guitar that they still have because it is killer versus a brand new guitar with the "same" JB in it, but the guitar just doesn't sound as good naturally.

I think this argument is begging for a comparison clip. BEGGING for it. I am going to work on this.

An old versus new Super Distortion in the exact same guitar, same day, same rig in my home studio. Then I will do an old JB, and the 35 anniversary JB that was made exactly like the old ones, and a brand new regular JB. I should also do a Trembucker versus regular spaced because some swear the regular spaced sound better.

The deal needs to be that it is a put your money where your mouth is sort of challenge. You have to pay to pick the pickups and if you can pick them right then all who picked correctly will split the winnings. :D
Click to expand...

Its been my experience that the tremspaced JBs don't sound as good (more thin and nasal) compared to the regular spaced JBs. Age was mixed in there too as the tremspaced was brand new. I don't have any of the pickups anymore to do a test though. :(
 
This is an interesting subject. Question: Will the method in which the pickup is wrapped effect the tonal character of the pickup?

Sourced form Wikipedia.

In the custom shop and during the 80s and 90s certain employees did special winding. The Pickup code reflects this with an additional letter following the pickup code, most famous being J (for example JBJ) which stands for Maricella Juarez. Following is the list provided by Seymour Duncan:
A Raul Araiza Single Coils
B Leticia Bautista Single Coils
C Catalina Padilla Rails
D Debbie Nyquist Humbuckers
E Edward Madrigal Humbuckers
G Gloria Ocompo Humbuckers
J Maricella Juarez-83' on HB-SC-STK-RAILS
J Janice Salazar-till 83' Stacks
L Lidia Daniel Humbuckers
L Leticia Quintero-87'-90' Stacks & Rails
M Martha Cameron HB-SC
O Oti Mora Stacks & Rails
P Lupe Perez-86' on Rails
P Patty Vasquez-till 86' Stacks & Rails
R Connie Rocha Single Coils
V Joe Velez Single Coils
X Mai Xiong Stacks
 
Chubtone":3un13wx3 said:
TrueTone500":3un13wx3 said:
That's easy... Duncan Distortion.

I don't know what happened, but Duncan's don't sound the way they use to. MIC?
Click to expand...

Yes, MIC just like they always have been. Made in California.

People were saying, "the new DiMarzio Super Distortions don't sound as good as the old ones do". Then Rockstah would record a clip and everyone would be raving about it, including the ones that said the new Super Distortion wasn't as good. Then I would ask Rockstah, old or new SD and he said brand new.

I'm just wondering how many people who say the new Duncans don't sound as good as the old ones are going by a 25 year old memory of a tone, on a rig they don't even have anymore. Or is it a tried and proven old guitar that they still have because it is killer versus a brand new guitar with the "same" JB in it, but the guitar just doesn't sound as good naturally.

I think this argument is begging for a comparison clip. BEGGING for it. I am going to work on this.

An old versus new Super Distortion in the exact same guitar, same day, same rig in my home studio. Then I will do an old JB, and the 35 anniversary JB that was made exactly like the old ones, and a brand new regular JB. I should also do a Trembucker versus regular spaced because some swear the regular spaced sound better.

The deal needs to be that it is a put your money where your mouth is sort of challenge. You have to pay to pick the pickups and if you can pick them right then all who picked correctly will split the winnings. :D
Click to expand...

I've heard this as well. I have a Kramer Pacer from 87 with the JB that came in it. it sounds killer. As good or better than any of the botique stuff that's a lot more expensive. I've put the newer JB's in other guitars and they don't seem to sound as good but I attribute that more to the guitar that it's in.

I also think people hang on the the idea that the "old stuff" just sounds better. I don't necessarily think that's true for a lot of stuff but true for others. For example, an old TS as apposed to the new ones. I have a TS9 from 83 that clearly sounds better than the new ones. With the pickups, I don't feel the same way. I mean, I had a Dimarzio Super distortion in a 69 SG. My first real guitar. It sounded great. I've used them more recently and I thought they sounded great too. My buddy has a 79 Dean ML that came stock with the Dimarzio SD's. He has is very corrosive an it destroyed the originals. He put brand new ones in and the guitar sound pretty much identical to what it use to.

Interesting that so many people prefer the distortion to the JB. I'm the opposite. I've tryed to like it but prefer the JB by a pretty good margin
 
From the 80s, I was a big fan of the Duncan Custom Custom. The Pearly Gates was pretty awesome too. Hell, I liked the JB too.
 
Paul Gilbert made running Super Distortion in parallel popular, and most single-note shredders gravitated to the PAF PRO when it launched. That said, I remember in the 80's you either had a Super Distortion bridge or a Duncan JB bridge. Those were the "band/rhythm" pickups. I still have an old junker strat copy that weighs about 12 lbs. We routed it out for H-S-H and dropped in a Super Distortion bridge and a Super 2 neck (left the stock middle single coil. Added a second volume control but had to grind down the top hat knob because we drilled the hole too close to the bridge pickup ring. That guitar is the best sounding POS I've heard in a long, long time. Strictly a recording guitar now, but people howl when they hear how great that thing sounds. If I can dig it out I'll make clips.
 
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