DiMarzio SUPER DISTORTION vs Seymour Duncan DISTORTION SH-6 - Bridge Guitar Pickup Comparison

Clean and distorted rhythm comparison between DiMarzio Super Distortion (passive) and Seymour Duncan Distortion SH-6 (passive) pickups for electric guitar on the bridge position. Settings are the following:
GUITAR
Tuning: Eь / D#
Strings: D'Addario EXL140 (010-052 gauge)
AMP
Clean: EVH 5150 III profile (Kemper Profiler)
Distortion: Peavey 5150 profile (Kemper Profiler)
RECORDING TECHNIQUE:
One centered mono track per pickup.
Same config and EQ for both.
More DiMarzio Super Distortion pickup comparison videos:
www.youtube.co...
More Seymour Duncan Distortion pickup comparison videos:
www.youtube.co...
DiMarzio official website:
www.dimarzio.com
Seymour Duncan official website:
www.seymourdun...
Subscribe to my channel: / mikestamper
My official website: www.mikestampe...
My music: mikestamper.ba...
00:23 Clean test
03:06 Distortion test
#pickups #comparison #guitar

[@totallyawesome80s55]

Whenever I'm researching pickups I always end up on this channel. No BS chit-chat, just honest and thorough comparisons. So, I finally subbed. Keep up the great work!

[@craigharrison5406]

I have both of these pickups in different guitars and the Duncan Distortion is much tighter on the lower strings where the Super Distortion has some of the best high note lead sounds I've ever heard. They both sound great for different applications and you can't go wrong with either of these legendary pickups.

[@johncrone928]

What about putting both in one guitar ?

[@timbuk1126]

They both sound pretty tight to me.

[@enslavedemperor97]

Yes cant decide :D

[@michaelgrahamwongacutemadness]

@@johncrone928oh like super distortion neck and distortion bridge or trembucker

[@Johnnywime]

What about putting a dimarzio super distortion with a single coil pickup ceramic and 250k pots?

[@dustinf11]

I want a video where he talks about his all time favorite pickups.

[@conrad98gtp]

To my ears, the Dimarzio SD sounds better in the cleaner and arpeggiated clips with a little crunch. The Seymour Duncan seemed a little brighter and open on the heavier settings. So, overall to me, the Dimarzio suits my ears a little better.

[@user-yurij1984]

Как раз,и на более тяжёлых настройках,больше всего зашёл звук DiMarzio.И в целом во всех сравнениях. Но тяжёлые настройки с ним,это и есть мой звук!!!

[@mathias6423]

​@@user-yurij1984 Yeah that language will work perfectly to a guy who's name is "Condrad" man * Face-Desk * Now to your comment, I think that Dimarzio Super Dist pickup sounds best both with the clean sound and the distorted sound. Also listen 3:43 into the video when he plays that distorted riff with the Ducan pickup, can you hear all the "miss-noise" and added negative noise (buzzing sound) to the riff when between palm mutes ? The Dimarzio Pickup def sounds a lot cleaner , with better note separation and less extra negative noise that most people does not want in pickup when playing with heavier distortion. The better pickup for rock and metal to me is the pickup that can play with the better note separation and less added negative noise "buzzing" when you are running the pickup through more gain and distortion and here the Dimarzio wins by a mile. The Dimarzio was a very popular choice back in the 80s for buying separate and putting in to metal guitars and still is, good low price on it too for what you get. Are there better pickups for very heavy, extreme music ? I think there are, but the Dimarzio is very underrated when it comes to playing other stuff than just hard-rock and metal, I actually think it sounds good for clean stuff and blues too. Many artists / guitarist swears by this pickup and has been rocking it since forever and still do, many of my fav guitarists uses the Dimarzio Super Distortion like Adrian Smith from Iron Maiden and Phil Collen from Def Leppard just to name a few that comes to mind fast.

[@ShreddingReg]

Great job Mike! These are both classic pickups... The Dimarzio cleans up a little better, but as soon as the distortion kicks in, there is no pickup that can beat the Duncan Distortion!!! (at least for heavier rock-styles. For Blues, the Dimarzio might be better because of the very 'wooly' bass-response).

[@helio1055]

Super Distortion is the clear winner here.

[@gusthfs8272]

I love both pickups, but Seymour Duncan has a bit more organic, "Gibsonesque" kind of tone, as the pickup is essentially the same as the JB Model but with a ceramic magnet, instead of Alnico V. Good job with the video, congrats!

[@LeoM-zt3pl]

Dimarzio Super Distortion wins this round for me

[@Helios824]

Seymour Duncan distortion is better

[@JerryWhite-ee5hy]

I have both. But old reliable wins. Super dist.

[@guitarmaster50]

Super correct test!❤

[@masterchain3335]

I'm surprised at how different these sound clean while sounding very similar when used for high gain. The Duncan may sound like it retains a tad more clarity with heavy distortion, but the Dimarzio wins out for me here in being drastically better clean.

[@howardthrust]

Great "comparo" here...and validation for what I've already found in MY experience: for '80s Hard Rock and Metal, NOTHING compares to the Duncan's absolutely HAIR RAISING distortion tone! I've also found that if I want more clean articulation out of the Dunc', running a "Treble Bleed" volume pot set @ about 85% gets the job done nicely! Then all I have to do is just "dime" it for "full throttle acceleration"!! 😆🤘

[@jaredt3985]

I have to go with the Super Distortion here. Just seems a bit thicker while the Duncan has a thinner kind of nasal quality to it

[@rendyandrian7149]

WIth clean tone, DMZ is clearly very trebly and clear while SD has more mid. With hi gain tone, I find these two sound very similar.

[@sandrogranuzzio204]

O JB?

[@AAAA-lt9hq]

Clean the Duncan Distortion sounds like what I thought the Super Distortion would. Sounds kind of notched or like a cocked wah in the upper mids. I don't use DiMarzios, but I use the Duncan Distortion for solos in my Jackson DK2S with Sustainiac. The Duncan Distortion can be really harsh. You can hear it on the clean at 2:13 when it peaks with that bit of digital distortion on the strummed chord. They sound almost identical under high gain. I don't use the Duncan Distortion for rhythms anymore precisely because all of that fizz and harshness. The highs can also be really shrill. I dialed it down to a Parallel Axis Original and found it similar to the Duncan Distortion but without most of its drawbacks. The amp can compensate for any missing output.

[@joerusso7851]

I used the S.D.D. for years. Never tried the Dimarzio. Dimarzio for the win for me-smoother. I wish you would do a comparison of the Dimarzio super distortion vs the Bare Knuckles Holy Diver. That's what I'm currently using now. I love it, but you never know.

[@johnmaddox1712]

from X2N to super distortion... potentially the 2 best passive pickups for metal. Love it!

[@sinisterminister9920]

I’m actually looking to replace my X2N right now just because it’s like the Invaders, one trick ponies. Though the X2N has Godlike sustaine and on hi gain it’s a monster. Some days I’m not feeling monstrous and that becomes a problem

[@lllThunderDomelll]

You got em both on the same guitar?

[@MarkTurner-vs7uc]

Super distortion is still the king.

[@luckyg8971]

I liked the DD better than I thought, but I'd pick the SuperD.

[@marshun9977]

Goes to show you can't go off of comments to make a selection. Trust your ears.

[@23skidoo46]

for my tastes the Dimarzio suits my tone requirements better, the clean sounds much better , but, then again, not many buy these pups for the their "clean tone". lol

[@rickykrevanko9369]

I love the super distortion and sh6 I love them both , 💯

[@mpexus]

If you can compare the Suhr Aldrich to the Duncan Distortion. I find them same but the Suhr has less fizzy highs but retains all the aggression of the Duncan.

[@mikestamper]

Many people told me about how good these Suhr Doug Aldrich pickups are. Hope to have one someday to include it in these comparisons.

[@robphillips8351]

Duncan has a thicker low mid, 400 to 500 hz, DiMarzio has a tad bit more bass 100hz .. mids a bit more scooped on DiMarzio, treble is harsher on DiMarzio and a little more round on Duncan.. both are good, depends on variables like amp, tone wood, bridge type,etc .

[@timbuk1126]

The mids aren't scooped on the DiMarzio at all.. It almost sounds like wah pedal is on when you play it. You must be thinking the Steve's Special.

[@sEaNoYeAh]

Super Distortion isn't scooped, it has a PAF-y thick low end. Duncan is just boxy and nasal sounding by comparison. And it's definitively proven at this point that wood makes absolutely zero difference to tone.

[@robphillips8351]

@@timbuk1126 definitely could have things mixed up a bit, then difference in amplifiers etc.

[@iamgribs]

They're similar in some ways, have great cut and mids, dimarzio has more "sizzle" and duncan has more clarity, definition and is more percussive. they both sound amazing.

[@iamgribs]

i am speaking of high gain. for cleans dimarzio is better and less compressed. the duncan has decent cleans, not bad.

[@crypticreality8484]

Exactly how I heard it. DiMarzio is dirty... But in a good way! Duncan is more refined and dense. I guess it comes down to what you're going for stylistically because I can't say I like one over the other. I'm looking at buying one of these two for my Jackson Soloist X Series. I'm leaning towards the DiMarzio slightly.

[@micahwatz1148]

Man i dont think you can beat the Super Distortion. Ive yet to hear a pickup i like more than it.

[@MartyMcDonnald]

GREAT test!

[@VincentVegardSvart]

Seymour Duncan hands down

[@asyouwalk2847]

Would be great to see a video of the Super Distortion vs Air Zone.

[@galaxiasinfonica3108]

Tengo el Air Zone hace años, nunca tuve SD. La diferencia es el magneto de Alnico y Cerámico, el Air Zone tiene bobinas mas pequeñas y con valores muy diferentes entre si, es un humbucker con muchos graves, y anda bien para la distorsión en valvulares. Actualmente utilizo un Air Norton. El Super Distortion es cerámico, como el X2n que yo tengo y exagera con muchos armónicos. Realmente el Super Distortion parece funcionar mejor que el x2n para sonidos limpios y resulta similar en distorsiones, ambos son cerámicos, con el AIR ZONE, es otro mundo, otro ataque, no tiene esos medios, mucho grave, puede lograrse buenos matices, pero todo eso lo encontré en el Air Norton, que funciona mucho mejor. Igualmente quiero un Super Distortion para usar distorsiones High Gain , y pienso que las bobinas deben medir exactamente lo mismo en ohms, de impedancia, lo cual favorece y no trae ruidos molestos, el Air Zone tiene ese defecto, ruido de masa, de tierra.

[@benland8702]

The duncan disortion has been my favorite in my les paul . SO when i purchased my Fender HSS strat and put a duncan distortion in it ... i dont like it at all . In a Les paul , the Duncan sh-6 sound great . Im no expert but the DD doesnt go really well in a strat ( alder body/maple neck ) ) . It lack bottom end and the high spike is just too much . I wonder if the Super Distortion would be better in strat , the dimarzio chart say its is a pronounce bass , which could help a strat . Any idea ?

[@MaTTheWish]

Which pickup is your preference for a strat bridge? Something that is not ice picky sounding? For rock music. Not metal.

[@user-yurij1984]

Ну у меня страт из липы,и она верхастая по звуку.И басовитая липа. У меня Seymour этот,должен звучать на отлично!!!

[@kazunorealking]

DiMarzio Stay Gold！

[@vmathias2023]

The Dimarzio sound more natural and lively.

[@sinisterminister9920]

Got an LTD with a Sh-1n & Sh-6b and let me tell you. It has stayed that way for a while. Distortion is a bit ice picky on cleans but with gain it’s up their with the best of them. And I have different guitars with different set ups. But that pair is phenomenal

[@robphillips8351]

I just got a DiMarzio tone zone tele bridge pup and holy smokes that thing is liquid lava sustain. I want to check out a regular hot rails and or a lil ,59 to, but the tone zone tele literally cannot get a bad tone out of.. have a lot of tele type guitars.. beefed up squiers, frets level crown, replacement bridge saddles pots etc and play a lot of shreddy fusion rock metal etc. Went through fender deluxe drive tele pickup, Duncan quarter pounder,then a friend gave me a Artech hotrails and that got me closer and LED me to the tone zone tele..it competes with a JB and full size tone zone very well I did have a hot rails Duncan but had to cut out some bridge plate and when installing snagged on Coi and well I dipped it in paraffin wax which got it going again but not correctly it went from 16 ohms to around 9 and gave it away.. t I need to replace a humbucker and either a tone zone or Duncan distortion.. the little Artech hotrails is pretty good for a 17.00 pup sounds like a paf If anyone curious I really like the JB in my squier contemporary tele especially with a 250 k pot, slight mellow out of top end but not muddy. 250k volume pot really helps smooth out an over edgy pickup/, guitar..

[@andyhayes7828]

The Duncan was warmer on the cleans and had more punch and definition on the distorted clips.

[@scarcam]

The Dimarzio sounds so much better to me here. In the room though, I have a super strat with a Duncan Distortion in the bridge and it sounds fantastic. A tip for strat players, the DD works really well with a Cool Rails in the middle, even more strattier than a strat, if that's at all possible!

[@BEGOTT3N]

DM is more versatile, more clear, natural sound for tube ambs even in hard metal. In comparism SD is unnatural, muted, not wide spectrum sound but stronger in middle spectrum. Maybe it is good choice for processors. Recognition in strong distortion is better in DM, so i like DM Superdistortion. But both pickup are solid.

[@shoot_the_glass5654]

To me the Super sounds more compressed and articulate than the Duncan, even in the distorted channels. I have the gravity storm which is like an alnico version of the Super Distortion.

[@bigchocolate8547]

Super distortion

[@crypticreality8484]

tough one. the DiMa sounded better for the open, distorted... the SD sounded better for a few categories too. Dont' ask a Hessian about CLEANS

[@mikemorgan1021]

Super distortion for me. The Seymour sounds hollow and lacks the deep growl I'm looking for.

[@goodmanwiseman303]

The dimarzio sounds very clear and crisp, the duncan has a bit of mud and some high end wispiness. I don’t like the wispiness, but the mud sounds good on the crunchy low end metal tones. Surprising to me but i preferred the Duncan for the chugging distorted riffs. The dimarzio was almost too clear.

[@the.communist]

Like day n night

[@malthus101]

Without a doubt - the SDs are best! 😉😛

[@anderssvart3257]

I have them both and, I can tell this is the most spectacular comparison, both sound so familiar and natural to me. And the difference is clearly feelable.

[@angusorvid8840]

The Duncan wins hands down. It is much tighter, much more aggressive, and has far better harmonics. I have decades of experience with both pickups and I've found the Duncan Distortion far more useful. That being said, I prefer the JB by a country mile. It has a creamier, smoother kind of distortion cleans up better, and has much sweeter harmonic overtones, and screams like nothing else.

[@svtdan643]

I have JBs in my jackson and im looking for more output and mids.

[@jsullivan2112]

Super Distortion is definitely tighter in this video. 3:54

[@WyattScott]

JB’s in my 1998 Gibson Les Paul Standard and just got an Ibanez Prestige and took out the crap Tone Zone and replaced with a Dimarzio Super Distortion, with Air Norton in neck. Heaven on Earth, best shred guitar i’ve ever had by far. Beats the snot outta my two Charvels. Got a San Dimas and a So Cal and they are great but the Prestige is just so much easier to play.

[@angusorvid8840]

@@jsullivan2112 Try both pickups in the real world back-to-back. The Duncan smokes the DiMarzio hands down. If you want a tighter Super D get a Super 3. But the Duncan is still meaner.

[@jeffreyhall76]

Both sound great. Duncan for me

[@lfader]

YES 🌟🌟

[@vs4571]

What kind of guitar is behind used?

[@mikestamper]

An alder stratocaster with canadian maple neck and rosewood fretboard.

[@jesterraj]

Which gives better pinch harmonics??

[@galaxiasinfonica3108]

Seymour Duncan tiene la guitarra desafinada, igualmente se entiende la diferencia. Super Distorsión tiene mejores medios, mas brillo, definición, potencia, ataque, todo. Realmente es el ganador según el video.

[@electropentatonic]

DD sounded better everywhere except 4:17. The Super maintained clarity here far better. The Super might make good lead pickup but the DD is definitely more aggressive all around

[@nated2922]

Dimarzio. Hands down.

[@MagnusRex4]

I´ve never tried the DiMarzio in lower tunings but Duncan Distortion tuned to b works great for aggressive riffs that keep amazing definition even with a lot of distortion. My fear (before gravitating towards SD that are my go-to pickups) listening to DiMarzios is that being so deep sounding they might sound better, fatter, fuller in standalone tracks but fail to cut as clean in mixes with several tracks at once. Both pickups sound awesome tough

[@edskill1999]

bro the seymour duncan in clean sounds like sh1t but with gain sounds really ok actually

[@johncrone928]

Has anyone put both in one guitar ?

[@sinisterminister9920]

No because that’s not possible with a HH rig to get an actual comparison of 2 different BRIDGE pups with one in the neck you would have to have Adjacent bridges brother

[@johnnyronci]

Would love to see a Super Distortion Vs. Super 3 and also Super 2...a SUPER TRIO SHOOTOUT! 💪💪💪🙏🙏🙏

[@hrz8533]

Dimarzio sounds more like a single coil style on cleans

[@idontgivea1769]

Huge unpleasant presence jump as soon as the SH-6 kicks in… SD sounds much better

[@fernandoreynaaguilar1438]

It´s funny: in distortion, they sound really similar. But in everything else DiMarzio wins hands down.

[@crazytrain591]

SD sounded better for cleans and high gain soloing. Sounded too muddy and dark in the heavy rhythms. DD sounded phenomenal and tight for heavy rhythms, more clarity. But sounded like a nasally dog in the cleans and the high gain solo sections. I’d chose the SD as a lead player and DD as a rhythm player.

[@kajankara666]

Absolutely!!

[@user-yurij1984]

Не правда Абсолютная ложь

[@LukeCannotSkate]

The Duncan sounds like instant Metallica tone, like Ride the lightning

[@HerrCobra_762]

Though when they made that album James used an Explorer with 496R/500T. LoL

[@LukeCannotSkate]

@@HerrCobra_762 Dirty Fingers actually. 500T came to the market in the 90s. All high wind/ceramic pickups though

[@HerrCobra_762]

@@LukeCannotSkate well then the source I saw got it wrong. LoL

[@iamgribs]

was a popular choice in the 80s

[@vs4571]

What is the name of that clean tone riff at -4:10 ??

[@cofieleven]

The DiMarzio wins hands down. It is much tighter, much more aggressive, and has far better harmonics. I have decades of experience with both pickups and I've found the DiMarzio SUPER DISTORTION far more useful. That being said, I prefer the Steve Special by a country mile. It has a creamier, smoother kind of distortion cleans up better, and has much sweeter harmonic overtones, and screams like nothing else.

[@duncandistortion]

Dimarzio very cutting & Seymour more laid back but 3:07 onwards Seymour comes into it's own as a fierce ear splitting shred machine.

[@Ben_the_Ignorant]

Duncan is warmer.

[@dafxtone]

SH-6

[@jasonmoskowitz246]

Clean- Duncan Dist- DiMarzio

[@rnrsteev]

how to choose? they each have nice characteristics. buy two guitars, problem solved.

[@keithm.9598]

cleans DiMarzio - distortion Duncan

[@bdubz5150]

The Duncan lends itself for superior pinch harmonics

[@jared1321]

Dimarzio gets hairy with the high gain but sounded nice for clean. Sd way better for gain imo

[@vladimirackermann6182]

SD sounds muddy and muffled in comparsion.

[@frankhall7005]

I just put this SD in my Kramer and it came right back out. It's to brittle and ice picky with no bottom end. I'm out $100 anyone wanna buy it?

[@torchlord11]

You can hear that Ice pick in the second to last set.

[@jesterraj]

I had a Duncan Distortion and didnt like the sound in my Kramer as well so i used the Evo 2 prefer the sound a lil fat but works with this Kramer.424fr

[@timbuk1126]

Which pickup are you talking about? The Super Distortion or the Duncan Distortion?

[@venvalhalla5893]

By "SD" you mean "Super Distortion by DiMarzio" or "Seymour Duncan's Distortion" ?

[@jesterraj]

@@venvalhalla5893 Seymour Duncan's

[@DownsoundMusic]

Dimarzio hands down. The Duncan is so harsh.

[@robertdays6226]

Why on earth would you do this through a modeler?

[@honigdachs.]

Yawn. Why not. It's the best way to ensure identical recording circumstances.

[@thomasmims7850]

Because that’s what 90% of artists/hobbyists are using in the year 2022 🤡🤡🤡

[@ekhyfrij]

My SH 11B its better than SH 6B.

[@SOBRANTE409]

The DiMarzio has no mids whatsoever. Nothing to bridge the bass & treble.

[@timbuk1126]

It's all mids dude 😂🤣😂🤣

[@Bridging_the_Political_Divide]

He is right, real scooped.

[@bober770]

Super Distortion too harsh, Distortion too muddy