Seymour Duncan High Output Humbucker Smackdown!

Nine Seymour Duncan *HIGH OUTPUT* humbuckers, back to back!
To learn more about Seymour Duncan humbuckers go here: warmoth.com/hardware/guitar-p...

[@bradhawkins5096]

The takeaway for me was that there's a way bigger difference in sound between the amps than the pickups. Couldn't distinguish between the pickups most of the time.

[@zyxwfish]

It’s because they are digital patches. Pickups matter less in that situation.

[@StevenMikel1]

Had he used a real amp, the differences between the pickups would have been more obvious.

[@chefmcd7788]

Amps make all the difference in the world. with a good amp you can make a meh guitar sound great. you cant make a meh amp sound good with an expensive/nice guitar.

[@zyxwfish]

@@chefmcd7788 yep find the best amp we can and then put the icing on top with the guitar and pickups.

[@chefmcd7788]

@zyxwfish these days, my amp of choice is a Ceriatone OTS20. I've owned Marshalls, Fenders, and Mesas. Nik and the guys at Ceriatone are doing the Lord's work.

[@jessehutchings]

Love your attention to detail and explanations on all the aspects of what you could test on pickups. Those mentions are great to give new players or players who simply haven't thought about this stuff before new information to approach their sound and equipment with.

[@CraigDeubler]

That was the best, most useful pickup comparison I've ever seen. Thank you.

[@lostwoods]

Wow. Thanks for taking the time to do this shootout! I'm actually amazed how similar they sound to my ears. Been debating what SDs to put into my Eclipse. You're gonna throw something at me, but I wish the Custom 5 and Custom/Hybrid was included in this shootout haha.

[@mrnobodyinvr9762]

Super useful and helpful, this is why we love Warmoth. Aaron, thanks for the clean playthru and clear sound without a bunch of backing or noise, really helped to give a clear idea of what they sound like. Cheers to all at Warmoth!

[@comment.highlighted]

Great Humbucker comparison and playing. I was able to distinguish the differences for the sound I’m looking for 🙂

[@jorisguitars]

Always high quality video's on this channel!

[@blackhatjester]

After 20 years and trying a lot of pickups I've come full circle to my first aftermarket pickup, the JB is a phenomenal pickup.

[@warmoth]

Agreed. It's my go-to as well.

[@lostinpa-dadenduro7555]

Hard to go wrong with a JB. Covers a lot of ground and sounds great.

[@nathanmclauchlan5148]

Thanks for the video, it really does truly compare the various pickups. For me, love the JB, Distortion and Dimebucker the most. I am sure it was hard to do this video, but thank you. It helped narrow it down for sure. Your right though about the JB, it’s really an all rounder , so I think that is probably the smart choice for a humbucker, but I do think I want a T-style Distortion in my T-style guitar 👍👏

[@eddiejr540]

Aaron…I can’t imagine how much time and work went into making this video…so it is with a heavy heart that I say I heard no difference between those nine pickups, but I was listening on a phone….you rock bro👍

[@soyborne.bornmadeandundone1342]

Aaron is the best. I wonder if I can send them a old Brazilian rose wood neck so they can re fret it for me with GOLD fretz ooo. Why not? It's their neck lolz. Maybe they can tell me the year too. Orig guy I got it from says 97 but he also said he wasn't sure. Hmmm... It's cocobolo shaft with Brazilian rosewood fret board. It's super nice honestly. Wont need a refret for a long time but I was just curious about it haha. I did ask them to get me Brazilian rosewood illegally but they were not kool with that. I said if I can get a chunk of that wood, could you make a neck out of it for me pretty please? And they said no. Even though I gloated about how I'm such a good customer and that they should do it for me anyways since I'm special but noooo. Warmoth has standards and rules and crapp lol. Oh well I tried. Hey it doesn't hurt to ask. Hey officer, can I see your gun? lolz No but seriously. Perhaps I can get my brazilian rosewood some where else. Seeing how Warmoth wants to be useless towards me in my quest for brazilian rosewood. Lol I'm all talking crap when I already own 4 guitar necks that are brazilian rosewood haha.

[@stewarttomkinson3356]

I’m on head phones not much differents

[@zacharyduncan6118]

You need to have a musicians ear to tell the difference. They all sounded different in very subtle ways.

[@eddiejr540]

@@zacharyduncan6118 ….oh, thats it then…I don’t have a musician’s ear…thank you

[@nickmizell1141]

Thank you for posting videos again, for a while I was worried about you.

[@DouglasRosser]

My opinion - modern amp modelers/pedals/effects can shape a distorted tone into pretty much anything you want, so pick the clean tones you like.

[@picksalot1]

Totally agree. The one thing that is most important to me in a Pickup is that it's balanced across all the strings.

[@htwheelz67]

You were pretty spot on with the descriptions, if I were to only pick one it would be the custom custom, it also cleaned up better than any of them.

[@mykneeshurt8393]

Great content! keep it coming!

[@TheGhostGuitars]

I agree, my faves are the JB and the Custom Custom. Thanks for the adjacent comparison of the Invaders, the Black Winters and the Dimebuckers. You've helped me in deciding on the pups for an 80s rock & metal axe. Invader bridge and Black Winter neck.

[@Mike_HuntizWet]

The JB is just a great all-around pup

[@tremor1001]

Nice to see you doing videos again :). Alot of these sounded VERY similar to me except for the distortion (which to me sounded bad lol) that especially if we weren't ABing them i doubt you would notice the difference... that said im sure it sounds different and has different reactions to dynamics while in the room with the amp.

[@icenic_wolf]

TIL that I like the SD Pegasus, which wasn't even on my radar. Thanks for the great comparison, Aaron!

[@ssisk87]

I paired a Black Winter bridge with a cool rails neck and the versatility of those two wildly different pickups is awesome... The black winter in E standard, or D standard is super bright and clear, and then the cool rails is very cool and mellow...

[@codysearle366]

Always loved the dimebucker, still sounds the best to me.

[@barnettg66]

As Aaron was giving us his impressions it reminded me of a wine tasting tour. “…subtle hints of….crisp high end with just a touch of….full bodied. And like a wine tasting tour, by the third winery you’re tipsy enough to buy a case of anything!

[@Saxby8six]

Dime used a Bill Lawrence L500 xl before his deal with Seymour. That's why the Dimebucker is a blade style pickup.

[@GCKelloch]

Yep, and the Bill Lawrence designed Wilde L500 line has Magnetic Stainless Steel blades, mini-HB width, and a chassis design that improves efficiency. The punch and high-end detail are exceptional.

[@BenBreard]

I'm a fan of those.

[@bruxist]

Great vid. If you do any of those mini-reviews you mentioned, be sure to check out the Seymour Duncan Alternative-8.

[@tollan23]

Good for all the styles of music :)

[@mattb383]

There are subtle differences in the pickups (some darker or brighter) and the super distortion was definitely hotter. I have a few of those pickups and they all sound similar. I think the main difference is the "feel" of the pickups and that way the notes feel when you hit them with a pick. I find I like the JB the best for all around and the leads. The Black Winter and SH5 are super tight but does not have the feel I like. Thanks for doing this shootout! Great content.

[@zyxwfish]

A super distortion is a dimarzio pickup, you mean the Duncan distortion.

[@GCKelloch]

The relative coil and pole screw heights influence the result so much that it's nearly impossible to judge from comparisons, but thanks for all the work Aaron.

[@Nightjar726]

I could go on with details of all of them but the JB is just the sound. At 54 years old trying so many pickups I always go for the JB. Got that mid bark that we love . It’s never mushy.

[@warmoth]

Agreed. Many try to avoid it because they don't want to go with the obvious choice, but it nearly always sounds good to me.

[@zeppo20]

My favorites, JB, Custom and Black winter. I have a Warmoth strat with JB and two 80´s hot rails.

[@Brykk]

Great video. Id definitely be interested if you decided to test the pearly gates.

[@bloozedaddy]

Nice vid A-Aron....listening here on my studio monitors most of them are as close to indiscernible from each other as one could get...the "distortion" definitely had a tad more bottom end oomph and the "pegasus" had some more high-end than the others....the "dimebucker" sounded best to me as a good balance between oomph and clarity.

[@defkind]

Nice vid. I liked the Pegasus, JB and Custom most

[@Zakkrifice]

I hope for a test for versatility (super important!) in the more specific tests!

[@PhpGtr]

I am amazed that you got such a decent tone out of the Invader. I have one (on my fridge - it holds a ton of kids' papers) and it was always way too crazy. Hence the fridge.

[@sdbdops2364]

Got to lower it and disconnect the tone pot

[@roadtonever]

Swap the hex screws for traditional slugs + screws.

[@angusorvid8840]

Great comparison. I have to say, although I typically prefer the Duncan Custom 5 (not tested in this demo), I think the JB sounded best, with the Pegasus a close second. All these pickups are stellar, but the JB is legendary for a reason, and you can hear why in this demo. It just works and cuts through.

[@dirktucker77]

They all sound good. I think these are great practice riffs tho!!

[@Burnt_Gerbil]

I have the Pegasus / Sentient set in my Les Paul. This video confirms I made a good choice. 😄

[@moparbryan]

As an observer I pretty much agree across the board nice job! One pickup that wasn’t in here is the Custom 5 it’s a Custom with alnico 5 sounds good in the right context which is pretty much how pickups break down for me ie a Marshall with vintage 30’s is gonna sound different with a JB than a Distortion. Don’t get me wrong the speaker makes way more difference but I find pickups I maybe didn’t like at first are the right choice for a different speaker and amp combo. A Distortion through a Plexi with an SD1 into vintage 30’s sounds good. A Distortion through a Rectifier with a TS into G12-75’s is no good but it’s all subjective if it sounds good to you it is. The surprise to me is the Invader and Dimbucker. When I was 14 every point guitar got an Invader and it became almost a meme but now years later that pickup has more to it it seems.

[@lordgraga]

Last year, I bought a George Lynch Screamin Demon to replace the Dragon II bridge in my PRS CE-22 with great anticipation. I wanted to make a KZbin video, started setting up the demo, and recorded the samples with the first pickup. Then I put in the Screamin' Demon and re-recorded. To my great surprise, the recordings were so similar that I could barely tell them apart. Hi-gain amps really hide the character of the pickups, and the amps and cabs matter much, much more to the sound. However, I still think that the feel of the pickups really affect your playing, and of course there will be a difference between a 8k PAF and a 16k ceramic, but it's pretty much shades of colour, not night and day. That experience prety much stopped me from shopping new pickups for a while. But then I got really into cabinets, which arguably is a much worse habit. For the record, I think that the Full Shred is my favourite... cuz Opeth. And I hate the JB!

[@christianboddum8783]

I've always had a thing for the Custom as rhythm pickup.

[@nickmizell1141]

Check out the Seymour Duncan APH-1 alnico 2 pro, or the Slash signature. Great for any genre of music.

[@zyxwfish]

Now we have to do a dimarzio version of this test 😅 also I’ve noticed going through “patches” has pickups sounding closer to the same. A real amp shows the differences more clearly. My favorite pickup of all time use to be the Duncan distortion but I don’t like it anymore. It’s too harsh. I’m interested in the custom custom and the Pegasus for sure now.

[@clemguitar63]

Not likely to happen. They typically only highlight or feature products from brands they sell.

[@zyxwfish]

@@clemguitar63 true. I’m half joking. That would be a lot of work to do the same thing again with dimarzio pickups.

[@rick7025]

Keep on pickin your pickups!

[@picksalot1]

The Dimebucker was the only one that sounded noticeably different from the rest. All the others sounded remarkably similar. I've got an old Seymourizer II in my Strat, and that still sounds pretty good.

[@robertsmolinski8685]

Black winter into a marshall stack sounds great

[@Javier-qk7ms]

Pleas do one for vintage-medium output. 59, Alnico ii Pro, custom hybrid, pearly gates, Saturday night special.

[@apostolosbakopoulos5225]

for vintage the custom custom is it. for modern the dimebucker is it. try these two and the 78 next time. it would be really interesting. the test did its job but it had too much bass for my system. thanx

[@druwk]

Custom Custom 100%! Had the best balance, not too tight, scooped, or distorted.

[@tommywilliamsjr.697]

Welllllll I was gonna have a few brewski's whilst watching this shootout, but after seeing that many chugs, I'm good. All said, I like the JB for my style. Others would be great with drop tuning and heavy distortion. Basically, I was hearing different eq curves and output levels.

[@andresilva8444]

Did you get a pay rise after this? Do tele bridge pickups next. ;)

[@windsurfmaui8239]

Aaron, thanks for doing the video. We want to see you more often. What is the scale of that neck? Did you have to raise the action when you tested the Invaders because of the higher pole pieces? Thanks

[@warmoth]

25.5" scale neck. I measured to make sure each pickup was the same distance from the strings as the other, but on the Invader I was a little unsure of how to do it. I ended up lowering it just a little. It could have had an effect, but I didn't know how else to handle those gigantic pole pieces!

[@AnonContributor]

Custom and Full Shred really surprised me. Could easily hear the subtle differences between all the pups. The Full Shred has really grabbed my interest now. I never even considered it. It has a MOJO. Great work dude! Come back to Seattle!!

[@zAvAvAz]

wow!

[@rick7025]

Maybe put a Pegasus on the bridge and a custom custom in the neck, then swap them around. I think that would be a great video!

[@megaman13able]

Please do Seymour's P-rails vs P90 next time 🙏

[@matthewwithanm]

Me at 3:00: alright, already, let's get to the second pickup 🤣

[@vannmagruder9038]

JB is still my fav

[@mbberry135]

1st) it was kind of hard for me to tell the difference in pickups. I really like the Distortion and the Invader pickups. The Distortion grabbed my attention right away. And I like the Invader as well. I would like to order a reduced Squier Pro Tone fat Stratocaster one day. And finding a good bridge pickup is a part of that. Thank You for the shootout. Sincerely Mike B. B. From Philly, P.A. U.S.A.

[@bear5141]

Thay all sounded the same to me but I am watching through cell phone and maybe that's why but I was just looking at pickups recently I have an Gibson epiphone I was wanting to get a hot pick up for the bridge and take the bridge pickup that is in it and move it to the neck would you have a better Idea I'm open for suggestions

[@xman5b]

Here is my understanding of the Dimebucker "oddities". Dimebag was using a high output Bill Lawrence double-bar humbucker (L500XLZ) and SD basically made their own (improved?) version of that for Dime. This is the origin of those differences in construction, based on my recollection of reviews when the Dimebucker came out from SD.

[@warmoth]

Thanks for the 411. I knew it had to be something like that.

[@tim_bauer3100]

I have been asking for a while so here it goes. How does the clear vintage tint finish affect the look of the guitar body. I was planning on buying a roasted ash Strat body and didn’t know if it would lighten up and look more gold like or if the change would be slight. Would love an answer soon before I buy my body.

[@warmoth]

You can see actual photos of every color we offer here: warmoth.com/guitar-finishes If you go there and mess around with the tool there are example of Vintage Tint finish over five different kinds of wood.

[@PedroLopez-sg2bu]

Any chance we can get a tone shootout between a maple 1 piece neck and a maple cap neck?

[@SteveZinn]

Not a fair test. The extra post it notes on the body during the Invader example obviously muffled the tone wood.

[@david25876]

All same. Any diff can be managed with volume and tone controls. Thx!

[@zyxwfish]

I’ve got an idea for a tone woods video. Swapping necks and woods. For example maple neck on maple body then mahogany neck on mahogany body. Then mahogany neck on maple body and maple neck on mahogany body.

[@MichaelBogomolny]

Cool video, appreciate the effort replacing 9 pickups in one day jeez.. Although, the difference didn't quite translate through my speakers, all sounded more or less similar most of the time. I do know from experience with at least four of these that they do feel drastically different the weirder they get: 1. The JB is the standard and recommended if you just want to try something new - it suits everyone and every thing. 2. The distortion is like you said - "more" but I liked it nonetheless, great for old heavy metal - it also splits nicely. 3. On the other hand the invader is obnoxiously muddy and loud, too much bass, way unbalanced. 4. The dimebucker is kinda cool but more scratchy and annoying than the original bill lawrence XL 500 it's based on.

[@niclastname]

I think I preferred the Black Winter the most. It sounded the most "clear" to me, and the tightest low end. Which is more good for me specifically because I tune down a lot. May not be great for someone who plays mostly high shreddy stuff or a lot of standard tuning. Might sound too thin.

[@BenBreard]

Oh man I would have paid money to get a DiMarzio super distortion in that mix!

[@miaouew]

The Seymour Duncan YJM pickups and, surprisingly, the Nazgul, all blew me right away and made me see the light with Seymour Duncan. I had used active pickups my whole life...was in the market for a new pickup because I got sick of changing batteries and just wanted a good passive set and forget sound. Blind tested hundreds and the 6 string Nazgul surprisingly came out on top for my ear in a shocking margin of lead over the other pickups I tried. Every time I heard a sound that I was like, "Hey...I like THAT one..." it turned out to be the Nazgul. I am NOT a fan of extreme output "metal" pickups in fact I really dislike most of them and think they are gimmicky at best and annoying sounding at worst. Somehow the Nazgul turned out to be the pickup for me that stomped all of the others in a big way. I never would have selected it otherwise. I doubt I will be using any other bridge humbucker for as long as I live. As far as single coils, the YJM Fury pickups sound eerily identical to a violin and they are just about the most perfect neoclassical pickups you could ever hope to find.

[@greatgruff1442]

Custom Custom was the best JB for me. Dime might be good to cut through a mix

[@genghisghost]

the black winter is the best pickup ever made after the emg 81

[@Bobby_Digital37]

JB, Custom, and Custom Custom sound best to me here 😊

[@tommynoble3428]

Aaron - you didn't account for how the size of the piece of tape, the amount of ink on it, and its placement on the body might also affect the resonance of the guitar and vibrational frequency into the pickup.

[@soyborne.bornmadeandundone1342]

True. He also didn't fork out 1000 bucks for a set of zephyr silver wound humbuckers. What a joke of a test this is!

[@warmoth]

LOL.

[@andyhayes7828]

I liked the Custom and the Distortion best

[@roadtonever]

Are you a fan of early Van Halen and Randy Rhodes by chance? ;)

[@andyhayes7828]

@@roadtonever Most definately 🤘 This video comparison really emphasizes the fact (imo) that there is really no topping the original Seymour Duncan releases ( JB, Custom, Distortion, Invader, Full shred), they all sound so good.

[@roadtonever]

​@@andyhayes7828 Custom is allegedly the original EVH pickup, and Distortion was in Randy Rhodes tour guitars. Super Distorsion always sounded a bit flabby to me even if Al DiMeola made it iconic.

[@jmromero6381]

My go-to is the Dimarzio X2N. I just can't live without them.

[@jupjuck]

No 59/custom hybrid :( :( would have sounded so good in that

[@stuartkinzel8195]

I didn't hear a big difference in the pickups. They all had subtle differences but it seems most of them could be dialed in differently at the amp to get where you want. I agree with the Distortion. It was just too much saturation. Same with the Invader. That could maybe be dealt with by reducing gain at the amp. I liked the Black Winter at 10 but not as much rolled back. I thought the JB cleaned up the best. I disliked the Dimebucker in the first amp but thought it sounded better in the later ones.

[@rjake61]

The JB is still a great pickup.

[@guitartim2128]

Could it be because im tuning in with a crappy android but i couldnt tell a difference in all but one -- the Blackout pickups stood out by having that 'active tone'

[@VintageRadius]

I feel like amount that pickup differences matter is inversely related to the amount of gain going on in the amp and/or signal. In other words the differences between a modern high output pickup and a PAF would be massive in a Keith Richards or Jimmy Page situation. But a band like Gojira could use (and do use) a PAF-ish pickup through a high gain amp and it sounds great, but TBH if they switched guitars to something high output between songs you probably wouldn’t notice the difference.

[@roadtonever]

Duncan Distorsion sounds the most versatile. Randy Rhodes used it live.

[@obican]

If you have the time, replace one of the JB bobbins with one from a Custom variant, I prefer to do it with a Custom 5, which has the same Alnico V magnet. It results in a magnet that has the best parts of both JB (cuts through the mix, high output) and Custom 5 (great bass response) without any of the downsides (JB being just a bit too harsch and Custom 5 lacking some definition in high end). On top of that, you gain a lot of harmonics due to the bobbins being unable to cancel all the hum, along with those nice little harmonics. Downside, it's slightly noisier than a regular humbucker but still not noisy as a single coil pickup.

[@obican]

Also a small note, according to Becky Lawrence (the wife of Bill Lawrence), the L500 series should fit in P90 routes just fine, which means a Dimebucker should also fit into P90 routes. Haven't tried this myself though.

[@DemskePaul2017]

Would love to see you do a shoot-out of the various P-90 style pickups, including the P-Rails! Honestly though I couldn't discern the differences between the pickups on this video :(

[@chriskocher1469]

A guitar with just an invader is pretty much what Tom Delonge used, which I always thought was interesting since his tone is not at all what I thought that would sound like. I'm not really a Blink fan, but his guitar tone is very good.

[@warmoth]

Ya, I had the same thought. DeLonge FTW.

[@charlescowart5423]

JB all the way!

[@WillfulThinker]

I wonder how much of an ascertainable difference there is between two pickups of the same model. Also, I know from experience that I can take a pickup out of one guitar, when I don't find it inspiring, and throw that one in another guitar and have it come alive. My favorite in this test was the Custom Custom, but that means my favorite in that guitar. Try those pickups in another guitar, and a different model pickup might win.

[@warmoth]

Agreed!

[@luislanga]

That must've been a lot of work. I loved to see how similar most of them sound while a few of them have a very distinct sound. I think I'll never buy a JB again, they're like the default rpg character of pickups.

[@warmoth]

LOL

[@zipchtkdn7804]

What bodys .. alder

[@FGg503]

From the initial 6 minutes the only two that appear to have more clarity than the others are the Distortion and the Dimebucker. I reckon its down to what amp you use and what your setting are. Most of these tones sounded rather muddy.

[@roadtonever]

Agree they can compete with actives in this regard, the others not so much.

[@fk9744]

Wich wood Is the guitar?

[@warmoth]

Alder.

[@ScotianBlooded]

Pegasus for me

Black Winter is best

[@Wesquire]

Custom Custom is the best, but not much reason to avoid the regular JB

[@slcustomcarpentry853]

The only difference I heard was more high end on the dimebucker

[@RichardA5150]

The Dimebucker was a recreation of his old Bill Lawrance L500XL in his original Dean's. That's why it looks that way, I have some Bill Lawrance pickups and there the same construction

[@ibalrog]

Bravo! I commend your consistent play. Now do minihumbuckers! No more than eight, though. Safety first.

[@jamesonpace726]

Yeah, 9 is prolly too many, but nicely done....

[@MG-vo7is]

These comparison videos are great. However ... I play bass, and all sounded exactly the same. 🙂

[@fuzzcous]

1 JB 2 Invader 3 Black Winter The invader has those giant lugs lol The distortion was only one I didn’t like.

[@jasonchamness789]

You forgot the RTM

[@user-ii5mh9li6l]

Other than the distortion being slightly louder, I didn't hear any difference.