Seymour Duncan Vs Cheap Aliexpress Pickup BLIND Test. * Update: Part 2 Now Up. Link in Description!

Hey guys, the Part 2 video is now up for you to see the result! Check it out now:
• Seymour Duncan Vs Alie...
Get the ultimate Seymour Duncan pickup set here:
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Looking for a link to the Donlis Aliexpress pickup? It's in the Part 2 video (link above).
I put a $90 Seymour Duncan JB head to head with a $20 Aliexpress Pickup. Can you tell which one is which just by listening? Listen to the clips and leave your comment below. I will reveal the results in exactly two weeks. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss it. Let's see who gets it right!
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[@ParanormalResponse]

I couldn't tell the difference in headphones honestly for distortion. There was a slight difference in the clean tone. So for that reason, my choice was the slightly brighter tone of the B pickup. But I would proudly use either. Nice test. The only issue I have had in the past with overseas pick ups is that they tend to feedback easier and that they turned microphonic on me after time.

[@cockysonuvaB]

exact same.

[@hadleymanmusic]

I never leave home without a waxed

[@billjacktheone4786]

I agree... I almost hate that you sai EXACTLY what I was thinking the B pickup was cleaner, and was the only distinct difference. Thank you for sharing

[@stewarttomkinson3356]

Wax dip the cheap ones

[@bladeoflucatiel]

Even my cheap 335 epiphone came with waxed pickups, I had to melt the wax to get to the wiring and split the coils. I used normal candles to re-wax it. Between A and B I liked A better on the cleans and solo because it was less "harsh/bright", but both are still 99% the same, just by toning your amp/pedals you pretty much get the same sound.

[@FultonStreetBeats]

A SD. B 20 dollar amazing pickups. lol... Both sound amazing!

[@thebaldshredder]

Thanks for voting brother!

[@FultonStreetBeats]

@@thebaldshredder my pleasure. Can't wait to see the result

[@danieltv123]

You got it right. I did too. JBs have more mids, it's easy. They're also more focused. B was good tho, should compare to a more balanced SD pickup.

[@frankiepag1720]

A $20. B Duncan

[@gae7081]

B Seymour Duncan

[@michaelkern9805]

personally, did not think there was 80 dollars worth of difference between the 2, i found out quite a spell ago, high price pickups dont necessarily mean high price tone !

[@fisiosaiter]

Both are great. I like the A better, not saying it is a Seymour, just like it better. But in the end I would buy the cheaper one, they are very close, it wouldn’t make a difference in the real world. Thanks for the video.

[@JohnAdams-xc5yk]

I don't care if you like Chinese, but I don't like China putting Seymour Duncan name on their pickups

[@User-gfys-0icu81]

Everything is made in china. Everything. Including every piece and part of your SD pup.

[@KevinKevin-el8yk]

I agree is it not soow able and you should mever bye Chinese guitars THEIR wopd is soft and cjeep just save up for barter one yes the waiting will be hard but i promisd

[@ryanscutt8783]

Did China do it, or did someone in China do it? There's a big difference between the two.

[@DuckandBalls]

​@@ryanscutt8783xi jinping hand crafted these in the baogang steel mill

[@algreen1231]

Who cares? SD are overrated.

[@geraldhoffpauir5048]

Both sounded great. I think the A pickup is the cheap one and the B is the Seymour Duncan’s

[@springbloom5940]

B certainly had more definition

[@marvswelt2587]

And more output​@@springbloom5940

[@user-cq3oh8eq3n]

If you use that much distortion, there's not much point in the A/B test. But the clean section at 3'19 is day and night.

[@mrcoatsworth429]

How many people with a JB in their guitar play mostly clean?

[@marks9197]

Overall I liked B. Especially on the cleans.

[@eddieangels4029]

I did not hear any difference! So I guess that's a big compliment for the Ali express pickup! thanks for the test because I am ugrading my pickups

[@thebaldshredder]

Glad I could help!

[@Jenisonc]

Damn. I was wrong. But that makes me happy! I enjoy the stuff that doesn't cost an arm and leg. I have Alnico 5s in my tele from Ali and they sound fantastic. Thanks or the video!

[@DiegoBorges]

Você poderia me dar o link para os Alnico que você gostou, eu moro no Brasil e os originais são muito caros aqui

[@erickbertin78]

as most people have pointed out, there is a slight difference with the clean tones, with A being a bit brighter (maybe the SD?), but as far as gain tones are concerned, they're essentially and for all intents and purposes indistinguishable....

[@michaelhawthrone2184]

My response before getting the official word is that B sounds “cleaner”. A sounds quite close but sounds “fuzzier”. Like extra noise around the notes, but mostly noticeable between phrases.

[@Taklongtraveler]

As a non-guitar player, I can't tell the difference, but I like the sound of both.

[@Motocicleiros]

I cannot spot any difference in the dirty sound, but at the clean tone they are way distinct and I GUESS that the "A" is the SD and the "B" is the AliExpress. I don't know the brand of the AliExpress PU but I realized that some of those Chinese humbuckers has this "singleish" tone, that is the case.

[@nanimonada9860]

I didn't think either set sounds bad, but I did notice a bit more note clarity in B with the high gain.

[@nanimonada9860]

@@rrrdzza that's what my blind ears heard. . . Maybe if I could see i would have heard something different, lol.

[@hansfender2441]

B for me

[@rabokarabekian409]

I can tell the difference between my lipstick, the P90, humbuckers, fidelitron, and a quad rail in my seven differently themed customized partscasters. Funny thing - I can get them to sound however I want through digital sound processing. Oh yeh, all these pickups are Chinese or Korean, which I chose mostly for their looks.

[@ericbrown4287]

Great playing and a great amp (or great simulator plug-in) make for most of the tone, so it's no surprise you got such good results on both. To my ear, though, it sounded like A was an alnico 5 magnet and B was a ceramic with a harsher attack. It's not so much that one was better than the other, but maybe each would serve a different purpose in the studio. I'm convinced that either would be fine in a live mix. Sincerely, A guy whose bought a ton of SD pickups

[@gshankaran]

B had richer harmonic output for me, that gets my vote. If that's the AliExpress one, then that's going on all my mod project guitars. If that's a SD, then is it worth the $70 upcharge? For a couple of pickup projects, I think so.

[@alexcorona]

Move your light to either the left or right side of you and angle it down a tinge, this will give you a 3d effect and much more flattering light. Instead of the mugshot thing going on.

[@thebaldshredder]

Ok I'll try that Mr. Speilberg.

[@Leo9ine]

​@@thebaldshredder He's right man, being humble is a virtue

[@ToacheRaul]

I preferred the A pickup as both sound very good with distortion but the cleanest riff was a bit superior with the A set of pickups

[@andres.g]

A sounds like listening to music in Flac, B sounds like listening standard mp3.. It is easy to know that A are the Seymour Duncans.

[@jimcamp2423]

I preferred A for some of the riffs, other riffs I couldn't tell much of a difference, so there wasn't $ 70 difference to me. I think if either guitar arrived undamaged & functional at unboxing, I wouldn't know the difference. I might feel different about them depending upon I plug into my most pedestrian amp vs most versatile amp with all the amp & cab sims. The SD's, obviously it's a $ 70 difference to squeeze out the last 3% that the pickups both basically get at some volume level as each other. Finding perceived sameness is it's own tone chase altogether.

[@mrnomad55]

I can't tell the difference. I just bought the Slash set off of Aliexpress and they look like the real deal and sound just like my real set on my les Paul. well worth the $50 I spent.

[@jerryverser2391]

Great video. I have been playing for about 45 years and in all honesty most of us have been fooled by advertising and hype.

[@BillyE5150]

One listen thru AirPods, I can’t tell which is which, nor does it matter… they both sound great!! Like another commenter said, I also have some “economy” pickups that I like better than similar “big names”.

[@timesurfingalien]

SD is over rated and over priced. Not enough of a difference to justify the price. Buy American if thats what you want buy Chinese if thats what you want. Not enough of a difference for my living room

[@nulife022]

I was all convinced the Duncans were the better sounding PU I was hearing - No, I picked the Aliexpress pickups. To me they were brighter and had an overall superior tone by far. I own a set of Dimarzio Air Norton and Tone Zone. I wonder how those pricey PUs would fare in such a test. Great demo, thanks

[@mikelitoris2782]

Buy the cheaper pickups, measure them to know what output and inductance you're working with, and then just mod them. For treble put a cap and resistor in parallel with each other, but in series with the pickup, and for more bass put them parallel to the pickup. Or maybe just change pots and a tone cap and call it a day. It's way cheaper, way easier to get exactly the sound you want once you know what you're doing, and frankly, it's much more fun this way.

[@oldthocker47]

Twiddle EQ knobs a little and A can be made to sound like B, and vice versa, to my ears anyway.

[@wilhelmklieschnikov7185]

Im sold on the Chinese Invaders. Ive always spent the cash for the brand SD. After all these years, i would go with the clones. Q: How do they hold up at max volume? Sustain?

[@user-py3cl5el4i]

I have some really good studio headphones and to me, it doesn’t matter. Both sets of pups have qualities that I like. If I HAD to choose a favorite, I go with option A overall.

[@dunkanicloud5155]

I bought an AliExpress 22$ Seymour Duncan copy( with original logo) instead of ibanez stock humbuckers and I am happy 😁. My guitar sounds much better...

[@thebaldshredder]

Excellent 🤘

[@briandriver301]

Playing through a Line 6 processor, you won't hear a difference. Because it's processed. Cool riffs that sound great regardless of the pick ups.

[@petersmith143]

I can't tell the difference. Have used mainly SD pickups for decades. I bought a cheap JB equivalent from China for £16 GBP and fitted it to my LP. It sounds excellent. These USA manufacturers are taking us for fools. Not any more!

[@milankotevski1663]

I prefer B slightly. Whichever are the Aliexpress pickups, they are on par with SD for a fraction of the cost.

[@arsenaultgilles4557]

To bad for the price difference I simply don’t give a hoot there is nothing wrong with both of those pickups

[@Dzo826]

Well, here's the deal.. IF the SD PUP's sound THAT close to the $20 joints, either PUP's have come a LONG way, OR SD aint kickin' the way they used to.. In any event, the $20 PUP's have proven their point... Guess the TRUE test is to compare through a REAL amp, side-by-side.. I'm likin' the $20 joints, tho!!.. For the record, I would say "A" are the Duncans...

[@thebaldshredder]

In the follow up video I'll play both guitars through a small Fender amp.

[@SirLoinMagroin]

I preferred "B" because it had just a touch more note separation and had a bit more proactive reaction with your modulation effects. That said, both were very similar.

[@lostreb]

I have to be honest, since I never use distortion, gain, and overdrive, only Clean with some delay, reverb, and tape delay, not all at the same time, I'm not one that can honestly evaluate any distortion, gain, or overdrive quality. I can hear a difference, but, which one is better? Totally clueless. I did prefer A on the clean sample. Have no idea which pickup that was. Just preferred the sound and looking forward to learning which one it was when the answers are revealed. I also think this is another one that fits under the "everything about guitars is all about personal preference" umbrella. It does not matter one bit how much something costs (with the caveat of "that fits in your budget"), it's about how much you like the sound. Great video, Richard. Please keep them coming.

[@thebaldshredder]

Thanks Reb!

[@lostreb]

@@thebaldshredder You bet!!! I'm anxiously awaiting learning what pickup my choice was!!! While we have different musical preferences (Shredder / Surf Music and 60's and early 70's, the last rock concert for me was the "original" Doobie Brothers Farewell Tour in 1979), the information you provide to "all" of us is invaluable!!! Please just keep on keepin' on...

[@elsonmachado3509]

Hard to tell, Richard. Both sound good, I only noticed a slight difference in the clean tone (B sounded a little better). My guess is: A - Chinese pickup B - Seymour Duncan

[@thebaldshredder]

Thanks for voting!

[@guitarforfun2596]

Great video. Ok, let me start by saying, i stopped the video at 3.11 minut mark when writing this comment. And i have not read any comments so my thoughts are unbiased. Ok Through my headphones, i prefer the sound of pickup a. I found them slightly louder, brighter and more articulated. But only ever so slightly. Id happily have either in my guitar. The real test of pickips in my opinion is how they sound live and how they cut through in a mix. For example. I have a prs se standard 24. The pickups in that guitar do not cut through the mix like my ldt eclipse 253. The eclipse actually cuts through the mix better than all my guitars including my explorer with emg active pick ups.

[@killrillhardkorshunov6705]

B is Seymour Duncan, right?

[@redelk2974]

Ali express A, Seymour Duncan B...great tunes dude, you rock

[@PabloFernandez-bv1bv]

I liked much more B for clean tone. Tbh both sound pretty similar with od or high gain.

[@stephanpeters3875]

Honestly, there is a difference. But I have no idea which one is the Seymour Duncan. I am liking A the best in all forms. I will wait to see part 2. I am late to this party. I am thinking it may depend on personal tonal preference, more than which one is "better."

[@stephanpeters3875]

I just listened to part 2 enough to find A and B. So I guess I DO prefer the genuine Seymour Duncans in this case.

[@bluesbrother5618]

Pickups convert mechanical movement into electrical energy. That's it. Whether SD or ALI, it doesn't get any more electric ;-)

[@michaelhawthrone2184]

I am probably not that good. But I can say this, the pups in my epi slash sound muddy through the same amp where my burstbuckers sound clearer. Even with power chords.

[@BrianLTanner]

A was Seymour Duncan, a lot more clarity and tone didn’t get muddy in all the spots the B set did. The B pickups were more microphonic and had bad clean response, too chimey and thin in spots.

[@c0uchsl0uch]

B = alli express, no I did not cheat, I notice at the beginning of the tone b is a little scratchy of course after about 1/10 of a second the scratchy sound goes away. For the cost yes B would satisfy and without being compared side by side, I wouldn't notice the scratchy sound

[@costalongajp]

don't know which is which, but i prefer b all the way, at least with this signal chain. brighter cleans and better defined distorted tones. but a is a good pickup. definitely does the job well

[@bobbywright6354]

B sounds a little Brighter and slightly clearer in the clean tone but in distortion i couldnt tell but it’s definitely not 70 bucks worth of difference. Im Im building a player guitar id buy what sounds good even if its cheap. Thats what i love about the time we live in. Tech has advanced to the point we can get great stuff really cheap

[@dewalwals]

Wow, astounding, very very close, if you got the extra buck, go for the seymour, but if none, the chinese copy even works great, plus you could save the xtramoney, If your really bothered of the 2 not being equal, theres an eq to tweak on your pedal or amp anyway, and besides. The listeners around wont even bother

[@tadbennett2219]

I have three guitars from Ali Express. I put a Seymour Duncan Hot-Rodded humbucker set in one of the Les Paul’s. I immediately noticed significantly more volume out of the same setting I was on with the old pickups. I would be very surprised if both guitars were set on the same volume.

[@robertholtom9345]

Yah you are right, I cannot tell the difference between the 2 different pickups. Why spend $90 when you can get something just as good for $20,

[@bobhob2790]

Listening on some really nice studio monitors, it's night and day. B has a lot more clarity and dynamic range. It's definitely the tone I prefer.

[@hanhtar9062]

B has slightly more dynamics. Thx for the blind test.

[@chefallen520]

Hard to tell with processing. It helps, that you can play. I pick B- for the real Duncan but that being said, I like GFS pickups. Pickups don’t know if they are good or bad, just players. Anyway, I am going to order a set from Ali express because both sounds were good. I don’t play as many notes as I used to but I can appreciate a good effort to compare and I think the Ali express, pickup/s, is worth a try.

[@BoltRM]

Better dollar to note ratio? 😊

[@J.C...]

Exactly. Everybody used to talk so good about Guitar Madness pickups so I bought a 57 zebra humbucker from them and I thought it sounded decent...right up until I put a Seymour Duncan 59 in the bridge of another guitar. Then it was abundantly clear why one was $25 and the other was $109(w/ nickel cover). The GM 57 sounds terrible next to the SD 59. There's absolutely no comparison.

[@LesterMitchell]

Man this is tough! I'm gonna say A is the Duncan's.

[@thebaldshredder]

You could be right... or wrong! lol

[@snupi_nut]

I know this video is 2 years old but if you see this next time show the time stamp of you playing and have all the sound geniuses tell you at what point you changed . pickups pickups

[@joezambrano696]

They both sound good I'm getting the donolis for my guitar

[@2bikemikesguitartopics145]

I don't know what SDs sound like so I can't tell. There was barely a difference I could hear, and only on 1 of the riffs. The Donless are on my buy list since the greeny guitar was done.

[@thebaldshredder]

Definitely check them out Mike. They make great pickups and have a wide variety of stuff.

[@generalcontrol]

A is a bit darker, sounds smoother distorted, B is a bit brighter, sounds crispier clean. Couldn't care less about which brand is which. As an ex studio sound engineer I can assure you that there's nothing that an digital matching EQ and reamping can't fix. Pickup choice might matter for live performances however. But again an EQ before any pedals or amps can fix a lot. And with an impulse player in the beginning of the chain, which is nothing but a high resolution digital preset EQ, you can make a perfect match, if you know how to use it properly. At a cost of a tiny latency, however. You can become a millionaire far too quickly if you know these techniques and start taking bets on blind tests from people who don't understand the technicalities and believe in tone mojo, marketing BS and other urban legends.

[@luizalbertokoehler4904]

they sound very similar, with A presenting more high frequencies and B more low frequencies. In my opinion, the two are equivalent in quality.

[@VanHalenIsolated]

They sound identical to me to be completely honest. I’m not tone deaf to say the least but perhaps whatever frequency differences there are between these two, I definitely cannot pick them up. I’m 37 so maybe my ears are going?

[@scottanderson4175]

I just purchased fake Seymour Dunkin’ pickups my question is are the pots and pickup selector worth using 😳

[@ScottDonaldson51]

A for Seymour Duncan, just and no more, the B sounds slightly grainier, not as smooth but sightly warmer on clean, not much distortion).

[@PerihelionPhase]

Both sounded good, but B sounded better. Fuller cleans, more dynamics and screaming more in the solos. A sounded a bit more lifeless across the board. If B is the SD I'm getting some of those ali express pups!

[@JohnGSchuur]

I think B is the SD .. has more definition , but it’s hard to tell ., the cheap pick ups and SD are that close .. a bang for the bucks if you have these cheap pick ups installed ..... cool challenge

[@thebaldshredder]

Thanks! I think it is hard to tell.

[@Mike6StringsIn]

First clean I heard a difference and liked A better. Which is which, I don't know. Guessing: A Duncan, B the other.

[@voidnullastral1823]

I would say B is the SD.. They both sounded great to be honest, and I really found it hard to tell a difference. It's just that sometimes I felt the B with slightly bit more of low end.

[@thebaldshredder]

Check the link in the description for the follow up video to see if you are correct.

[@voidnullastral1823]

@@thebaldshredder I did, and I was totally biased. People -most of the times- pay for the brand/label. And what about durability through time? Are they competitive as well?

[@thebaldshredder]

@@voidnullastral1823 yes

[@Osssssssssssssh]

I guess the B is Seymour Dungan pick up it has more bite when you pick the note.

[@Ron_Masterjohn]

I like A better it’s fuller and more open. But both sound great. I have not looked at anyone’s else’s comments. Think that A is the Duncan’s and B Ali.

[@chad6326]

3:36... is it me or does the Donlis pup have a little more chime and shimmer on the cleans??? ... imo they're practically identical on dirty sounds...

[@cubistone]

If i got the call to go into the studio for a session with a singer songwriter I'd bring the B guitar. If I was gonna play a live set I'd be ok with either guitar.

[@gitaristbaba8409]

A: Seymour Duncan B: Chinese one Diffrence is most visible when playing clean tone. But it is not a vital diffrence..

[@EduardoMartinez-dm5pp]

The B is Seymour A os china However both sound awesome!

[@ralphdrees4413]

My friend swears by Bareknuckle pickups and hates Seymour Duncan for no really discernible reason. The Warpigs and the black Winter for me are virtually indistinguishable. Definitely war pigs aren’t 100 dollars better. In this case we are talking about a few hundred dollars difference and they sound the same. Just wax pot those Chinese pups and keep it pushing.

[@AverageCitizen333]

Both sounded great for sure, but my only reserves about this is post processing clean up. I think b was SD and a was Ali

[@mr1bienvenu1]

Some cheap pickups are well made and some are not. I've seen and heard both on a cheap old Squier Stratocaster.

[@thebaldshredder]

Definitely. These are well made.

[@905rouzies]

Do you think that sound qualify will degrade sooner in time with these because they use cheaper quality magnets ?

[@thebaldshredder]

I doubt it but who knows

[@warmtoiletseat5596]

No not really. Ceramic magnets live forever and those are the cheapest magnets. (Doesn't mean ceramic magnets sound bad)

[@JoeHartRocks]

It sounded like B was a bit brighter... but the real question is which pickup had the best feel?? Like sitting there in front of the amp with the guitar in your hands, which felt better to you??

[@tdw57]

I don't think they sound very different from one another. On a few crunchy samples, the A sounded a bit hotter. On a clean sample, I thought the B sounded a bit richer. There is not enough there that an EQ pedal couldn't easily change, drastically. That's why I don't care about pickups. I care about a noise gate and EQ pedal, especially if you perform live. Buy those and skip the pickups, if money is an issue, and it usually is.

[@user-ez8hg5df4k]

A is ali. Actually both is good. But on the first play wave and noise make difference. On Next plays I don't know which one is real duncan.

[@guitarforfun2596]

Ok, Ignore my 1st comment I just paused the video at the 4.52 minute mark. I now ever so slightly prefer pick up b sound. Again either id be happy with. But would need to hear in a live gig environment. How they cut through the mix. But im thinking would be exactly the same.

[@metriffs]

But it doesn't really matter, I don't want the Ali Wish copy even if it sounds almost the same.

[@davidkellymitchell4747]

A better questionr is "How much is copper wire and a magnet worth?"

[@jamesbuckle4544]

Slight difference and i mean slight id play either as long as a pick up isnt microphonic or straight garbage id be hard pressed to swap out either

[@junmonsayac2306]

A - Seymour Duncan B- $20 pick up

[@zachtbh]

Sounds like there’s a slight hum in the distortion with B? I’d say A is the SD?

[@paulnelson1177]

I'm a JB 69 guy but the AliExpress. Holds up. I don't know which was which. . I think one was a tink bit more warm sounding.. I would buys an AliExpress

[@paulslims5870]

Dude it's really close but i recon A is Seymour Duncan & B is the Aliexpress I defiantly prefer B on the clean tones 3.13

[@guitarandbeyondplus]

I'm guessing that A is the Seymour. It sound a bit thicker.

[@DrRickGuerrero007]

It's kinda weird, at first A sounded better, then B sounded better.. so I'm confused..

[@TheSweezer]

Seymour Duncans and DImarzios etc are made from metal with the same techniques of winding as the cheap ones. The Chinese made ones are hit or miss as far as QC. SD and Dimarzio arent made with some special magic tone dust. Given all things equal such as output Id bet the cheap ones sound virtually the same as the expensive UAS made ones. There will always be a difference in tone if one pickup has 13k output and the other 11.5k etc..

[@doctor-dan]

Amazing, that Aliexpress seller should reward you.

[@countrylapi9245]

Geez. After listening to both.... I KNOW which one I want. BUDGET!

[@JoeR203]

I'd say "B" Is the Duncan. Have you tried Dragonfire pickups? I have the "Screamer" in a couple of my guitars. Not bad for $35.

[@thebaldshredder]

I have not. I might have to give those a try.

[@JoeR203]

@@thebaldshredder The neck pickup in my profile pic is a Screamer. The middle pickup is their generic strat single coil. They have a great color selection.

[@mikedakota999]

Ok guys this digital S makes it sound all the same ( not really) but clean sounds made it clear that sd is the B. If you play at home on your digital device then who really cares but if its a real amp with volume up the you will hear the difference right away.

[@MicSustianevo]

B: Seymour A: Ali Express? Their is a subtle difference for sure! I think B Is a little bit more treble. Both Sound great. I have a JB in my New Kramer Baretta.

[@thebaldshredder]

Thanks for voting!

[@AndreaFanciulli]

Everyone should do a blind test before buying an instrument to figure out if they are looking for a specific sound or just a brand on the headstock. Personally, I've been installing cheap pickups on my guitars for at least 4 years and I have to say they sound divine, at least as good as my first guitar which was fitted with 2 Seymour Duncan humbuckers. But 30 years ago Aliexpress didn't exist. Maybe we'd better focus on a good amp... shouldn't we?