ARE Duncan Distortion pups hotter than JBs?

[shooto]

your opinion- I have a JB, but want something hotter...how's the Distortion? it sounds hotter on the clips-

[shooto]

up for info

[Gradinger]

The SH6 Duncan Distortion uses a ceramic magnet and is hotter, brighter, and much nastier than the JB. You can give up on getitng useable clean tones from it, but it's great for ripping peoples faces off.

[John Phillips]

I wouldn't say that... it's certainly a little hotter and harder, more biting and edgy than the JB, but it cleans up nicely - like any pickup, you just turn the gain (or the guitar volume) down. If anything the extra brightness gives it more definition for clean sounds, although it's not as smooth or sweet (or as nasal and squawky ).

You can even get really nice clean tones out of the Invader with a treble-pass cap on the volume control .

[Rock Fella]

...........but do be careful, with those super high output pickups you can find you have so much drive that your low end turns to mud , you have absolutely no cut and in a mix you get buried. with the right gear i could make my paf pickups tear your face off, id approach buying the face melter pickups with caution.

good luck

jimmy

[shooto]

"hotter, more biting and edgy"...that's exactly what I want-

[shooto]

"with those super high output pickups you can find you have so much drive that your low end turns to mud"

couldn't that be controlled by volume knob?

[John Phillips]

Yes, exactly.

Actually the Distortion is not super high output - it's pretty hot, but only a little more than the JB, and more just a very cutting, aggressive tone - it gets its bite from the magnet rather than the coil, and has a tighter sound overall. It retains definition better when cleaned up than some of the other powerful pickups, IMO.

A treble-pass cap on the volume pot does definitely help with higher output pickups too. I usually find this works better - especially in the bridge position - than a vintage-style pickup, which to me have a tendency to thinness when turned down if you have enough gain on the amp to achieve the same sort of full-up tone.

Just a different approach, which one works best for you depends on your taste and style probably - and the guitar. I don't find powerful pickups sound as good in a Les Paul, compared to a Strat-style... too much midrange already. If you put a high-output pickup in a Les Paul, with no treble-pass cap, and roll down the volume... you probably will get mud, yes.

[ChrisB]

Is the Distortion not just a JB with a ceramic instead of A5 mag?

[Rock Fella]

what guitar are planning on using the distortion pickup in by the way, ?

[shooto]

Les Paul... with a Jazz in the neck-

[AdmiralB]

Originally Posted by ChrisB

Is the Distortion not just a JB with a ceramic instead of A5 mag?

Yes. Identical coils.