Seymour Duncan Distortion vs. Alternative 8... any opinions?

[Rex Rocker]

Hiya guys!

I know I've posted a thread before requesting suggestion for pickups, but my new guitar is about to be obtained at last, so I wanna be as certain as possible I'm making the right choice as far as pickups. I've narrowed my choices between these two pickups because Seymour Duncans are more readily available for me.

The guitar I'm getting is an old Ibanez SZ, mahogany body, maple top, mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard. Almost typical Les Paul-ish kinda tone, I guess...

The qualities I'm looking in the pickup are... well...

- Obviously, for the kind of music I'm intending to do, I prefer high-output pickups. However, I do want some sense of versatility. I just don't want DiMarzio X2N kinda output.
- I want a solid, big-sounding midrange. I want fat low-mids, but not overly harsh high-mids.
- I want a big low-end that still retains some sense of tightness.
- Top end and high-mids is where I'm concerned the most... I prefer a smoother, mellower top-end becuase the worst characteristics I personally think a guitar can have are fizz and thinness. I do, however, realize treble is necessary to retain clarity in the tone. So I want something with more of a balanced top-end, not overly bright but not dark either.
- I like djenty tones, so if it can do those, more than good, but I also want it to be able to do some more traditional metal tones, just in case...

Thank you!

 

[siegfried]

Sorry, I have no answer for you, but could you describe "DiMarzio X2N kinda output" for me, please? I´m considering to buy one...

 

[Rex Rocker]

It's a great pickup... or so I've heard... I haven't tried it throughly, to be honest. I have heard clips of it and it seems to be pretty tight... a bit on the brighter side and with that 'high-voltage' kinda tone... very unique voicing.

 

[Meisterjäger]

Big shunt!

I have an X2N installed in a guitar with a maple top/mahogany body. The guitar itself doesn't necessarily have much feeling to it, not much resonance to it, and the X2N is definitely too bright sounding for me and this guitar, so it's gotta go. I really like the JBs in my other guitars, but I fancy something with a bit more output, and I got led to the Alternative 8.

Anyone have ANY experience of it, specifically compared to the the X2N formost, and Duncan Distortion and Invader pickups?

 

[JBroll]

The X2N is insanely hot but has a character all its own.

Going for 'hot' really doesn't make much sense anymore - a good while back someone decided to put input gain knobs on their amplifiers, and it's been pretty silly to worry about that ever since then.

Wouldn't recommend a Distortion since it's just a JB with a ceramic magnet... I'd actually recommend trying a Custom if the SD line is the only option.

Jeff

 

[MetalDetector]

I installed a SD Distortion in my Schecter S-1 Elite. I hated it. It was way too...nasally? If thats descriptive at all? It definitely had a unique tone, but I wasn't diggin' it. I haven't tried the others you mentioned. I just use the trusty ol' EMG 85 in one guitar, and an SD JB in my other.

 

[JoeJackson]

EMG 85 and SD SH5 (Custom) here. They definitly have, what you're looking for.

 

[Fifth_Horseman]

My favourite pickups are the Seymour Duncan Distortion and the Custom.
In the past I put the Distortion in the bridge of pretty much all my guitars, but two guitars I bought came with the Custom and I liked those too... gives some variety.

From what you describe it sounds like you should try the Custom first.

 

[MetalJonesy]

Duncan Distortion is a great pup, got one in one of my axes, its very smooth, has the mids and presence, and has a shit load of gain for a passive pup, reminds me of a warmer, ballsier 81

 

[doclegion]

I have a duncan distortion and its a heavt PU i had a SH4 in it and that was a hot pickup i just went up 2 notches lol

 

[006]

Going for 'hot' really doesn't make much sense anymore - a good while back someone decided to put input gain knobs on their amplifiers, and it's been pretty silly to worry about that ever since then.

Well played sir, well played.

~006

 

[viggen666]

the alternative 8 is pretty hot, i've had it in my les paul... top end was definately pretty smooth in that guitar.

the duncan distortion is brighter and tighter, alternative 8 has a fatter kind of sound, lots of fat low mids too, definately good for classic rock sounds.

 

[Meisterjäger]

I don't necessarily want brighter than the JB, just a bit more mid-punch. SD isn't the only line I'm considering, by any means. I may give Manlius a shot, or maybe some Bareknuckles eventually, but I'm not sure if going custom is gonna work so well. I do fucking love my JB's, though...

A few of you mentioned the Custom, so I'll maybe give that a shot next. Anyone interested in doing some straight up pickup trading? I have a new Jackson coming to me with some EMG's in it sometime early next month hopefully, and I might swap them out for something else, too. I actually had a fairly decent experience with a Dimebucker and a 6505 one time... I think that might be a waste of time, though. Drop me a PM if any of that interests you.

Jeff, I definitely agree with everything you just said... Well played indeed.

 

[deanbailey]

What's everyones opinion on the SD Invaders and Full Shreds?
I'm getting a custom made and it's pretty hard to make a decision on my first move to passives.

EDIT: Oops sorry for hijacking Rex Rocker's thread, just didn't want to start another thread on the same topic.

 

[Dawn Patrol]

Been using the invader for a couple of years with my Jackson KE3. Full bass tone, a little muddy sometimes. Little lack of highs. But very good for rytm tone in my experince, pretty smooth.

 

[JBroll]

If you don't want the JB the Distortion really isn't for you either.

As for Invaders and Full Shreds... invaders need seriously bright guitars and Full Shreds seem to need pretty dark guitars. It's hard to judge a pickup outside its guitar, so I can't say more.

Jeff

 

[Meisterjäger]

But what if I want something fairly similar to a JB, is that where the Distortion comes in?

 

[viggen666]

the fullshred isn't insanely bright, it matches really well in my les paul classic.
first had the invader in there, but as you can guess, that was a bit over the top with the bass & low mids, still sounded good though, but that pickups is better at home in guitar like a gibson flying V or something that doesn't sound as fat a les paul.

if you're looking for a tighter JB, get a fullshred, the distortion is more crunchy..

but then again, all guitars are different, and i'm always guessing what pickup will work, so it usually takes some experimenting.

the full shred will be closer to the JB then the distortion imo, same magnet type, about as hot, while the distortion has the brighter & direct ceramic sound.

 

[Meisterjäger]

Thanks man, definitely taking on board what you're saying. Time to start experimenting!

 

[JBroll]

If you want something similar to the JB, get a JB. If you want something similar to the JB but artificial and icky, get the Distortion.

And viggen... the Les Paul is a mahogany set-neck moose. If something matches well with it, it's likely to be a bright pickup.

Jeff