Welcome to Duncan Designed Pickups Review
You arrived at my review because you have pressing questions about these pickups.
You are wondering why there are pickups branded as Duncan Designed and not Seymour Duncan.
You want to know if those pickups are made by the famous Seymour Duncan of the USA.
My Duncan Designed Pickups review will give you all the information you will need regarding these pickups and will help in your decision whether to use these pickups or not.
The information will come from my more than 17 years of experience in modifying and repairing guitars and through this website that I built myself, I am reaching out to a lot of guitarists online.
What is a Duncan Designed Guitar Pickup?
A lot of guitar manufacturers requested Seymour Duncan if they can offer pickups with the Duncan Identity for their mid-level guitars.
These pickups are made in Korea, and most of them are modeled after a specific Seymour Duncan Pickup.
They are installed on some Fender Squiers, ESP LTD, Aria Pro II, Schecter Diamond Series, Samick’s Greg Bennett series, and some mid-level basses.
Are they as good as the Original?
I have to admit that they are a notch better than the stock no-name pickups installed on cheap guitars. Having mentioned that, I do not think that they are intended to replace the original.
I have upgraded guitars with Duncan Designed pickups with the original Seymour Duncans, and the difference is quite huge.
Well, it does not make any sense if a low-priced pickup would perform as well as an expensive and famous pickup.
Some of the Seymour Duncan Pickups they are modeled with
- HB-101- Seymour Duncan ’59 Model SH-1
- HB-102- Seymour Duncan Jazz Model SH-4 Bridge and SH-2 Neck set
- HB-103- Seymour Duncan Distortion SH-6
- HB-105-Seymour Duncan Blackouts
- HB-108- Seymour Duncan Invader SH-8
- HR-101- Seymour Duncan Hot Rails SHR-1
- SC-101- Cross between Seymour Duncan SSL-2 and SSL-6
Please note that some Duncan Designed pickups are not modeled from any particular Seymour Duncan pickup. There are also pickups for bass guitars as well as for hollow-bodied guitars.
Is the cost of these Pickups worth it?
The price is reasonable although I don’t think you can buy a brand new Duncan Designed pickup.
They came pre-installed on mid-level guitars They are offered as brand new but are actually pickups removed from brand new guitars.
You can find used ones from eBay and Reverb at a low price. Is it worth upgrading from a no-name stock pickup to a Duncan Designed pickup?
If you have that pickup laying around or have one for free, then I will recommend that you go ahead with the upgrade. If you have to pay for it, then do not bother.
Keep your money and save up some more to buy the real deal. You will thank yourself for that.
Conclusion
Manufacturers will always try to satisfy customers, and will always try to fill products to any market level. You, as the customer, should always take a step ahead in your decision-making.
It is still prudent to think that you will be a better player someday and would need better gear. So there you go guys, drop me a comment, and do not hesitate to ask questions.
Den
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Hello Everyone,
I am Belden but friends call me Den, and I am the owner of this Website.
I have finally quit my job in Aviation as my online business is giving me financial freedom.
I love doing this online business as I love to help people quit their day job and do things they really love.
You will mostly find me hanging out at the coolest site to learn anything about online business.
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Which is better Schecter Diamond series or Duncan Design pickups? Purchased a Schecter Ultra iii solid body (very nice guitar 2me) supposed to have DD’s but came with Diamonds. Also found out these are not standard size humbuckers from people trying to upgrade them (filtertron style)
Hi Illya,
Both pickups are not that great. They are stock pickups on lower end and middle range guitars. If you want to upgrade, choose any of your liking from top boutique pickup makers like Seymour Duncan or DiMarzio.
Thanks for the comments,
Den
Hi,
Someone sent me a link to your article and I found it very interesting.
Would you know, by any luck, which pickups the Duncan designed Precision Bass is modelled from?
Thanks
Hi Pierre,
As I have mentioned in my review, not all Duncan Designed Pickups are modeled from a particular Seymour Duncan Pickup.
Thanks for the comments,
Den
hello I have a Squier mini strat 10 (years) old that has a very good vintage strat sound. do you know what kind of pickups they used?
also are the Seymour Duncan SSL2 pickup sets worth exchanging into my MIM strat from Fender Tex Mex pickups?
Hi Russel,
The stock Squier pickups are not that great. Are the pickups upgraded? The Seymour Duncan SSL2 pickup set is much better than the Tex Mex.
Thanks for the comments,
Den
Most “Duncan Designed” marked pickups are not the best, but not so bad as described. Adequate for this price, and rather easy to improve them one step up. Coil’s ar wound ok, wiring is ok, potting is ok, Alnico magnet is ok, base plate is ok (if made of german silver, some have brass…). Covers are made of wrong metal – nickel/chrome/gold plated brass, must be made of german silver – replace or take them off at all. 4 bottom coil screws are made of wrong material – plated magnetic steel, replace them on non-magnetic brass screws. Check magnet, pole screw and pole grounding – electric contact to base plate (it is rare ok even on original brand pickups…).
Hi,
Duncan Designed pickups are not bad especially when you compare it to stock pickups of cheap guitars. My point is that it is not worth upgrading to a Duncan Designed Pickup. It is better to save some more money and upgrade to a Seymour Duncan Pickup.
Thank you for the comments,
Den