Seymour Duncan Buckshot

Pickup features: passive humbucker
Impedence or other specs: don't know

Model of guitar or bass: fender strat
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: stock/generic manufacturer pickup
Other pickups on guitar: stock single coils
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): hardcore/punk
Reason for pickup change: thought it would sound better than a stock humbucker from the factory

Perceived output level: output was not HOT, just sorta mild...
Tone: clear and articulate, but shitty at the same time. bass and treble seemed to have a nice balance. mids ok...not great
Sonic evaluation: using a MIM fender strat with a fender vibrolux reverb and a marshall jcm 900. on both amps the pickup had decent output, but the overall tone felt cheap...reminiscent of stock humbuckers in epiphones and fenders. i replaced the stock humbucker in my MIM strat with this, and it was maybe a little bit better, but i definately wished i would have just bought a REAL seymour duncan in the first place. ended up switching it out with a Seymour Duncan JB model, and holy crap what a difference. the JB made my guitar sound like a million dollars! the buckshot is definately a waste of money. like they say you get what you pay for...

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: good for sticking in a pawn shop reject guitar and that's about it

Comments: not satisfied with this pickup. tone was lackluster. on a scale of 1 to 10, i'd give it a 4. seriously save your money and get a real Seymour Duncan. i have a Seymour Duncan Distortion humbucker/Jazz Humbucker setup in my jazzmaster and everyone asks me how i get such a good sound. it's definately not my guitar, but the pickups.

Pickup features: Passive humbucking
Impedence or other specs: dont know

Model of guitar or bass: Custom built Lacewood/imbuia
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: none
Other pickups on guitar: same
Artists using this pickup: dont care
You musical style(s): hard rock
Reason for pickup change: NA

Perceived output level: Fairly hot
Tone: Fairly balanced, but neck can get muddy
Sonic evaluation: I am currently using fender amps. I run a chorus, wah, delay, and dist. I think for $30 they are decent, but they aren't what I expected. I did the Jimmy Page LP wiring with these, and they are pretty versatile like that, however, I dont like the neck too much. These are supposed to be Korean knock off of the Duncan distortion, but arent as balanced. The bridge is similar to a dimarzio evolution, more so than a DD. All in all for $30......

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Hard rock. I dont like the neck pickup tapped

Comments: If something happened to this, I'd just go get real duncans or GFS. I've been playing for 11 years, and have been through more gear than I know. FWIW, for $30, you get what you pay for. A decent replacement pickup.

Pickup features: Passive Humbucking
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Fender MIM Strat
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock
Other pickups on guitar: None
Artists using this pickup: ???
You musical style(s): Rock, Blues, Fusion
Reason for pickup change: Wanted more versatility

Perceived output level: Hot
Tone: Balanced
Sonic evaluation: I decided to convert my MIM to a double Fat Strat. I had to rout the pickup cavity and find a dual humbucker pickguard. I decided to go with the Buckshot neck and bridge models due to their low-cost and wiring capabilities. I am using 5-way PRS switching with an added coil-split switch for both pickups. I found the Buckshots to be excellent pickups for this kind of application (though I had to flip the magnet in the bridge pickup). In humbucker mode, they are powerful, clear-sounding pickups. Roll off the volume a bit and you have more of a lower-output vintage sound. In parallel modes, they sound very clean and Strat like. In split-coil mode, a higher output single coil more like a P90. You can do just about anything with this wiring scheme.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: With various wiring options, perfect for just about anything.

Comments: This is a great set of pickups at an incredible price. The coils are shielded and the workmanship is first rate.

Pickup features: Humbucking 4 conductor lead
Impedence or other specs: Screw pole coil = 8.42, Slug pole coil = 8.17, Both coils series = 15.54, parallel = 4.24

Model of guitar or bass: Schecter Omen 6
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Gibson 490t previously a JB and before that a fake JB (Stock Schecter)
Other pickups on guitar: Seymour Duncan Great White Snark single coil in neck (previouslt a 490r, Gibson 57).
Artists using this pickup: Probably no one but me.
You musical style(s): ??? Jazz, funk, fusion, heavy metal.
Reason for pickup change: The Gibsons were muddy in my guitar. I wanted something brighter.

Perceived output level: Sounds like a JB almost exactly only a bit louder and brighter. Very Green Day sounding. Hot and high output. Hums as little as a typical humber does. This model is better than the average humbucker by Duncan. This one has internal shielding. Very Nice. I added a chrome cover and it sounds pretty much the same.
Tone: Hard and bright clean. Dreamy doing high gain. In parallel it sounds like a nice strat middle and bridge combo. Split it is typical strat fare (not bad). In series mixed with the single coil snark in the neck it is bright and twangy like a Telecaster in the middle position. I am glad I didn't spend $30 more for the Sreaming Deamon (also a good pickup).
Sonic evaluation: This pickup combination is on a Schecter Omen 6. It has a tuneomatic bridge and is routed for 2 humbuckers in a basswood body, rosewood fretboard, maple neck. I wanted a single in the neck and a double coil in the bridge. Through a Fender amp my guitar sounds like a loud telecaster. Through a solid state amp it was a bit thinner, but that was just the amp. Dirty on a marshall this pickup was dream hard rock and metal tone.
All pickups are is copper wire and a magnet. There is much hype surrounding pickups. I have wasted many dollars trying to have the perfect guitar. Most guitars were designed to stay stock. EDUCATE yourself before WASTING money on pickups. Go to www.seymourduncan.com and read about the differences in magnets and windings. IT REALLY HELPS! Also read about what kind of woods make guitars sound a certain way. The reason the Gibsons did not sound good is because they were degigned for a guitar with a maple top (very bright). My guitar isn't as bright so they gibson's turned my sound to mud. The ceramics are the polar opposite. Bright and clear.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I will not be changing my pickups anytime soon. I am finally pleased with these pickups. My guitar was too dark with the Gibson pickups (490's), I was fairly pleased with the Gibsons, but they were covered and they need potting. They squealed when I attempted highgain. Since I wasn't particulary pleased with them, I decided to make a switch while I had them out to be potted. The Gibsons were from a Les Paul Studio, but the 490s were better suited to the Gibson than to my Schecter. The original pickups in the Schecter were Duncan Designed 58 in the neck and a JB in bridge. They were good, but I hated the neck pickup. I finally decided I really wanted a single coil in the neck despite humming problems. I made the switch and decided to give the very cheap Buck Shot a shot. I think they called it the buckshot because it was all over the place, but actually it is really like a JB or a Screamin' Demon. Ceramic magnets make this pickup loud. It is comparable to an Invader. It is good for metal. Clean, it is almost useless, mixed with the single coil it is loud, clean, funky, sproingy, glassy. Duckie!

Comments: Stolen? There is a powerbridge in that Schecter. I'd be crushed. Would I replace them again? Let's see... Buckshot in medium price guitar $40 JB in same guitar $60-80. I'd save my money and get the Buckshot unless I had a maple top guitar. In that case I'd get a pickup with Alnico 5 magnets. Either way Seymour Duncan is a great pickup maker.

Pickup features: passive humbucker
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Samick SG
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: stock
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: me www.astralis.org
You musical style(s): rock
Reason for pickup change: I like to mess with electronics and wanted pickups that I could coil tap.

Perceived output level: normal humbucker output, tapped single coil sound is slightly less
Tone: very wide range of tones, good pickup
Sonic evaluation: I play through various tube amps, nothing too high gain though. More classic rock tones than nu-metal. I have these pickups tapped with the schematic for the spin-a-split from the seymour duncan website. This gives a very good range of tones. This is the guitar I use most often live because I can get these various tones. With the sg the humbucker tones are beefy enough for rock and split the single coil sounds give me a thin sound good for clean work. There is also very little volume change from humbucker to single coil so your not messing with your amp when you change.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: rock, classic rock, alternative rock, rock'n'roll, college rock, and polka!

Comments: For $30 this pickup can't be beat. I wouldn't replace a name brand (gibson prs etc) with it but it will definately be a step up from your epiphone, samick type pickups. Again $30! Can't beat that with a stick.

Pickup features: passive humbucker
Impedence or other specs: it's black with silver pole pices

Model of guitar or bass: Epiphone Les Paul
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: stock pickup
Other pickups on guitar: stock
Artists using this pickup: no idea
You musical style(s): Punk rock, SKA, some metal
Reason for pickup change: stock pick up was way too thin. i needed something that sounded bigger and crunchier.

Perceived output level: noticably more hot than the stock epiphone open coils but its pretty well controled no humming and feedback is easy to control
Tone: very balanced. the first thin i noticed was alot more bass than i was used too but i just rolled back on the amp and it was beutifull. as i was tinkering with it i realized that it sounds a hell of a lot liek billies joes guitar from greenday-nimrod which is cool for me cause i love greenday
Sonic evaluation: I play an epiphone Les Paul into a Peavy Bandit 112 (excellent amp) with an ocastional flanger, chorus, or wah pedal.....(im pretty basic)

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play punk rock and ska and some metal. this is a really good pick up for the $$$$. in my opinion its more of a rythem pick up than a lead pick up. (if you have two guitarists) its great for nofx rythem and great for any greenday song. Palm mutes really chug and pinch harmonics SCREAM.

Comments: if it were stolen i would just upgrade prolly to an invader or super distortion. I;ve been playing 2 years... i play alot of nofx, bad religion, mad caddies, greenday, alkaline trio, minor threat, me first and the gimmie gimmies and tons of other punk- ska bands... this pick up suits me well for the time being and it was only $30. i also play a b c rich mocking bird.

Pickup features: Pasive Humbucker
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Hondo Explorer Replica from the 70's - looks just like a Gibson
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock humbuckers
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Noodling
Reason for pickup change: The price was right, and I already had a guitar set up for blues. I wanted to see what a rock humbucking setup would be like.

Perceived output level: I have a De Armond Les Paul-ish guitar with the recommended JB and 59 pickups from Seymour Duncan. These pickups are more like what I'd expect a more modern Gibson to sound like - louder, but not deafening.
Tone: Compared to the JB and 59 there's a lot more treble. Overall they are clear pickups and have a more authoritive tone - i.e. the guitar has a sound of its own, rather than a generic "humbucker sound."
Sonic evaluation: I use a POD 2 with a Fender Princeton 65. I use the Power Amp In socket on the Princeton but the amp is biased toward treble, but it's nothing the POD tone controls can't handle. There's a real feeling of containing the sound of these pickups - it's very easy to get too much volume or treble. When you do hit on a workable sound - and there are many of them, the sound is what you'd hope from a contemporary Gibson (rather than one trying to reproduce a classic sound). I can't see that anyone would have trouble finding a lot of useful sounds for all kinds of music with the exception of Jazz. I tried the POD replicating a Roland JC-120 through my keyboard amp, and by the time you'd got an acceptable jazz tone there was little variation left in the tone controls. But all the other styles are fine.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: These are good for rock, blues, country, metal, and every other sort of electric guitar music except Jazz. By the time you've tamed the treble for Jazz there's not much you can do with the tone controls. There are actually two Buckshot models, neck and bridge. If you compare them you can see that the bobbin on the neck pickup is shallower than the bridge pickup (same as the JB/59 combo). So if you pick the right model for the right position, you'll get a good sound.

Comments: I have been fooling around on guitar for far too many years given my (poor) skills. I spent $140 to get a good sound on my De Armond but only $60 to get a possibly even better sound on the Explorer. The pickups look exactly like the other Seymour Duncans and there's no sign they're made in Korea. They have a four-conductor wire for coil taps and phasing. The price makes them one of the biggest bargains in pickups today. Because Guitar Center's web site has few details of the products they carry it easy to overlook this range of Performer pickups. Even Musician's Friend doesn't carry them, but you can get info on the Seymour Duncan web site. Go to www.seymourduncan.com, click Enter, and then look for the section marked "Seymour's Secrets." Click on the FAQ link - the last question in the FAQ is about these pickups.

Pickup features: Passive Humbucker
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Hondo Explorer Replica from the 70's - looks just like a Gibson
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock humbuckers
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Noodling
Reason for pickup change: You can find more details of this and other Duncan Performer Pickups on the Seymour Duncan web site. On the main page, look for "Seymour's Secrets" and the FAQ. The last question on the FAQ is about Duncan Performers.

Perceived output level: I have a De Armond Les Paul-ish guitar with the recommended JB and 59 pickups from Seymour Duncan. These pickups are more like what I'd expect a more modern Gibson to sound like - louder, but not deafening.
Tone: Compared to the JB and 59 there's a lot more treble. Overall they are clear picku
Sonic evaluation:
For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:

Comments:

Pickup features: Passive Humbucker
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Hondo Explorer Replica from the 70's - looks just like a Gibson
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Stock humbuckers
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Noodling
Reason for pickup change: You can find more details of this and other Duncan Performer Pickups on the Seymour Duncan web site. On the main page, look for "Seymour's Secrets" and the FAQ. The last question on the FAQ is about Duncan Performers.

Perceived output level: I have a De Armond Les Paul-ish guitar with the recommended JB and 59 pickups from Seymour Duncan. These pickups are more like what I'd expect a more modern Gibson to sound like - louder, but not deafening.
Tone: Compared to the JB and 59 there's a lot more treble. Overall they are clear picku
Sonic evaluation:
For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:

Comments:

Pickup features: Humbucking
Impedence or other specs: 7.5K neck, 13.5 K bridge

Model of guitar or bass: Guild S300-D Wal
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: DiMarzio
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Hack - I'm a bass player who noodles in his spare time
Reason for pickup change: Dead Bridge Pickup. Replaced both on the guitar since they were reasonably cheap.

Perceived output level: Hot, About the same as the DiMarzio's they replaced
Tone: A bit more balanced than the Dimarzio neck pu
Sonic evaluation: The pickups are installed into a 1978 Guild S-300-D walnut guitar with an ebony 24 fret neck. Used a Sano 2x12 amp for the comparison - about 40 watts, all tube. This amp sounds GREAT with a Strat, but only good with a Gibson ES (humbuckers).
Comparison to the OEM (1978) Dimarzio neck pickup: The Duncan neck pu was more detailed and less muddy. This was not a huge difference, but was a mildly noticable improvement. I still feel the guitar sounds too muddy with the neck pickup solo'd, but that may have more to do with the guitar (walnut) and the amp than the pickup. I have the same issue with the neck pickup in my Gibson ES-345 when using this amp. Interestingly, both the DiMarzio and the Duncan meter approximately 7.5K ohms, and the output seems to be close to the same level.
Comparison to the OEM bridge pu is not fair. The old pickup still had output, but meters at 250K ohms, sounded like it was coming through a telephone, and the phase switch seemed to make no difference when used with the neck pickup.
The Duncan bridge position pu has a fair amount of meat to the sound, but still has a lot of bridge pickup bite. Compared to a Gibson humbucker (1976) it has more bite. I will probably roll off some of the highs when I solo this pickup.
Used together the two pickups sound as you may expect, full, but with slightly more clarity than the neck pickup alone. Both pickups seem to have a fairly hot output, a bit hotter than Gibson stock humbuckers (1976) and about the same as DiMarzio's (1978).
The pickups have four wires, plus ground, so many switching options are available. The instructions sheet lists a number of wiring options to use the coil taps, but I have not experimented with these.
The surprise was when a phase switch was used. I expected the typical out of phase sound - kind of the disco era rhythm sound like in "Play that Funky Music" or the out of phase position on a MusicMan Stingray guitar. I was wrong. Put these two pickups out of phase and you have instant woman tone. The sound is similar, though different from, the tone of a strat in position 2 or 4, or an ES-345 neck pickup on position 3 of the rotary.
I highly recommend a phase switch for anyone who plays blues or expressive R&R using these pickups.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Mostly blusey riffs with a little R&R tossed in.

Comments: I love the out of phase tone for blues!!!
I've been playing for about 25 years(on and off), and have swapped pickups in 3 or 4 guitars previous to this one. I've owned seven other guitars with humbuckers in the past.
Did I mention that I love the out of phase tone these pickups produce?
The only thing to hate is that they were made in Korea.
Comparisons were made to the OEM DiMarzio's for sound. The purchase was made on a price point really. At $30 each ($79.99 list) these were a real bargain, and my 10 rating is based on a cost/benefit ratio.