Seymour Duncan PA-TB2 Distortion Trembucker

Passive high output humbucking pickup designed for use in trem equipped guitars (hence the trembucker title). Ceramic magnet. Full specs on seymour duncan site.

I installed this pickup in the bridge position of an ibanez s470 replacing the stock inf2 pickup. Stock pickup was ok, did me well for a little while(well, until i had the spare cash to spend on a replacement for it) but it lacked sustain, tone and general umph. It was only a matter of time before it would be replaced. The other pickups on this guitar are a seymour duncan jazz in the neck position and the stock infs1 in the middle. The guitarists in stryper use this pickup but that didnt have an affect on my choice. The reason for changing the stock pickup was stated above, lacking sustain, tone and (for lack of a better word) umph. To expand on my reasons for choosing this particular pickup, my brother in law installed this in a class axe era bc rich and it made that sound full and very powerful (it has a great feel despite being a class axe era, if you dont know much about the bc rich class axe era the production methods were hilarious look it up) but i figured if it could make that guitar sound good . . .

It is a high output pickup its loud and proud. It has good bass and treble response, clear and smooth, i love it, a huge improvement in the sustain department as well. Took me a while to get the wiring right but since i have the selection of tones available from this guitar are amazing. It cleans up well and i get some great jangle when mixed with the middle pickup. I use a laney lh50 when i play with my band and i practice at home with a line 6 spider 3. Could not be happier with this guitar now.

I would definatly replace this pup if anything happend, with this setup i get a huge array of sounds suitable for many genres. I play in a metal band but im open to many different styles of music. Been playing about 6 years. I dont hate anything about this pickup im going to put one in my other trem equipped guitars. I would definatly check this pup out if you play metal. I seriously could not be happier i dont usually give insanely glowing reviews but i have found what i have been looking for in a bridge pickup just need to find the perfect match for my hardtails guitars now lol.

High output, passive humbucker.

Lado Earth 2004, Tiger, Hard Maple body, neckthru. Bridge pickup (with a JB in the neck). Artists using? Stryper I believe, that's all that i know of. Very similar to a Tony Iommi custom pickup.

This pickup is a very high output pickup. Almost sounds like an EMG 81, but with more bite. Kind of like a higher output version of the JB with less high shrill. I use the JB in the neck and split the two because I love the JB "presence" without all the shrill. Tone is comparable in the mids to a Dimarzio Tone Zone, but with a bit more treble bite. It has awesome bite. Very, very versatile pickup for most hard rock and metal (old and new). Especially good for a Judas Priest tone or Tony Iommi Black Sabbath. In fact, the wonderful high output mid tone that this produces likely sounds more like Tony Iommi than anything else I can think of. Especially split with the JB in the neck. I play through a Vox ADT120 Watt Valvetronics modeling amp on the "80s" setting. Vox is a fantastic, reasonably priced amp that you can still gig with. Don't scoff at solid state in this case, it rocks like a tube amp.

I have tried many pickups and guitars. I own two Lado hard maple guitars, which are quite unique. Hard maple has tremendous sustain, but can be a bit bright sounding. You need to have pickups with a decent low end response and good bite because maple does not give the same warm mid response as alder or mahogany. What it makes up for in that area is unsurpassed sustain, clarity and high end response. it will produce even tighter lows than mohogany or alder, though, with the right pickups. The PATB2 is the cat's meow! You would not hesitate to put this pickup in any type of wood, to be honest, it's that versatile. If you want a strat sound, though, forget it. Ritchie Blackmore's tone was never great, in my opinion, even though he is a great guitarist. This is a pickup for real hard rock/metal.

Pickup features: Humbucker with Parallel Axis design, ceramic magnets 4 condutor wiring
Impedence or other specs: 21.30 DC Resistance 3.90 Khz Ressonant peak

Model of guitar or bass: Jackson Top Plus NR 1996 made in Japan
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: stock humbucker
Other pickups on guitar: PATB-1 (Parallel axis Original Trembucker) & PA-STK-1 (Parallel axis Stack)
Artists using this pickup: ME!, not even a clue about the others...
You musical style(s): everything from blues 'till metal
Reason for pickup change: Stock pickup was a bit weak and has TOO MUCK high-midey.

Perceived output level: hotter than stock, about 50% hotter.
Tone: Cutting tone, tight bass and full plenty of midrange and highs
Sonic evaluation: I bought this pickup a couple years ago, and i tried it on several stuff, mine and of my friends. When I decided changing the pickups of my guitar, i bought all of them at once, with a Fender super switch (4P5T) and Push-pull Pots. I have now 15 different tones in my guitar, 6 of them using this pickup. I LOVE the tone I have with this stuff. My setup is:
Guitar - Morley Bad Horsie - Sansamp Tri-AC - BOSS PQ-4 (parametric equalizer) - Peavey
Audition 110 Transtube 25W combo
Since I'm not playing with any band I don't need anything else. I was looking for a fat and powerful humbucker, like sounding a chord through a 4x12" cabinet make walls rumble and windows break but doesn't wanted it to be muddy or dark. If you play metal, you maybe scoop the mid's at the amp, but a mid-scooped pickup will make my guitar unsuitable for anything else. I also wanted lot's of punch. I have all of it with this pickup. This is a very amp responsible pickup, so you can play almost everything with it, but sometimes you have to be tricky; If you want something early Blackmore's tone you REALLY have to get something more single-coil. So, if you have this pickup and tap one coil, you can get it. Mine have parallel/split/series switching so i get several tones and ALL OF THEM are useful. Good for distorted and overdriven modern tones in series configuration, Amazingly good for overdriven vintage tones in parallel or split configurations, but sometimes you have to lower guitar's volume. In other words, powerful and versatile.
Some months ago I lended my guitar to a friend because he was on studio with his band... and he loved the tone too... through an alltube marshall head with 4x12" cabinets, GREAT metal tone... My guitar with .011 strings sounded as powerful as his guitar with .013 strings with DiMarzio Tone Zone pickup on bridge...

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: This one is a bridge pickup, but it doesn't have a neck position model. It may be too hot for styles of music, but you always wire it on parallel instead of series (common way to wire humbuckers coils) and lower volume your amp, but keep in mind this is a very HOT pickup.

Comments: I've been playing for almost 10 years now, and this is one of the BEST pickups I've played with. If i compare it with DiMarzio Tone Zone, mine is a bit hotter and has more low end. If I compare it with Seymour Duncan JB, Mine is hotter and much warmer. JB is kinda dead, a bit mid-scooped and low end isn't tight, but is good for some 80's stuff, maybe a bit hot for late 70's stuff.

Pickup features:
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: see my review below
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced:
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: your homeboy A.D. !
You musical style(s):
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level:
Tone:
Sonic evaluation:
For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:

Comments: I just wanted to mention what styles may benefit from this humbucker.
Some heavy handed contemporary blues, nothing too old school. The obvious Heavy Metal, maybe not the end-of-the-world, full throttle, shout all day 2005- kind, though. Anything with heavy crunch and overdrive and not needing bass frequency coming from the actual pickup. Hope this helps some. Oh, and I think I read from the Seymour Duncan site that it could be used for tuning down 'cause it's not a muddy pickup, I agree.

Pickup features: Passive open coil Humbucker, adjustable screw pole pieces
Impedence or other specs: n/a

Model of guitar or bass: Jackson DKMG
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: EMG HZ H3 (It was a little boring)
Other pickups on guitar: EMG HZ H3 neck
Artists using this pickup: OZ Fox of Stryper and I think Peter Steele of Type O Negative
You musical style(s): Heavy Rock
Reason for pickup change: The EMG H3 was a little boring sounding and lacking output.

Perceived output level: High output, but not as high as Seymour Invader. Probably a little more than a stock Humbucker.
Tone: Mucho highs, punchy mid section, and grinding lows- not really low bass.
Sonic evaluation: I had installed into my Jackson DKMG that goes through Monster 'Rock' cable (very ripping tone!) into an MXR Super Comp> Pro Co Turbo Rat (for lead boost tone)> Maxon 6-band graphic eq (that will run into an MXR Smart Gate that's on order)> Crate MX65R solidstate (that will run into a Crate cab on order). The pickup excels in this setup for straightforward heavy rock.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play heavy rock, usually uptempo. The pickup is a great match 'cause I like my palm muting to be guaranteed tight and have a bright ripping/searing tone. Some may not prefer this pickup at the neck.

Comments: For the DKMG I'd probably buy it again 'cause it's perfect for that guitar in sound and output. I've been playing for 12 years and not really a gear hound or something. I love the pickups power 'cause it literally forces you to bang on your guitar- I thought that was strange, but in a good way. It's also very musical- it has a singing quality on notes. It has good harmonics for us who dig all that's insane (it's a Trembucker for goodness sakes!). I don't really hate it, ya know. I compared it with all the other sound bites on Seymour Duncan website and it won hands down, I mean you have a tone in your head you like and something approximates it, ya kinda wanna try it. I tried EMG's sound bites and I can see why anyone into heavy gain styles might dig them...but I didn't. Lastly, Dimarzio was wierd- some pickups had no sound bytes and others were from rock albums like the Super Distortion was Ace Frehly on KISS live...didn't care for that too much. If you check out pickups on the Seymour Duncan site, make sure to read the desriptions of each pickup carefully and listen carefully, the music you make can benefit immensly from the right choice.

Pickup features: Passive Humbucker
Impedence or other specs: go to www.seymourduncan.com for that info...

Model of guitar or bass: Ibanez SZ520qm
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Stock "SZ" bridge pickup
Other pickups on guitar: Stock Ibanez "SZ" neck pickup
Artists using this pickup: me ... dunno who else...
You musical style(s): Grunge, Alt. Rock, Metal, Hardcore, Blues, Jazz, Worship
Reason for pickup change: Don't get me wrong, the stock pickup was great. But lacked true definition in the upper and lower registers.

Perceived output level: Hotter than the stock pickup, but only a touch. More top end than an Invader (SH-8)
Tone: Very balanced between the treble/mid/low. "Chugs & Chimes" equally well. Very smooth over all with no tinniness
Sonic evaluation: I use this with a couple different setups. For small venues I go direct into a Vox Pathfinder 15w ... it sounds awesome for classic rock and blues out of this. For major gigs I use the following setup: Peavey XXX, BBE SonicMax 362, Ernie Ball volume, Dunlop crybaby, Morely AB/Y, Holy Grail reverb, and DanElectro cool cat chorus. With setup I can pretty much to it all.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Grunge, Alt. Rock, Metal, Hardcore, Blues, Jazz, Worship ... perfect match. I wouldn't try this for Country though, unless you tap the coils...

Comments: I wish I'd known about this pickup before I started buying Seymour Duncan Invaders. Don't get me wrong, I love Invaders ... but the PATB-2 Distortion just blows it away for overall sonic clarity. The Invader tends to be a bit muddier on the top end while the PATB-2 really chimes on the top 3 strings. I've been playing for 18 years now and I think I've finally found THE pickup for me. I've played DiMarzio, Gibson, Carvin, and cheap Epi pickups. Probably spent near $1,200 on different pickups through the years. This one is it. On a last note ... harmonics literally leap out of this thing (overtones and pinch!)

Pickup features: Humbucker
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Ibanez Prestige S1520 1999
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Quantum 2 Stock PU (Dimarzio)
Other pickups on guitar: Quantum 1 Stock PU (Dimarzio)
Artists using this pickup: None that I know of
You musical style(s): Metal(Death) Hardcore
Reason for pickup change: Needed a change since stock pu's weren't cutting it.

Perceived output level: HOT! This is the best of the best.
Tone: The perfect balance. It's got perfect distortion and bass....not too tinny or overly distorted.
Sonic evaluation: Using my Peavey 5150 and Mesa Dual Rectifier with various pedals, both sounded awesome.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I would put this pu in all 8 of my guitars if I could afford to. I've tried every pu in the past 18 years of playing. EMG 81...TB4.....TB6....Dimarzio PAF this pu kills them all in tone.

Comments: Buy one if you can find one....you won't be sorry.

Pickup features: passive humbucker
Impedence or other specs: ceramic magnet with 21.3k resistance and 3.9khz resonant peak

Model of guitar or bass: '99 Jackson Kelly professional series
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: stock humbucker
Other pickups on guitar: stock humbucker in neck position
Artists using this pickup: Tony MacAlpine,,, not sure who else... besides me of course!
You musical style(s): Whatever strikes me at the moment... with my band however we mainly play METAL!!!
Reason for pickup change: While the stock pickup was reasonably hot, it lacked character, was too noisy and a bit muddy, and just didn't provide the punch and clarity that I was seeking.

Perceived output level: somewhere in between, while not the hottest pickup out there, you definately won't be lacking in output! Slightly hotter than the stock which was replaced.
Tone: Punchy and crisp. Pretty well balanced, a little more on the high end than anything else, but not too high.
Sonic evaluation: I really like this pickup, I can get very high gain distortion with this while it retains a tightness and clarity in the way that it delivers each note. This is critical for some of the more technical and complex metal I like to play (ex. Chuck Schuldiner and DEATH) it is great to have all the gain you need and still have the punch and clarity to make individual notes stands out even in particularly fast runs! I can also back off of the guitars volume knob and get many levels of distortion from barely having any distortion at all to thundering heavy crunch! On clean channels it will clean up very nicely for a humbucker, and again the notes sing out with a clarity and precision that is just great.
Here is my setup: Jackson Kelly w/ Duncan PA-TB2 at the bridge ---> BOSS Metalzone ---> Yamaha DG-stomp pre-amp ---> BOSS 7-band graphic EQ ---> BOSS Noise Supressor ---> Crate GFX-212 on clean channel (only used for the 120 watts of power as the pedals and the DG-Stomp provide my overall sound) ---> Randall Warhead 4x12 cabinet loaded with Celestion Vintage 30's. With this setup the Parallel Axis distortion trembucker really shines. I have another Jackson (DK-2 pro) which I recently acquired and I will be replacing the stock pickups in that very soon with more Duncans!

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: This pickup excels at Metal and Rock and Blues in general, but that is probably about it. Since I rarely play much else it does not hinder my enjoyment from this pickup like it may someone else.

Comments: I certainly would replace it if something were to happen to it. It is a great pickup (most Duncans are)! I have been playing close to 3 years now and while I may not have as detailed an ear as some who have played for much longer I do know what I like, and thats what it is really all about anyhow, right?! Pickups are a bit hard to test drive, because if you play them in a music store with equipment other than what you normally use, you still don't know exactly if you are going to get the same results or not. You end up kind of finding out what you like by trial and error, but I think I really lucked out with this one as it is everything I need from a pickup for what I play. Of course it is alot of fun to keep searching for THAT sound so to speak, but until that happens I am very satisfied and content with the PA-TB2 as my weapon of choice for bridge humbuckers!

Pickup features: passive humbucker
Impedence or other specs: 21.3 k resistance 3.9khz resonant peak ceramic magnet

Model of guitar or bass: RG-220 DX review posted
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: stock humbucker
Other pickups on guitar: SH-8 invader from duncan
Artists using this pickup: me
You musical style(s): everything, mosty rock blues and jazz
Reason for pickup change: wimpy stock didnt deliver the output i was looking for.

Perceived output level: Hot, less than an active, more than a '59. think of eddie van halen on his first records.
Tone: well balanced. Tall high end, not piercing though. well matched bottom, can do the Metallica chug rather well.
Sonic evaluation: im using this with the SH-8 invader in an Rg-220 DX, check out the review. For now its all going through crate practice amps and an early 80's peavey Pacer, but im getting ahold of a MarkIV from boogie rather soon.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: its great for rock, good for blues, not much else. i use a low set invader for a thicker, jazzier tone.

Comments: its a great pickup for what i need it to do. excels at rock n' roll, does the blues alright. Get it tapped for a snappier strat like tone. thats what i have, and it goes from style to style and sound to sound very easily. Goes from 80's shred and hardcore to 70's style metal and then to classic rock where youd only expect strats and LPs to go. Its great for what its intended to do, and then some.