Seymour Duncan SH-13 Dimebucker

Another recent install was the Seymour Duncan Dimebucker. Naturally, it went into my Washburn Dime 333. Having the pickup designed by Dime in the guitar he played before Dean came back to life seemed like a good choice. Having tried the Bill Lawrence custom pickups that Dime used before the development of the Dimebucker, I can say that they are basically identical. They have the same tone, the same output, and the same personality. If you want to capture the groove metal tone pioneered by Dime, you can easily do it with this pickup. The pickup has very strong magnets and bars instead of individual pole pieces. These features lead to amazing tone with great string definition in any tuning from standard all the way down to C or below. Output is remarkable for a passive pickup. The EQ of the pickup provides great lows and highs, while the mids are very distinctive. Normally when one goes for a metal tone, the mids are scooped quite a bit. This pickup is unique in my experience because the personality of the tone changes pretty dramatically when you adjust the mids on your amp, distortion pedal, or EQ. I have found it nearly impossible to get a bad tone out of this pickup, clean or distorted. You can make it a screaming, powerful, mid and treble lead machine or a thick, smooth (almost creamy) rhythm pickup. Even just playing with the volume and tone pots can net some really cool results. Palm mute, and this pickup chugs along with the best. The responsiveness of this pickup means that every subtle nuance of your playing comes through. Your picking style, where you hold your palm mute, where you hit a harmonic, and so much more come through even under the heaviest distortion I can get. Add in the Floyd Rose bridge and dive bombs or screaming artificial harmonics really shine. The tone when you pull an artificial harmonic up with the tremolo is exactly what you hear at the end of Cemetery Gates. A cool feature of the Washburn itself is that the wiring is set up so that turning the bridge volume all the way down lets a little of the neck pickup audio through. This lets you achieve a tone exactly like the outro to Floods. Just listen to some Pantera, Damageplan, or Rebel Meets Rebel, and you will hear what this pickup can do. I love everything about it!

Stay tuned for a review of the Seymour Duncan '59 that is now in the neck position of this guitar (completing the setup used by Dime). It's all awesome!

Seymour Duncan Invader Pickups (both bridge and neck)

The Seymour Duncan Invader pickup was designed for extreme output while retaining string definition and great tone. It does exactly that. I recently installed both the bridge and neck versions in my limited edition BC Rich JR-V. Starting with the clean tones, the bridge is bright and powerful. The EQ of the pickups (as designed with the magnets, pole pieces, and winding) provides plenty of bass under any circumstances while retaining just enough mids and clear, sparkling treble. The neck pickup's clean tone is punchy, powerful, and has very well defined lows and mids. When you kick on the overdrive, the pickups begin to show what they can really do. Harmonics (both artificial and natural) are a breeze to hit, the overdrive is smooth, and the sustain and tone are fantastic. When compared to the stock BC Rich pickups they replaced, the Invaders have much more power, tone, and personality. They accomplish all of this without being muddy, which I've found to be a bit of a rarity with extremely high output pickups.

When you crank the distortion all the way up, you get what these pickups are really for. Running them through my BOSS MT-2 Metal Zone pedal creates some amazing results. String definition is retained, but the power, punch, and strength are remarkable. Palm-muted riffs shake the house while still being distinct in any position on the neck. Open notes and leads are very distinct. Either pickup gives a great lead tone for solos and no matter how fast your picking or sweeps are, the pickups will deliver. I love these things for all things metal, but they are versatile enough for any style of music. Play with the volume and tone pots, and you can discover a whole range of tones suitable for whatever you could want. Additionally, they are 4 conductor pickups, so you can coil split or coil tap with the proper wiring. What's not to love?