SD's Whole Lotta Humbuckers

[drew365]

Does anyone have these and do you like them? I'm going to buy new pups soon and I've kind of zero'd in on these.
I have a Carvin LP copy with mahogany body and neck, maple cap, ebony fb that has the SD/Bonamassa pups. I love them, it's my best sounding guitar.
I have another Carvin, mahogany body and neck but neck through construction, maple top, ebony fb, string through w/fixed bridge. I would like a little hotter pup in this one with 4 conductors so I can split them. The SD Whole Lotta Humbucker sets are 8.2k, 8.78k. I'm thinking they might be a good choice. Do you think these will be as clear as the Bonamassa's?
I like covered pups, will they sound much different with the nickel covers?

 

[Ed hunter]

They are like the 59's but better string to string balance and more mids
the high strings are not as thin and the lows are not as boomy.
think idea 59's
very nice pu's i just bought one myself

 

[drew365]

Thanks, I have a coupon, gas and sweaty palms. I'll be acting soon.
I've read that the nickel covers that Throbak sells are thinner and don't change the sound much. Does anyone know if they will fit an SD pup?

 

[cybermgk]

They are like the 59's but better string to string balance and more mids
the high strings are not as thin and the lows are not as boomy.
think idea 59's
very nice pu's i just bought one myself

I'd concur with this description. I'd also add, very smooth, with a slight bit of good compression, while staying very dynamic when dirty. Also slightly better string seperation and definition.. Very useable middle position as well. Perfect Classic Rock tone, easy to get a Brown Sound.

Also compareable in the same way to BB Pros. Better at all those areas than the BBs, little more mids as well.

I like them quite a bit.

 

[kfowler8]

I have a set I bought off a member here. I put them in my PRS Custom 22 to replace a set of PRS 7s. I love them. They're really nice. Great balance between growl and staying fat and warm. Big fan!

 

[Ed hunter]

Thanks, I have a coupon, gas and sweaty palms. I'll be acting soon.
I've read that the nickel covers that Throbak sells are thinner and don't change the sound much. Does anyone know if they will fit an SD pup?

yes they should fit but i would ask throback about the actual size?
duncans are 49.2mm(center pole to pole) for regular spaced humbuckers.

 

[Ed hunter]

I'd concur with this description. I'd also add, very smooth, with a slight bit of good compression, while staying very dynamic when dirty. Also slightly better string seperation and definition.. Very useable middle position as well. Perfect Classic Rock tone, easy to get a Brown Sound.

Also compareable in the same way to BB Pros. Better at all those areas than the BBs, little more mids as well.

I like them quite a bit.

I was going to add the "brown sound" to the description but did not want to scare off the OP
some think "balls to the wall" distortion when they hear the term brown sound.
These are definitely like custom shop 59's

 

[drew365]

Thanks, I appreciate the concern. I'm mainly a blues player. I've started using more gain just in the last few months. The group I'm rehearsing with now does AC/DC, Zep, VH.
It was while A/B'ing guitars for an AC/DC song, that I realized how good the SD/Bonamassa's are. Even with heavy distortion they maintain clarity of note. Once you have that, it's pretty hard to accept anything else.

 

[Sinster]

I based my pickup that I wound on the Whole Lotta Humbucker.

 

[drew365]

I bought a set today, but they go back in the morning because I realized when I got home that they didn't give me full credit for the coupon I had.
If I get that straightened out, I hope to install them over the weekend.

 

[LtKojak]

duncans are 50mm(center pole to pole) for regular spaced humbuckers.

Ed... I mean... with all the Duncan p'ups you've had in your hands, how in earth you can give such a WRONG info?

As most American made p'ups, the polepiece spread is 49.2mm and yes, a Throbak cover will snugly fit.

Only asian-made humbucker p'ups will have the 50mm polepiece spread.

HTH,

 

[Ed hunter]

Ed... I mean... with all the Duncan p'ups you've had in your hands, how in earth you can give such a WRONG info?

As most American made p'ups, the polepiece spread is 49.2mm and yes, a Throbak cover will snugly fit.

Only asian-made humbucker p'ups will have the 50mm spread

my bad and you are correct Lt and i should add dimarzio's are 48mm for standard spacing and SUHR is 50mm confusing things even further.

Other answer fixed

Thanks, I have a coupon, gas and sweaty palms. I'll be acting soon.
I've read that the nickel covers that Throbak sells are thinner and don't change the sound much. Does anyone know if they will fit an SD pup?

yes they should fit but i would ask throback about the actual size?
duncans are 49.2mm(center pole to pole) for regular spaced humbuckers.

 

[DADGAD]

I have a set of Custom shop WLH from when they were limited to 150 world wide. I have also played the production ones. The production ones are very good but there is something a little different about the custom shop set. They are quite clear and even cranked have a dryer, less saturated overdriven quality about them. Even being potted, they are still fairly dynamic. I would not sell these. If you spend time dialing on the poles and pickup heights, there is even more goodness to be found. MJ knows what she's doing. So does that Duncan guy.

 

[drew365]

Well I considered a CS set that I saw on ebay, but bought the production set from GC. Funny thing, GC initially didn't credit me the proper amount for the coupon I had. I went back to complain and they ended up giving me too much. Both mistakes happened because the clerks tried taking care of two people at once. I hope to install the WLP's tomorrow.

 

[Ed hunter]

The more i play this pu the more i am loving it.
Seymour really hit a home run with this one!
I think it destroys his iconic JB even for the same styles, the WLH will do any style a JB can but do it better!

 

[stephen78]

I have them in my LP Trad. They are extremely versatile. Great all around rock pups. Love the middle position for Zep riffs!

 

[ARandall]

I wonder if SD ended up with something of a happy accident here. From some things Throbak and ReWind have commented on it seems like the high K rated PAFs were more likely to be under spec wire, giving some of the lower resonant frequency of 43 gauge wire but still with a lot of the clarity of 42 and a lightly wound coil.
if SD has just wound 42 to 8.5 and 8k then it could be a bit of a paf screamer, hotter than normal as some have said on this thread.

 

[drew365]

I've had one day and evening with the WLH's installed. I spent last night A/Bing them against my other guitar with the SD/Bonamassa's.
I like the WLH's. But at this time, the Bonamassa's are still my favorite.
The WLH's are clear and powerful, with lots of cool overtones, but a bit thin. The Bonamassa's are fuller and ballsier. I even like the B's better doing Black Dog.
But, I wanted something different from the B's, and the WLH's are it. I plan to keep them installed. The guitar they are in gets played more than the guitar the B's are in, so I'll get lots of time with the WLH's. I find it often takes me a couple of months to fully appreciate a new piece of gear. I'm kind of slow.

 

[cybermgk]

I've had one day and evening with the WLH's installed. I spent last night A/Bing them against my other guitar with the SD/Bonamassa's.
I like the WLH's. But at this time, the Bonamassa's are still my favorite.
The WLH's are clear and powerful, with lots of cool overtones, but a bit thin. The Bonamassa's are fuller and ballsier. I even like the B's better doing Black Dog.
But, I wanted something different from the B's, and the WLH's are it. I plan to keep them installed. The guitar they are in gets played more than the guitar the B's are in, so I'll get lots of time with the WLH's. I find it often takes me a couple of months to fully appreciate a new piece of gear. I'm kind of slow.

THin is not an issue I have noticed with them. Perhaps raise them JUST a tad on that git.

 

[drew365]

THin is not an issue I have noticed with them. Perhaps raise them JUST a tad on that git.

I'll give that a try tonight. Right now they are set the same height as the B's.