Seymour Duncan Black Winter pickup
Photo: Seymour Duncan (opens in a new tab)
Seymour Duncan

Seymour Duncan Black Winter

Hot, tight and aggressive, with forward mids.

Hotter than 70% of the 280 bridge humbuckers we have

  • Ceramic magnet: the strongest pull: tight lows and a sharp attack
  • More mids than a typical Seymour Duncan

“It doesn't have as much of a dramatic low-end rolloff as the Black Winter, but it not a fat bassy pickup like the X2N.”

Like the Seymour Duncan Black Winter, but…

The closest pickup in each direction that still fits the same slot. See every match

Specs

DC resistance
16.6k
Inductance
6.98 Hmeasured, 2 readings
Magnet
Ceramic
Coil
Hum-cancelling
Resonant peak
6.68 kHzSeymour Duncan's own test load

moderate outputmid-forwardtight & aggressive

Seymour Duncan's tone chart, 0–10

From Seymour Duncan's published specs ↗ (opens in a new tab). Traits come from these specs by stated rules.

Fits the bridge of a Les Paul, SG, PRS Custom 24, Superstrat (HH) or HSS Strat.

Similar pickups

280 fit the same slot · ranked on measured specs · top 40 shown

Upgrading from the Seymour Duncan Black Winter? Put it on the map and see what sits where you want your tone to go.

Each score is how close a pickup is on measured specs, out of 100. The meter shows how many of those specs we could compare; a grey score means few could be. Filters cover the top 40. How scoring works

  1. DiMarzio Mirage
    DiMarzio Mirage
    bridge humbucker

    darker · scooped mids

    Output compared on measured inductance; tone charts compared against each maker's average.

    high confidence
    Compare →
  2. Bare Knuckle Aftermath
    Bare Knuckle Aftermath
    bridge humbucker

    scooped mids

    Output compared on measured inductance; tone charts compared against each maker's average.

    high confidence
    Compare →
  3. DiMarzio Evo 2
    DiMarzio Evo 2
    bridge humbucker

    scooped mids · more bass

    Output compared on measured inductance; tone charts compared against each maker's average.

    high confidence
    Compare →
  4. Bare Knuckle Painkiller
    Bare Knuckle Painkiller
    bridge humbucker

    lower output

    Output compared on measured inductance; tone charts compared against each maker's average.

    high confidence
    Compare →
  5. DiMarzio Illuminator
    DiMarzio Illuminator
    bridge humbucker

    darker · scooped mids

    Output compared on measured inductance; tone charts compared against each maker's average.

    high confidence
    Compare →

What others say

Demos, reviews and forum posts, quoted word for word and linked to where they were published.

“Punchy and controlled lows with edgy and focused mids and highs.”
Darth Phineas · May 18, 2016Darth Phineas ↗ (opens in a new tab)
“Seymour's neck models are more known for that more traditional fuller neck voice that can often times be big in the lows and sweet in the highs.”
Darth Phineas · May 18, 2016Darth Phineas ↗ (opens in a new tab)
“It doesn't have as much of a dramatic low-end rolloff as the Black Winter, but it not a fat bassy pickup like the X2N.”
Rex Rocker · 2023-12-08Rig-Talk ↗ (opens in a new tab)
“The Black Winter and Distortion sound similar too, I hear the high end clarity on the Black Winter:.”
Dejoblue · 2013-10-11Seymour Duncan forum ↗ (opens in a new tab)
“We have also heard legends of how articulate and clean the Black Winter can get on the forum here..”
Falloffthebonetone · 2014-03-07Seymour Duncan forum ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Full reviews and measurements

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