Seymour Duncan

Seymour Duncan Distortion (SH-6)

Very hot, tight and aggressive, with forward mids and a bright top end.

Hotter than 90% of the 230 neck humbuckers we have · estimated from resistance

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

“The Duncan Distortion is similar to your EMG 81, strong upper mid cut but with a little more bass and slightly warmer.”

No price published on Seymour Duncan's own site

Like the Seymour Duncan Distortion (SH-6), but…

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

Specs

DC resistance
12.7k
Inductance
not measured
Magnet
Ceramic
Coil
Hum-cancelling
Resonant peak
6.5 kHzSeymour Duncan's own test load

moderate outputbrightmid-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 neck of a Les Paul, SG, PRS Custom 24 or Superstrat (HH).

Similar pickups

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

Upgrading from the Seymour Duncan Distortion (SH-6)? 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. Closest match
    Seymour Duncan Black Winter

    no spec differences found

    No inductance for one of them, so output leans on DC resistance; tone charts compared directly.

    high confidence
    Compare →
  2. Bare Knuckle Painkiller

    darker

    No inductance for one of them, so output leans on DC resistance; tone charts compared against each maker's average.

    medium confidence
    Compare →
  3. no spec differences found

    No inductance for one of them, so output leans on DC resistance; no tone chart to compare.

    low confidence
    Compare →
  4. no spec differences found

    No inductance for one of them, so output leans on DC resistance; no tone chart to compare.

    low confidence
    Compare →

What others say

Demos, reviews and forum posts, quoted word for word and linked to where they were published. No reviews collected yet.

Seymour Duncan Distortion TB-6 with '59 Neck SH-1n Test
wickersound
Duncan Distortion METAL
Seymour Duncan
DiMarzio SUPER DISTORTION vs Seymour Duncan DISTORTION SH-6 - Bridge Guitar Pickup Comparison
Mike Stamper · comparison
Seymour Duncan JB SH-4 vs DISTORTION SH-6 - Passive Bridge Pickup Guitar Tone Comparison Demo
Mike Stamper · comparison
Seymour Duncan INVADER SH-8 vs DISTORTION SH-6 - Passive Bridge Guitar Pickup Comparison Tone Demo
Mike Stamper · comparison
“the Super D and DD are two VERY different sounding pickups.”
Benjy_26 · Jan 3, 2011Seymour Duncan forum ↗ (opens in a new tab)
“The DD is very different from the SD. As mentioned the DD is tight, percussive and hot, while the SD is big warm and fuzzy.”
idsnowdog · Jan 3, 2011Seymour Duncan forum ↗ (opens in a new tab)
“Of the two the DF is closer to the SD than the DD.”
idsnowdog · Jan 3, 2011Seymour Duncan forum ↗ (opens in a new tab)
“The Duncan Distortion is similar to your EMG 81, strong upper mid cut but with a little more bass and slightly warmer.”
metal_master · 2019-11-29Rig-Talk ↗ (opens in a new tab)
“I may add that the Duncan Distortion is definitly a tight sounding pickup and it retains clarity even when playing fast stuff..”
Duke of Metal · 2005-02-12Seymour Duncan forum ↗ (opens in a new tab)
“Both the Nazgul and Duncan Distortion have very aggressive mids.”
VHTStark · 2024-01-10Rig-Talk ↗ (opens in a new tab)
“The Real Duncan Distortion is A very High output pickup though (which can be good and bad), With Great Tight bottom end, Thick mids, And Cutting highs.”
Low_fidelity2100 · 2005-05-30Seymour Duncan forum ↗ (opens in a new tab)
“The Duncan Distortion is a brighter pickup that's more open sounding because of that.”
ranalli · 2006-01-05Seymour Duncan forum ↗ (opens in a new tab)
“I'd say the Duncan Distortion has more grind and bite, while the Super Distortion has a warmer, thicker, old school tone (in Gibson-style guitars, anyway...”
sufferinrewind · 2007-01-16Seymour Duncan forum ↗ (opens in a new tab)
“I see that the Duncan Distortion has more mids and treble than the Distortion Parallel Axis...”
rufex2001 · 2008-02-12Seymour Duncan forum ↗ (opens in a new tab)
“Duncan Distortion tight, aggressive, high output.”
Yngwiestein · 2008-06-03Seymour Duncan forum ↗ (opens in a new tab)
“Is the Duncan distortion bright and open sounding.”
pittbull · 2011-02-26Seymour Duncan forum ↗ (opens in a new tab)

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