Seymour Duncan

Seymour Duncan Distortion (SH-6)

Tight and aggressive.

  • Ceramic magnet: the strongest pull: tight lows and a sharp attack

“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

Specs

DC resistance
17.64k
Inductance
not measured
Magnet
Ceramic
Coil
Hum-cancelling
Resonant peak
4.15 kHzSeymour Duncan's own test load

high outputtight & aggressive

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

Fits the neck of a 8-string.

Similar pickups

7 fit the same slot · ranked on measured specs

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. How scoring works

  1. Closest match
    DiMarzio Super Distortion 8
    DiMarzio Super Distortion 8
    8-string humbucker

    lower output

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

    low confidence
    Compare →
  2. DiMarzio D Activator 8
    DiMarzio D Activator 8
    8-string neck humbucker

    lower output

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

    low confidence
    Compare →
  3. DiMarzio Eclipse 8
    DiMarzio Eclipse 8
    8-string neck humbucker

    lower output

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

    low confidence
    Compare →
  4. DiMarzio Ionizer 8
    DiMarzio Ionizer 8
    8-string neck humbucker

    lower output

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

    low confidence
    Compare →
  5. DiMarzio PAF 8
    DiMarzio PAF 8
    8-string humbucker

    lower output

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

    low confidence
    Compare →
  6. Same brand
    Seymour Duncan Invader (SH-8)
    Seymour Duncan Invader (SH-8)
    8-string neck humbucker

    lower output · brighter

    No inductance for one of them, so output leans on DC resistance; brightness from the maker's resonant peak.

    medium 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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