This all-singing, all-dancing, all-purpose shootout has a number of objectives.
First, maybe most importantly, it directly compares Gretsch's stock Dynasonics as installed in an '06 6128TCG Cad green Jet to Seymour Duncan Custom Shop Dyna-Sonics in the same guitar. More on that in a moment.
Next, it compares that guitar, with both those sets of pickups, through two very different amps: a tweed 1957 Fender Princeton and a freshly "blackfaced" mid-70s Fender Deluxe Reverb.
I believe it's Walter Broes who has consistently observed about my "shootouts" that the amps are never cranked to anything like gig volume; in this case I pushed the amps much harder.
Finally, the shootout demos the Pigtronix Attack-Sustain pedal Steve Hunter introduced us to at NAMM. It's a multi-function compressor with lots of extras; I used it here in its compression role (though even in that capacity it somehow does more than just compress).
Protocol. The method is dumb simple. I recorded the Jet with its stock pickups, first with the Edirol R-09 recorder about 12" away and off slightly to the side of the cone in the Princeton. Then I recorded essentially the same material from the Deluxe. I set the Edirol on Boss effect boxes placed in front of the amps so that after the swap, I could get the recorder back to exactly the same positions.
Then I unstrung the guitar and soldered in the Seymour Duncans (with help from JetD in another thread). I used the stock spacers and left the same set of D'Addario XL-115 11-52 strings in place.
Finally I recorded the same material through both amps again, using the same mic position and recorder settings.
Then I collected the mp3s in Audacity, trimmed starts and fronts, and called it done.
What was not changed. I didn't touch the settings on the amp, all controls on the guitar were wide open, and I did NOT normalize the mp3s. Any volume differences result from the pickups themselves.
For the record, the Princeton was set at a little below 7 (of 12) for Volume, and a little below 10 for Tone. I used Input 1, which is higher gain than Input 2. An E-H Holy Grail was used for reverb.
On the Deluxe, I used the Vibrato channel, with Volume at 4.5, Treble at 7, Bass at 2, and Reverb at 3.
Guitar and pickup observations. As I worked on the Jet, I was constantly reminded how very chambered that body is. Even running screws in and out and randomly bumping the body with small tools reveal the resonance of the body. Every place you touch rings. I know of no other design with quite the liveliness of the Jet.
The pickups are mechanically a direct swap with each other: no holes need be drilled and the stock Gretsch spacers work with the Seymours. However, the mounting holes in the casing of the Seymours do not line up perfectly with those of the Gretsch pups and spacers. The screws go in at something of an angle to hit the existing holes in the body. Not a problem, but something to expect. The neck pickup butts up hard against the base of the neck in either case; none of these pickups can afford to be any bigger than they are.
I'm posting pictures of the backs of the pickups. Differences will be evident – but what the differences mean will have to be up to someone else to figure out.
As noted in the other thread, the Gretsch Dynas have three conductors – a red and a white lead, as well as the outer braid. In practice, the red and the braid are connected together to the backs of the pickups' respective volume pots; the whites go to the center wipers. The Seymours are coaxial, with just the outer braid and the inner core wire. In their case, the braid goes to the backs of the pot housings and the center wire to the center wipers.
Simplicity itself to swap, and the pickup wires threaded easily through the passages between cavities in the body.
According to MJ at SD, who wound and packaged the Seymours, the neck pickup comes in at 11.3k and the bridge at 11.8k. The Gretsch versions measure 7.87k neck and 8.08k bridge.
I note that one of the Seymours is reverse-wound, as in the middle position (both pickups on), the Seymours are hum-cancelling. A nice touch, since that position is so often used on a Jet. I don't believe the Gretsch pups offer that.
The casings of the Gretsch pickups look better: smoother metal surface under the plating. Under the plating on the Seymours, I can see the rolled texture of the casing metal.
Pickup height and polepiece height were so nearly the same between the pickups that I adjusted nothing. I understand that bringing the body of the pickup up, and the polepieces down, will in both cases yield more body in the tone. I intend to order the risers from Blackrider to experiment with this, and I'm not sure I'm done adjusting on this guitar. But for the purposes of comparing the pups, this setup ought to do.
I intend to swap the Synchro-Sonic out for a Bar bridge soon as well, which I think will give the guitar more clarity, edge, and a bit more sustain. (The plinky banjo effect of the Synchro is quite evident with either pickup here. I like that fine, but I like the ringier tone of the Bar better.)
About the shootout tunes, the order of events, and the Pigtronix pedal. You hear three short tunes in each of the four recordings. The first is a bastard version of "Summertime Blues" in A. It's a song I'd never played before yesterday, but it insisted it would be appropriate to the shootout. In every case, it's played first with both pickups, then on bridge pickup only, then on bridge pickup WITH the Pigtronix pedal engaged.
Next comes a funkblues thang in E, mostly with both pickups but sometimes just the bridge, and usually with the Pigtronix kicked in at some point during the proceedings.
Finally, a Bm slowish blues on the neck pickup; in every case, one complete cycle straight and a second cycle using the Pigtronix.
Among other things, the Pigtronix provides "parallel" compression – meaning the compressed signal can be blended with straight uncompressed signal. For my purposes here, I had the blend at about 40% compressor/60% straight, and compressor volume around 30%, which yielded just a slight push in volume when engaged.
But what strikes me about this box is how it fattens and juices the tone as well as simply compressing.
Which pickups do I like better? I haven't even compared the recordings; I'll do that along with the rest of y'all. I know I found the Jet endlessly fascinating from a tonal standpoint with the stock Dynas, and it's lost none of that fascination with the Seymours. So I imagine they're staying in. Are they tons better, and worth their money?
Y'all decide.
The Evidence.
Jet with stock Dynasonics, Fender Deluxe
Jet with Seymour Duncans, Fender Deluxe
Jet with stock Dynasonics, Fender Princeton
Jet with Seymour Duncans, Fender Princeton
Pics. First, three marginally competent pics of the Jet with stock pups installed. Next, the control cavity after the solder job.
Then three pics comparing the pickups. In all three, the Gretsch Dynas are at the top; the Seymour (with the sticker saying "Bridge") is beneath.
Finally, three similar shots of the Jet now wearing the Seymours.
and they are different pups tonally.
