Skip to 1:00 for the test. I tried to make this as scientific as possible. It's not a blind test because I don't want you guessing. Make your own judgement! My opinion is at the bottom.
The guitar we are using is a Jackson Soloist SL2Q MAH. It's got a mahogany body, a maple neck, 24 frets, and a Floyd Rose bridge.
This guitar comes stocked with a Seymour Duncan TB-6 in the bridge position. We'll be comparing it with a DiMarzio X2N.
This guitar comes stocked with a Seymour Duncan SH-6N in the neck position. We'll be comparing it with a DiMarzio Super Distortion.
We are using the standard wiring for dual humbucker guitars. In each humbucker, the north and south coil are wired in series. When both pickups are active, they are combined in parallel.
We will be playing through a Mesa Single Rectifier Rect-o-verb 50, using the Modern setting on Channel 2. Gain is set to 1 o'clock. Treble, Mid, Bass, and Presence are all set to 12 o'clock. The effects send is plugged into the direct input on the audio interface.
Sorry, no clean tone demo here! ^_^
This comparison will use our cover of Casino Night Zone from Sonic The Hedgehog 2. This cover works perfectly because I put the pickup switch in all 3 positions during the lead guitar part.
Sonic references copyright Sega. Music composed by Masato Nakamura.
==== Opinion below ====
Bridge pickup comparison:
I prefer the DiMarzio X2N over almost any other bridge pickup. Its trebly biting quality makes it stand out over other pickups in a way that is so appealing to me. The Duncan TB-6, by comparison, sounds muffled, or even poofy.
Neck pickup comparison:
This was an interesting one because the DiMarzio Super Distortion is designed to be a bridge pickup. It's not bad as a neck pickup, but I have to say I'm not impressed, as it doesn't have that round, flutey character you might expect of a neck pickup.
