DiMarzio and Seymour Duncan both produce high-end pickups for electric and bass guitars, but which are the best? In this article, I’ll compare the two brands in terms of their tone, value for money and the different options and types in their ranges, so you can decide which brand is best for you.
The Quick Answer
Seymour Duncan pickups usually have a more balanced tone and wider dynamic range than DiMarzio pickups. Seymour Duncan pickups are well known for their versatility, and many players prefer their vintage output tones. DiMarzio pickups are often associated with their high output and modern tones.
Contents
- Brief Brand Overview
- Tone Comparisons
- Prices
- Range and Options
- Which Should You Choose?
Brief Brand Overview
Before we dive into some comparisons, I wanted to briefly outline how each brand organises their range, and the different options available so you have an idea of which models are comparable between DiMarzio and Seymour Duncan.
DiMarzio
DiMarzio specialise in passive pickups and offer a range of humbuckers, single coils, P90s and bass guitar options. They use primarily alnico and ceramic pickups and vary from vintage low output, to very high output, so cater to a wide variety of music styles.
Humbuckers
DiMarzio’s humbucker range is vast and most models come in a variety of design and colour options. The range can be most easily divided by the output. Here is a list of each model currently available.
- Vintage (low output): Air Classic, Bluesbucker, EJ Custom, Fortitude, PAF 36th Anniversary, PAF 59, PAF Master, and the Humbucker from Hell.
- Medium output: Air Norton, Air Zone, D Activator-X Neck, Dark Matter 2 Neck, AT-1, Dominion Neck, Evolution Neck, Fred, Gravity Storm Neck, Illuminator Neck, Imperium Neck, Liquifire, Mo’ Joe, Norton, PAF Joe, PAF Pro, Rainmaker, Sonic Ecstasy Neck, Steve Morse Model Neck, Titan Neck, Transition Neck, and Utopia Neck.
- High output: Crunch Lab, D Activator Bridge, D-Activator-X Bridge, D Sonic, Dominion Bridge, Dreamcatcher, Dual Sound, Evo 2, Evolution Bridge, Gravity Storm Bridge, Igno, Illuminator Bridge, Imperium Bridge, Pandemonium, Satchur8, Sonic Ecstasy Bridge, Steve Morse Model Bridge, Steve’s Special, Super 2, Super 3, Super Distortion, The Tone Zone, Titan Bridge, Transition Bridge, Utopia Bridgem and X2N.
Stratocasters
There are three types of Stratocaster pickups in the range: standard, rail hum cancelling and stacked hum cancelling.
- Standard: Dark Matter 2, FS-1, Red Velvet, SDS-1, True Velvet, and Utopia.
- Rail Hum Cancelling: Air Norton S, BC-1, BC-2, Fast Track 1, Fast Track 2, Pro Track, Satch Track, Sugar Chakra, Super Distortion S, The Chopper, The Cruiser, and the Tone Zone S.
- Stacked Hum Cancelling: Area 58, Area 61, Area 67, HS-2, HS-3, HS-4, Injector, Virtual Solo, Virtual Vintage 54 Pro, Virtual Vintage Blues, and Virtual Vintage Heavy Blues 2.
Telecasters
There are three types of Telecaster pickups in the range: standard, rail hum cancelling and stacked hum cancelling.
- Standard: Notorious, Pre B-1, True Velvet and Twang King.
- Rail Hum Cancelling: Fast Track T, Super Distortion T, the Chopper T, and The Tone Zone T.
- Stacked Hum Cancelling: Area Hot T and Area T.
Other Electric Guitar
As well at the Humbucker, Tele and Strat ranges, DiMarzio also make some mini pickups (humbuckers in P90 coil size), P90 pickups, and models for 7 and 8 string electric guitars.
Here are some images (all link to Amazon) to show some of the most popular designs of the electric guitar pickups..
Super Distortion
Tone Zone Strat
Area Tele
Evolution
Bass Guitar
DiMarzio make pickups for 4 and 5 string basses. Here are the models available at the time of writing:
- Standard 4-String: Area J, Model J, Model P, Model One, Relentless, Sixties P, Split P, Ultra Jazz.
- 5- String: Area J 5 and Ultra Jazz 5.
Seymour Duncan
Seymour Duncan make a wide range of humbucker, P90, single coil and bass pickups. Although they primarily specialise in passive pickups, Seymour Duncan also make some active humbucker electric guitar pickups and active bass guitar pickups.
Humbuckers
The range is divided into the following:
- Vintage (lower output): ‘59 Model, Slash, Pearly Gates, Jazz Model, Antiquity Humbucker, Seth Lover, Whole Lotta Humbucker, Alnico II Pro HB, Vintage Blues, Saturday Night Special, Phat Cat, Antiquity Jazz HB.
- Medium Output: ‘59 Custom Hybrid, Custom 5, Screamin’ Demon, Full Shred, P-Rails, Custom Custom, Benedetto, Jason Becker Perpetual Burn, Parallel Axis Blue Saraceno.
- High Output: JB Model, Hot Rodded, Mark Holcomb, Invader, Duncan Distortion, Black Winter, Nazgul, Mayhem, Duncan Custom, Dimebucker, Sentient, Pegasus, Dimebag, Alternative 8, Jupiter Rails, Dave Mustaine Thrash Factor, Parallel Axis Distortion.
- Active: Mick Thomson Blackouts, Jeff Loomis Blackouts, Dave Mustaine, Retribution, Blackouts HB.
Stratocaster Single Coils
The range is divided into true single coil and noiseless models:
- True Single Coil: Custom Flat/ Staggered, Vintage Flat/ Staggered, Antiquity Texas Hot, Quarter Pound Flat/ Staggered, Antiquity II, Hot, Jimi Hendrix, Vintage Flat, Alnico Pro II Flat/ Staggered, Lipstick Tube, Five-Two.
- Noiseless: Hot Rails, Classic Stack, Everything Axe, YJM Fury, Little ’59, JB Jr, Duckbuckers, Vintage Rails, Cool Rails, Vintage Hot, Red Devil, Hot Sack, Custom Stack Plus.
Telecaster Single Coils
The range is divided into true single coil and noiseless models:
- True Single Coil: Vintage Broadcaster, Quarter Pound, Hot, Alnico II Pro, Vintage, Vintage ’54, Five-Two, Jerry Donahue Lead, Brad Paisley La Bra, Antiquity, Antiquity II, Antiquity ’55.
- Noiseless: Hot Rails, Little ’59, Hot Stack, Vintage Stack.
P90s
Here is a breakdown of the Seymour Duncan P90 selection:
- Vintage (lower output): Antiquity P90, Antiquity P90 Dog Ear, Vintage P90.
- Medium Output: P90 Stack, P-Rails.
- High Output: Hot P90, Custom P90.
Here are some images (all link to Amazon) to show some of the most popular designs.
Duncan Distortion
Antiquity P90 Dog Ear
Vintage Strat
Blackouts
Bass Guitar Pickups
Seymour Duncan split their bass guitar pickup range into the following categories:
- Jazz Bass
- P Bass
- Music Man
- Soapbar
- Rickenbacker
- Other models
They make a range of active and passive pickups to suit different tones and output levels.
Tone Comparison
It’s pretty difficult to draw comparisons between the tones of entire pickup ranges by these two brands, so I’ve tried to make some generalisations as well as provide some specific examples so you can listen to the differences for yourself.
Seymour Duncan pickups generally have a fuller tone than DiMarzio pickups which tend to sound more tight and focused. Seymour Duncan pickups often have a wide dynamic range with more bass and low-mids than DiMarzio pickups often have a punchier tone.
Here are some examples so you can listen to the differences in action.
Example #1 Humbuckers (Seymour Duncan JB vs DiMarzio Super Distortion)
- Very similar tone
- DiMarzio pickups sounded more tight (less bass and low-mids) than the Seymour Duncan pickups.
- The DiMarzio pickups sounded a bit brighter than the Seymour Duncan’s.
Example #2 High Output Humbuckers (Seymour Duncan Black Winter vs DiMazrio D Activator)
- The Seymour Duncan pickup had a fuller and more balanced tone
- The DiMarzio pickup sounded thinner but more punchy crisp
Example #3 Precision Bass Guitar (Seymour Duncan SPB-3 vs DiMarzio Model P)
- The DiMarzio pickup sounded more punchy with more mid-range than the Seymour Duncan pickup
- The Seymour Duncan pickup sounded fuller with more bass than the DiMarzio
Value for Money
Both brands make a wide range of pickups, so there are affordable and high-end options available for every pickup type.
DiMarzio pickups start at a slightly lower price than Seymour Duncan pickups. The most inexpensive DiMarzio pickups at the time of writing are $70 for the humbuckers, and $50 for the single coils. Seymour Duncan’s cheapest humbuckers are $79 and the cheapest single coils are $59.
However, when comparing the top of the range models, Seymour Duncan’s are slightly cheaper. The most expensive Seymour Duncan humbucker at the time of writing is $139, whilst the most expensive DiMarzio humbucker is $150.
Regardless of your budget, you are likely to find what you want from either brand due to the size of their ranges, so price and value for money is less of a factor to consider in this comparison.
The Ranges
In this next section I wanted to take an in-depth look at the different options each brand offers. I have made the following tables to summarise pretty much every pickup currently available, along with their price and some key features. All the tables are ordered from the lowest to the highest price from the brands’ websites at the time of writing to the nearest US dollar.
Guitar Center have a huge range of pickups at great prices so make sure you check them out if you’re in the market for some. Here’s a link to take you directly to Guitar Center’s pickup range so you can check for current deals.
I don’t expect that everyone will read every row in the tables, but hope it will help to narrow down your search and give you an idea of the different models in your price range, so you can move closer to a final choice. Here are the categories:
- Humbucker
- Stratocaster
- Telecaster
- P90 Pickups
- Bass Guitar (Jazz and Precision)
Humbuckers
- DiMarzio only make passive humbuckers, and Seymour Duncan make active and passive humbucker pickups.
| Pickup | Type | Magnet | Position | Price |
| DM Norton | Passive | Alnico V | Bridge | $70 |
| DM PAF 36th Anniversary | Passive | Alnico V | Either | $75 |
| DM PAF Master | Passive | Alnico IV/ V | Either | $75 |
| DM Air Classic | Passive | Alnico II/ V | Either | $77 |
| DM Air Norton | Passive | Alnico V | Neck | $77 |
| DM Air Zone | Passive | Alnico V | Neck | $77 |
| DM D Activator | Passive | Ceramic | Either | $77 |
| DM Super 2 | Passive | Ceramic | Neck | $77 |
| DM The Humbucker From Hell | Passive | Alnico V | Neck | $77 |
| SD ’59 Model | Passive | Alnico V | Either | $79 |
| SD JB Model | Passive | Alnico V | Bridge | $79 |
| SD Jazz Model | Passive | Alnico V | Either | $79 |
| SD Duncan Distortion | Passive | Ceramic | Either | $79 |
| SD Duncan Custom | Passive | Ceramic | Bridge | $79 |
| SD Custom 5 | Passive | Alnico V | Bridge | $79 |
| SD Blackouts HB Coil Pack | Active | Ceramic | Any | $79 |
| DM Steve Morse | Passive | Ceramic | Either | $80 |
| DM Liquifire | Passive | Alnico V | Neck | $80 |
| DM Evo 2 | Passive | Ceramic | Bridge | $80 |
| DM PAF Pro | Passive | Alnico V | Any | $80 |
| DM Satchur8 | Passive | Alnico VIII | Bridge | $80 |
| DM Super Distortion | Passive | Ceramic | Bridge | $80 |
| DM Transition | Passive | Ceramic | Either | $80 |
| DM Steve’s Special | Passive | Ceramic | Bridge | $81 |
| DM D Activator-X | Passive | Ceramic | Either | $85 |
| DM Imperium | Passive | Ceramic | Either | $85 |
| DM Super 3 | Passive | Ceramic | Bridge | $87 |
| DM Mo’ Joe | Passive | Alnico V | Bridge | $87 |
| DM AT-1 | Passive | Alnico V | Bridge | $87 |
| DM Dominion | Passive | Ceramic | Either | $87 |
| DM Dual Sound | Passive | Ceramic | Bridge | $87 |
| DM FRED | Passive | Alnico V | Any | $87 |
| DM Gravity Storm | Passive | Alnico V/ Ceramic | Any | $87 |
| DM The Tone Zone | Passive | Alnico V | Bridge | $87 |
| SD Alnico II Pro | Passive | Alnico II | Either | $89 |
| SD Invader | Passive | Ceramic | Either | $89 |
| SD Phat Cat | Passive | Alnico II | Either | $89 |
| SD Full Shred | Passive | Alnico V | Either | $89 |
| SD Custom Custom | Passive | Alnico II | Either | $89 |
| DM Dreamcatcher | Passive | Ceramic | Bridge | $90 |
| DM Rainmaker | Passive | Ceramic | Neck | $90 |
| DM Crunch Lab | Passive | Ceramic | Bridge | $92 |
| DM X2N | Passive | Ceramic | Bridge | $92 |
| DM Bluesbucker | Passive | Ceramic | Any | $96 |
| DM EJ Custom | Passive | Alnico V | Either | $96 |
| DM Evolution | Passive | Ceramic | Either | $98 |
| SD Blackouts HB | Active | Ceramic | Any | $99 |
| SD Black Winter | Passive | Ceramic | Either | $99 |
| SD Nazgul | Passive | Ceramic | Bridge | $99 |
| SD Sentient | Passive | Alnico | Neck | $99 |
| SD ’59 Custom Hybrid | Passive | Alnico V | Bridge | $99 |
| SD Pegasus | Passive | Alnico V | Bridge | $99 |
| SD P-Rails | Passive | Alnico V | Either | $99 |
| SD Alternative 8 | Passive | Alnico VIII | Bridge | $99 |
| DM Igno | Passive | Alnico VIII | Bridge | $101 |
| DM PAF 59 | Passive | Alnico V | Either | $104 |
| DM Illuminator | Passive | Ceramic | Either | $106 |
| SD Slash | Passive | Alnico II | Either | $109 |
| SD Pearly Gates | Passive | Alnico II | Either | $109 |
| SD Whole Lotta Humbucker | Passive | Alnico V | Either | $109 |
| SD Dimebucker | Passive | Ceramic | Bridge | $109 |
| SD Saturday Night Special | Passive | Alnico IV | Either | $109 |
| SD Screamin’ Demon | Passive | Alnico V | Bridge | $109 |
| SD Jason Becker Perpetual Burn | Passive | Alnico V | Bridge | $109 |
| SD Dave Mustaine Thrash Factor | Passive | Alnico V | Either | $109 |
| DM Fortitude | Passive | Alnico V | Bridge | $113 |
| DM Titan | Passive | Ceramic | Either | $119 |
| SD Mick Thomson | Active | Ceramic | Either | $119 |
| SD Seth Lover | Passive | Alnico II | Either | $119 |
| SD Benedetto | Passive | Alnico V | Either | $119 |
| SD Retribution | Active | Ceramic | Any | $125 |
| SD Jeff Loomis Blackouts | Active | Alnico | Any | $129 |
| SD Mark Holcomb | Passive | Ceramic | Either | $129 |
| SD Jupiter Rails | Passive | Ceramic | Either | $129 |
| DM PAF Joe | Passive | Alnico V | Any | $133 |
| SD Antiquity | Passive | Alnico II | Either | $139 |
| SD Ducan Distortion Active Mount | Passive | Ceramic | Either | $139 |
| SD Nazgul Active Mount | Passive | Ceramic | Bridge | $139 |
| SD Sentient Active Mount | Passive | Alnico V | Neck | $139 |
| SD Psyclone Filter’Tron | Passive | Alnico V | Either | $139 |
| DM Dark Matter 2 | Passive | Ceramic | Either | $140 |
| DM Pandemonium | Passive | Ceramic | Either | $140 |
| DM Sonic Ecstasy | Passive | Ceramic | Either | $140 |
| SD Hot Rodded | Passive | Alnico V | Both | $149 (set) |
| SD Mayhem | Passive | Ceramic | Both | $149 (set) |
| SD Vintage Blues | Passive | Alnico V | Both | $149 (set) |
| DM Utopia | Passive | Ceramic | Either | $150 |
| SD Dimebag | Passive | Ceramic | Both | $199 (set) |
| SD Dave Mustain | Active | Alnico V | Both | $209 (for set) |
| SD P-Rails Triple Shot | Passive | Alnico V | Both | $259 (set) |
Stratocaster
- All passive pickups
| Pickup | Type | Magnet | Price |
| DM FS-1 | Standard | Alnico V | $50 |
| DM SDS-1 | Standard | Ceramic | $50 |
| DM Dark Matter 2 | Standard | Ceramic | $55 |
| DM Red Velvet | Standard | Alnico V | $55 |
| DM True Velvet | Standard | Alnico II | $55 |
| SD Custom Staggered Strat | Standard | Alnico V | $59 |
| SD Vintage Staggered Strat | Standard | Alnico V | $59 |
| SD Quarter Pound Strat | Standard | Alnico V | $59 |
| SD Quarter Pound Staggered | Standard | Alnico V | $59 |
| SD Hot Strat | Standard | Alnico V | $59 |
| SD Vintage Flat Strat | Standard | Alnico V | $59 |
| SD Custom Flat Strat | Standard | Alnico V | $59 |
| SD Alnico II Pro Flat Strat | Standard | Alnico II | $69 |
| SD Alnico II Pro Staggered | Standard | Alnico II | $69 |
| DM Utopia | Standard | Alnico V | $70 |
| DM HS-2 | Noiseless | Alnico V | $70 |
| DM HS-3 | Noiseless | Alnico V | $70 |
| DM HS-4 | Noiseless | Alnico V | $70 |
| DM Virtual Solo | Noiseless | Alnico V | $75 |
| DM Virtual Vintage 54 | Noiseless | Alnico V | $75 |
| DM Virtual Blues | Noiseless | Alnico V | $75 |
| DM Virtual Heavy Blues 2 | Noiseless | Alnico II | $75 |
| SD Hot Stack Strat | Noiseless | Ceramic | $79 |
| DM Air Norton | Noiseless | Ceramic | $80 |
| DM BC-1 | Noiseless | Ceramic | $80 |
| DM BC-2 | Noiseless | Ceramic | $80 |
| DM Fast Track 1 | Noiseless | Ceramic | $80 |
| DM Fast Track 2 | Noiseless | Ceramic | $80 |
| DM Pro Track | Noiseless | Ceramic | $80 |
| DM Super Distortion | Noiseless | Ceramic | $80 |
| DM The Chopper | Noiseless | Ceramic | $80 |
| DM The Cruiser | Noiseless | Ceramic | $80 |
| DM Area 58 | Noiseless | Alnico II | $80 |
| DM Area 61 | Noiseless | Alnico II | $80 |
| DM Area 67 | Noiseless | Alnico II | $80 |
| Dm Injector | Noiseless | Alnico II | $80 |
| SD Lipstick Tube Strat | Standard | Alnico V | $85 |
| DM The Tone Zone | Noiseless | Ceramic | $87 |
| SD Vintage Hot Plus Strat | Noiseless | Alnico V | $89 |
| SD Cool Rails Strat | Noiseless | Ceramic | $89 |
| SD Vintage Rails Strat | Noiseless | Ceramic | $89 |
| SD Duckbuckers | Noiseless | Ceramic | $89 |
| SD JB Jr Strat | Noiseless | Ceramic | $89 |
| SD Little ’59 Strat | Noiseless | Alnico V | $89 |
| SD Antiquity Strat Texas Hot | Standard | Alnico II | $89 |
| SD Antiquity II Surfer Strat | Standard | Alnico V | $89 |
| SD Classic Stack Plus Strat | Noiseless | Alnico V | $89 |
| SD Custom Stack Plus Strat | Noiseless | Alnico V | $89 |
| SD Hot Rails Strat | Noiseless | Ceramic | $89 |
| SD Five-Two | Standard | Alnico II+V | $89 |
| DM Sugar Chakra | Noiseless | Ceramic | $96 |
| SD YJM Fury | Noiseless | Alnico V | $99 |
| DM Satch Track | Noiseless | Ceramic | $103 |
| SD Red Devil | Noiseless | Alnico V | $109 |
Telecaster
- All passive pickups
| Pickup | Type | Magnet | Position | Price |
| SD Vintage ’54 Tele | Standard | Alnico V | Bridge | $65 |
| SD Vintage Broadcaster | Standard | Alnico V | Any | $69 |
| SD Quarter Pound Tele | Standard | Alnico V | Any | $69 |
| SD Hot Tele | Standard | Alnico V | Any | $69 |
| SD Vintage Tele | Standard | Alnico V | Neck | $69 |
| DM Pre B-1 | Standard | Alnico V | Bridge | $70 |
| DM True Velvet | Standard | Alnico V | Any | $70 |
| DM Twang King | Standard | Alnico V | Any | $70 |
| SD Alnico II Pro Tele | Standard | Alnico II | Any | $79 |
| SD Hot Stack Tele | Noiseless | Alnico V | Bridge | $79 |
| SD Hot Rails Tele | Noiseless | Ceramic | Any | $89 |
| SD Little ’59 Tele | Noiseless | Ceramic | Bridge | $89 |
| DM Fast Track T | Noiseless | Ceramic | Bridge | $90 |
| DM Super Distortion T | Noiseless | Ceramic | Bridge | $90 |
| DM The Chopper T | Noiseless | Ceramic | Bridge | $90 |
| DM The Tone Zone T | Noiseless | Ceramic | Bridge | $90 |
| DM Area Hot T Bridge | Noiseless | Alnico II | Bridge | $90 |
| DM Area T 615 | Noiseless | Alnico II | Bridge | $90 |
| DM Area Hot T Neck | Noiseless | Alnico II | Neck | $97 |
| DM Notorious | Standard | Alnico V | Any | $97 |
| SD Antiquity II | Standard | Alnico V | Any | $109 |
| SD Antiquity ’55 | Standard | Alnico II/V | Any | $109 |
P90 Pickups
- All passive pickups
| Pickup | Magnets | Price |
| DM The Tone Zone | Ceramic | $75 |
| DM Soapbar | Ceramic | $75 |
| DM DLX Plus | Ceramic | $75 |
| DM Super Distortion | Ceramic | $75 |
| DM Virtual | Ceramic | $80 |
| SD Phat Cat | Alnico II | $89 |
| DM Vintage | Alnico | $90 |
| SD Vintage P90 | Alnico II | $99 |
| SD P-Rails | Alnico V | $99 |
| SD Hot P90 | Ceramic | $99 |
| SD Custom P90 | Ceramic | $99 |
| SD Antiquity P90 Dog Ear | Alnico II | $109 |
| DM Fantom | Neo | $115 |
| SD Antiquity P90 | Alnico II | $119 |
| SD P90 Stack | Alnico V | $119 |
Bass Pickups
- This table is limited to Jazz and Precision bass models, and does not include Seymour Duncan’s pickups designed for other bass guitars.
| Pickup | Bass | Type | Magnet | Strings | Price |
| SD Vintage J Bass | J Bass | Passive | Alnico V | 4 | $69 |
| SD Hot J Bass | J Bass | Passive | Alnico V | 4 | $69 |
| SD Hot P Bass | P Bass | Passive | Alnico V | 4 | $69 |
| DM Area J | J Bass | Passive | Alnico II | 4 | $70 |
| DM Ultra Jazz | J Bass | Passive | Alnico V/ Ceramic | 4 | $70 |
| DM Ultra Jazz 5 | J Bass | Passive | Alnico V/ Ceramic | 5 | $70 |
| SD Quarter Pound J Bass | J Bass | Passive | Alnico V | 4, 5 | $69/ $79 |
| SD Quarter Pounder P Bass | P Bass | Passive | Alnico V | 4, 5 | $79/ $139 |
| SD Vintage P Bass | P Bass | Passive | Alnico V | 4 | $79 |
| SD Hot P Bass | P Bass | Passive | Alnico V | 4 | $79 |
| DM Model P | P Bass | Passive | Ceramic | 4 | $80 |
| DM Area J 5 | J Bass | Passive | Alnico II | 5 | $80 |
| DM Split P | P Bass | Passive | Ceramic | 4 | $85 |
| SD Hot Stack J Bass | J Bass | Passive | Alnico V | 4 | $89 |
| SD Antiquity II P Bass | P Bass | Passive | Alnico V | 4 | $89 |
| SD Steve Harris | P Bass | Passive | Alnico V | 4 | $89 |
| SD Antiquity II J Bass | J Bass | Passive | Alnico V | 4 | $99 |
| SD Apollo J Bass | J Bass | Passive | Alnico V | 4, 5 | $99 |
| DM Model One | Other | Passive | Ceramic | 4 | $101 |
| SD Pro Active J Bass | J Bass | Active | Ceramic | 4 | $119 |
| SD Lightnin’ Rods J Bass | J Bass | Active | Alnico V | 4 | $119 |
| SD Pro Active P Bass | P Bass | Active | Ceramic | 4 | $119 |
| DM Relentless | P Bass | Passive | Ceramic | 4 | $120 |
| DM Relentless Neck | Other | Passive | Ceramic | 4 | $120 |
| DM Sixties P | P Bass | Passive | Alnico V | 4 | $127 |
| DM Model J Set | J Bass | Passive | Ceramic | 4 | $130 (set) |
| SD Antiquity II | P Bass | Passive | Alnico V | 4 | $139 |
| SD Antiquity Raised A | P Bass | Passive | Alnico V | 4 | $139 |
| SD Steve Bailey 2-band System J Bass | J Bass | Active | Ceramic | 4 | $269 (system) |
| SD Rex Brown System J Bass | J Bass | Passive | Alnico V | 4 | $299 (system) |
| SD Rex Brown System P Bass | P Bass | Passive | Alnico V | 4 | $299 (system) |
| SD Steve Bailey 2-band System J Bass | J Bass | Active | Ceramic | 4 | $309 (system) |
Which Pickups are the Best?
This is always a tough question to answer because tone is so subjective. What sounds good to me, might not sound good to you, so one pickup can’t really be described as better than the other. However, here are a few things that you might want to keep in mind:
- Seymour Duncan make active pickups as well as passive pickups, whereas DiMarzio just focus on passive pickups.
- DiMarzio pickups generally sound a bit tighter and more focused.
- Seymour Duncan pickups usually sound warmer and more balanced.
The best thing to do, is to use the tables above to identify the pickups in your budget and go from there. Consider the style of music you like to play and whether versatility is something you really need.
I also have some more comparisons of pickup brands below if you’re still on your search for the best brand for you!
Here are some more articles you might find useful: