The title says it all - Seymour Duncan markets this one for "extreme metal", and it's certainly great in that application, but there is SO much more loaded up in this thing. Balanced tone across the spectrum, and really amazing response to pick attack and volume/tone control adjustments. After installing this pickup, I dialed in a high-gain lead tone on my old ADA tube preamp, and just for kicks I rolled the volume control back to see how well it handles. Well, it handles - I got an edge-of-breakup clean sound WITH THE AMP STILL ON THE HOT LEAD SETTING.

Sound
A+ tone for metal, but also REALLY good for blues, classic/hard rock, jazz (with the tone and volume knobs backed off a bit) and, yes, even COUNTRY. I wired it up for coil-splitting, and due to the high output level, it does a very convincing Telecaster single-coil sound. I haven't been able to get a bad tone out of this thing.

Features
Excellent quality, exactly what I expect from Seymour Duncan. I haven't been disappointed yet, and I don't expect to.

Ease of Use
Really easy to get great tones out of this, all across the board! Like with any pickup, you'll have to spend a few minutes adjusting the height to get the response right, but that's also easy.

Quality
Again, two words say it all: "Seymour Duncan". Quality is pro-level, which is not surprising since many professional guitarists use these in… read more their guitars for recording and touring.

Value
EXCELLENT value, at least as good as pickups costing twice as much. Again, there's a reason that pros all over the world use Duncan pickups.

Manufacturer Support
I've never had to contact Seymour Duncan for any mechanical or quality issues, but I did reach out with a wiring question some years ago - they were prompt, helpful, and responsive, and I don't expect that that's changed since then.

The Wow Factor
I got this to replace a Dimarzio D-Activator that came stock in an Ibanez Xiphos, and... Is it "better"? That's subjective, but to me, the answer is an emphatic "YES!" The old pickup was serviceable, but not inspiring - it didn't have the "mojo". This one does.

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