One is a dimarzio in a sort of odd p90 shape. The kohms reading is of approx 12.8.
The other is a SD. I have had trouble getting a clear reading on it last time I tried but believe it's around 16Kohms.
I contacted both dimarzio and SD. Dimarzio could not ID it but think it could have come off an old yamaha. Apparently, they provided pickups for them in the late 80s early 90s.
SD did not reply...
I am not expecting anybody to ID the dimarzio, unless I get really lucky. But maybe someone has an idea regarding the SD.
The DiMarzio is numbered as a DLX Plus but the DC resistance is way off so it being an OEM custom model makes sense. The Duncan is probably a Distortion or JB.
Wow, yes the dimarzio does look similar to the yam; could be that exact same pickup actually. However the pole pieces aren't black/dark but standard. I also don't see why, given the age of that guitar and the pickup cavity shape, anyone would rip its only pup out knowing it cannot really be replaced. Maybe it came off an older guitar. But I don't know anything about the age of this pickup. I have had these PUs for about 2 years, so don't really know.
Could be a DLX Plus neck, which has a 13.8 kohms reading. But then why would dimarzio suggest it came off a yamaha...
dpm: true, given the output, could be either. Both are good, so I'm a happy man
The dimarzio is p90 size I believe. If you can get a peak at the Duncan magnet you'll be able to tell what it is. Shiny magnet is alnico so that mean jb. Black magnet is ceramic which means distortion. IIRC the dist magnet is thicker too.
One of the tricks to identifying Dimarzios is not only taking a DC resistance reading, but noting the patent stickers. That P90 has a 4501185 patent sticker on it, which is Dimarzio's patent for dual-resonance coils. The only two current Dimarzio P90s using only that patent are the DLX Plus Bridge and Neck. If you can get a precise resistance measurement at room temperature, you can see if it matches the resistance for either of those. The DLX Plus Bridge is 17.3 kOhms, the Neck is 13.8 kOhms. If it doesn't match either of those, then it's probably an OEM model, as you mention.
Edit: I just took a closer look at the pic. It says DP154 right on it. That's a DLX Plus Bridge:
The dimarzio reads 12.8, right? If so it's no dp154. For early production or OEM stuff they often put a little sticker with a hand written number on other base plates. Could be the sticker fell off or something like that.
But DP154 is indeed engraved onto the baseplate.. Think I'm better of double checking with the multimeter. I'm no pro with multimeters, maybe I managed to do it all wrong, assuming it's possible to make a mistake when poking wires with little pointy sticks..
12.8 is right for a humbucker though, and that baseplate (and construction) is entirely nonstandard, so there's a good chance they just put them together with existing parts.
Ok well could not get a clear multimeter reading for either of the PUs last night. Don't know why, maybe low bats or smth.
Checked the magnet in the SD: black. The thing is old (before SD put their brand on the face of their pickups, so maybe the magnets changed color.. Dunno. Hoping it's ceramic though. I'll be installing it on a project of mine these next days so should find out soon enough.
Ok well could not get a clear multimeter reading for either of the PUs last night. Don't know why, maybe low bats or smth.
Checked the magnet in the SD: black. The thing is old (before SD put their brand on the face of their pickups, so maybe the magnets changed color.. Dunno. Hoping it's ceramic though. I'll be installing it on a project of mine these next days so should find out soon enough.
That's a ceramic magnet. The only Seymour Duncan humbucker with a ceramic magnet, the polepieces shown in the picture, and a DC resistance of about 16kOhm is the Duncan Distortion Bridge. I wonder if you mixed up the two resistance readings in the first post? That would make sense, since the Dimarzio DP154 should be around 17kOhm. If the Duncan is then the 12.something kOhm reading, it's probably a Duncan Distortion Neck:
Dunno... the reading went all wild once I turned my attention to the dimarzio... As if I were testing the wrong wires. I don't know, I just have had trouble getting a clear reading recently.. Maybe stripping the wires a little bit might help, there is little contact space.
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