Brandon Ellis Signature Dyad Parallel Axis

[A.JohnHayes]

Brandon Ellis Signature Dyad Parallel Axis™ Humbucker

The Seymour Duncan Custom Shop has been creating custom guitar pickups since 1976. If you dream it, we can build it.

customshop.seymourduncan.com

"Brandon Ellis has become known as one of the most innovative guitarists in heavy music, and his work with The Black Dahlia Murder shows there is no limit to his virtuosity. Performing lightning-fast arpeggio sweeps, aggressive tremolo picking, and propulsive down-tuned riffs requires guitar tone that can keep up the pace and cut through the mix. While experimenting with different Seymour Duncan pickups over his career, Brandon’s sound became defined by our Parallel Axis™ humbuckers. This line of pickups features two slotted pole pieces per string, which removes distortion from the string’s vibration pattern. This ensures better note separation and extended sustain by creating a decentralized magnetic field.

Dabbling in pickup design himself, Brandon concocted a hybrid pickup combining two of his favorite Parallel Axis™ models: The North coil of a Crazy 8 and the hotter South coil of a Parallel Axis™ Trembucker Distortion, along with the Alnico 2 bar magnet from an RTM.

The result is the Dyad, a high output Humbucker with a sizzly bite and a super articulate pick attack that perfectly suited Brandon’s needs. Despite being a single bridge pickup, the Dyad offers more tones than meets the eye. Flipping the pickup upside down, in Brandon’s words “offers a chewier, mid-range focused sound for guitarists looking for more body out of their instrument in standard tunings.”

The Dyad is available in humbucker and trembucker spacing, and comes standard with dual Seymour Duncan logos facing inward in tribute to Brandon’s original homemade design.

Magnet: Alnico 2

DC Resistance: 18.3k

Cable Type: 4 Conductor"

Seems like an interesting design.

 

[Yul Brynner]

Jesus 18.3k resistance. That's a super high output pickup!

 

[technomancer]

Jesus 18.3k resistance. That's a super high output pickup!

resistance != output

 

[DimMak]

Seems more midrangey than I thought it would be. I recently bought a RTM and its become one of my favorite pickups. Also have been interested in the 59/custom hybrid. Trying to decide if I want a custom shop Parallel Axis RTM or the Dyad.
The RTM has high resistance on paper and is pretty hot but its very smooth with alot of headroom. Not your typical screaming hot pickup.

I need more guitars to put more pickups in.

 

[Yul Brynner]

Seems more midrangey than I thought it would be. I recently bought a RTM and its become one of my favorite pickups. Also have been interested in the 59/custom hybrid. Trying to decide if I want a custom shop Parallel Axis RTM or the Dyad.
The RTM has high resistance on paper and is pretty hot but its very smooth with alot of headroom. Not your typical screaming hot pickup.

I need more guitars to put more pickups in.

That's what I've noticed is the higher the output the more midrangey a pickup is. I like most pickups 17k and below. I tried a bkp and Merlin hellfire around 20-22k and they were both unbearably bad. I'd rather boost a low output pickup and have more control over the sound.

 

[Emperoff]

We need to kill the DCR = Output thing dead. Really. You see things like Seymour Duncan marketing the Pegasus as a mid-output pickup because it has less DC Resistance than the JB, when it's actually hotter (because it's wound with a different wire).

Also, this one has an A2 magnet, which is way less powerful than an A5 or a Ceramic.

 

[Necky379]

Love to see it, congrats Brandon.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

I'm all for more hybrid coil pickups. The 59 custom and p-rails are some of the best pickups SD makes imo.

 

[MetalDestroyer]

this thing sounds rad when Brandon plays it, but I know it would sound ass as soon as I put it in one of my guitars

 

[DimMak]

We need to kill the DCR = Output thing dead. Really. You see things like Seymour Duncan marketing the Pegasus as a mid-output pickup because it has less DC Resistance than the JB, when it's actually hotter (because it's wound with a different wire).

Also, this one has an A2 magnet, which is way less powerful than an A5 or a Ceramic.

My original Parallel Axis has lower DCR than the RTM but definitely "feels" hotter and nastier. Alinico 5 vs 2 I assume.

 

[bnzboy]

Last week I installed a parallel axis humbucker for my mahogany strat, it sounds killer! I can only imagine it will sound even better as a customshop version.

 

[lattjeful]

Hmm a high output alnico 2 pickup... for metal. Color me intrigued. Brandon's playing and tone are fantastic.

 

[Mathemagician]

Only passive I’m remotely interested in. Wonder if they’ll update his sign to include it. May try it that way. By which I mean have a paper thin reason to buy a dope ass Kelly.

 

[OmegaSlayer]

Listened to the video yesterday and it sounded great

 

[DimMak]

We need to kill the DCR = Output thing dead. Really. You see things like Seymour Duncan marketing the Pegasus as a mid-output pickup because it has less DC Resistance than the JB, when it's actually hotter (because it's wound with a different wire).

Also, this one has an A2 magnet, which is way less powerful than an A5 or a Ceramic.

I honestly have very little idea what DCR relates to or how it effects tone.

This Dyad is a Alinico 2 magnet with one coil wound like a Parallel Axis distortion and the other like the Crazy 8 Parallel axis? You couldn't have 2 kinds of magnets in one humbucker?

Curious to see how it sounds tuned to E or Eb. Seems like it would sound better down around C like he plays.

 

[Chri]

Now, if only we could get this in a 7 string config without having to pay out the ass.

 

[Necky379]

I honestly have very little idea what DCR relates to or how it effects tone.

This Dyad is a Alinico 2 magnet with one coil wound like a Parallel Axis distortion and the other like the Crazy 8 Parallel axis? You couldn't have 2 kinds of magnets in one humbucker?

Curious to see how it sounds tuned to E or Eb. Seems like it would sound better down around C like he plays.

The way that I understand it, the more winds the higher the DCR and the more the peak shifts lower. You lose highs, gain mids and low end. I found through reading and experimenting myself that this effect can be negated or accentuated a bit with other components used in the pickup’s construction.

You could have two different magnets, some pickups use an A5 bar and ceramic flankers for example. The Gibson Iommi pickup has a crazy magnet configuration too.

It says in the description, facing one way is better for tuning down. If you flip it around it’s supposed to be beefier for standard tuning.

What I’m still curious about is in earlier videos Brandon was saying he chose A2 because it gave him the most low end. That has not been my experience but an expert I’m not. I’ve never swapped from A5 to A2 in the same pickup but to my ears A5 pickups have more low end than A2 pickups. I’m thinking maybe he’s hearing some low mids filling in with the A2 and considering it low end. He also doesn’t say that in this new video which has been edited and pieced together in parts it seems. I wonder if Duncan corrected him or if I’m totally off. I’d like to hear from someone who’s swapped both in the same pickup. Otherwise, eventually I’ll swap A2 into something and see for myself I’m sure.

 

[Matt08642]

The way that I understand it, the more winds the higher the DCR and the more the peak shifts lower. You lose highs, gain mids and low end. I found through reading and experimenting myself that this effect can be negated or accentuated a bit with other components used in the pickup’s construction.

Yep there's a strong correlation there:



It'd be cool if major manufacturers published more info about things like wire gauges used and other info.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

The way that I understand it, the more winds the higher the DCR and the more the peak shifts lower. You lose highs, gain mids and low end. I found through reading and experimenting myself that this effect can be negated or accentuated a bit with other components used in the pickup’s construction.

You could have two different magnets, some pickups use an A5 bar and ceramic flankers for example. The Gibson Iommi pickup has a crazy magnet configuration too.

It says in the description, facing one way is better for tuning down. If you flip it around it’s supposed to be beefier for standard tuning.

What I’m still curious about is in earlier videos Brandon was saying he chose A2 because it gave him the most low end. That has not been my experience but an expert I’m not. I’ve never swapped from A5 to A2 in the same pickup but to my ears A5 pickups have more low end than A2 pickups. I’m thinking maybe he’s hearing some low mids filling in with the A2 and considering it low end. He also doesn’t say that in this new video which has been edited and pieced together in parts it seems. I wonder if Duncan corrected him or if I’m totally off. I’d like to hear from someone who’s swapped both in the same pickup. Otherwise, eventually I’ll swap A2 into something and see for myself I’m sure.

I did a magnet swap comparison a while back and honestly the differences between a5, a4 or a2 are overplayed in the context of high gain tones ime. EDIT: comparison vid doesn't have an a2 mag in it but has all the others.
Here's the comparison if you're curious:

 

[Necky379]

Black Winter uses ceramic flanking magnets though. I wonder if the effect would be more pronounced in a single magnet design.