Seymour Duncan Jupiter Humbucker Set

The Jupiter 6-string set is a reply to Wes Hauch’s signature Jupiter 7-string bridge pickup.

Wes is a legacy Duncan company fan that declares mad props for Seymour and the legitimacy of a heritage approach to gear. As Wes connects with the company and works through the catalog, he refines his approach to his own tone. There are a few things to look at here.

One is that his projects slant more toward tech metal, prog metal, deathcore, and most metal styles you will consider extreme. HaHa! Another is that Wes is a fan of Texas legend Dimebag Darrell. Dime’s music , of course, is all about most every other type of metal. So… we can all agree this is going to be a tone borne in the furnaces of… yes… metal music. LOL!

Speaking of Dime, you can clearly see the Jupiter’s resemblance to Dime’s bridge humbuckers. The Bill Lawrence L500 series humbucker and the Seymour Duncan Dimebucker.

However, Hauch’s taste in music is quite diverse. On one side, we have Roy Orbison, John Lee Hooker, Pearl Jam, and Phil Collins. Then we are looking at Sepultura, Morbid Angel, Carcass, and Elton John. Hey, you cross Elton and you will know why he hade that column. HaHa!

Installation

For this evaluation, I am putting the Jupiter set in to a neutral-sounding double-cut double-hum 25-1/2″ scale guitar. It has a German Floyd Rose 1984 tremolo system, Bourns 500k pots, Switchcraft 12120x 3-way, and a Switchcraft 151 1/4″ jack. It has 10-46 strings and standard E tuning.

Evaluation

The Jupiter set is definitely good for high-octane high-energy musical styles. Really precise and very articulate. Loads of punch in the riffs and great for percussive style players. Definition in even the biggest and more complex chords. You will not find a harmonic anywhere on the neck that the Jupiter will not be the best of friends with.

Looking at the neck position, the Jupiter neck does hold together down low with no mud or slop. The high end has edge for leads with lots of focus. One can expect the standard throaty character of a Duncan neck humbucker in the 10-15 fret range. It is great for a heavier, rock-style blues lead work. The notes hold on to sustain like nobody’s business.

On a clean amp setting, the Jupiter neck is quite versatile. Slightly rounder and fuller in series mode. Split mode will reveal a glassy, pristine sparkle. The bridge is a little bit more aggressive. Working the guitar’s volume knob or sliding in to split mode will go a long way.

Let’s face it, people are clearly looking at the Jupiter up next to the Dimebucker. Considering all factors, that’s a fair approach. But I do have to say that the Jupiter is NOT the Dimebucker or a Dime pickup clone. Although I can imagine Dime liking the Jupiter.

Here is a demo of Wes Hauch comparing the two. This also gives a good baseline, if you are familiar with the Dimebucker.

Here is Wes talking about and playing the Jupiter set:

Remember that whole thing about being versatile and having different influences? Here is Wes putting his take on the outro to Clapton’s “Layla”

Specs

That appears pretty mild on paper, considering Hauch’s history with bands like The Faceless, Thy Art Is Murder, Glass Casket, Black Crown Initiate, and Alluvial. It’s another indication that specs and readings don’t always translate as we expect and that it doesn’t take s super-hot wind to peel the paint off the walls. LOL!

The Jupiter 6-string set is going to be good for fusion, hard rock, progressive metal, djent metal, nu-metal, thrash, death metal, metalcore, rock, punk, progressive rock, and extreme metal styles.

For reference, this Seymour Duncan Wes Hauch Signature Jupiter 6-string humbucker set evaluation was conducted with a Fractal Axe-Fx II XL+ featuring Celestion Impluse Responses and Fractal MFC-101 MIDI Foot Controller.  Real cabs in use are Marshall 1960B, Mojotone British, and Peavey 6505 cabs loaded with Celestion Classic Series Vintage 30s and Classic Series G12M Greenbacks.

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