New (to me) Seymour Duncan DS-100

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it read all original for a very short time!!!

but you are correct, the description was incorrect at that time, for a day or so after the neck change..

if you had contacted me, which you did not, I would have explained to you exactly what the guitars were and that the necks were not original to each guitar. however I do think that they all have the correct necks for the specs now...I still need to recheck again, but i have no time at the moment..

heh maybe i will swop back the necks and the pickguards over!!!

there are no experts unfortunately...unless you can find one for me..

I still do not know what neck should be on what guitar for sure :(

the one in the middle is all original i think!!
 
i would like to give you an info mr Jacaranda.
if your friend bought a Seymour Duncan new in France in the 90's
they NEVER BE a DS185 or more as the only Duncan imported in France
at this time ( i know it because my best friend had one of the most big
music shop in Pigalle at this time) were only DS100 , as for Fender JV
the maxi model was the JV65.
and the equipment and finish are totally different from a DS100 to highest models.

another french guy ...

:D
 
Was the DS-200 model in the end available in 1991? What a stunning sunburst!
DS01734778_main_thumb.jpg
 
i don' t know but you can ask to the seller photos of the heel neck
as there is a stamp with the manufacturing date .
it is only a Fender type with only 4 bolts to putt off i.e five minutes to do that
( putt off , pictures , putt in)
i know there was DS185 in 91 as i had one that 's only i can say.
my DS185 was with an Ash Body and maple neck when this 200 is Alder body and rosewood neck and normally the price is the same.
For me DS200 came later than the 185 but may be i am wrong.
that is why the best way is to ask to the seller to take pictures
 
and i checked your link and it is very expansive for a DS200.

for this price you can get a Navigator !!!

forget ! :roll:
 
yeah they do look like the same pickups. Mine don't have a stamp on them like those. At least I don't think they do.

It's an interesting one. Here's my guess....it was a custom order back in the day for someone.

The neck "code" with the "ED79215C" matches the mark in the body, so that makes me think it would be original.

I'm taking the "c" to mean custom order.

And the 215 price would make sense back when the mid range model was 185. That's a 30000 yen surcharge for getting a model made to personal specs...sounds reasonable to me.

Either that or the 215 was just the standard for the alder duncans and just not as common. It would be great to see a catalog from the first era.

Who knows if the relicing is "original" or if some owner decided to get it done afterwards. If it is original...that's pretty interesting...as it would have been very forward thinking at the time right? The whole relic craze is a lot younger than that guitar isn't it?
 
Hey, I didn't notice that code on the neck : 215c for... 215c.
Do all your duncans have such a code?
In the end, I did some research, and found a third 215c here.

t02200293_0240032010281725027.jpg


Another one with gold parts.
Same seller.
And same pickups again (from what I see, it seems that your bridge pickup has the same kind of stamp).
IMG_5718.jpg

It's listed as a 200.

By the way, if 215 indicates the price range... May gold parts be considered as an option... and cause a little price increase, to take your point?
From 200 to 215.
Or from 185 to 200.
It's a bit confusing to me...
Why do so few have interest in the Duncan line?
 
jacaranda said:
Could someone tell me what are the exact differences between a DS 250 and a DS 280?

Well...I'm basing this on the catalog for the 280's and my own 250 so....

the pickups....250 looking like SSL 1 and the 280 having Alnico 'beefed up'
my body is a book matched two piece; 280's are listed as being one piece

The nitro on the 280 is supposed to be unsealed. The 250 may or may not be. At first seeing some of the matte finishes on the 280's here I though that was what 'unsealed' meant but then I saw some 280's that looked pretty gloss to me (same as my 250) so who knows.

Finger board edges appear to be rolled on the few 280's I've seen. My 250 isn't.

That's about all I can tell so far.
 
and also the radius.

250 have the vintage Fender radius i.e 7,25
280 have the modern Fender radius i.e 9,50

but i do not agree concerning the body . in fact the 280 body in one piece
looks wrong as one friend of mine have one and the body is two pieces
well centred but two pieces.

the main differences in fact look to be the nitro unsealed and the Duncan Beef up and the radius
 
See this is what I mean about it being nearly impossible to tell sometimes.

Like megadrive's 280 he posted on page 10 or whatever it was.

It's finish looks totally gloss and identical to my 250. So how do we know the 250's weren't 'unsealed' lacquer as well? Again it's not like a matte finish means unsealed. unsealed just means they didn't use grain filler. mine certainly doesn't seem to have any grain filler apparent in the cavities. I'm not convinced that sealed/unsealed is a difference in the models.

His 'alnico beefed up' pickups have the exact same triangular base plate as mine. Different stickers yes, and the "1" on mine does suggest SSL's but still...totally conclusive? I don't think so.
 
forget my own guitar as initially Isibashi sold it to me for a 280 when in reality it is a 250 !

in fact they sold it like a 280 as the seller indicated to them it was one but it was wrong.

so that is normal my nitro is more " glossy" than the "280's unsealed nitro"
and one friend of mine leaving in Tokyo have the 2000 ESP catalog showing
the 250 like mine with Antiquity Texas Hot SD PUs in .

the beefup SD PU's are really differents of the SSL1. ( magnets , wire ;..)
 
megadrive said:
forget my own guitar as initially Isibashi sold it to me for a 280 when in reality it is a 250 !

in fact they sold it like a 280 as the seller indicated to them it was one but it was wrong.

so that is normal my nitro is more " glossy" than the "280's unsealed nitro"
and one friend of mine leaving in Tokyo have the 2000 ESP catalog showing
the 250 like mine with Antiquity Texas Hot SD PUs in .

the beefup SD PU's are really differents of the SSL1. ( magnets , wire ;..)

yeah..but again....I've seen other 280's that were high gloss. And I know they were 280's.

I'm simply saying I don't think "gloss factor" for lack of a better term...determines if it's unsealed nitro or not. Look at Hahn guitars...his are all glossy and he doesn't seal his nitro.

As for the pickups who knows. The guy who sold me mine thought they were the beefed up but I think they are most likely the SSL1.

As I said...it's confusing and most likely always will be.
 
Thanks.
It's once again a little confusing.
Was there beefed up before the antiquity pickups comes in, megadrive?
And do you guys have a preference for one of the model you played (between the 250 and the 280 level)?
 
soundcreation said:
megadrive said:
forget my own guitar as initially Isibashi sold it to me for a 280 when in reality it is a 250 !

in fact they sold it like a 280 as the seller indicated to them it was one but it was wrong.

so that is normal my nitro is more " glossy" than the "280's unsealed nitro"
and one friend of mine leaving in Tokyo have the 2000 ESP catalog showing
the 250 like mine with Antiquity Texas Hot SD PUs in .

the beefup SD PU's are really differents of the SSL1. ( magnets , wire ;..)

yeah..but again....I've seen other 280's that were high gloss. And I know they were 280's.

I'm simply saying I don't think "gloss factor" for lack of a better term...determines if it's unsealed nitro or not. Look at Hahn guitars...his are all glossy and he doesn't seal his nitro.

As for the pickups who knows. The guy who sold me mine thought they were the beefed up but I think they are most likely the SSL1.

As I said...it's confusing and most likely always will be.

Hi,

Concerning the pickups:

As far as I know, Alnico-II and Alnico-V 'Beefed up' were introduced in the Vintage Pro line in 2000, when they switched to the 280 range, closer to Navigator specifications.

The previous Pros (DS-250) were significantly different (choice of wood, profile, radius, frets, comfort grip, finish...), and equipped with Antiquity Texas Hot pickups.

Early models, with overwounded SSL-1 pickups.

Moreover, 'Beefed up' stands for 'SSL-1 Power Boost'.


A friend of mine leaved me a DS-280R from 2003 (S03XXXXX serial on the back of the headstock) that he bought recently.

The resistance of each pickup is
Neck 7,20 - Middle 7,32 - Bridge 7,12

They are indeed referred to as 'SSL-1 Power Boost', even if you'll hardly find any information on them.


Concerning the finish, the 1998 catalog mention 'All lacquer' for the DS-250 Pro.
Sometimes pictures are misleading.
But an all lacquer DS-250 can't be confused with an unsealed lacquer DS-280 the instrument at hand.
These are truly different guitars, with a higher level of craftmanship on the last Pros (DS-280).

Furthermore, most of the sellers simply don't know what they sell.
Ishibashi sold Megadrive's DS-250M as a DS-280M.
My friend bought them his DS-280R last week.
Althought the model was written in the neck pickup cavity (DS-280R Pro) - and despite the late serial -, they sold it as a 250 Pro.
Finally, the shop where I bought my last 280 didn't even know the differences between a vintage standard and a vintage pro (althought the model was once again written in full in the pickup cavity).

In keeping with what you wrote, a special order is of course possible (as the black 'reverse' DS-280M-RV of Sugizo).
But all the 280 I've personally seen, and formally identified as such, were unsealed - and totally different from a 250.

Here's for example the naturally worned, unsealed all lacquer, DS-280R Pro that my friend purchased:

9368537805_8a2b6ed31e_c.jpg

9371322084_36ee8d829d_c.jpg

9368550189_5f911e1a74_c.jpg
 

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