Seymour Duncan Sentient High Output Neck Humbucker Pickup - Black Reviews
Sometimes it's hard to know whether a piece of gear will really live up to the hype. Fortunately (and Sweetwater guitarists agree), Seymour Duncan and his wife, Cathy, their son, Derek, and all the rest of the Seymour Duncan family are still designing pickups and building them by hand in Santa Barbara, California. With its Alnico 5 bar magnet, nickel silver bottom plate, and 4-conductor lead wire, the Seymour Duncan Sentient high-output humbucking neck pickup features design elements with the flexibility and balance needed for a wide dynamic range. The Sentient works especially well with low tunings, offering the articulation, pristine clean tones, and fluid leads that metal guitarists require.
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Highest Rated Reviews
THE neck pickup for modern metal
The Sentient has quickly become my favorite neck pick up in general, but it really shines when playing modern metal genres. One of the big features of this humbucker is that even tho it is described as being "high output" (and it is for sure), it maintains a ton of articulation and with volume roll back, it will provide you with the foundation for pretty much any tone you need from the neck.
At its core is a P.A.F. variation, wound hotter and all that. It really balances the harmonic content that is so forward in many PAF vintage pickups with the modern ability to cut through a mix and not sound muddy or like its running out of push.
For people like me that primarily play heavier stuff, but want the flexibility to do most other things I can say that the Sentient will serve you very well.
Best modern neck pickup
This is the best neck pickup that I have played. Very articulated and perfect for solos, it is something close to the classics Jass (SH-1) or '59 (SH-2) but more modern: more gain and definition.
Great modern neck pickup
Very balanced sounding and clear. Great bass without losing clarity. Midrange is clear and balanced. Highs are present but not harsh. Doesn't sound muddy with gain. Pairs great with a Pegasus or Nazgûl.
MUCH more than another metal humbucker
After reading copious amounts of reviews and watching a plethora of YT demos, I decided to buy this as an upgrade in place of my SD 59N in my GibsonSG Standard with 50s wiring. This is the ONLY neck humbucker I'll EVER buy. Yes. It is THAT good. Hard rock and metal solos? Of course, that's the intended market and it excels at this. Hard rock and metal rhythm? Yes indeed, more clarity than the 59N. How's this humbucker stack up playing blues, blues rock, classic rock? This is what you all need to know about the Sentient humbucker: it is absolutely beautiful! It is shimmering clean, at least on my guitar. Not too high, not too low, and NO MUDDINESS (just set the correct pickup height and they sing). Roll back the tone to "0" and get that EC Woman Tone. And the classic rock solos on the neck, oh my! Look, if you're considering a neck pup with more clarity, less low end boom, then I highly recommend this and can say with confidence that you will not regret the purchase.
Great pickup for leads
Pickup sounds great and it was just what I was looking for! Do your research before buying this pickup because you're gonna discover a lot of amazing this in the specs for this pickup. I had a great experience ordering this product. Order came sooner than said and Sweetwater kept in touch and ensured my satisfaction while waiting for the order. Thank you Stephen!
Seymour Duncan Sentient
I'm not much of a neck pickup guy as I play death metal, which is like 99 percent on the bridge pickup. However, I was looking for a new HSH set for my JEM77 because the Gravity Storms weren't quite getting the tone I was looking for. I emailed the nice folks at Seymour Duncan and they recommended a Pegasus, Red Devil, and Sentient. I had liked the Sentient from a Jackson 7 string, so now here we are.
I tune to Drop B, so finding a neck pickup that is suited for low tuned metal is difficult, as most "metal" neck pickups are just either a lower output bridge pickup or a PAF variant. The Sentient does fall in line with PAF variants, but I find that it's way more clear and focused than a PAF (I've got a SD 59 neck in my Godin), and most importantly it sounds different than the Pegasus.
Duncan says that the Sentient is halfway between a 59 and a Jazz and I definitely believe them. In Drop B, it has tons of clarity and warmth without every becoming wooly or muddy. When in position 4 with the Red Devil, it is super spanky and warm, not unlike other Strat position 4s, but definitely unique in its tone. I really want to hear how it sounds with coil splitting and series/parallel wiring but I don't have a super switch on my JEM77 right now.
Great Neck Pickup!
I honestly don't use my neck pickup a lot since I do a lot of metal and that requires me to be on the bride PU all the time, but whenver I do a solo or fill, I always switch to this! It sounds great under gain and it still retains the clarity. This PU is also great for Classic Rock believe it or not, and it has great cleans! Also if you are a jazz player I would definitely give this a try since it has a smooth tone when you do jazz and it just sounds great! And since it is a hybrid of the SD Jazz and 59' you get the best of both worlds, so why wouldn't you get one of these?
