I bought this quite some time ago. I was gonna fix it into one of the Gibsons but held back & saved it for one of the single humbucking guitars. Then it got misplaced, was MIA until recently when I went looking for my keys. It's a Custom Shop Alan Holdsworth humbucker, the AH1B otherwise known as the Metal Fatigue, proudly wound by MJ herself. The thing is, it's given a relic look at the production end, the rusty pole pieces are definitely not my thing. Since this approach worked for me for one of my SGs, I bought a plastic cover to give it a blackout look.
It looks like the Kiesel Holdsworth now sports a serious active humbucker but you know what's going on, really. Why did I swap the Kiesel humbucker out for this one since Kiesel custom voiced its pickup according to Holdworth's specs? I think you know by now that I'm a Duncan fan & I somehow believe that this version has something for me. It's that unspoken magic or just mere understanding of what the Seymour Duncan name has to offer when it comes to tone. Both pickups are capable of capturing the signature Holdsworth tone, that deep, bass inclined, semi-alien voicing which is almost synth like in its qualities. However, unlike the Kiesel version, the Duncan version is richer in harmonics & would serve metal dweebs like me when it comes to extreme distortion & quick solo bursts. So that was yesterday's indulgences. It's a quick trip to Beez's to get this installation done, was home in a jiffy to enjoy the 'new' tone.
