The SH-7 has a bit more information going on about it. This pickup was designed around 1980, and wasn’t really a super hot pickup. The common name for it was the Seymourizer II. The term “Seymourizer” was coined when Seymour Duncan rewound pickups and would ship them back to the customer, having ‘Seymourized’ the pickup! The Seymourizer II was around 12k wound with 43AWG wire, had a conventional look (one row of slugs, one row of fillister screws) and had a thick ceramic magnet, just like the SH-6 Distortion. Since the SH-7 Seymourizer proved to be an excellent neck pickup for high gain applications, the pickup was frequently paired with the SH-6 Distortion as a great set for heavy metal and other styles that require a tight, articulate, grinding tone. As a matter of fact, the SH-6/SH-7 combination proved to be so popular, the SH-7 got relabeled as the SH-6n! So even though the SH-7 may seem to be discontinued, it’s still available through the ‘regular’ shop and it can still be bought.

I actually like this pickup in the bridge better than in the neck. Maybe that’s because I don’t like ceramic magnets in general, but in the neck it’s too tight and too crunchy for my taste. In the bridge, though, it’s amazing. It feels like a tighter SH-10 Screaming Demon, but with more scream and less ‘growl.’ It sacrifices the glassy transparency of the Screaming Demon in favor of (how ironic!) scream! I tried to categorize this pickup once: is it an underwound version of one of the ‘custom’ pickups? An overwound PAF? I actually have no idea, and honestly, why should I care? I know what it sounds like and I know it’s a great base for many hybrids, too!

Seymour Duncan Technical Lead Scott Miller says:

“It made sense to give it a neck pickup that could be a go-to in terms of matching it up. One interesting thing is that even after it was switched to the SH-6n, the production sticker remained the same. So for a period of years, if you purchased an SH-6n, the sticker on the bottom would say ‘SEY’, which stood for seymourizer.”

The SH-9 is a bit more of a mystery. I went through piles of old magazines, adds and ebay listings to find an SH-9, and this is what I found.

It was initially called the Silverbird, and this pickup was supposed to go in an obscure Gibson guitar. Unfortunately I was unable to discover which guitar, but I suppose it’s a guitar with a silver finish (perhaps Silverburst?) as a nice tie-in with the name of the pickup. I spoke with some guys at the R&D department of Seymour Duncan and one thing that stands out in all stories is that this humbucker was comprised of two Tele bobbins and had two Alnico II bars as pole pieces. The Silverbird was in the day quite hot, but with pickups like the Alternative 8, the Blackout series, the Parallel Axis Trembucker II and (from the Custom Shop) the visually similar El Diablo (though sonically totally different!), the Silverbird can be considered a medium hot pickup by todays standards.

Could this guitar have been loaded up with the Silverbird once? Who knows! At least we get an idea of a silver burst Les Paul with a double blade pickup

I’m saddened by the cancellation of this pickup, because it looked quite cool and I suppose the tone is awesome, too. However, I do have a hard time figuring out exactly how this pickup would sound. Some say the SH-9 sounded bold, articulate and bit fat. Others say it was very clear with lots of treble. All I know is that I’d love to see the SH-9 in one of my guitars! I could wait for it to pop up on eBay, but why wait? The Custom Shop can make almost any pickup I can dream of! A humbucker for a mandolin is possible, a humbucker that makes a Les Paul sound like a ’52 Telecaster, a full humbucker under a p90 cover… You dream it, they make it!

This leaves just one more question: why were these pickups renamed and discontinued, respectively? In case of the SH-7 Seymourizer, I suppose they renamed the pickup to streamline the line up. I guess it was convenient to make matched sets because the market kind of demands it. So many humbuckers in the Seymour Duncan lineup come as a set: the ’59, the Jazz, the Invader, the Distortion, the Pearly Gates, the Alnico 2 Pro, etc etc. One of the few pickups from the early days that doesn’t come in a matched set is the Custom and the JB (but the JB’s neck pickup of choice was, and still is, the Jazz, and because these two pickups were created simultaneously I can imagine the hesitation of naming the jazz the SH-4-JBn, or something like that!).

Scott Miller says: “I think the main reason this one was discontinued is that it was too big for a lot of guitars. It was built with two Tele Hot Stack bobbins, and there is no way that pickup could ever fit into any humbucker mounting ring (and we did not provide one that would fit). And, in a lot of cases, the mounting ring was a moot point because the pickup wouldn’t even fit physically into the route. Size is definitely the issue on this one.”

There was no Custom Shop at the time, so making these pickups would put a huge strain on the production line. Consequently, the price of the Silverbird was quite steep. Combined with declining sales of the Guild Silverbird guitar (and the decline of Guild as a brand of electric guitars in general during the early 1990s) I guess its cancellation was inevitable.

Five guys who have been known to make a few mistakes.

Sometimes I think it’s a miracle that any bands succeed at all, given all the things stacked against them. The world can be very unforgiving to music, especially for those of us on the fringes of popularity (or, if you’re like me, staring at the fringes of popularity through a high powered telescope). This makes it all the more important to not unintentionally sabotage your band with common – and preventable – mistakes.

This article explains five of the most common mistakes that I’ve seen bands make, and provides suggestions on how to avoid them. Some of them might seem obvious to you. On the other hand, some of them may not even seem like mistakes when you’re in the middle of making them.

Mistake 1: Failure to Communicate

It seems almost ridiculous to have to point this out, but I’ve met and worked with plenty of bands that absolutely suck at basic human communication. It’s an epidemic in the music world. Being great at an instrument or charismatic on stage doesn’t translate to being able to communicate clearly and effectively with your band. This is not something to be shrugged off; communication problems are at the root of nearly everything else that can go wrong with a band.

“Present”

A good idea for any band is to set aside some time to put down the instruments and chat. Tailor it to fit the attitude of the band and the people in it. It can be a proper “band meeting” with an agenda, an informal meeting where everyone gets to vent whatever’s on their mind, or pizza and pints at the pub. The only requirements are that all members participate, and that no one who isn’t directly involved with the band is in attendance (Translation: your manager is welcome; your girlfriend isn’t).

In general, I can’t over-emphasize the importance of face-to-face communication. You should of course use e-mail and text messages for what they’re best at: conveying basic, well-understood facts (e.g. set list and soundcheck time for the next gig). When it comes to issues that have any sort of emotional weight, however, these forms of communication fail to convey the nuance and subtlety that you can only get from being in the same room together. If you need to bring up a touchy subject with the band, save it for the next time you’re together. You might text them to say “I have something important to talk about next practice” so they’re prepared to listen, but leave it at that.

Mistake 2: No Goals, or Plans to Achieve Them

You put together or join a band, get a nice musical vibe going, and get comfortable with each other. Cool. Now what?

You’d be surprised (or maybe you wouldn’t) how many bands don’t ever get anywhere past this point. The ones that do are the ones with goals, and perhaps more importantly, plans on how to achieve those goals.

Cats are notoriously bad at goal setting

Communicating is a big part of setting goals. Every band goal starts as an idea, so don’t be afraid to tell the band what you’d like to accomplish, and don’t be quick to dismiss an idea from someone else. The best goals are ones that are realistically achievable; as fun as “play Madison Square Garden” is to think about, it’s not realistic for 99.999% of bands. Your first goal should be an easy one, like “learn <insert popular song here>” or “set up a band website.”

Once you’ve all agreed to the goal, split it up into small tasks that can be assigned to individuals in the group. Tasks should be assigned according to ability and availability. Lastly, set a deadline for when you’d like those tasks accomplished. Again, the key is realism – if anything, give yourself more time than you think you’ll need.

Accomplishing goals as a band is the best way to move up the musical food chain. The sense of accomplishment and teamwork will also give you lots of positive energy and bring you closer together as a group.

Mistake 3: Not Knowing Your Audience

If someone asked you to describe your band’s target audience, would you be able to? Can you clearly and simply describe what kind of person would buy your albums and come to your shows? If not, you need to figure this out – the sooner, the better.

“Don’t label me, man!”

“But Matt,” you say, “why do I need to put a label on people? Can’t I just say that my audience is whoever wants to listen to my music? I don’t care who likes my stuff or who doesn’t.” I get it – I truly do. You just want to make music and to hell with everyone who doesn’t like it. Don’t think of it as labelling people though; think of it as finding a common ground or a connection with the people who like your music. Think of it as a way to reach more people who will be receptive to your message, because that’s exactly what it is. Knowing your audience is the key that unlocks a lot of doors. It allows you to focus on choices that enhance your career while ignoring unproductive ventures. It’s the difference between playing to an empty room and playing to a packed house.

If you’re just getting started, or if you’ve hit the reset button on your band’s career, your first step is to do some research. Look at the audience for other bands you are similar to. What are they like? Are they young, or not so young? Are there mostly men, mostly women, or a mix of both? Where do they go to see live music? Do they use Facebook or Twitter? Where do they hang out when they’re not listening to live music? Learn as much as you can, and use this information to make your decisions.

Don’t feel bad if any of these mistakes apply to your band. Nobody is perfect, and even the most successful bands do stupid things from time to time. Rather than being ashamed of your band’s mistakes, you should share them in the comments so others can learn from them.

Cream and parchment single-coil-sized rails and stacks

When noiseless single-coil pickups are discussed, it won’t be long before someone says that they can never sound exactly like a real single coil. The fact that they’re humbuckers at the core means that some of that high-end sparkle disappears. There are some things to remember at this point.

Firstly – which real single coil are they talking about? They all sound different already. Are we meant to assume that there’s some unifying characteristic between every single coil pickup, missing from none of them, but missing from all noiseless versions? Seems unlikely.

Secondly, these are small differences we’re talking about here. Yes, when you are playing clean, alone, you might hear some differences. Not necessarily negative differences, but differences. But in a band situation, volume up, gain rolled up a bit, these differences all but vanish. What you’re left with is single coil tone, without the hum creeping in on all the quiet bits.

Thirdly, a lot of these opinions were formed ten to fifteen years ago when noiseless single coils started to take off a little more. But in that time, the technology has come on in leaps and bounds. It’s really quite difficult to find a noiseless single coil now with the problem of lost treble.

On top of all this, I have bad wiring in my house. I love single coil sounds, but the hum is really unbearable. So noiseless single coils are an absolute godsend for me.

I’m a big fan of the Seymour Duncan Stack Plus pickups. You can pretty much replace an SSL-1 true single coil with an STK-S4 Classic Stack plus, and the same goes for the SSL-5 or SSL-6 Custom pickups and the STK-S6 Custom Stack Plus. I have a Strat with two Classic Stack Plus in the neck and middle and a Custom Stack Plus in the bridge position. Having a hotter bridge pickup like that is a popular modification to a Strat.

Given that the STK-S6 is based on the SSL-5, and the SSL-5 was originally developed as a bridge pickup for David Gilmour, it seems appropriate that I should cover one of his solos to demonstrate the STK-S6 pickup:

But I wanted to also try a more vintage-type setup, with a lower output bridge.

Originally I put three Classic Stack Plus pickups in the guitar, but actually, this was a step too far. There just wasn’t enough output in the bridge position to keep up with the other two pickups, and the amount of treble produced by the vintage windings was too ice-picky.

Luckily, the folks at Seymour Duncan have thought of this, and this is where the Vintage Hot Stack Plus comes in. It’s just a hair hotter than the Classic Stack plus, which makes it perfect for the bridge position. It’s a lot like having a calibrated set of single coils – the bridge pickup has just enough extra windings on it to bring it up to the level of the other two pickups, without shifting the frequency response enough to stop it sounding like a vintage pickup.

The Stack Plus pickups are splittable. The main use for this would be to achieve hum cancelling if they were combined with a non-stacked single coil, or one coil from a humbucker. The latter is common in HSS Strats. Splitting the Stack Plus pickups simply removes the hum-cancelling coil from the equation, leaving in its place a genuine single-coil pickup.

So now I can play vintage Strat sounds in my living room to my heart’s content. Here’s a demo I recorded. There’s a clean demo and then a demo with a bit more gain. Sorry about the strange volume glitch at 3:00 – I have no idea what happened!

The Stack Plus pickups recently became available in parchment and cream, as well as the usual black and white – so there’s an option for every color scheme. The same goes for the single-coil-sized humbuckers and the rails pickups.

Have you tried noiseless single coils recently?

Soapbar size active mount.

The Nazgûl is available for 7 and 8 string players and also comes in an active mount (soapbar) sizing for those who own a guitar that originally came with active pickups but prefer the tone of passive pickups. To help achieve its aggressive tone it uses a strong Ceramic Bar magnet and has a DC resistance of 16.5k (7-string) and 18.7k (8-string). You can hear it in action in the video below.

The Nazgûl pairs nicely with the new Sentient neck pickup. Or if you’re looking for something with more string clarity, check out the Pegasus.

Dealers who have this product in stock (we will update this for the next two weeks)

Gearhounds

The STRATosphere

Mike’s Music

Motor City Guitar (Physical Store)

On the Stage: Every venue is different. You have places that have been designed for live music, but most of the time the average musician is going to be playing at a restaurant/bar that threw a stage and/or PA at a corner of the building and decided that they’re booking live music now. No matter the venue, attention to the overall sound is crucial. I’ve played in a number of venues that have swallowed any bass sounds, and then I’ve been in places where the bass frequencies are literally bouncing around the room. And if you’re one of a number of bands on the bill that night, you can guarantee that your sound check is going to sound remarkably like your first song because, well, it probably will be.

In this situation, you have a couple of options (all of these I’ve resorted to at one time). If you have friends in the crowd (that you trust), you can always have them be your ears for the house mix. Another is to listen to the band before you (assuming you’re not first), hear how their mix sounds and adjust yours accordingly. I’ve also intentionally adjusted the tone to be much more hi-mid focused prior to any sound check in an effort to address any bass frequency issues. There is also trusting the soundman completely and leaving everything where it is. Any of these (or multiples) should help you sound your best in the mix.

In the Studio: This is a completely different environment. In this venue, your overall sound live may or may not work well – if at all – in the studio. It’s here that I take instruction from the sound engineer, as they are ultimately the ones in control of my sound.

The biggest hurdle that I had to overcome in the studio was that the tone that you may not like when your bass is soloed can sound amazing in the mix. There are a lot of different ways this can come about, but knowing exactly what you have onboard your bass will help you make quick and rapid adjustments when you want to “try that again, but let’s make the tone more aggressive.”

Ultimately, the exercises of twirling knobs and figuring out what they did may have yielded a lot of tones that you liked and ones that you didn’t, but when it comes to playing live and in the studio, those tones that didn’t sound quite right in the bedroom sound amazing in the mix. It’s the knowledge of your onboard controls that will let you find that perfect sound, live or in the studio, with a little bit of listening and twirling. What venues have you been in that have had you change your tone drastically, and how did it turn out?

Fast forward. NAMM 2013. I was at the NAMM floor and I got to play some of his guitars and I casually ran into him. His guitars played so insanely good and sounded so insanely good, I just had to interview him! I had to know his motivation, I wanted to know what his inspirations are and in what way music and genres influence him and his designs. After NAMM I contacted him, and this is his story.

What was the spark that set it all in motion that you decided to develop and build your own guitars?
I think the original spark was “hey, I can probably do this!” which was actually set off by reading an interview with Allan Holdsworth in Guitar Player Magazine back in 1982. He had gotten a guitar made by Grover Jackson (at Charvel) out of a wood called Jelutong, which I had just used in wood shop in school, and I realized that maybe building a guitar maybe wasn’t voodoo. I had no money to buy a good guitar and grew up in a crafty family, so it was just natural.

I called up the (only) guitar builder in town and he was kind enough to let me borrow the only real specialty tool that is needed – a fret crowning file – and offered me a single piece of wisdom: “If you have time to write a book about building guitars, you’re obviously not any good”. I didn’t quite take his word, but bought a book (Make your own electric guitar, by Melvyn Hiscock) and with some help of a teacher at school, I built a solid maple Telecaster style guitar with a Kahler tremolo. It looked great and sounded terrible, but I had such a good time building it that I immediately moved on to the next project and the next and the next and ended up selling a few guitars and basses.

Fast forward 15 years of pursuing a career and bringing up children, I have always had an interest of product development, industrial design and design in general, so when I found myself with some spare time on my hands after quitting a gruelling job, I decided to put everything together. I didn’t want to just build another guitar – I wanted to solve a problem and take it to the next level of evolution.

Focusing on ergonomics is based off the idea that a comfortable guitar lets you practice more and play longer/faster/better without fatigue and with less risk of injury. Low weight is a key component of ergonimics and a headless design is natural in this equation since the lack of headstock allows you to build a lightweight body without the guitar becoming neck heavy. When starting out, I was unable to find any headless hardware to buy, so I set off designing my own. I went to school to become a mechanical engineer and worked for several years in a prototyping workshop, so I actually had the skills to both design it and manufacture the first prototype.

I started blogging about the project and posted frequently in the Project Guitar forums, and got others interested. I was then able to round up a small grant to get the first small production batch manufactured by a local company. I started selling the hardware to others, and was happy just seeing their completed instruments and exchanging e-mails with people all over the world.

But from early on, I had a complete concept worked out – The Ergonomic Guitar System (EGS) – with an ergonomic neck and body shape, and tons of ideas! It took me two and a half years of hardware development and sales before I actually had the time and resources to bring these other parts to completion. I was very tempted to go all in and solve every single design problem that was on the table, but eventually settled for a balance between traditional and new construction techniques. Instead of coming up with proprietary designs and secret methods that would differentiate me, I tried to make sure that my designs were possible to industrialize. Not because I thought they ever would be (!) but because I wanted to approach the problem from an industrial design angle. Winning Project Guitar’s “Guitar of the Month” with my first EGS prototype back in December of 2009 was incredibly cool.

People associate sustain with weight for example, which was one area where I did have to look at new construction techniques to overcome. Turning all conventional wisdoms on their head and working with lightweight and stiff materials and with parts that are tightly coupled to each other, it all works out. This is another example of the “spark” – a problem that needed to be solved. There continues to be daily sparks, but I have learnt over the years that success comes from ignoring most of them…

Are you motivated by the pursuit of tone, playability, ergonomics or all three and if so, do you have to make compromises?  What do you eventually want to achieve?

Definitely all three! In terms of compromises, let’s take them one by one -

Tone: A Strandberg guitar is typically very responsive and “organic” sounding. It is dynamic and responds quickly. I could probably never build a guitar that sounded and played like a Les Paul or a 335 for example. To some, that may be a compromise, but I consider it a unique selling point and part of the concept.

Playability: No compromises. Ergonomics are a huge part of playability and these two combined lead to a great sound. The playing style obviously has a lot to do with the sound, and with a playable guitar, it’s like taking away a compressor from the signal chain. A very responsive instrument can be intimidating to some players, and some are freaked out by it, but most people enjoy it.

Ergonomics: When I set out to design my EGS guitar (now called the “Boden” design), I looked at what was out there of course. And I noticed that most guitars classified as “ergonomic” looked very untraditional, and for good reasons. There are things like the “Torzal Natural Twist” from Little Guitar Works which is an absolutely brilliant idea that actually works. And there are body designs that really hug your body and have ergonomic advantages. The former can freak people out from a technological understanding perspective and the latter from an aesthetics perspective. So yes, I do make compromises on the ergonomics. I try to make sure that it is possible to industrialize the manufacturing, that a guitar repair technician with skills from a conventional guitar can service them without special training, and that they are easy on the eye. As always with the 80/20 rule, chasing those last 20% can lead to having to make other sacrifices.

Seeing “my” guitars on stage and hearing them on albums is very motivating and that only happens if the owner likes the instrument, which is what my “made-to-measure” concept is about. If I had to name one achievement, it would be making this more accessible, i.e. a full custom instrument with material choices, scale lengths and neck shape are adapted to the player, with a reasonable wait time and price point.

I am also motivated by problem solving in itself, and have several innovations just waiting to be realized. Being able to pay others to do work for me will be a great help to make this happen.

How does your personal taste in music influence your designs?
Not so much, but the reverse is definitely true. I have expanded my musical tastes considerably from working with my customers. Having said that, I thought I was building a jazz/fusion guitar, but due to early adoption by Extended Range players like Chris Letchford (Scale the Summit), who was my first ever made-to-measure customer and who now has a recently announced signature model in the works, Tosin Abasi (Animals as Leaders) and Misha Mansoor (Periphery), the Extended Range segment is where it really took off. I had never listened to that type of music before when I met either of them, but was completely blown away. After receiving my first e-mail from Tosin, having never heard of him, I listened to Animals as Leaders on repeat for a whole day!

Recently getting Allan Holdsworth as a customer and having him record several songs on his new album with his [custom Seymour Duncan 59B equipped] .strandberg* guitar does bring the whole thing home though. It was really with a player like him in mind that it all started but I could not in my wildest dreams think that it would happen. Another headless guitar pioneer, Paul Masvidal (Cynic), recently joined the team of .strandberg* artists and we are bringing out a signature model for him, which is very exciting and totally in line with my personal tastes.

The feedback I receive from my customers and people who try the guitars is a continuous learning experience and an incredible kick. Coming up with well sounding 7- and 8-string guitars, where “well sounding” is to a large extent defined by the djent/technical metal genre, has evolved into a set of rules for material and pickup selection, where I guess personal taste is an element. This continues with many of my 6-string players, like Al Mu’min (the HAARP Machine), playing in drop tunings where similar rules apply.

How much control do you like to have over your designs? In other words, having your designs being build in an OEM construction, would that be feasible?

OEM construction is definitely possible and is happening already. From the start, I made my designs available under a Creative Commons license, allowing others to use my designs for free as long as they state clearly that they got permission from me and that they make their own enhancements or modifications available under the same license. I did this mostly because it was fun to share the work with others, but also to increase the acceptance of headless guitars and grow the market. I would rather have 10% of a market of a million than 100% of a market of thousand.

With my patent pending EndurNeck™, which is a neck profile that encourages a more relaxed wrist and reduces stress and tension on joints, tendons and muscles, the situation is a little different. It took a lot of deliberation before deciding to go the patenting route over Creative Commons, but when it started hitting “Top 5” lists of musicians highlights of the year and the likes, I decided that maybe this is the start of my retirement fund and to try and make some money off it. I now license the design and provide a kit of instructions and 2D and 3D CAD models to others that want to use it.
I have with great success licensed the use of my trademark to Strictly 7 Guitars to manufacture a select set of standard models, based off the specifications of made-to-measure guitars from Tosin Abasi and Misha Mansoor. I visited them several times and trained their staff and worked directly with their subcontractors to implement the designs and construction methods to my standards and continue to have weekly video conferences, but essentially, they are on their own. This kind of work will continue and is part of my strategy to reach my ultimate goal of made-to-measure guitars being more accessible.

I saw that you use a lot of Seymour Duncan Pickups, for instance the SH4 JB and the SH2 Jazz. What are your experiences with Seymour Duncan pickups?

My first guitar I actually used for something and bought the pickup with my own money, my second build, was built in 1985 and featured a single Seymour Duncan JB pickup and I have always enjoyed Duncan pickups since, and if I played enough myself, my personal guitar would probably still feature a JB.

Right now, I have a couple of very interesting Duncan customers waiting for guitars, and look forward to what is supposed to drop in the mail soon. We have evaluated a couple of the new pickups and are very excited over the new Nazgul pickup as a bridge pickup candidate for our Boden 8-strings.

But generally speaking, my customers have a pretty clear view on what pickups they want in their guitars, and Duncans are certainly a common choice.

Your guitars sometimes have a classic vibe to them but can also look very radical at the same time; do you have the intention (or wish) that your guitars are being used by a particular genre or style or do you simply wish to build your visions?
My ultimate reward is seeing/hearing my guitars being played. My personal preferences have to take the back seat and I try to put myself in the shoes of the customer and interpret his/her needs and meet those requirements. The value that I add is the ability to do so, and my experience so far is that my personal views are requested.

There are several things that I don’t accept doing though, like major modifications to the body shape/headstock, use different hardware or neck construction methods since these are part of the concept. I have brought out a second model, the “Varberg” design, which has a slightly different aesthetic, but also a different approach to the construction.

For “Varberg”, the inspiration was surf guitars, and it is named from one of the few places where you can surf in Sweden. “Boden” is a place in the north of Sweden. I was told by someone that the shape reminded her of reindeer antlers, and this is one of the places where reindeers are farmed.

There are certainly future projects in the pipe with he intent of pushing some technological boundaries but also with specific genres/segments in mind – and a different source of inspiration…

A further recent addition to the artist roster is talented 8-string guitarist (multi-instrumentalist really) Sarah Longfield. I really want to take on the challenge of achieving good tone in an 8-string guitar that works for a smaller size player with small hands.

For more information on Strandberg Guitars, visit: http://guitarworks.thestrandbergs.com/

The Pegasus, Nazgul and Sentient can all be purchased easily in soapbar (active mount) size:

You’ll also be able to order your favorite 7-string passives in soapbar size as a shop floor custom. Just contact your favorite music store and ask them to order it.

JB Model (SH-4)

The JB Model is the world’s most popular humbucker, powering landmark recordings by everyone from KISS to King’s X to Sevendust to Megadeth. It’s a high-output screamer for the bridge position, with singing highs and lively harmonics. And it’s perfectly suited to the 7-string because it sounds crunchy, rich and aggressive at the same time.

Jazz Model (SH-2)
The Jazz is a classic moderate-output neck humbucker designed to pair up well with the JB Model. But even though it’s named the Jazz, it’s capable of much more. Its clear, articulate high end translates into a distorted lead sound that tracks speedy playing with plenty of detail and clarity.

’59 Model (SH-1)
Inspired by the P.A.F. humbuckers of the 50s, the ’59 Model’s sound is full and bright, and it works equally well in the bridge or neck positions. As a bridge pickup it has smooth sustain, warm-but-not-overpowering mids and a clear high end. In the neck position it sounds slightly scooped, with good sustain and articulation. And it sounds great in single coil mode too.

59/Custom Hybrid (SH-16)
The 59/Custom Hybrid started life as a creation by a user on the Seymour Duncan User Group Forums, when a screw coil from a ’59 Model was combined with a slug coil from a Custom. The result is a pickup which combines elements of both: the clear highs and punchy attack of the ’59 Model, and the powerful lows and complex mids of the Custom. The more moderate output of the ’59 Custom Hybrid is well suited for 7-String, given that most metal players already have enough gain through their amps.

Duncan Custom (SH-5)
Like the ’59, the Duncan Custom is inspired by the classic P.A.F. humbucker, but kicks things up a notch or two with a ceramic magnet and a custom coil design which give it compressed dynamics, enhanced harmonics, punchy low end and a distinctive treble attack. It pairs especially well with a ’59 in the neck position.

Duncan Distortion (SH-6)
The Distortion does exactly what you’d expect it to: it slaps your amp’s input stage with plenty of power so it can generate harmonically rich, cutting distortion. The sound is raw and aggressive, and great for maintaining the thickness of the low B string. The high end is particularly strong, and the lows remain clear enough to retain definition no matter how fast or how low you play.

Full Shred (SH-10)
The Full Shred features double rows of Allen screw pole pieces which allow you to fine-tune the high end for clear, precise definition without crossing over into harshness. It’s great for low tunings, the output is lower than the SH-6 Distortion and the midrange is fatter. It’s a great prog rock rhythm and lead pickup with a hint of growl for power-chording and a slight vocal quality when you switch to lead. There’s also a neck version with reduced output and more treble.

Invader (SH-8)
The Invader pushes your guitar about as far as it’s possible for a passive pickup to go. It uses three ceramic magnets, overwound coils and twelve black oxide cap screws to attain a heavy, thick, punchy, chunky rhythm tone and a fat, compressed lead voice. There’s a neck version too, which is wound with a considerably lower output to provide maximum tonal flexibly.

The Pegasus is the newest offering from Seymour Duncan designed specifically for the demands of 7/8 string players. Put a Pegasus in the bridge position of your guitar and you’ll hear harmonic richness, great dynamics, and defined string separation that ensures all those notes break through any distorted mix. Many seven string players have been saying that they need a pickup that isn’t excessively high-gain, given the amount of available gain on modern amps. The Pegasus provides the perfect balance with a more moderate output that lets you push it to the edge and still retain warmth and clarity. It’s a perfect match for progressive metal.

Another great part is that the Pegasus is not just available in passive (naked coil) sizing but also in soapbar (active mount) sizing. Many 7/8 string guitars come with active pickups that use a different (phase 2) sizing and this new size is a direct replacement for those.

The Pegasus pairs nicely with the new Sentient neck pickup. Or if you’re after something a little more extreme from a bridge pickup for 7 or 8-string guitar, listen to the Nazgûl.

Check out this video of the Pegasus to hear it in action:

Dealers who have this product in stock (we will update this for the next two weeks)

Guitar Asylum

The STRATosphere

Gearhounds

Motor City Guitar (Physical Store)

 Coming soon:

The Music Zoo

MacDaddy Music

Island Music

Drum City

Capitol Guitars

Yes, this actually worked.

Delay, or echo (as it should be called) is the repeating of sound. It is the sound when you yell into a canyon and you hear your voice back at you because it reflects off of the rocks. No canyons around? Well, you can simulate this sound with a delay pedal. But it is usually capable of a whole lot more.

First, I must say that delay pedals have come a long way since the tape driven devices of the 60’s and 70’s. While there are those that can’t get that warm, mushy sound from anything else and still drag around an expensive and fragile tape delay, the rest of us have reverted to compact pedals or multi-effects.

The Line6 POD HD500 models vintage delays. This is what I used for my examples.

These days, pedals can do things that magnetic tape running over multiple play heads could never do. Remember yelling into that canyon? Well, those repeats don’t sound exactly like the original sound. They are quieter, and sound duller than the original sound. If you want more echo, you’d better get a bigger canyon, right? Many current delay pedals can alter the sound of the repeats even further, and this is what we will get into in this article.

Delay as Chorus

The Deluxe Memory Man is renown for the warm analog modulated delays it produces.

If you own a delay pedal with modulation (made famous by an Electro Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man) then you also own a chorus pedal. Remember, chorus takes a sound and modulates (changes) it by speeding up and slowing down the echo, which changes the pitch. When mixed with the original, non-shifted sound, you get chorus. Remember, the chorus only affects the repeats, so you must mix it with the original signal to get the chorus sound. So you can set your delay to a modulated chorus, delay time at 0, mix on 5, feedback (number of repeats) on 0. Great sounding chorus that doesn’t get muddy!

Delay as Looper

Delay is one of my favorite effects, as I started experimenting with a reel-to-reel tape recorder I hooked up wrong when I was 13. Not knowing of pioneers of guitar-based looping like Robert Fripp and Brian Eno at the time, I sent the input into the output and created a loop of sound that repeated, got louder and saturated the tape. Later, I learned of what they called Frippertronics where a Les Paul, fuzzbox and volume pedal were plugged into 2 reel-to-reel tape recorders and produced the albums No Pussyfooting and Let the Power Fall.

A diagram of Robert Fripp & Brian Eno’s original tape loop system, called ‘Frippertronics.’

Today, to get this sound, you need long delay times. I love about 5-7 seconds, but most pedals don’t go that high. This example is about 3 seconds of echo. I chose a tape delay setting which cuts lows and highs, and adds a slight saturation on the repeats. I put mix on 4, and feedback just short of all the way up. If your delay pedal will continue to repeat while it is off, you can turn it off while it is repeating and solo over it. Old playing gradually fades away (since feedback is just short of all the way up), so you can turn the loop back on and add to it. I’d much rather play with something like this than standard sample-based looping pedals available these days.

Delay as Spaceship

This one is fun, and great for the end of a song. Delay time at 8, Mix on 5, and Feedback on 8. When you hear an echo, twist the delay time knob up and down. Instant space sounds! Or short wave radio. Or possessed Whammy pedal. Now this only works on analog delays as well as digital delays that model analog technology. Some delay pedal builders have intentionally muted this sound, thinking that it isn’t musical. Fools!

Delay as Slight Overdrive

This one I was able to do on my PodHD 500 that has a setting called ‘Tube Echo’. This adds slight distortion to the echoes only. So, with delay time at 0, mix at 10, and feedback at 0, all I am hearing is a single repeat but no unaffected signal. Instant trashy overdrive!

Delay as Steel Drum?

I use an analog-style delay, with a very short delay time, and feedback almost all the way up. Mix is on 5, and what we end up with is a very metallic sound effect (almost like a ring modulator) which will certainly annoy most people around you. Very rock & roll.

Manipulating Feedback and Mix in Real Time

On a delay, the more control, the better. Tap tempo and expression pedal control are essential for teaching the sound who’s boss.

The Seymour Duncan Deja Vu Tap Delay has a jack in the back which allows connection of an expression pedal. This can allow real time adjustment of the number of repeats. You can connect another expression pedal to adjust the wet/dry mix, all in real time. Rarely do I set and forget my delay, so these connections for control while I am playing is essential to use the delay as an instrument itself.

I love using pedals in different ways than they were intended. This started when I was very young, and got pedals very infrequently. If it had 2 knobs on it, boy, I used those 2 knobs! I knew everything about that pedal, including using it in ways the designers never really thought of.

Now, I haven’t even gotten to syncing delays to the tempo, like The Edge, or reverse delays like Led Zeppelin used. What creative ways have you used effects pedals in ways they weren’t intended? What cool sounds inspired you to experiment?

Fortunately I did some research, performed some trial and error experimentation on my own semi-hollow (a very nice Epiphone Dot) and found what I consider to be the best way to wire up a hollow body guitar. You won’t need any uncommon tools or equipment – just a wrench set (or an adjustable wrench), plenty of wire, a pair of needle-nose pliers, a soldering iron, and a bit of patience. I’ve included plenty of pics to help illustrate each step.

Let’s get started!

Start by removing the pickguard and putting it aside. Next, remove the knobs. I use a rag wrapped around the knob to pull them off without scratching the finish.

Once the knobs are off, you can use your wrench to remove the nuts from the pots, jack, and switch. The pots and switch will fall through into the cavity. That’s fine.

You should now be able to gently extract the pots and switch through the F hole. Start with the components closest to the center of the F hole (usually the switch) and work your way back, using the wires to pull components toward the F hole. The jack should come out last. I use a hand towel to protect the finish.

At this point you should have the pots, switch, and jack out of the guitar with the pickup wires still connected. You can either de-solder the pickup wires or use wire cutters to clip them off. If you’re replacing the pickups as part of your re-wiring, you can do this now (I did not in the example photographed here). Just feed the leads of the new pickups back through the holes in the pickup cavities.

Removal of the old components is now done. Set aside any components you want to re-use, get any new components ready to wire up, and heat up your soldering iron if you haven’t already done so.

It’s a good idea to make a template for your wiring on any guitar where the controls aren’t mounted to a pickguard (like a Strat) or a control plate (like a Tele). To make the template, put a piece of non-corrugated cardboard over the guitar, use finger pressure to find where the control holes are, and very carefully poke through the cardboard with a punch or a nail to make a hole for your template. You can enlarge the holes with a pencil or a round file until they are big enough for the controls to be mounted snugly. It’s also a good idea to write what is supposed to go where on the template with a marker.

Wire up your pots, switch, and jack on the template.  Always use more wire than you think you will need. If your wiring is too tight, it will be very difficult to get it back into the guitar. You will not cause any problems by using a little too much wire, so don’t be afraid to make long connections.

If you need to know how to wire up the components, Seymour Duncan has plenty of good wiring diagrams to help you.

Once you’re satisfied with your wiring, solder your pickup leads to the controls. At this point, I strongly recommend testing your wiring before proceeding. It will be very difficult to troubleshoot problems once the controls are back in the body. Use a multimeter, circuit tester, or just plug the dangling jack into an amp and tap on the pickups.

It’s now time for the most challenging step: fitting everything back into the guitar. Don’t worry: if you did everything correctly up to this point, you shouldn’t have any problems getting it back together. You’ll be using extra wire to pull the electronic parts through the F hole and into their mounting holes on the body. It’s best to start with the component that’s furthest from the F hole, which is usually the jack.

Run a length of wire (approx two feet is usually plenty) through the jack mounting hole and down into the cavity. When you see the wire in the cavity pull it up through the F hole. Make sure the wire is long enough for one end to stick out the jack hole, and the other to stick out the F hole. Tape the jack hole end of the wire to the guitar with masking tape, or tie it to the strap button. This will ensure it doesn’t fall through the jack hole while you’re working on the other end.

Thread the F hole end of this wire through the jack, and tie it to a washer or a nut. Any washer or nut that is too big to fit through the jack will do. Give the wire a test tug to make sure it doesn’t come loose.

Feed a wire through each tone pot hole and out the F hole in a similar fashion. Instead of tying the other end to a washer, just tie the wire tightly around the shaft of the corresponding pot. You won’t need wires for the volume pots or the switch – they’re easier to install by hand.

Now comes the fun part. Put the jack and the tone pots into the F hole, and use the jack hole wire to feed the jack through the cavity. If the washer holds, the jack will pop up through the jack hole. Thread the wire through the jack washer and nut, and pull up on the wire to hold the jack in place while you tighten the nut. Once you’re sure the jack is firmly installed, clip the wire and let the washer end fall into the cavity. You can shake that out through the F hole later – just leave it for now.

Repeat the wire pull technique with the two tone pots, starting with the furthest one. You will probably have to feed the volume pots or even the switch into the F hole to make this work. Just be careful to not twist or tangle any wires on the way in.

You can also use the wire fishing technique to install the volume pots and the switch, but it’s usually easier to just use your fingers. Reach into the F hole and carefully ease them up through their respective holes.

Put the knobs back on the pots, shake the loose nut/wire end out of the cavity, and re-install the pickguard. Congratulations – you’ve just completed one of the most dreaded tasks in the guitar universe!

I’d love to know if you guys have any tips for installing wiring in hollow-bodies. Also, if you’ve got questions about this process, I’ll do my best to answer them. Either way, post a comment!