Even some of the nicest guitars are not above the fray of guitar upgrades.

In most cases a guitar, right out of the box, isn’t going to be perfectly suited to your own preferences and playing style.

Like an archer tweaks and adjusts his bow, so a guitarist will customize and upgrade their instrument until it sounds, feels and reacts exactly how they envisioned.

This is the most common reason for upgrading, among a few possible others:

1. Replacing old parts
2. Upgrading cheap or low-quality parts
3. Replacing broken parts

Whether you’re upgrading out of necessity or luxury, there’s no denying the fun and intrigue that’s involved whenever you get the opportunity to “hot rod” your favorite guitar.

In this guide, we’ll showcase some of our most popular and sought-after Seymour Duncan upgrades.

We’ll also give you some direction on what upgrades might work best for your situation, as many of our products are tailored for a particular musical style or genre.

More generally, we’ll cover three different product categories:

1. Traditional SD Pickups
2. Antiquity Line SD Pickups
3. Electronics and Parts

Getting an ideal upgrade requires that you arm yourself with information about your options. You need to know what parts, pickups and electronics will work for your situation and make your guitar better. If you’re going to spend good money, you’ll want to get the right upgrades and avoid change for the sake of change

This guide will help you do that by highlighting some of our most popular upgrades.

Let’s get started.

What You’ll Need to Change Pickups

Before we look at the different pickups you can use to upgrade your guitar, we’ll cover some basic information on what you need to do to replace a pickup.

The process is fairly simple and, in most cases, only requires a few different tools.

Critical tools would include:

1. Soldering Gun
2. Wire Cutters/Strippers
3. Screw Driver

If you want to bypass the soldering gun, you can checkout the Seymour Duncan Liberator (more on that below) which you can install to make changing pickups solder-free.

Otherwise, here’s the process you’ll go through to replace your pickups:

1. Unscrew the pickup rings and remove the old pickups using wire cutters (cut as close to the base of the previous solder as possible).
2. Following the diagram provided with your new pickup (like the example image below), strip the wires on the new pickups and solder them to the correct spot.
3. Place them properly in the pickup hole and then reattach the pickup ring, securing the new pickup in place.

The exact process can vary depending on the type of pickup and guitar you’re upgrading but, this is the general trajectory that you’ll need to take when changing out your own pickups. Alternatively, you can buy the pickups and take everything to a local guitar shop to have them professionally installed.

If you’re not comfortable with the mechanics, that option is often fairly inexpensive.

What are the benefits of changing pickups?

As I’ve already mentioned, any guitar upgrade should be geared towards making it easier to express your style.

New pickups are helpful in this regard because they allow you to get really specific about your guitar’s tone and how it to reacts to your playing.

The range of pickups offered by Seymour Duncan give you all kinds of different tone profiles to choose from. This means that if you hear or even imagine a tone, you can probably find a way to make your guitar replicate it.

Outside of those with stylistic specifics, guitarists who upgrade pickups to improve the quality of their guitars also stand to benefit.

Maybe the pickups that came with your guitar are just cheap and not up to your standards. At that point, an upgrade might be less of a stylistic issue and would done for the purpose of improving the overall sound quality of your instrument. In most cases, upgrading the pickups on your guitar are the single most effective way to improve the overall tone and sound quality.

You’ll be shocked at the difference between a cheap set of pickups and something like the Seymour Duncan Invaders.

Thus, pickup upgrades can have multiple benefits and can apply to a number of possible scenarios.

Pickups List

Most guitars ship with what we’ll call “stock” pickups, which often means they’re manufactured cheaply by the company that makes the guitar so they can cut costs.

This gets you a cheaper guitar but, unfortunately, costs you significantly in the tone department.

For years, Seymour Duncan has provided guitarists with first-rate, handmade pickups and parts that are anything but stock. All of our products are designed and customized to suit the needs of specific musical styles and the musicians thereof. If you’ve got a guitar that doesn’t have a good-quality set of pickups and seems to lack that “extra something” in the tone department, investing in a set of pickups is your first stop.

It’s probably the single most important guitar upgrade you can make.

Many opt to buy a cheaper guitar and outfit their own pickups. Since tone is so deeply a matter of preference, we will cover a number of Seymour Duncan pickups suited for a wide range of styles and genres.

1. Invader

Invader pickups are designed for the heavy metal-lover with ceramic magnets (adds clarity and punch) and a dark, all-black design. The tone profile of the set is rock-conventional, with a hotter bridge pickup and a smoother less aggressive offering at the neck position.

Wes Borland of Limp Bizkit and Troy VanLeeuwen of Queens of the Stone Age are among the most notable Invader fans.

Getting the Invader set (both the neck and bridge pickup) will run you $150 retail and comes with a 21-day exchange policy straight from Seymour Duncan.

IDEAL BUYER

The modern hard rocker and metal fan is going to find the Invader’s tone appealing. They’re an optimal replacement for the lackluster stock humbuckers on most guitars that aren’t running single coils or rails.

RETAIL PRICE: $150 / IDEAL STYLE: Metal, Hard Rock, Modern Rock / SHAPE: Humbucker

2. Hot Rails Strat

The Hot Rail Strat pickup is designed specifically for those who want to turn their Stratocaster into a more rock-friendly guitar. Traditionally, the single coil Hot Rail will go in the bridge position, providing an extra punch and boost to your Strat’s high end.

Ceramic pickups deliver a lot of nice midrange tones with more pronounced harmonics and added sustain.

There is a neck version of the Hot Rails which means
you can outfit your entire Strat with them if you so choose.  Both black and white versions are available for those who are concerned about aesthetic consistency.

IDEAL BUYER

If you like the Stratocaster but want the heavy-hitting power of a more modern guitar, the Hot Rails bring you the best of both worlds.

PRICE: $75 / IDEAL STYLE: Blues, Rock, Hard Rock, Metal, Heavy Funk / SHAPE: Single Coil

3. Hot Rodded Humbucker Set

The Hot Rodded Humbucker’s are some of Seymour Duncan’s most popular and versatile pickup sets, designed to handle anything from light, blues licks and jazz to hard rock and heavy metal.

At around $130 retail, it also comes out a little cheaper than many of Seymour Duncan’s other sets.

This pickup is a solid choice for those who might want to keep their options open in terms of style or who have a responsibility to multiple genres and music types. Typically you’ll use the JB model for the bridge and the Jazz model for the neck, matching the configuration for notable users such as Seymour Duncan himself, Randy Rhodes and Jeff Beck.

Though you can mix and match the sets however you like, the JB and Jazz Hot Rodded set go particularly nice together, offering a smooth compliment of tones ranging from well-defined low ends to harmonic-friendly highs via alnico magnets.

IDEAL BUYER

The Hot Rodded set is heavy, but it’s also a good general humbucker upgrade, which can work for a lot of different scenarios and styles. It’s the catch-all of Seymour Duncan pickups.

PRICE: $130 / IDEAL STYLE: Blues, Jazz, Classic Rock, Modern Rock, Heavy Metal / SHAPE: Dual Coil Humbucker

4. Original Active Blackouts

The Original Blackout humbuckers are designed to be everything metal, handling thick rhythm play and well-defined lead melodies at higher speeds. The tone has an almost shimmering quality, especially on a clean amp setting. The tone profile of both the neck and the bridge version of this pickup emphasize treble with a hollowed out mid-range that helps give you the best of searing leads and heavy power chords.

Note that this pickup is going to have a distinct appeal to metal enthusiasts and will be a less ideal fit for those who don’t consider themselves firmly entrenched in those genres.

At $90 a piece they’re a bit more expensive than the Invader set, but the tone is well worth the extra investment if you’re looking to add some extra grit or aggression to your metal rig.

IDEAL BUYER

Let’s just say it’s not for the faint of heart or the non-metal player. However, if you need to get a ton of power and high gain out of your rig, this is a great place to start.

PRICE: $90 / IDEAL STYLE: Modern Rock, Metal / SHAPE: Flat, Dual Coil Humbucker

5. Antiquity II Surfer Strat Bridge Pickup

The Seymour Duncan Antiquity lineup is a collection of specially designed and carefully modded pickups that have a vintage look and “aged to perfection” type of tone.

For those who don’t want to throw Hot Rails into their Stratocaster, but would still like to upgrade the pickups, the Surfter is a fantastic alternative with boosted midrange and a softer treble attack. The result is a bright and punchy tone with a heavy ’60s flavor.

Both the alnico magnets and the exterior are aged to give the full vintage “wear and tear” experience. This one is an ideal upgrade for the guitar player who loves their Strat and the tones of classic rock.

Note that the Antiquity II Surfter Strat will also give you some added sustain since the magnetism is slightly decreased.

IDEAL BUYER

An ideal Strat upgrade for those who want to maintain the classic appeal of the Stratocaster’s sound.

PRICE: $77 / IDEAL STYLE: Blues, Jazz, Classic Rock, Funk, ’60s Rock / SHAPE: Single Coil

6. Antiquite Tele (neck version)

The Auntiquty Tele bridge pickup is a percussive and responsive early ’50s relic that produces thick, full chords yet has plenty of snappy treble for that classic Telecaster chicken pickin’ sound.

The magnets are Alnico 2 rods that smooth out the treble response. When used in conjunction with the lead Antiquity Tele pickup, the reverse polarity of the magnets act as active hum-cancelers, eliminating any noise problems you might have with stock Telecaster pickups.

Per the Antiquity series presentation style, it looks the part of an early ’50s Telecaster neck pickup, right down to a cloth-covering on the wires and a paraffin wax coating.

Sheryl Crow is among the Antiquity Tele fan base.

IDEAL BUYER

Those who want to make their Telecasters a little more “classic” or who are having noise problems with their stock Tele pickups stand to benefit the most.

PRICE: $85 / IDEAL STYLE: Blues, Jazz, Classic Rock, Country / SHAPE: Single Coil Telecaster

7. Antiquity II Tele

If you want to add some twang and snap to your Telecaster strings, the Antiquity II Tele is another great, quick-upgrade option.

The design concept (aged tone and look) is similar to that of the Surfer Strat and the original Antiquity Tele, also with alnico magnets, hand-ground to deliver a distinct Telecaster twang and bounce.

We’ve pictured the bridge version of the pickup here, though you can pair it with the neck version for a full Tele upgrade.

IDEAL BUYER

Same as the original Antiquity Tele.

PRICE: $85 / IDEAL STYLE: Country, Blues, Jazz, Classic Rock, Funk, ’60s Rock / SHAPE: Tele Single Coil

8. Woody XL

There are a couple different versions of the Woody acoustic pickup, both of which are highly affordable. This version, coming in at $60, is a passive and noiseless magnet that delivers a balanced tone and can be easily removed or installed at a moments notice. To do so, simply snap the pickup into the soundhole or snap it out as needed. This functionality is a big part of what makes the Woody design one of the most popular and widely used in the world of acoustic pickups.

Sizing is rarely an issue as the Woody’s dimensions fit that of most acoustic soundholes.

Note that since the pickup is magnetic, it will not work with nylon string acoustic guitars and must be used exclusively with steel string guitars.

IDEAL BUYER

Perfect for acoustic guitars without built-in electronics or for those who aren’t satisfied with the tone produced by acoustic-electric systems.

PRICE: $60 / IDEAL STYLE: Any / SHAPE: Standard Acoustic Soundhole Single-Coil

9. Woody Hum-Cancelling

The Hum-Cancelling version of the Woody acoustic pickup shares all the same characteristics of the XL, but with a fatter tone and more compression to handle noisier rigs. Your final output will sound more compressed, which might be desirable for those looking to eliminate volume fluctuation and simply “even things out.”

It’s perfect for rhythm acoustic rigs or those who are dealing with particularly stubborn feedback issues.

All the same mounting perks that you get with the XL still apply here.

IDEAL BUYER

Noisy rigs and acoustic guitar players that want to reduce feedback stand to benefit the most.

PRICE: $50 / IDEAL STYLE: Any / SHAPE: Standard Acoustic Soundhole Single-Coil

10. Antiquity Jazzmaster

Though these pickups can be modded to fit in other guitars, the Antiquity Jazzmaster flat coil design is intended to serve as an upgrade to the Fender or Squier Jazzmaster series. Popularized in the late ’50s and ’60s, the classic Jazzmaster tone is rich and crisp but, without harshness on the higher register. This pickup comes in both a neck and bridge version that work together to cancel noise and produce that same rich tone with some extra snap and good string response coming out of two Alnico magnets.

Coils are wound by hand and the pickup comes with a distressed look to mimic the aesthetic feel of the ’50s and ’60s Jazzmaster pickups.

IDEAL BUYER

It’s an easy upgrade for the Jazzmaster owner who might have gone with one of the cheaper versions of the guitar.

PRICE: $50 / IDEAL STYLE: Any / SHAPE: Standard Acoustic Soundhole Single-Coil

11. Triple Shot Flat

The Triple Shot is a Seymour Duncan invention that allows you to make additional adjustments to your tone via two small switches that are on the pickup cover itself and can be easily accessed by your picking hand.

With two different switches you can split to either coil, series operation or parallel operation, allowing you to access a total of four different settings.

Think of it as a much easier way to access push-pull functionality that would normally be handled on a tone or volume knob.

This is an ideal upgrade for those of you who don’t have that functionality already or would like to move it to a more convenient spot. Cream and black coloring are both available in addition to a number of different sizes. The shapes generally fits most guitars and humbucker sets, especially if your pickups are already from Seymour Duncan.

The street value of the Triple Shot is roughly $28.

IDEAL BUYER

It’s designed as a humbucker cover, so any single-coil setup won’t work. Most other guitars will fit, making it perfect for those on a budget who want to add some tonal variety.

PRICE: $28 / IDEAL STYLE: Any / SHAPE: Duel-Coil Humbucker

12. Antiquity Texas Hot Pre-Loaded Stratocaster Pickguard

Some of our heftiest Strat upgrades are the pre-loaded pickguards that come equipped with a unique pickup configuration, parts and electronics. This particular pickguard comes loaded with the Antiquity Texas Hot pickup set along with distressed tone and volume knobs to complete the ’50s look.

The pickups themselves house an aged Alnico magnet, like the surfer Antiquity design and are designed for a noiseless two and four position via the five-way pickup selector, which is also included and wired in. We then use a white matte material in the pickguard with a typical eight screw pattern.

IDEAL BUYER

Perfect for those looking at a major Stratocaster overhaul.

PRICE: $370 / IDEAL STYLE: Any / SHAPE: Single Coil Stratocaster

13. Triple Rails Pickguard

The Hot Rails pickups are one of our most popular Stratocaster upgrades and can be easily imple
mented when purchased as a set in this pre-loaded pickguard.

The output of the rails is a crunchy, high sustain rock tone that turns your Strat into a much heavier and hard-hitting instrument. The pickguard, pots and five-way volume selector are all included with the wiring taken care of. It’s also really easy to change pickups using a solderless method that allows you to remove and add pickups by simply using screws.

If you want to do a major Strat overhaul, getting everything at once in this pickguard packages is a good option and lets you knock out a number of upgrades in one swing.

IDEAL BUYER

Perfect for those looking at a major Stratocaster overhaul.

PRICE: $300 / IDEAL STYLE: Rock, Metal, Country, Blues, Heavy Funk / SHAPE: Single Coil Stratocaster

 14. The Liberator

The Liberator is a unique Seymour Duncan invention that allows you to swap out pickups quickly without the need for a soldering iron.

How does it work?

You’ll install it on your guitar in place of your current volume pot and then use the tightening clamp to connect the bare end of lead wires coming from your pickups. It’s ideal for guitar players who like to change up their sound a lot or who own a lot of different pickup sets that they’d like to swap out more easily.

Even for those who don’t make a ton of pickup swaps, the Liberator is less than $25 and will save you a lot of time when you do want to make a tonal change.

It’s often the prospect of soldering or making a “permanent” change to their guitar that turns people off from changing pickups in the first place. This is a far easier method that takes the dire permanence out of the process.

IDEAL BUYER

Anyone who changes pickups often or even just intermittently would be ideal candidates.

PRICE: $25 / IDEAL STYLE: Any

Guitar Upgrades vs. New Guitars

A lot of guitar players are uncertain about whether it’s better for them to upgrade an old or cheaper guitar or to go with a new guitar purchase entirely.

While every situation is different, taking into account the longevity of the guitar you’re upgrading is something that should happen.

For example, you need to have an instrument that you’re committed to in the long run to make upgrades worth the time and money. Because it stands to reason that if you’re using a cheaper guitar that you don’t want to keep for long, upgrading might not be the best option.

In that situation, you’d be better off to look ahead to a new guitar entirely.

Once you have it, upgrade that guitar instead.

Because again, the purpose of a good guitar upgrade is to make an instrument work better for you and your style.

Be sure about your instrument first, them begin the process of upgrading.

That said, there are a lot of people who can take cheap guitars and make them into serviceable instruments with a few upgrades like the ones we’ve shown here. If that’s what you want to do, there’s no shame in equipping a $300 guitar to do the work of an $800 guitar.

Anything is possible.

Other Upgrades

Seymour Duncan offers a number of other products and guitar upgrades that don’t stop at six strings.

Here are just a few lines you can checkout:

1. Rickenbacker Bass
2. Seymour Duncan Strap
3. On board Electronics
4. Jazz Bass
5. Seven and Eight String Collection

Whatever instrument you have, chances are that Seymour Duncan has a way to help you make it better.

You can check out the rest of our pickups if you still haven’t found what you’re looking for.

If you need to get in touch or have any questions, you can do so via our contact page.