Category Archives: News

When you think of Seymour Duncan pickups, you often think of Mr. Seymour Duncan himself. Makes sense. His name is on the building, after all. But did you know that there’s someone who’s been at Seymour’s right hand as long as the company has existed? Did you know that this man is directly related to…

We get asked a ton of questions about lipstick single-coil pickups. We’re asked everything from what they sound like to “Will they fit in my guitar?” and more. We understand the questions. They’re unique pickups, different from a Tele neck pickup, different from a Stratocaster single-coil pickup. They’re their own thing. So what are they?…

After selling his namesake company roughly ten years earlier, Leo Fender was back in the instrument business. And even with such iconoclast instrument designs like the Stratocaster, Telecasters, Precision, and Jazz Basses to his name, he wanted to make something greater. It was a tall order considering all of those instruments are still considered the…

Are you confused by all the different types of single-coil pickups? You’re not alone. So we thought we’d do a deep dive into some of the most popular ’60s Fender-style single-coil pickup designs. We find these 60-year-old designs fascinating and hope you will too. We’ll discuss each of these pickups’ history and their unique sounds….

So much of That Great Gretsch Sound comes from the great Gretsch-style pickups. Yet as legendary as they are, they’re also often overlooked. DynaSonic and Filter’Tron pickups are perfect examples. These two pickups are responsible for thousands of legendary guitar tones. They’re the undisputed kings of rockabilly guitar. And their history runs parallel to better-known…

To understand Rickenbacker bass pickups, you have to travel back to the company’s genesis in the early 1930s. Believe it or not, it was the National resonator guitar company that spawned the whole thing. But when tensions in the company resulted in a split, the team of Adolph Rickenbacker and George D. Beauchamp (pronounced Beechum)…

In Part 1 of our series on “What is drop tuning a guitar,” we investigated the how-tos. From truss rod maintenance to filing your guitar’s string nut, that article has all you need. But drop tunings also gave rise to a world of electric guitars that are custom-built for the job. And that’s what we’re…

A question we hear from many bassists who are just starting is “What’s the difference between the Jazz and Precision bass?” Then, as they get a little further in their musical journey, it becomes “P Bass vs. Jazz Bass. Which one’s best?” Well, there is no “best.” But we will investigate the differences between Jazz…

What are the best pickups for modern and prog metal guitar tone? That depends on how you define modern and prog metal guitar tone. Here’s how we define it. While classic humbucking pickups can get “high-gain,” modern metal players need something different. Their highly complex playing demands a precise, tight tone. One that remains aggressive…

The Vapor Trail Deluxe builds on the proud legacy of our original Vapor Trail analog delay pedal, who’s warm, Bucket Brigade repeats and 3-dimensional modulation continues to inspire guitarists around the world. However, with the Vapor Trail Deluxe, we’ve taken the pedal’s capabilities quite a bit further. The marriage between Vapor Trail Deluxe’s all analog…