Guitar tone was in the middle of a massive shift throughout the 1970s. Especially the late ‘70s. With the advent of hard rock and metal, players were pushing their amps harder than ever before. They wanted more distortion, more harmonics, longer sustain, and electrifying touch response.

It wasn’t long before they needed new pickups to achieve these tones. The humbuckers of the ‘50s and ‘60s just didn’t have the power or the precision the tones demanded. Luckily Seymour was there guiding the whole revolution. And the ‘78 Model humbucker was a huge part of it.

Table of Contents

• The birth of the ‘78 Model humbucker
• What does the ‘78 Model sound like?
• How the ‘78 Model is made
• Why choose the ‘78 Model humbucker?
  • You want vintage tone with more power
  • You want more clarity out of your high-output guitar
• Who’s the ‘78 Model for?
• Finding the ‘78’s perfect pickup pairing
  • None at all
  • ‘78 Model
• ‘78 Model options
• Winding it up

The Birth of the ‘78 Model humbucker

It was during that time that Seymour was asked to rewind a particular Gibson PAF. He was given specific instructions to make it “…more sensitive to natural and unnatural harmonics.” Thanks to his detailed notes of that rewind, we’ve re-created that rewound pickup down to the last wrap of wire. We call it the Seymour Duncan ‘78 Model Humbucker.

Previously, the ‘78 has only been available made to order, one pickup at a time, for our Custom Shop customers. But we’re proud to announce its inclusion as a regular inventory Seymour Duncan model. Finally, the legendary, early-high gain tones we all chase are easy to achieve without the long lead time.

What does the ‘78 Model sound like?

Seems like a lot of hype, doesn’t it? Well, the ‘78 humbucker deserves it. You see, the ‘78 starts from the already classic PAF-style platform. This gives it the detail, clarity, and warmth you’d expect. But, in order to meet the demands of the day, Seymour knew this design needed more than a stronger magnet. It had to be special.

He couldn’t just crank the pickup’s output. That would’ve left him with a darker tone and flabby bass response when driving 1970s tube amps into saturation. Plus, he saw that humbucker-equipped electric guitars were changing. Instead of thick mahogany bodies and set necks, the Super Strat was on the rise.

If the ‘78 humbucker was going to succeed, it had to take all of these variables into account. Seymour’s answer was to give the pickup some extra magic in very specific frequencies. By voicing it just right, the ‘78 would offer thick overdrive, crystal-clear top end, and focused lows that still have plenty of warmth.

How the ‘78 Model is made

There’s a lot about the original ‘78 model that Seymour keeps under wraps. But here are a few details explaining how the pickup delivers the goods.

For starters, the ‘78 Model humbucker features an extremely special coil wind. Using 42-gauge plain enamel wire, this wind achieves a very strict output tolerance. When combined with the pickup’s hand-calibrated Alnico 2 magnet, it is the key to the ‘78’s iconic character. And it all stays squeal free thanks to being wax potted.

Seymour’s original rewind was done on a vintage PAF with long mounting legs and single conductor wiring. We chose to make the ‘78 with our standard short mounting legs and 4 conductor lead wire so that it will fit in a widest variety of pickup routs, and allow the greatest number of wiring options, including coil splits, out-of-phase, or series/parallel schemes.

Why choose the ‘78 Model humbucker?

We get it. Seymour Duncan offers a lot of great P.A.F.-on-steroids humbucking pickup options. So why would you go with the ‘78 Model?

The obvious answer is, if you’re playing a Super Strat-style guitar into a cranked Marshall stack. It’s the sound thousands of tone chasers dream of. But there are a couple of other pragmatic reasons to consider the ‘78.

You want vintage tone with more power

If you have a dual-humbucker guitar and lean hard into the P.A.F. thing, you’re in great company. But you might find yourself switching to the bridge position and wishing for a bit more punch. The ‘78 is perfect for this situation. With its thick harmonics and slightly increased output, it’ll balance great with your neck humbucker, kick your amp where it likes it, and still exude that gorgeous vintage vibe.

You want more clarity out of your high-output guitar

On the other side of the equation are high-gain players wanting more detail and touch response. Many more-powerful pickups struggle to deliver here. But the ‘78 adds an elegant streak to its distortion-loving attitude, giving your jackhammer style a touch of class.

Who’s the ‘78 Model for?

Despite what the forums say, there are no rules when it comes to your electric guitar tone. So it’s kind of weird explaining who should and shouldn’t try the ‘78. But it was designed for a certain sound. So…

• If you want a pickup that lives for natural-sounding distortion while never losing definition, the ‘78’s for you.
• If you prefer the classic tones of tube amp overdrive and early hard rock, the ‘78 is for you.
• If you are a single-pickup, single-volume knob sorta player, the ‘78’s for you.

The ‘78’s perfect pickup pairing

Let’s go through some of the most perfect pickup pairing options for the ‘78.

None at all

That’s right! So many of the Super Strat guitars of the late 1970s and 1980s were stripped down hotrods with no more than was absolutely necessary to rock. That meant one bridge pickup, one volume knob, a Floyd Rose tremolo, and that’s it.

For a humbucker to work like this, it needs to sound great, be extremely responsive to pick attack and volume knob fluxuations, and be balance cut and exhibit warmth with the best of them. We basically just described the ‘78.

‘78 Model

The original ‘78 wind was designed for the bridge position. Years ago, due to customer demand, Seymour developed a neck model that shares the same clarity, harmonic complexity, and dynamic content of the classic bridge wind, with an appropriate output for the neck position.

Whether clean or crunchy, the ‘78 neck is a perfect tonal compliment to its legendary bridge counterpart.

‘78 Model options

As we alluded to earlier, the Seymour Duncan ‘78 Model humbucker is a no-nonsense design that feels right at home uncovered in the bridge position. But today’s players demand more. The ‘78 is happy to accommodate.

The ‘78 Models are sold in prepackaged sets in standard spacing with black bobbins.

Are you looking for zebra-style bobbin colors? No problem. Do you prefer the high-class personality of gold pickup covers? Done. Just order individual neck and bridge models in the other color options. You can even get the ‘78 in Trembucker spacing to better line up the poles under your vintage strat, or Floyd Rose tremolo bridge equipped guitar.

Tech Tips

Check out our Wiring Diagram library for a ton of 4-conductor wiring possibilities.

Winding it Up

Like the Pearly Gates, Saturday Night Specials, and Whole ‘Lotta Humbucker, we voiced the ‘78 Model to capture a particular tone. And the ‘78’s is one of the most chased tones in electric guitar history. So we’re pretty excited about adding it to our production line up.

Want to know even more about the Seymour Duncan ‘78 Model humbucker? Then don’t hesitate to reach out. You can contact us here. And check out the rest of the Seymour Duncan blog to get deep on our products, artists, news, and new releases.
 

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