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Seymour Duncan rail pickups are bold. Even with a cursory glance, the magnetic bars cutting across their face jump out at you. It’s striking when compared to the pole pieces or screws in most pickups. And these rail humbuckers are a fast track to inject your guitar with that same attitude. But rail pickups are…

Following the enormous success of the Telecaster® and Stratocaster®, Fender released their third solidbody electric guitar model in 1958: the Jazzmaster®. Originally intended for jazz guitarists, the Jazzmaster® featured a contoured offset body that was particularly comfortable to play while seated, a floating bridge with an anchored tailpiece, a new floating vibrato with a lockable…

Playing, performing, writing, and recording. As guitarists, we can improve in one or more of those areas—maybe even all of them. It’s one thing to want to hone your skills in general, but knowing where to start is the challenge. That’s why we put together a list of resolutions for guitarists, which includes some of…

Our hearts are with everyone who has been affected by the recent wildfires in Los Angeles, which have left so many devastated. As a company founded in Southern California nearly 50 years ago by musicians, for musicians, we feel deep connections to so many in this region and a responsibility to assist those in need….

It’s hard to believe that 2024 is already over! This year was full of exciting new releases, visits from special guests, incredible employee milestones, and more. Without further ado, here’s Seymour Duncan 2024—wrapped. New Pickups We kept busy in 2024, releasing new pickups that run the gamut from country to metal and everything in between….

When it comes to giving gifts during the holiday season, it’s the thought that counts. As guitarists, we treasure the novelty gifts our loved ones have given us, like the guitar-shaped spatulas and LEGO sets. Still, we all want the person we’re buying for to love their gift for what it is, as much as…

When you want to get low—but not too low—it might be time to turn to a baritone guitar. Bridging the gap between a standard six-string guitar and a six-string bass (like the Fender Bass VI), baritones fill a unique sonic space and can add richness to recordings and live performances. What is a Baritone Guitar?…

On its face, a 3-way toggle switch is simple—up is the neck pickup, middle is both pickups, and down is the bridge pickup. Using a 3-way toggle is one thing, but we think it’s important for guitarists to understand what’s going on inside of their instruments. When you know more about how your guitar works,…

Short scale. Standard scale. Multi-scale. No, we’re not talking about music theory—we’re talking about guitar scale length. Though you may not think about your guitar’s scale length very often, it’s an important part of your guitar’s construction and has an impact on playability, tone, and more. In this article, we’ll explain what guitar scale length…

If you’ve shopped for guitar pickups, you’ve probably noticed a line listed in the product description that specifies “DCR.” But what exactly is DCR, and what does it mean in relation to guitar pickups? If you ask another guitarist, they may have an answer for you—and they’d probably be wrong. Or, at the very least,…

There’s no shortage of things to consider when shopping for pickups—active vs. passive, high-output vs. low-output, alnico vs. ceramic, and, as you might have gathered from the title of this post, staggered pole pieces vs. flat pole pieces. Pole pieces are the round bits of metal in a guitar pickup that align with the strings….

The P90 is not only a classic and well-loved pickup, it’s also a crucial piece of electric guitar history. This soapbar (and sometimes dog-eared) shaped pickup’s origins go back to some of the first pickups ever installed in a guitar. Many guitarists and pickup builders still consider the P90 to be one of the most…

Maricela “MJ” Juarez never applied for a job at Seymour Duncan. One day in 1983, six years after the company was founded, a neighbor asked MJ for a ride to an interview at the still-young Seymour Duncan company. She obliged and put her name down as a personal reference. Later that night, she was surprised…

If it takes 10,000 hours to master a certain skill, then guitarist Josh Smith could call himself a master before he even turned 20. Stepping into the music scene as a pre-teen, Smith quickly became a regular performer at blues festivals, released three albums and toured the US with his first band Rhino Cats—all before…

Longtime Seymour Duncan users or rock music fans—or, let’s be honest, fans of music in general—are likely well familiar with the six-string living legend himself, Slash. The Guns N’ Roses guitarist is the textbook image of the cool, stoic rockstar who lets the music do the talking, which is why he’s the go-to when anyone…

In 2017, the YouTube channel Music is Win posted a video featuring “Some of the best guitarists on YouTube (and Earth)” taking turns on a nearly eight-minute long jam. With some of the most prolific guitarists in the online music scene on deck, the sheer amount of collective talent—and the total amount of notes played—was…

Experimenting with tone is part of the electric guitar experience. Splitting humbuckers for single coil tone, using a push-pull potentiometer to get that Peter Green out-of-phase tone and reversing pickup polarity are some of the most common electric guitar wiring modifications. The downside of wiring modifications is that you have to know your way around…

Bring up the topic of guitar tone and one name quickly rises to the top of any discussion — Seymour W. Duncan. A living legend in the world of electric guitar, Duncan not only pioneered the customization of the electromagnetic guitar pickup, he broke open the gates of guitar repair and alteration — all in…

“We all pushed ourselves on [Periphery V: Djent is Not a Genre] much harder than we ever have before,” explains Mark Holcomb. As one of three six-, seven- and eight-string axe-rippers in GRAMMY® Award-nominated Djent practitioners Periphery, guitarist Mark Holcomb brings a timeless old-school metalhead sensibility to the genre-agnostic progressive metal quintet’s spellbinding virtuosity. For…

Widely considered one of the best players in the modern metal scene, Wes Hauch’s reputation precedes him. Whether playing with Alluvial, Devin Townsend, Thy Art Is Murder, The Faceless, or as a guest soloist on countless records, Wes’ ferociously aggressive and immaculately clean playing cuts like a knife through the mix.   In 2019, we…

We’re excited to announce that after one of our groundbreaking artists, Cory Wong, released his signature Fender guitar in 2021 with the highly anticipated Seymour Duncan Clean Machine pickup set, these signature pickups are now available to order direct to consumers from Seymour Duncan. Here’s the background on how we crafted the perfect tone for Cory.  Antiquity…

Finding a guitar tech can be a daunting process. Have you ever gone into a music store as a newbie and asked a question about something about your guitar, only to be met with a snarky response? This is quite a common occurrence in the guitar world, sadly. I remember buying a BC Rich Warlock…

Find the perfect gift for the guitarist in your life.   Need tone for the holidays? You aren’t alone. Buying guitar pickups for a loved one (or even for yourself) can be a daunting task. However, that’s why we at Seymour Duncan have put together this Holiday Gift Guide for 2022. Using the information in…

The current world of guitar is a strange one indeed. The charts are dominated by synthesizers – even the rock charts – yet guitar is as popular as ever. Some might even say more popular. There are even more guitar heroes than ever before. Don’t see them? You’re still looking for them on MTV, the…

There really is only one guitar tone that defines hard rock. The sound straddles the line between bluesy clarity and cranked Marshall grind. It wrote the book on anthemic riffs, electrifying solos, and a no-nonsense attitude. And it’s the heart and soul of the Seymour Duncan High Voltage humbucker set. Inspired by the tones roaring…

To say our dealer network is important would be a massive understatement. We couldn’t do what we do without them. From one-on-one interactions to their excellent online content, they ensure you always have access to your favorite Seymour Duncan products. In honor of their hard work, we wanted to spotlight a few of our friends,…

Learning how to use the Seymour Duncan PowerStage pedal amplifiers will help you get the most from your tone. With a few simple – and familiar – connections, these diminutive tone machines push out a ton of musical power while simplifying complicated setups. They are as useful for straight-in guitar players as pedalboard users and…

Legendary guitar tones often come by breaking the rules. A perfect example was when a 1960s guitarist – with an incorrectly installed magnet in the neck humbucker – stumbled upon a genre-changing, hollow, mid-forward sound. That sound is still iconic, and we captured it in the Seymour Duncan Green Magic humbucking pickup set. At their…

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…

We’re fortunate to be able to say we’ve built quite a few pickups since moving into our first 12x15ft. warehouse in Santa Barbara in the 1970s. It’s our pleasure to help generations of guitar heroes achieve their sound in rock, blues, jazz, punk, prog, psychedelic and country music, plus all the subgenres—math rock, metalcore, fusion,…

Strings don’t always get a lot of love—there aren’t too many demo videos about the best guitar strings, and you can’t flip ‘em on the secondhand market like guitars, pedals and amps—but stringing your instrument with the ideal materials and gauge for your needs is an easy way to improve the sound and feel of…

Seymour Duncan, a leading manufacturer of pickups, pedals, and pedal amps, is proud to showcase the best selling: the ‘78 Model, Green Magic and High Voltage humbucker pickups. These are available for order right now at seymourduncan.com and at your favorite dealer. These new guitar pickups for 2022 are quite special and have an interesting…

If you’ve shopped for humbuckers or humbucker-equipped guitars, you’ve undoubtedly seen the term “P.A.F. pickups” floating around on product pages. It’s one of the original humbucker designs and remains one of the most popular pickup choices for modern guitarists across a wide variety of genres. But what makes a P.A.F. a P.A.F.? Unlike Tennessee whiskey,…

When you’ve run out of playlists to shuffle, it’s time to give these guitar podcasts a listen. Amplify your commute with interviews with all-time guitar legends like ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, deep conversations featuring boutique guitar, amp and pedal builders, epic documentary-style podcasts about the life and work of your favorite artists, track-by-track breakdowns of…

In honor of Women’s History Month, we got to recently ask a few of our artists from the Seymour Duncan artist roster if they had any tips for budding guitar players, as well as how they got started using Seymour Duncan.   “More than ever, it seems important to let others know that yes, women…

If you want to learn about wiring guitar electronics or how to use a soldering iron, you came to the right place. And since you can’t start any project without tools, this first installment of our free Pickup Installation 101 course will ensure you have all the right ones for the job. From safety equipment…

A new Slash album is headed our way! Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators are releasing a new album ‘4’ on February 11th via Gibson Records. Their most recent single, “Call Off The Dogs” was just released on January 14th and according to Slash: “This one was written pretty much on the fly, and…

The quest for perfect guitar tone is filled with obstacles—scales to learn, techniques to master, gear to acquire and so on. But nothing stops curious guitarists from learning their way around the instrument quite like the “tone talk” jargon that sometimes fills guitar forums, and even entire subreddits, with confusion. While the qualities that make…

The Seymour Duncan ’59 Model and SH-5 Custom humbucker pairing is a favorite around Seymour Duncan. And we know a thing or two about pairing versatile pickups. From our prepared sets to our loaded pickguards, we’ve been combining great pickup tones for years. In fact, you can read about another ’59-combo in Part 1 of…

With so many PAF-style pickups on the market, it can be hard to tell them apart. Nearly every pickup maker offers these simple combinations of wire, bobbins, and magnets claiming to capture that 1959 Gibson Les Paul mojo. We offer a variety of pickups that deliver that Kalamazoo-era mojo, right down to the wire. To…

April Kae (of IMANIGOLD) is not only an artist but also very active in causes that she’s passionate about. Recently, we got to ask April a few questions, to discuss her musical journey as a bass player as well as her first instrument, favorite album and plans for touring. (Photo above by Tommy Rizzoli.)  …

Seymour Duncan has a handful of great guitar amps to his name along with his pickups, and the Convertible is his crown jewel. Released around 1980-81, the Convertible was an all-tube, modular preamp design so full of ground-breaking features that Jeff Beck himself made them his go-to rig. But these features made the amplifiers WAY…

Finding the right acoustic pickup can be difficult. There are several different kinds, and each has its technical requirements to get the best performance. On top of that, you need to consider the rest of your signal chain and how it interacts. And finally, each type of acoustic guitar pickup has a unique sound with…

Guitar tone pot value is something most of us don’t think about unless you really like to get into the weeds of tone. But many players do like to mix and match them, optimizing their tone control and guitar to play, sound, and react just the way they want. So we’re going to take a…

Push-pull pots can turn a regular guitar into an insanely flexible tonal solution for every occasion. Most commonly used for eliciting single-coil-like tones from humbuckers, players can sometimes underestimate what all push-pull potentiometers can do. But that’s a mistake, because they can work all kinds of magic while hiding invisibly in the routing your guitar…

As soon as Ibanez released their AZ line of electric guitars, the web lit up with searches for Ibanez AZ wiring diagrams. Everyone wanted to know what the Ibanez AZ pickups were. And that’s no surprise. The Ibanez AZ wiring is something new, and Ibanez players are one of the most loyal and knowledgeable fan…

The effect of an electric guitar killswitch has been around a long time. For decades players like Tom Morello achieved a unique chopped-up tone like Rage Against The Machine’s “Bulls on Parade” solo. And of course, Van Halen fanatics tried to replicate the staccato effect with which Eddie ended his “You Really Got Me” solo….

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…

Push-pull pot wiring is the perfect way to add more tonal options to your Les Paul or LP-style guitar. Coil-tapping, split-coil, in and out of phase, or parallel-series options become available with the flick of your wrist. The mods are easy to do. It’s extremely affordable. And it doesn’t require any permanent changes to your…

We all remember when we got our first guitar. But the thrill quickly dissipated the minute we broke our first guitar string. In that split second, we recognized the importance of knowing how to restring a guitar. So we learned. And we’re probably still restringing our guitars the same way today. But did you know…

What’s with mounting a Telecaster neck pickup to the body? Can’t I just mount it to the pickguard? Ok, then how do you mount a telecaster neck pickup to the body? Inquisitive guitarists ask us these questions every day. And we don’t blame them. Not only do different T-style guitars use different pickup mounting methods…

Everything you need to know about the best jazz guitar pickups out there.   Picking the best jazz pickups requires a different set of guidelines than choosing the best pickups for a lot of other genres. Jazz guitar players are less interested in output and the unique voice pickups can bring to their instrument. Instead,…

Ever wonder how to choose the perfect pickup for your HSS Strat? You’re not alone. In a previous article, we pointed you toward three of our favorite HSS pickup combinations. But if you want to put your own trio of pickups together, we’ve got you covered. These five steps are an easy way to sift…

There have been many classic pickup sets throughout the electric guitar’s history: A couple of PAFs, any trio of vintage-voiced Strat pickups, a pair of active humbuckers, even the Nashville Tele setup. But we often overlook the HSS pickup configuration. There are far fewer complete sets of HSS pickups on the market. So we’ve put…

Three Jazzmaster pickups perfect for the wide-ranging sounds of indie and alternative rock.   To choose the best guitar pickups for Alternative Rock, Indie, or Pop, we need to define the sound of the genres. Luckily, ever since these genres’ ‘90s heyday, Fender’s famous offset guitars remain part of the scene’s sonic signature. You’ll find…

No matter the tone, there’s a humbucker replacement pickup set that will get you close. There are thousands of them. But a lot of the most popular pickups sell individually, without a matched set. Often, they might not even have a designated bridge or neck counterpart. So if you’ve found the perfect bridge humbucker, how…

Your guitar’s tone capacitors (caps) are the most underrated component of your guitar. Tone caps are so underrated, many players never even utilize their tone knobs. Others still settle for the one that came in their guitar and don’t realize how easy they are to customize. The truth is, a simple swap of your tone…

When it comes to guitar upgrades, there are countless options. Some are mechanical and make your guitar play better and more reliably. Others are electronic or focus on improving your tone. So which upgrades are right for you? Here are 10 of our favorites. They’re affordable, reversible, and easy to do. So, get out your…

Changing guitar pickups is one of the most powerful upgrades you can do to your guitar and improve tone. It can breathe new life into an old guitar, fix problems with a defective pickup, optimize the guitar for a specific rig, and much more. While the idea of changing guitar pickups is overwhelming to some,…

Seymour Duncan’s three best passive pickups for classic rock tone. Choosing the best classic rock pickups can be a bit daunting. Some people say Hendrix is classic rock, while others say, Journey. And some people even claim Nirvana has crossed into classic territory. We say classic rock is defined by the iconic ‘passive humbucker into…

The Seymour Duncan Brad Paisley Secret Agent Tele neck pickup is a revolution in twang. It gives Esquires the Telecaster’s flexibility while retaining the unique tone and punch of Esquire pickups. It can also give your Telecaster the sleek and minimalist style of an Esquire while still delivering the Tele’s wide breadth of tone. Best…

Seymour Duncan PowerStage pedal platform amplifiers are the ultimate solution for modern musicians dealing with today’s tonal realities. These realities include relying on pedal-driven tones, embracing digital amp modeling, as well as weight, cartage, and stage-volume restrictions. But never fear! The Seymour Duncan PowerStage amps address all of these issues and more. Expertly tuned amplification…

The Fender Telecaster is country music guitar tone. And country music guitar tone is the Telecaster, plain and simple. Yes, you’ll find every style of guitar used to great effect throughout the genre. But no guitar has put its sonic stamp on it quite like Fender’s first. Whether it’s James Burton’s genre-defining bends or the…

Everything you need to know to ensure you get the perfect pickups for your favorite 5-string. Not all 5-string Jazz Bass pickups are created equal. And we’re not talking about tone here. We’re talking about if they’ll even line up with the strings on your bass. And if you’ve ever bought replacement pickups for a…

The debate among players as far as what kind of pickups, passive or active, are best for metal rages on. And it will continue to do so for a long time. But one thing’s for sure. When it comes to the best pickups for metal, active humbucking pickups are regularly at the top of the…

The Telecaster has almost been synonymous with Nashville, Tennessee for decades. And there’s a reason a Tele can still found in every A-list session guitarist’s arsenal. But many of the town’s pros need a guitar with a broader range of voices. They need the tone of their Teles with the flexibility of a Strat. So,…

We know that picking the best guitar pickups for metal is impossible. It’s even hard to narrow them down for classic metal. Every player has different preferences, everyone is after a different tone, and there are just too many options available. Not to mention, classic metal means something different to everyone. Here’s how we define…

January is a great month for new beginnings. You know, a new year, new me kind of thing. But, it’s also a great month for reflection and thinking about the best moments from the year prior. So, in this last week of January 2021, we’re going to do just that. Here are the Top 3…

We’ve all heard guitar vets pine for the days of plugging straight into an amp and getting all the tones they ever needed. No need for pedals, switchers, multi-fx boards, or tap dancing. So what stops today’s players from embracing the rigs of old? Having to push old tube amps to volume-war levels is one….

Joe Bonamassa’s ear for tone is legendary. So when he says that Bonnie, his 1955, hardtail Fender Stratocaster, is his “best Strat,” we trust him. And when he wanted to offer the guitar’s magical-sounding pickups to the public, we went to work re-creating them with pin-point accuracy and attention to detail.   Introducing the limited-run Joe…

Pop quiz. What is the most critical part of your guitar’s electronics – other than pickups?  Answer: Your potentiometers. Potentiometers – or simply, pots – determine how much of what frequencies make it from your pickup to your output jack. And while some players may be content leaving them full up, getting to know these…

They say history is cyclical. Nowhere is that more apparent than in guitar tone. From the roar of high-gain stacks to the cleans of pedal-friendly combos, the prominence of Big Muffs to the classic Tube Screamer, tonal trends come and go, then come and go again. But no effect’s on again-off again popularity is as…

Learn the tonal differences between a few of our most popular P90 single-coil pickups   Vintage P90 Magnet: Alnico V Neck DCR: 8.0k Bridge DCR: 9.7k   Our vintage-correct recreation of the original 1946 Gibson single-coil with all of the midrange grittiness, sparkle, and growl that make vintage P90 pickups so special. The dual alnico…

During the summer of 2019, Cory Wong traveled to the Seymour Duncan tiny house, located just outside of Santa Barbara, CA, to film our fifth Seymour Duncan “Portrait Series” video. Cory is an exceptional musician, guitarist, and multi-instrumentalist, who’s had an expansive genre-crossing career as a songwriter, composer, performer, frontman, bandleader, band member, and session…

What’s the Difference Between Diamondhead and Palladium?!    Tuned for a wide range of distortion, rock players of all shades find the Diamondhead perfectly suited for their preferences. But we often hear, “Doesn’t Seymour Duncan already have the Palladium?”     Great question.    We’d like to give a bit more insight into these two multi-gain stage distortion…

Boost pedals are one of the most overlooked but powerful effects you can have on your pedalboard. Within a single—often compact—stompbox, they give you access to high-gain tones, solo boosts, line-driving buffers, and even out volume differences between guitars. They are the Swiss Army knives of the pedal world. And they’re usually straightforward to use….

Learn the tonal differences between a few of our most popular Passive P-Bass Pickups   SPB-1 Vintage P-Bass Magnet Type: Alnico V DCR: 11.0k The P-Bass has defined recorded and live music since its inception, and the Vintage P-Bass pickup nails all the things we love about that distinctive tone. You will get just the…

Learn the tonal differences between a few of our most popular Passive Jazz Bass Pickups   SJB-1 Vintage Jazz Bass Magnet Type: Alnico V Neck DCR: 9.3k // Bridge DCR: 9.2k These pickups are a faithful recreation of the Jazz Bass single-coils of the early 60s. Our Vintage Jazz Bass pickups stay true to the originals…

Learn the tonal differences between a few of our most popular Hum-Canceling Telecaster Pickups   Vintage Stack Tele Set Magnet Type: Alnico V Neck DCR: 15.8k // Bridge DCR: 18.0k Our Vintage Stack Tele pickups offer up unmistakable Telecaster sparkle and spank without the traditional hum. Eliminate that pesky hum while keeping all the chime…

We’re excited to announce the release of the new Eric Steckel Signature “Candy” Humbucker Set, available now from the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop. Eric Steckel is a blues prodigy with a sonic signature all his own. Whether playing with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers or garnering international accolades as a solo artist, he continues to shatter blues…

Learn the tonal differences between a few of our most popular Single-Coil Telecaster Pickups   STL-1b Vintage Broadcaster Tele Bridge Magnet Type: Alnico V Bridge DCR: 8.0k A faithful tribute to the 1950 original, our Vintage Broadcaster is the perfect choice for discerning players who demand something more from their Tele lead pickup. Our Broadcaster…

Learn the tonal differences between a few of our most popular Single-Coil Stratocaster pickups   Vintage Staggered™ Strat Magnet Type: Alnico V Feature hand-ground Alnico 5 rod magnets and heavy Formvar magnet wire with a special wind pattern to produce that bright, glassy, bell tone with all of the bounce and sparkle you expect from…

Learn the tonal differences between a few of our most popular active humbuckers   The Basics of Active Humbuckers Like their passive counterparts, active pickups still utilize magnets and wire-wrapped coils to capture string vibrations and read them as a current. Active pickups employ an active preamp (usually powered by a 9V battery) that, along…

Learn the tonal differences between a few of our most popular humbuckers that feature Ceramic magnets   Duncan Custom™ Bridge DCR: 14.1k A hot humbucker which uses a small ceramic magnet and custom-wound coils to dish out a ‘P.A.F.-on-steroids’ tone. It has tight lows, a bump in the upper midrange which gives you more character…

Learn the tonal differences between our Alnico II Humbucker guitar pickups   Antiquity™ Humbucker Neck DCR: 7.7k // Bridge DCR: 8.6k The vintage accurate wind and custom aged Alnico II magnet provide an open tone, with a full low-end, scooped mid-range, and refined treble emphasis.   Seth Lover™ Neck DCR: 7.4k // Bridge DCR: 8.3k…

Learn the tonal differences between our Alnico V Humbucker guitar pickups   JB Model Bridge DCR: 16.6k Our most popular pickup of all time, the JB features a full and powerful low end, crisp and detailed highs, and an upper-midrange bump that adds crunch and chunk to heavy chords but translates to a singing, vocal-like…

At the heart of every pickup, whether it’s a humbucker or a single-coil, is one or more magnets that define the fundamental character of the pickup’s tone. Learn how a pickup’s magnet type impacts its tone to help you choose the best pickups for you and your guitar! Read on for info on a few…

Let’s talk about one of the most important subjects every guitarist needs to know in order to troubleshoot their electronics: testing pickups with a multimeter. These affordable hand-held devices are vital and helpful to have around. Whether diagnosing unwanted noises or verifying your pickups’ performance, a multimeter helps you get the most from your guitar...

The rules of guitar heroism are different for Tele players. These 6-string virtuosos have come to create their own paradigm of what it means to be a true master of their instrument. While rarely moving out of their twang-based genres, these players are incredibly potent forces in the pantheon of guitarists. Today, no one embodies…

We’re excited to introduce our latest collaboration with Brad Paisley, the Secret Agent neck-position pickup. Recessed and hidden under the pickguard of your Fender Esquire, it provides Esquire appearance and grit with traditional Telecaster tones. And, each one is handmade in the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop. The Telecaster Family Tree The ’50s brought on the…

“Musical weirdo and visionary” (Vice) Beatie Wolfe is an artist who has beamed her music into space, been appointed a UN role model for innovation and held a solo exhibition of her ‘world first’ album designs at the V&A Museum. Named by WIRED as one of “22 people changing the world,” Beatie Wolfe is at…

  During a recent visit to Santa Barbara, CA, Mark Holcomb traveled to the Seymour Duncan tiny house and headquarters to film our fourth Seymour Duncan “Portrait Series” video. As part of the three-guitar assault that makes up Periphery, Mark Holcomb might be best known for his bombastic riffs, liquid leads, and the syncopated down-tuned…

PowerStage is the go-to amp for streamlining your live rig. These pedal sized guitar amps are designed for players who love pedals or modeling devices but need a clean, powerful grab-and-go pedal amp for any gig, rehearsal, or studio session. PS170  |  PS200  |  PS700 There’s no denying our love of classic tube amps. They...

The chime and twang of great Strat, Tele, and P-90 single-coils are unmistakable. And humbuckers continue to be the go-tos for pushing amps with warmth and power. But what if there was a split-coil pickup that offered all of those sounds in one drop-in replacement? There is. It’s called the Seymour Duncan P-Rails. Pickup Splitting...

Wading through all of your guitar pickup options can sometimes be a bit intimidating. So we put together this list of our top 5 best Strat pickups for blues, it’s the perfect place to start. But first, lets dive into a little history… History of the Blues Guitar When it comes to the ultimate blues…

A pickup’s look is just as critical to the aesthetic of your guitar as its tone. For this reason, we offer a wide variety of guitar pickup covers. These covers include three unique new looks: Black Powdercoat, Raw Nickel Radiator Cover with Gold Foil, and Raw Nickel Border with Tortoise Shell. The pickups we choose…

Adjusting guitar pickup height is one of the easiest ways to improve your tone. With a few easy twists of a screwdriver, you can obtain the best output, warmth, clarity, and balance that your pickups can deliver. Keep reading to learn the benefits of proper adjustment, how to adjust a wide range of the most…

With 40 years of pickup design under our belt, we’re sharing a little history, what makes vintage so popular, and how our vintage-style, boutique guitar pickups have evolved over the years. It’s fascinating that most traditional boutique guitar pickups, after six-plus decades, are still the same design as the originals. Yes, today’s market features some…

I am sure the anticipation has been killing you. We all know how exciting switches are right?! Well your wait is over, and today we are going to show you 5 easy Strat mods you can do with a standard 5-way Strat switch. If you just joined us on this adventure and need to get…

In part 2 we are going to look at a traditional, standard Strat wiring configuration with a 5-way switch and teach you step by step how to get it done. If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, start here. Connecting the 5-Way Strat Switch If you remember from Part 1, the anatomy of a 5…

You’ve played em’ and you’ve heard em’ but have you ever wondered how exactly a 5-way Strat switch works? We’ve put together an in-depth 3-part series that pulls back the pickguard on one of the most common switches you’ll come across. In Part 1 we take a close look at how a 5-way Strat switch…

Ever hit the studio, dial up an epic tone on your Strat, lay down the perfect take, and have to scrap it because it’s riddled with 60-cycle hum from your traditional Strat guitar pickups? Or, ever play a show at your favorite local bar, and have to ask the bartender to turn off his prized neon Budweiser sign because it’s just…

Traditional Strat guitar pickups have their time and place. When you want that quintessential, glassy, bell-like chime—nothing does it like a classic Strat single coil. But sometimes we want more, more power, more output, more authority, more aggression out of our Strat. Often times, this is where traditional, vintage Strat guitar pickups don’t make the…

You know the old saying, “There’s more than one way to wire a Les Paul.” Well, okay, that’s not the saying you’ve surely heard before, but we like it better. The Gibson Les Paul, SG, ES-335 and countless other guitars use a two-pickup/four-pot setup. Traditionally, this consists of two dedicated volume controls and two dedicated…

In this article I’ll take you through the various things you’ll need to know about soldering to work on your guitar. You’ll need to know how to protect your guitar, how to solder to lugs, how to de-solder wires, how to clean contacts,and how to solder to the back of a pot. But first, lets make sure we’ve got the right equipment.

It’s been said that the best things in life are free, and I find that saying is never more true than when applied to getting a better tone from our guitars. With so many products on the market that claim to improve guitar tone in one way or another – from fancy new picks made…

There’s a standard way of stringing a Les Paul or other stop tailpiece-equipped axe, and it works perfectly fine. And so it should! The darn things were designed to work that way! But there’s another method that some players swear by, often called ‘top wrapping.’

Oh dear. What a challenge I’ve set myself with this article’s title. David Gilmour is an amazing player, known for both incredible tone and highly emotive technique and note choice. He regularly appears in the top 3 (often at number 1) when guitar publications hold “best solo ever” polls. From iconic releases like Dark Side…

If you have only one pickup in your guitar, feel free to ignore this article and live your life in blissful ignorance, unhampered by phase and polarity issues. Everyone else, pay attention! This is important stuff, and it might save your sanity some day, or at least your tone.

Whether you love or hate the song or band, you hear two second (if that) of the bassline and immediately know what song it is, and who’s playing it. And usually, if you go into Guitar Center, there’s a really good chance you’ll hear someone play one of these lines, albeit badly. And if you’re…

Chances are you already spend so much money on guitars and gear that each time the credit card bill comes you have to snatch it before your wife sees that new guitar you bought or finds that 5150 you just couldn’t pass up on Craigslist. If this is you, then you have something in common with Joe Bonamassa.

A few weeks ago, I completed an article about fixing my Ernie Ball/Music Man’s warped pickguard. While I had all of the electronics and pickguard off of the guitar, I noticed that the only shielding on the control cavity was a small strip of aluminum tape on the pickguard where the controls were. Now, the…

Have you never opened a guitar before? Or perhaps you’ve just opened one for the first time, seen all those wires, and run screaming in confusion to the internet for help? Never fear. We have a set of posts you can read to get yourself up to speed in no time, starting completely from scratch.

Epiphone is well loved by many for their semi-hollow bodies, their range of selection and affordable prices. You may be ready to pull the trigger your first Les Paul style guitar but your credit card may refuse such a purchase – an Epiphone LP is a good alternative.

Some people call them HSS Strats. Others call them Fat Strats. Some people don’t care for them, others don’t know what they’d do without them. Either way, you can’t deny the appeal of a guitar that combines the feel and mechanics of a Strat with the chunky kick of a bridge position humbucker.

Over the years there have been many modifications to the electric and acoustic guitar. One of the more radical ones is the use of a scalloped fingerboard. This is an irreversible modification that ‘scoops out’ the wood between the frets (see pictures). This article will explain exactly why someone might do this, the benefits and drawbacks of scalloping and why this became popular in electric guitar playing.

We surveyed the Seymour Duncan Facebook audience to find out what ranked as their top guitar solos of all time. Here’s how the Top 10 broke down.

Although I consider it my duty as a guitarist to own a Strat, Tele and Les Paul (and some day an ES-335 please, Santa), I have plenty of experience with all sorts of Ibanez guitars and all sorts of Seymour Duncan pickups. So I thought it might be fun to share some of what I’ve found.

I like to brainstorm a lot with other guitarists about gear, music, tone and other assorted subjects when one subject came up which can be summed up in one simple question: what are the top 10 tremolo systems on the market, right now?

Back in the days before we had direct recording outs and stereo effects loops, if a guitarist wanted to take his favorite amp’s tone and make it LOUDER, it was done by something called amp slaving. This is accomplished by taking the signal of one amp and boosting it via the power section of  another…

One of the great things about the Telecaster is the fact that there are so many cool alternate wiring schemes you can use. I want to tell you about three of my favorites.

In this article, I wish to explore some of my favorite pickups for the bridge position of a Les Paul. When I talk with players about tone, gear and music in general, the general concensus is that you need pickups with a lot of output for metal and pickups with less output for ‘everything else.’ I disagree with that notion (though it holds some truth, I have to admit) and I’ll try to highlight pickups that can do a large selection of styles as well as pickups that seem almost dedicated to a specific style.

>   Vintage RailsFour Con.Neck: ** 2.31 k Bridge: ** 2.67 kNeck: 8.5 KHz Bridge: 7.8 KHz Ceramic Bar6 / 3 / 9 Compare Tone Seymour Duncan Humbuckers & Trembuckers Model Name (click for details) Cable DC Resistance Resonant Peak    Magnet EQ B/M/T Output User Type   6 string – Sentient Four Con. Neck:…

Last week we got to the point where we had a guitar with one pickup and no controls. This week we’ll be taking more steps towards a full understanding of guitar wiring.

Changing your pickups isn’t rocket science and the right set of pickups can completely transform the tone and character of your guitar. Sometimes changing pickups can seem a bit daunting for those who have never picked up a soldering iron or opened up their guitar. Below you can find resources to select the perfect set…

Guitarists spend endlessly debating about guitar bridges: which Floyd is better, Kahler vs. Floyd, Floyd vs. Strat, trem vs. stoptail. There might not be as much paid attention to the other end of the guitar. The headstock is the first place many guitarists look when they see another guitarist playing, and the shape is the highly-protected trademark of most guitar companies. The headstock contains one of the most important parts of the guitar: the tuners. Because no one will notice how much you paid for that RockStar LesOCaster with the perfect flames (and skull inlays, dude) if you aren’t staying in tune. This article will explain some of the differences between traditional tuners and the benefits of choosing one over the other.

You had to know something like this was coming. This debate has gone on since solid state amps were marketed to unsuspecting guitarists in the 60’s. This article will consider the conventional wisdom is that tube amps are always better. Thirty years ago, I might agree, but now it isn’t so simple. Solid State (or…

If you’re anything like me, you have felt the pain of playing the guitar. I’m not talking about the blues, or the pain caused by being smacked by the singer; I’m talking about pain and tension in your muscles and joints. We guitarists put our hands through a lot of punishment. Bending strings, holding barre chords, rapid-fire picking – it all adds up, and none of it is good for your muscles or joints. When your hands are aching or your shoulders are locking up, your performance suffers. Worst of all, you might be doing long term damage.

Coil splitting is the practice of shutting off (or otherwise fading out) one coil of a humbucker, leaving behind a single coil for a brighter tone. Coil splitting is often confused with coil tapping, in much the same way that the terms ‘vibrato bar’ and ‘tremolo bar’ are considered interchangeable even though only one is technically correct. So what is coil tapping, and how is it different to coil splitting?

Pickups come in two basic flavors. One is active, and the second is passive. If your guitar requires a battery, chances are that it has active pickups. If it doesn’t, or will function without a battery, then the pickups would be considered passive. From what I have seen, guitarists generally prefer one or the other…

If the transformers are the heart of your amp and the preamp is the brain, then the soul must be the tubes. But the thing is, there are so many tubes available, how can we discern the differences?

Previously, the reason behind the different tones that different woods create has been explained. The different tones themselves were not fully explored, though. In this article I will give a global overview of the different tone woods, the sound they produce and in some cases their purpose. This is by no means a complete picture, only a global overview.

Once upon a time, in my first job upon landing in Los Angeles, a co-worker once randomly asked “Do you like the Cult?” “Sure!” I replied, having seen them on the Sonic Temple tour not long before relocating. “My favorite song of theirs is ‘Party Woman’!” he exclaimed. “What?” I was momentarily confused. “What are…

For those few who may be unfamiliar, drop tuning is the practice of tuning the strings on a guitar to pitches that are lower on the scale than the traditional E Standard (E2, A2, D3, G3, B3, E4) guitar tuning. This term can refer to tuning all the strings of a guitar down the same…

In our unending quest to forge a guitar tone that sounds like somebody opening the Ark of the Covenant inside a tyrannosaurus, many of us will eventually find ourselves considering the possibility of using more than one amplifier. As the more mathematically astute amongst you will doubtless be well aware, employing just one additional amplifier will…

Let’s face it: for the beginning guitarist, barre chords are hard. The idea that one finger has to hold down multiple strings when it has a hard enough time trying to hold down one seems like an impossible task.

If you’re upgrading your guitar’s pickups for the very first time, here’s a tip which will help you maximize your tone and get the most out of your investment: Seymour Duncan offers most humbucker models in two sizes: Humbucker and Trembucker. But what do these mean, and how do you know which is right for…

It is well known that a 500k pot will give you more highs than a 250k pot. But the “why” remains a cloudy subject. So let’s get to the bottom of it: why does the value of the pot matter?

Most guitarists have enough struggle with one neck. However, there are times when you might have to play guitar and bass in the same song, or play delicate fingerpicked intros on a 12 string, and rock out with a great big Rockin’ Guitar Solo on that 6-string in the end.

Or…my journey from single coils to humbuckers and back…. For the most part, choosing a type of replacement pickup is based on whatever already comes in your guitar. When exploring the differences between guitar types, it somehow always gets distilled down into 2 categories: Guitars with single coils and guitars with humbuckers. This article will…

I am always intrigued in how things developed. How did the guitar develop to what it is today? How do our views change on what constitutes good tone? Those kind of questions keep me occupied during the slow moments of a day, and one day I was asking myself the question: why do we, as electric guitar players, predominantly use sound systems based on electromagnetism and not on piezo-electrics?

Guitars are stringed instruments, and as with all instruments that utilize strings, there has to be a fixing point for them. These points are called bridges and they come in several forms and shapes. Generally speaking, there are two major types of bridges: fixed bridges and moving bridges (the latter generally but erroneously called tremolos). Let’s take a look at the different types of bridges and what kind of unique feature they have.

We’ve discussed choosing pickups according to your style before. We’ve also had a bit of a look at choosing pickups with respect to the wood: what wood works best with which pickup for which style? In this article I want to explore some possible guitar, pickup, style and tone choices. What goes good with what?

The Telecaster is without question a classic instrument. It has an instantly identifiable sound – especially in the bridge and middle positions. However, the neck pickup alone is slightly weaker than the bridge position. Not to say that it doesn’t sound good, because it does. In fact Seymour Duncan makes several vintage output Tele neck pickups for those who are after that traditional, sweet Tele neck sound. I have the STR-1 Vintage Rhythm in the neck of one of my Telecasters and it’s silky smooth.

WAIT. Put down that screwdriver. Put down that allen wrench. Quit fiddling with your tuners, and please do not throw your guitar out the window (or up on eBay). You aren’t going insane. We’ve all had frustrating moments with our guitars. I’m not talking about frustration from learning to play or being in a rut;…

Grady Champion was Dimebag Darrell’s guitar tech for 13 years, and he was by Dime’s side as he found and continued to refine his tone, from Pantera through to Damageplan, across countless gigs on stages all over the world. Towards the end of his life Dime had been using his signature Seymour Duncan Dimebucker pickup, but Grady tells us that Dime was also a fan of the ’59 Model, using the bridge version of the ’59 in the neck position of his guitars. Grady is currently teching for Incubus, and he took time out to have a chat about how pickups fit into Dime’s tone and what it was like to work with one of the most unforgettable metal guitarists ever.

Seymour Duncan has a wide variety of neck pickups to help you find that perfect match. There are many things to consider when you’re looking for a a neck pickup. First up is the wood of the guitar – do you have a bright guitar like alder and want to warm and fatten it up, or do you have a warmer guitar and want to make take it out of the darkness and give it some crunch and bite?

Buying a pickup can be as easy as looking at a few videos, hearing a few sound clips, and getting a few recommendations from friends. But with pickup companies like Seymour Duncan making hundreds of different pickups, an educated consumer will be the happiest consumer.

When it comes to classic pickup combinations the Seymour Duncan JB and 59 combo have to be right up there. With the ability to providing searing heavy tones from the JB, and smooth clear tones from the 59, you will end up with one incredibly versatile axe.

Now I know the image above will give some people fits. Just the idea of doing a gig without your favorite amp roaring behind you is enough to send people to their sheds, grabbing pitchforks and lighting torches.

There’s nothing quite like playing the blues. Every note, phrase and hint of vibrato rings out soul. And there’s nothing like seeing a good blues guitarist in concert like BB King, Robert Cray, Gary Clark. Jr, Joe Bonamassa – the list goes on and on. Most blues players use vintage-style pickups or vintage-style with-a-bit-of-edge for hotter blues….

One of the main reasons players add switches to their guitars is to explore the tonal versatility offered by four-conductor humbuckers. First let’s take a quick look at a single-coil pickup.

A multi-meter is a handy tool for guitar players to have on their work bench. They have a myriad of uses when it comes to guitar, effects and amplifiers, and it’s always worthwhile having even a basic multi-meter around to troubleshoot things.

Humbuckers have been immensely popular ever since they hit the market. Their fat, juicy tone allows for easier playing, their higher output makes amps crank out more dirt and with all the various humbuckers around you can easily season your guitar to taste. But some players feel the need to go a bit further.

The original humbucking pickups designed by Seth Lover for Gibson in the 1950s were elegantly simple. By combining two pickup coils instead of simply using one (with pole piece magnets of one coil oriented in the opposite direction to the other), Lover’s design cancelled out the buzz and hum that plagued existing single coil designs, leaving in its place a fuller, rounder tone which changed the future of guitar.

For many players, a change of pickups is one of the very first steps into modding guitars. It’s reversible, it’s not too hard, and it has an immediate impact on your tone. However, it’s still possible to get yourself into a bit of a mess if you don’t have a basic understanding of why you’re doing what you’re doing.

This article will provide a brief history of ambient guitar music and a rundown of the most common tools to get your space on.

Ever wonder why some guitars just feel ‘right’ while others feel just plain weird? Often it’s down to the radius of the fretboard. This refers to how flat or curved the fretboard the frets are. Different roundnesses provide different playing feels, and some are better suited to particular styles than others are.

Muddy sounding neck pickup? Try Seymour’s quick tech fix By Seymour Duncan Tech Guru Scott Miller People often call and ask how to fix a muddy sounding neck pickup. Some years ago, Seymour taught me a cool trick to fix this exact problem. If you connect a .047 capacitor in series (directly in-line) with the…

Anyone who is even remotely familiar with Joe Bonamassa knows he’s a huge collector of vintage guitars and amps. There’s the now-famous picture circulating of him on a nearly basketball court-size soundstage packed with gear. You think it’s staged, but nope, it’s all his. The guy could stock his own music store, so impressive is his collection of classic Gibsons and Fenders. Electrics. Acoustics. Cool Alvarez models among them, as well. To-die-for instruments that drip mojo. We’re talking ’59 Les Pauls (yes, plural). 60s too! And the amps! Marshalls, Dumbles, Friedmans, so many flavors of tone. His four-amp touring rig is a sight and sound to behold as well, with a Marshall Silver Jubilee JCM800 at the heart of it.

A while ago I was asked about different types of lacquer and how luthiers are able to get their guitars to look as glossy as they do. Sometimes they look as if they’re dipped in glass! In this article we’ll take a close look at how luthiers prepare the guitar for finishing and the final…

It’s a question we get asked a heck of a lot here at SD, and a question that appears all over the internet – how should I wire up a mixture of active and passive pickups in the  same guitar? The answer, either from us or elsewhere on the internet, is always either “It’s very…

Anyone reading through the specs of an effects processor or has ever bought a keyboard has seen the word MIDI. What is this crazy thing, and will it make my guitar sound like an 8-bit Atari game? Am I going to have to dig out my protractor and sextant to understand how MIDI works? This article…

We’ve all seen it: Les Paul down by the knees, swaggering across the stage. This is an image that’s burned into our brain, and probably the reason why many guitarists picked the guitar over the trombone in the first place. But if we want to play in front of people, this means to most rock,…

If your guitar’s wiring is set up in a way that our wiring instructions do not address (special coil-splitting, or unique switching, etc…), then you may find this pickup wire color-code chart very helpful.

If you’ve been a guitarist for more than five minutes, you’re pretty familiar with effects. Effects can morph our plain guitar sound into something from outer space or just make it seem a little bigger than it actually is. There are many different kinds of effects out there, and many theories stating the ‘correct’ order of effects in your Chain of Sonic Domination.

Music making has changed a lot over the past few years. No longer is someone chained to their bedroom desk bouncing tracks on a 4-track cassette recorder, or chained to a variety of books, pedals, cables, and other devices for practicing or playing. We sometimes forget that all of this information overload today can be…

In the wonderful guitar universe, it’s important not to criticize what size strings a man or woman uses. However, any guitarist that has spent just a small amount of time on internet forum and message boards has navigated the minefield of these types of threads. This article will explain the reasons why someone might choose…

Before we get into the guts of Four Cable Method – what it is and what it can do for you and your tone – we need to have a little history lesson. Once upon a time, using effects was relatively simple. Your only real connection concern was “What happens if I accidentally plug my…

Cases are a fact of life for any guitarist. Even if you don’t ever intend to pile all of your equipment in the back of the van to get to the next gig, every guitar we spend money on will spend at least part of its life in a case. Just the thought of taking a guitar without a case out of the store, across the parking lot and into the car for the ride home gives me shivers. Choosing a case for your new life partner (or fleeting romance) is sometimes as easy as saying “well, it came with this case, so that is what I use.” Sometimes it is a bigger consideration, which brings me to the subject of this article. The case you choose has more to do with its intended use than anything else.

We’ve all been there: you’ve dialed in a sweet rhythm tone – the neck volume is on seven and the bridge volume is on… whatever it’s on, you weren’t looking. And the tone controls are turned to the precise value of “where it sounds right.” You’re grooving away and suddenly it’s time for the solo! You switch…

Have you ever sat at home and basked in your “lion riding a motorcycle” guitar tone, only for it to end up sounding all “duck chewing on a balloon” at your next gig or band practice? I know I have. If you’re the kind of bats-for-breakfast, skulls-on-mic-stand, brutal guitar warlord sort for whom LOUD is life, then you’re probably cranked 24/7 and have no idea what I’m talking about. However, for those of us who cut our teeth on modelers with headphones or amps turned down to law-abiding levels, having to adjust to being audible over a drum kit can be a very frustrating experience.

Many guitars also come with a combination of single coil and humbucker pickups. Running a 500K potentiometer when using singles may make them too sharp and shrill. Sure you can have a couple of volume potentiometers, one for each sort of pickup. But what if you want to keep your control layout simple?

Mention the idea of ‘midi guitar’ to most guitarists and the image that springs to mind is most likely an ’80s cover band with skinny ties where the guitarist has to cover the keyboard parts to ‘Jump’ and ‘Safety Dance.’ That is, if you don’t get the outright dismissal of the use of guitar synth…

A simple swap of pickups can resurrect even the most boring of guitars. If you’ve picked up an old super Strat style guitar with an HSS pickup configuration and you know you’re going to be using it for some heavy metal riffs, consider some of the high output pickups available.

SEYMOUR DUNCAN RELEASE SILVER LAKE  SANTA BARBARA, January 5, 2018 – Seymour Duncan, a leading manufacturer of pickups and pedals, announces the release of Silver Lake Reverb Pedal.  Silver Lake is a fully programmable reverb workstation, combining high quality reverb algorithms with unique dynamic control and powerful tone shaping options for a deep sonic experience – whether you…

Today we’re taking you back to the mid 70’s… to the very beginning when Seymour Duncan the Company started. Cathy and Seymour talk about how it all started in their $300 trailer with no electricity, how they made up the rules as they went and some of the timeless lessons they learned. Subscribe to our…

Two friends get together to talk guitars, favorite guitar players… and the Paisley Telecaster. Check out the new episode of Seymour’s Studio, with his special guest Brad Paisley. Subscribe to our channel for new episodes!

The Silver Lake Dynamic Reverb is a powerhouse reverb workstation. The foundation is a collection of eight beautifully crafted reverb algorithms, a powerful set of tone shaping options, and our proprietary Dynamic Expression™ control. If you’re looking for classic Room, vintage Spring sounds, or massive Plates and Halls, Silver Lake has you covered. In addition,…

Seymour Duncan Announces Cutting-edge Pickup Architecture with New Duality Line SANTA BARBARA, CA – February 17, 2017 – Seymour Duncan, a leading manufacturer of pickups and pedals, announces Duality™, a new concept in pickup design merging the best active and passive technologies to create a versatile and dynamically rich tone palette. “Duality is a new…

    For more info or to secure your set of limited edition Amos Custom Shop pick ups please visit our Custom Shop – JOE BONAMASSA AMOS PICKUP SET Joe Bonamassa’s 1958 Flying V was special even before being purchased by the famous bluesman – as one of just 98 Flying V’s produced by Gibson in…

MJ and the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop can create any pickup imaginable. These pickups were custom-made with a Halloween theme for one of our artists, and you can get nearly any Seymour Duncan pickup in a variety or cosmetics to satisy your inner beast. A customer dreamed up these zombie-inspired humbuckers just in time for…

Musicians Institute and Seymour Duncan are proud to announce the Fall Scholarship Winners, Chanjin Oh and Calvin Rasmussen! Chanjin Oh, winner of the Fall 2017 Seymour Duncan Bass Scholarship, comes to Musicians Institute from South Korea armed with a serious dedication for the bass and a passion for playing rock. He describes his future goals…

If you’ve ever felt that your Telecaster’s neck pickup sounded too muddy, there’s a simple fix that Seymour has been doing for years. All you need to do is connect a .047 capacitor in series (directly in-line) with the hot output wire from the neck pickup. This will filter out the excess low-end and clean up…

    In this quick video, Mark Holcomb stopped by our Santa Barbara office and we asked him to try the Palladium gain stage out. With his signature PRS guitar equipped with Seymour Duncan Alpha/Omega pick ups, Mark plugged in, played to a Periphery track, and gave us his first impression of the Palladium.. More…

Doug Rappoport knows tone. In this video he shows you the pedals and pickups used to get that Classic Rock tone. Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Special pickups in his Les Paul. Seymour Duncan Forza overdrive pedal, Palladium Gain Stage pedal, and Vapor Trail delay all powered by the PowerStage 170 pedalboard power amp.

More info on the Seymour Duncan Vapor Trail Gear used – Yamaha AC3R Acoustic with SD Woody pickup – Schecter KM7 with SD Alpha/Omega pickups – SD Palladium Gain Stage Pedal – SD Killing Floor Boost – SD Vapor Trail Delay – Ernie Ball MVP Expression Pedal – Kemper Profiling Amp (Revv Generator Clean Profile)…

A versatile analog chorus with an innovative Dynamic Expression mode, the Seymour Duncan Catalina Dynamic Chorus pedal gives you complete depth control depending on how hard you play.

The Andromeda Dynamic Delay is a new approach to the traditional digital delay – as much a performance tool as it is a sound effect. Normal, Ping Pong, Reverse and Reverse Pong modes are available in Digital and Analog voicings for lush analog delays, vibey tape echoes, pristine digital repeats and psychedelic soundscapes. But that’s…

In this installment, Seymour Duncan’s own Max Gutnik explains how to use Dynamic Expression on the new Seymour Duncan Andromeda Delay pedal. Using the Threshold knob and the different parameters on Andromeda, Dynamic Expression allows you to regulate how much of the effect you hear by how hard or how soft you play. Guitar Signal…

More on the Palladium – Click here ========================================­=========== Produced by Thinline Films & NOK NOVUM Filmed & Edited by Grant Cooper Engineered & Mixed by Scott Giffin Music by NOK NOVUM Gear: PRS Custom 24 Artists w/ Pegasus & Sentient Gibson Les Paul Standards w/ Custom Hybrid & Alnico II Pro D’Addario NYXL Strings and…

Keith Merrow test drives the Palladium pedal for metal tones. Follow Keith Merrow – http://www.facebook.com/keith.merrow1 https://www.facebook.com/ConqueringDystopia http://www.conqueringdystopia.com http://www.keithmerrow.com

    Dave Baker definitely knows how to dial in a great Classic Country tone! From his Telecaster loaded with Seymour Duncan Antiquity 55 pick ups, plugged into the Seymour Duncan Vise Grip compression pedal, 805 overdrive pedal for a “bit of Teeth”, finishing off with the Andromeda Dynamic Delay pedal for a bit of…

“The Dynamic Expression’s reactive nature makes the delay feel more like an instrument.” That’s the verdict on the Andromeda Dynamic Delay from Premier Guitar’s Joe Charupakorn, who just honored the Andromeda with a Premier Gear award. You can read the full review here, but here are a few of our favorite comments: “There’s no shortage…

Throughout the evolution of the electric guitar, players have continually searched for more. More volume, more sustain, more gain, more tone. Some methods are better at achieving it than others, and some can actually hurt your sound if you’re not careful. Take for instance the pickup: early players knew that if they needed to balance…

In this installment, Seymour Duncan’s own Max Gutnik explains how to use Dynamic Expression on the new Seymour Duncan Andromeda Dynamic Delay pedal. Using the Threshold knob and the different parameters on Andromeda, Dynamic Expression allows you to regulate how much of the effect you hear by how hard or how soft you play.  …

Redefine Headroom with the new PowerStage 700

Seymour Duncan changes the amp landscape with a power amp voiced and designed specifically for guitar players.

Do you have Seymour Duncan pedals in your collection? Want more? Of course you do, we all know more is better. Post your Seymour Duncan pedals on social media and you could add to your SD pedal cache. Here’s how it works: post a pic or video to your social media account featuring your Seymour…

Seymour Duncan Releases the Andromeda Dynamic Delay Pedal SANTA BARBARA, CA April 9, 2017 – Seymour Duncan, a leading manufacturer of pickups, pedals and power amps, announces the Andromeda Dynamic Delay, a digital delay that employs the same Dynamic Expression™ technology found in the Catalina Dynamic Chorus to let you control certain effect parameters with…

We’ll be at the annual Dallas International Guitar Festival this weekend, Friday May 5 to Sunday May 7 at Dallas Market Hall, Dallas, TX. The Dallas show began in a small meeting room of a hotel in 1978. Now it’s in 140,000 square feet of display space bringing together guitar dealers, manufacturers, collectors, celebrities and…

By Martina Fasano Founded by Marios Illipoulos and Gus G, Nightrage is certainly band with plenty of shred-worthy guitar work. As the founder of the band, Illipolous has enlisted the help of some fantastic musicians in past lineups of the band. In July of 2016, Magnus Söderman (guitars) and Lawrence Dinamarca (drums) were added to…

The Music & Sound Retailer recently interviewed our SVP Of Products/CRO Max Gutnik. The interview covers a lot of ground including Max’s career history; new products such as Palladium, Saturday Night Special, Duality and PowerStage; the importance of working together with guitar shops; and Seymour Duncan’s role in shaping artist developing in a post-record-company world….

The good folks over at Wired Guitarist have reviewed the Mark Holcomb Alpha/Omega pickup set. Connor Gilkinson declares “I’ll call it right now – these are some of the best pickups to come out in recent memory. I have never seen a set of pickups that can do it all, until now. Plenty of pickups…

By Martina Fasano It’s easy to introduce Glen Drover as the former axe-slinger for influential bands such as King Diamond and Megadeth, but as a guitarist, Drover is more than just an encyclopedic entry listed under “past members.” When iconic metal band Testament needed a quick study to fill in for Alex Skolnick due to…

SANTA BARBARA, CA March 1, 2017 – Seymour Duncan, a leading manufacturer of pickups and pedals, announces the over-the-counter release of Periphery guitarist Mark Holcomb’s Alpha and Omega pickups in 6, 7 and 8-string versions. “The Alpha/Omega set has been the heartbeat of my sound for the past several years,” Mark Holcomb says. “Since we…

Whenever we make a new product at Seymour Duncan, it has to benefit players. It has to make life easier and tone better for those who it’s made for. Duality is made unlike any other active pickup, and it opens up a whole new exciting chapter for what’s possible. We’ve made pickups that combine aspects…

Click here to see an index of Seymour Duncan NAMM 2017 Pedal videos.

The Killing Floor high gain boost pedal—one of Duncan’s latest offerings—delivers up to 34dB of boost that will push any amp into overdrive. But there’s more than a staggering amount of boost at play here. The pedal also sweetens the tone of your rig, providing natural, amp-like dynamics and responsiveness while enhancing the most musical frequencies and harmonics.

The gear and technique secrets behind a shred guitar masterpiece

During a short interview in the Seymour Duncan booth at this past weekend’s NAMM show in Anaheim, California, TESTAMENT and METAL ALLEGIANCE guitarist Alex Skolnick was asked how he has managed to survive in the music industry thirty years after the release of TESTAMENT’s classic debut album, “The Legacy”.

Heads and combos set to dominate backline this year.

    We’ve just unveiled a stack of new products at the Winter NAMM Show, including two power amps, two new pickups and a revolutionary digital delay pedal. You’ll be hearing and seeing a lot more about all of these in the near future but here’s the quick rundown.

While it wasn’t the most earth-shattering turnout in terms of new keyboardist gear this year, there were still some interesting final revelations from the NAMM Show 2017. These include a new synthesizer plug-in technology, a new sub-bass plug-in and three portable gems: a digital delay pedal, a Teenage Engineering drum sequencing synth and a Universal Audio interface.

Prestige Guitars Ltd. has teamed up with former PANTERA and DOWN bassist Rex Brown to design and release Rex’s first signature model six-string guitar. The “Rex Brown Custom” signature model was unveiled this past Friday, January 20 at the NAMM show in Anaheim, California, where Rex personally demonstrated the guitar for Premier Guitar.

Mitch Gallagher stops by the Seymour Duncan booth at Winter NAMM 2017 to check out the Andromeda Delay pedal, as well as the PowerStage power amp.

NAMM2017 We headed on over to Seymour Duncan to check out what’s up and coming in 2016. They always have something clever up there sleeve, as well as some awesome artist appearances and performances at their booth. Well, this year wasn’s any different, so be sure to keep an eye out for all of our booth performance videos coming soon! For now, here’s the rundown on what to expect from the pickup/effects giants this year, including a new delay pedal and pedal power amplifiers!

A new fully programmable Digital Dynamic Delay. The new Seymour Duncan Andromeda delay looks like a digital delay with many possibilities and lots of options, so should appeal to players that want to experiment with dynamics, timings and synchronisation.

Another amazing interview with the man himself! Seymour Duncan with an awesome Fender Guitars story!

Seymour Duncan are known for their versatile guitar pickups and high-grade effects pedals, but now, they are diving headfirst into the world of power amps with the brand-new PowerStage!

Chicago death/doom pioneers Novembers Doom are preparing to unleash their new album, and guitarist Larry Roberts continues to wave the Seymour Duncan flag proudly. We thought it was time we checked in to see where his gear preferences are at and what we can expect from the new record.

Pickups are always evolving. That’s why you’ll find models like the Seth Lover and the Sentient, the SSL-1 and the Hot Stack for Strat, the P90 and the P-Rails. It’s always been this way, going right back to the dawn of the electric guitar. So how does this relate to the Antiquity series of vintage…

A Visit from Saint Seymour It was the night before Xmas, two days from the gig. My new band had told me “Your tone we don’t dig!” My old Strat hummed like a tree full of bees. My once sparkling Tele now sounded like cheese! The gutted Les Paul was borderline junk. My SG wasn’t…

A Thousand Horses have been breaking some serious ground in the country scene. Rolling Stone credited them with bringing back southern rock, and their song ‘Smoke’ has set a new Country Aircheck radio chart record for highest debut by a new act. They’re now recording their second album after wrapping up a year long U.S….

By Martina Fasano Thanksgiving. Black Friday. The Macy’s Parade. All indicators that the holiday gift-giving season is upon us once again. Musicians have the reputation of being “quirky” individuals that non-musicians have difficulty buying for. I have no idea why this is the case, since I don’t know any guitar or bass players that would…

November 4, 2016 – Seymour Duncan, a leading manufacturer of pickups and pedals, announces the Jimi Hendrix™ Signature Strat Set and Jimi Hendrix™ Signature Loaded Pickguards.

By Martina Fasano Halloween. The candy-lover’s Christmas. The sinfully sinister holiday that gives us chills, tricks, and treats. What better way to pay tribute to one of the coolest, most fun days on the calendar, than to play some guitars that are spooky, hellish, or downright mean? Here are five guitars featuring Seymour Duncan pickups that…

October, 13, 2016 – Seymour Duncan, a leading manufacturer of pickups and pedals, announces the High Voltage humbucker set. They are currently available exclusively from the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop.

By Martina Fasano The 1970s and 80s were a hotbed of lean, mean, gorgeously dirty guitar tones that would go on to inspire millions of musicians in the decades that followed. Many of those legendary tones we try so hard to emulate every time we plug our guitars into an old school stack are a…

September 24, 1991 was an historic day for music: it was the day that both Nirvana’s Nevermind and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Blood Sugar Sex Magik were released. Along with Metallica’s self-titled album and Pearl Jam’s Ten – both of which were released the previous month – these records inarguably shaped the musical path of…

Every pickup we make tells a story, and our line of vintage pickups is particularly stocked with interesting tales. We asked our sales manager, Alex Semple, to share the stories behind some of our most popular vintage-style models. 

By Dave Eichenberger Somewhere between 50 and 60 years ago was a magical time in music. Rock music was just getting popular in the mid 1950s, and Guitarists demanded a more modern look and sound from their instruments. Leo Fender tapped into Southern California’s car culture with their new and exciting colors and slapped them…

When you play guitar there’s an interaction between your hands, the strings, the pickups and your amplifier and speaker. There’s something primal and instinctive about it: pick delicately and your sound responds in kind, but pick harder and the intensity of your sound magnifies and matches your mood.

By Dave Eichenberger There are lots of reasons why we chose guitar over piano. Piano players have to deal with strict teachers with rulers that slap our wrists every time we use the wrong fingering. Piano isn’t portable, and other than kicking the stool behind you and standing up, there are no rock-approved stage moves….

By Martina Fasano Most of you will know Blues Saraceno from his solo work, his time playing with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker (Cream), or his stint with poison. A lot of fans will remember his Parallel Axis Blues Saraceno pickups, and his regular appearance in guitar magazines around the world. Don’t let Blues hear…

What’s the best distortion pedal on the market? Tom Quayle from Guitar Interactive, has a look at the new Seymour Duncan PALLADIUM Gain Stage Guitar Effects Pedal to see if it makes the grade.

Tone Report reviews the Seymour Duncan Killing Floor High Gain Boost.

When the electric bass as we know it was first invented by Leo Fender and co, there was no such thing as ‘active and passive’ bass electronics; there was just ‘what was there.’ If you wanted to fine-tune your sound on a single-pickup Precision Bass, you had a passive tone control whose job was to reduce the…

Vintage Guitar Approved Gear features the Seymour Duncan Catalina Dynamic Chorus pedal.

Fender’s range of classic ‘offset’ guitars is enjoying quite resurgence lately. Models like the Jazzmaster, Jaguar, Mustang, Bass VI and Duo-Sonic are popular with indie guitar players as well as those who play blues, classic rock and roots-rock. These guitars all have scale lengths that differ from the typical Fender 25.5″ and they typically have quite distinctive…

Our Forza Overdrive is a full-range, highly adjustable and transparent overdrive pedal that maintains the natural voice of your guitar even while it boosts your gain. Compared to the 805 Overdrive it has a more open, earthy voicing. Its three-band EQ lets you boost or cut the Bass, Middle and Treble and it has plenty of crunch whether…

A while ago we saw this great photo of some of Chris Letchford’s (Scale The Summit) Strandberg guitars and we just had to know more! We reached out to Chris to ask about the guitars in the pic and here’s what he had to say:

Seymour Duncan offers many different pickups for many different kinds of players, and a lot of the time those pickups are built with a particular tonal mission in mind: a pickup for blues, for hard rock, for jazz. But perhaps the most specific ‘genre’ pickup in the Seymour Duncan catalog is the Black Winter. This…

It’s impossible to overstate the influence that Slash has had on the world of guitar. When Guns N’ Roses first hit the big time, hard rock players generally favored pointy guitars with Floyd Roses and bright, flashy paint jobs. In contrast, Slash adopted more of a ‘classic rock’ vibe with his choice of Les Pauls…

By Martina Fasano Summer NAMM. It’s almost like the overlooked middle child of the family when compared to the “Golden Child” that is Winter NAMM. That being said, many of the company reps I have spoken to over the years will tell you that Summer NAMM is actually a better place to do what they’re…

SANTA BARBARA, CA July 11,2016 – Seymour Duncan, a leading manufacturer of pickups and pedals, announces the Saturday Night Special, a new pickup set with alnico 4 magnets.

Flash back to Winter NAMM 2015: one of the hottest, most talked-about guitars on show was Periphery guitarist Mark Holcomb’s limited edition Paul Reed Smith signature. Here was an instrument that filled a previously un-catered-to niche in the PRS line-up: a 25.5” scale length (compared to the regular 25”), a 20” fretboard radius (against a…

Tone Report Weekly gives a synopsis of Seymour Duncan’s pickups to pedals story.

Sweetwater reviews the Killing Floor at Summer NAMM 2016.

At this year’s Summer NAMM in Nashville, Reverb was on hand to showcase the Palladium Gain Stage, Forza Overdrive, and Killing Floor High Gain Boost pedals all of which are primed to alter gain stages and shape tone.

Pro-Audio Land reviews our Killing Floor pedal at Summer NAMM 2016.

SANTA BARBARA, CA June 27, 2016 – Seymour Duncan, a leading manufacturer of pickups and pedals, announces the Killing Floor High Gain Boost, an elevated boost pedal designed to give you an extra kick in output and a beefier tone.

The Retailer proudly presents their Summer NAMM 2016 new product spotlights, featuring the Killing Floor.

By Elysse Miller I feel fortunate to have grown up during the punk and industrial heyday. One of the pillars of punk, Bad Religion, recently embarked on a new tour that started in Ventura, California. I watched in admiration as these legends played for hours, spanning their entire catalog and hitting their fans with the…

Guitar Interactive reviews our Palladium and Catalina Pedals. See the four star reviews here.

By Jay Hale If one had to list what were the most criminally underrated albums of the 90s, King’s X’s Dogman would be high on the list. Whether due to the changing tides of music at the time, the advent of grunge, the ripple effect of the death of glam metal, etc, it slipped under…

Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine changed the path of metal rhythm guitar: the kinds of chords and riffs, the attack and aggression of the picking style, and the crunch and bite of the tone itself. For many years – until he developed his signature Dave Mustaine LW-MUST Livewire pickups with us – Dave used the JB and…

By now you’ve most likely heard our new Forza Overdrive, developed in partnership with Chicago Music Exchange. It has clear highs, deep lows and a slightly scooped midrange which lets you dial in broader, more dynamic overdrive tones, from ‘edge-of- breakup’ to classic late 70s hard rock and beyond. And now you can win a Forza of your…

By Dave Eichenberger In the beginning, there was the Esquire. Almost 70 years ago, the genesis of the Telecater started with its one-pickup father, which contained a single bridge pickup with a 3-way switch giving us a few sounds that couldn’t be found on the later Telecaster.

June 1, 2016 (Santa Barbara, CA) – Seymour Duncan, a leading manufacturer of pickups and pedals, announces the release of the limited edition Joe Bonamassa Signature Skinner Burst humbucker set. This set is an exact replica of the pickups in his popular Principal Skinner Les Paul. These are wound on the historic Leesona machine that wound the original Skinner humbucker.

  By Jay Hale Adrian Galysh is seemingly one of the busiest guitarists in the Los Angeles area.  Followers of his social media streams get regular notifications of gigs at the legendary Baked Potato and guest spots at Hollywood’s Ultimate Jam Night, as well as for sets he plays at local wineries and aeronautic events.

We at Seymour Duncan would like to show our support for our friend Laith Al-Saadi, who has made it into the top four of The Voice. And we want him to win. Laith utterly rips on guitar, and his love of the instrument comes through in every note he plays. His voice is incredibly soulful…

By Dave Eichenberger In electric basses, there are basically (haha) three different ways to design a pickup system. You can go with passive pickups, passive pickups with a preamp, and full-on active pickups. All are valid ways of doing things, and while bassists may argue the merits of each system, the good news is that…

If you play metal bass, you owe a debt of gratitude and maybe a pint of Trooper beer to Steve Harris. Steve is credited with creating the infamous ‘gallop’ rhythm used throughout metal, and even if his contributions started and ended there, he’d deserve a place in the history books. But he’s done so much…

Seymour Duncan pickups are synonymous with hot rodding a guitar. Aftermarket pickups and other upgrades first gained widespread popularity in the ‘70s, and Seymour Duncan were one of the first companies to the playing field in a large scale capacity. The JB is famously the most recorded pickup of all time, but what are the best Seymour Duncan pickups for you?
There are so many pickup options out there, and it can be intimidating trying to figure out which to choose! Whether or not it’s aftermarket pickups in general, Seymour Duncan’s lineup, or different pickups well suited for different genres.
Today we cut through some of the confusion, with the top 5 Seymour Duncan humbuckers!

Notes for Notes is dedicated to designing, equipping and staffing after-school recording studios inside Boys & Girls Clubs. It allows young people to access professional music-making instruments and equipment. and helps educate youth about careers onstage and behind the scenes in the music industry.

Seymour Duncan’s Palladium Gain Stage Pedal

By Martina Fasano Canadian Music Week descended upon Toronto once again from May 2-8, 2016, and it got me thinking about some of the best guitarists Canada has produced over the years.

SANTA BARBARA, CA May 2, 2016 – Seymour Duncan, a leading manufacturer of pickups and pedals, and Chicago Music Exchange, announces the release of the new Forza Overdrive effects pedal. This pedal will be available for purchase from Chicago Music Exchange between May and August.

A lot of pedals make the claim that they’re designed to give you the feel of an amp, but the Seymour Duncan Palladium Gain Stage is probably the first pedal I’ve played that’s really come good on this claim.

By Dave Eichenberger Using pedals with an acoustic guitar is a pretty counter-intuitive thing. After all, it is an acoustic guitar, and it gets its name from the sound of the guitar in a room, with the reflections blaring out from the soundboard in all directions of the room. A pickup or even a microphone…

In this exclusive video, made just for Guitar World, guitarist Steve Booke demos the Seymour Duncan Palladium Gain Stage pedal.

By Martina Fasano Yngwie Malmsteen. Steve Vai. Zakk Wylde. Nuno Bettencourt. Tosin Abasi. Any one of those names mentioned individually is enough to have shredders of any generation sit up and take notice. Imagine all five of the aforementioned individuals going on tour together? That’s exactly what the Generation Axe tour is doing starting April 5,…

By Martina Fasano Gus G has been very busy lately, and that’s just how he likes it. With credits to his name like Ozzy Osbourne, Firewind, Nightrage and Arch Enemy, Gus G is no stranger to the higher profile names in the heavy metal arena. His virtuosic abilities and dedication to his craft is apparent…

By Dave Eichenberger Contrary to popular belief, there are other types of music other than rock, metal, blues, and country. While not as popular as it was, say, 40 years ago, there is still a sizable jazz guitar community out there. Of course, jazz has been played on many types of guitars, and archtops, while…

Seymour Duncan introduces the Palladium Gain Stage, a pedal designed to replicate high-gain tube amps.

From busy aisles filled with the latest musical gear and pro audio products to star-studded events and the lure of Nashville nightlife, 2016 Summer NAMM––the industry’s midyear gathering––has something for everyone. Set your business up for success in the busy fall and holiday selling season by attending 2016 Summer NAMM, June 23-25. Learn more about…

We saw it in the flesh at NAMM, and now Seymour Duncan has announced the Palladium Gain Stage will be hitting stores very soon.
The pickup mogul reckons it’s “the first stompbox that actually captures the feel and responsiveness of a high-gain tube amp”, with three gain stages and a fully featured EQ with sweepable mid frequency.

“It feels like a real amp” is a big claim made by a lot of pedals, but our engineering team has worked themselves to exhaustion to really nail the sound and response of a real amp when developing the Palladium Gain Stage.

Seymour Duncan, a leading manufacturer of pickups and pedals, announces the release of the Palladium™ Gain Stage effects pedal. Palladium is the first pedal to authentically replicate a high gain tube amp, allowing for the extra dimensionality that is missing in effects pedals today.

Former NEVERMORE and current ARCH ENEMY guitarist Jeff Loomis recently talked about his new signature Seymour Duncan pickups.

By Jon Moody You did it, you finally did it! You booked recording time in a studio, filled out all the pre-production forms and possibly even sent in a deposit (if required) and your album is getting recorded. Or, maybe you just finally confirmed a date when you’re going into a friend’s basement to lay…

Announced at NAMM this year and already voted a winner by Guitar World magazine: The Seymour Duncan Palladium pedal is designed for those that like tight, high-gain, driven guitar tones.

By Martina Fasano Whether it’s with Sanctuary, Nevermore, through his solo work, or most recently with Arch Enemy, Jeff Loomis has developed the reputation of being on of metal’s elite guitar players. His column in Guitar World magazine, “Merchant of Menace” provided a great many shredders with the tools they needed to try and emulate…

NewBay Media is pleased to announce the winners of the 2016 Super NAMM Awards.

Seymour Duncan, a leading manufacturer of pickups and pedals, announces the release of their new Jeff Loomis Signature Blackouts™ series of active humbucker pickups. This series consists of high–output active humbuckers developed to deliver the dynamic performance unique to active pickups, with the look, tone and feel of a great set of passive pickups.

By Jay Hale The Seymour Duncan JB humbucker is beyond iconic in the rock world. Its tone is so distinctive, so inherently familiar and pleasing it’s almost what you expect to hear on a rock recording. Since its introduction in the 70s it has appeared on so many recordings you probably don’t realize it. Not for…

By Martina Fasano I first met Kimberly Freeman very briefly at the NAMM show, just after she signed some autographs together with the members of Doll Skin and rock legend Lita Ford. Everyone around (fans and industry types alike) was absolutely astounded at how fan-friendly she was: handing out necklaces to fans that had waited…

Oh boy, oh boy. Look at this little blue beauty from Seymour Duncan – the Catalina Chorus pedal. The pedal is touting a new Dynamic Expression feature. Max Gutnik, SVP of products and CRO of Seymour Duncan notes that, “Dynamic Expression feature gives players the ultimate control – from subtle to bold, and everything in-between, without changing settings every other song or riding the footswitch all night.” This sounds awesome, and the type of problem Gutnik is describing is all too common for many chorus pedals on the market.

Do you want to win the Seymour Duncan pedal of your choice and a custom pedal board by Creation Music Company? We’ve teamed up with Creation to run a giveaway together. which you can enter here. You can see our range of pedals on this page, including gain pedals (the Pickup Booster, 805 Overdrive, Dirty Deed Distortion and Palladium Gain Stage),…

Rich Osweiler of Premier Guitar demos Seymour Duncan Palladium Gain Stage and Catalina Chorus Pedals at Winter NAMM 2016.

By Martina Fasano Lita Ford began her career in the seminal all-female punk band The Runaways, together with Joan Jett, Sandy West, Cherie Currie, and Jackie Fox. That would have been enough trailblazing for most people, but not Lita.

Knaggs Guitars makes some pretty remarkable instruments. While many of their creations use standard woods that you see with many other companies, they have an eye for the artistic as well.

The most exciting thing about working for a company that makes pickups and pedals is the opportunity to participate in new product development. There are many different elements to this process: the brainstorming, the prototyping, the look, the written materials, the media clips to let folks know what it sounds like. The Catalina Dynamic Chorus…

Photo by Brad Jurjens Nikki Stringfield is a great guitarist with some very impressive credits already to her name and an undoubtedly exciting musical future to come. As one part of the guitar duo in The Iron Maidens, Nikki shreds on Maiden classics all around the world. She also plays in the reactivated Femme Fatale and makes…

The next Guitar Gods Festival takes place in Miami, Florida on February 19th, 2016. The brainchild of April Malmsteen, it’s a wall-to-wall showcase of virtuosity featuring performances by Steve Vai, Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain, Gus G, Rudy Sarzo and of course Yngwie Malmsteen. And the centerpiece of the Guitar Gods Festival is the online…

In the tradition of our definitive best guitar pedal round-ups for Winter NAMM 2015 and Summer NAMM 2015, Best Guitar Effects is bringing you the decisive review of the best guitar pedals that really stood out at this year’s NAMM Show.

Last week we packed up and headed down to Anaheim, California for the 2016 Winter NAMM Show. We had a great time meeting with artists, dealers and media, and letting folks try out brand-new gear like the Catalina Dynamic Chorus and Palladium Gain Stage pedals at our pedal testing stations.

Why does everything have to be so hard? Why can’t I have those pickups and wiring already finished? All of those wires and switches frighten and confuse me! Well, whether you don’t like to wire up your own guitar, or just want a great sounding already-wired-up pickguard that is tested and ready to go, Seymour…

CEO of Seymour Duncan to be celebrated for her 40 years in the industry

  Cathy Duncan to be Honored at 2016 She Rocks Awards CEO of Seymour Duncan to be celebrated for her 40 years in the industry SANTA BARBARA, January 22, 2016 – Seymour Duncan, a leading manufacturer of pickups and pedals, announces that CEO, Cathy Duncan, will be honored at the 2016 She Rocks Awards. The…

Seymour Duncan expand their pedal repertoire with the Palladium Gain Stage Overdrive and Catalina Chorus Pedals.

It’s that time of year again! If you’re heading to the NAMM Show to see the latest in musical instruments from nearly every manufacturer in the world, drop by and say hi! We’ll be at Booth #5560, and you’ll be able to check out our new Catalina Dynamic Chorus, Jeff Loomis Blackouts and more. Here’s…

During the time of NAMM commonly release new products. It’s an exciting time for everyone. During this time I do receive press releases, so I’ll be posting a few! Last weekend I received this announcement by Seymour Duncan about their new chorus pedal – The Catalina Dynamic!

Seymour Duncan are probably the biggest name in aftermarket pickups, but that certainly doesn’t show off the range of their expertise. Alongside being giants of the pickup world, they’ve also delved into creating guitars, amps and effects pedals over the years. Recently after revitalising their pedal range over the last year or so, a new pedal emerges!

Good design is often reflected in the intuitive nature of how something works. My first foray into design occurred when my father asked me to hold the flashlight for him while he fixed the wiring on a ceiling light fixture. I decided, in my 4-year-old wisdom, that putting the huge flashlight on the ground with…

We started designing our Catalina Dynamic Chorus more than a year ago, and the process of development and refinement has resulted in a nice little piece of synchronicity that we didn’t even think of when we came up with the name: the Catalina pedal has arrived on the exact same day that Comet Catalina makes…

Some guitarists like their chorus to be subtle and traditional. Others prefer bold and unique. The Catalina Dynamic Chorus is designed to do it all: classic chorus and vibrato, deep 80’s goth, simulated double-tracking, watery grunge cleans and rotating speaker simulations.