The humbucker pickup is a staple for so many guitar players around the world. But how does it actually work, and what is the history behind it? This article endeavors to give you a brief overview of all these things. Continue reading “What Is A Humbucker?”

At some point during our musical education, we come across the confusing idea of 7^th chords. Major 7? Minor 7? Diminished 7? And just plain ol’ 7? Aren’t they the same? And who cares! I just play power chords anyway! True, if you just play power chords and intend to keep doing that for the rest of your musical life, the idea of 7^th chords probably won’t matter. But just in case we want our harmonic vocabulary to grow beyond root & 5^th and simple major or minor triads, this article may help explain a few things. Continue reading “The Mystery of 7th Chords”

The tone of a Mini-Humbucker has been described as somewhere between a full sized humbucker and a single coil. Originally developed by the Epiphone company in the ’50s, they were brought over into Gibson models with the purchase of Epiphone in 1957. They are lower output but tend to be brighter, with more chime and less openness and rudeness than P-90s (which have a little more “spank” to them). Even so, there are multiple variations on on the Mini-Humbucker that were developed throughout the years. Continue reading “What Is A Mini-Humbucker?”

Magnetic guitar pickups and microphones seem to do the same job: they turn the sounds we’re making into electrical signals, which we then either record, or amplify and use to drive speakers (or both). They’re the first thing in a chain that takes a quiet sound and makes it louder. But can we say  that “a microphone is a pickup” or “a pickup is a microphone?” What are the differences and similarities between these two devices? Continue reading “What’s the Difference between a Pickup and a Microphone?”

Doing the Bypass Jig

The world of guitar is, like most things in life, full of strange buzzwords and mis-information. In this article we’ll focus on one of the most controversial of these terms: true bypass. By the end, you should understand exactly what it is, what it does, and why you do (or do not) want it in your pedals. Continue reading “The Truth About True Bypass”

Hold on, this gets weird.

Now we come to the end of my series on modes of the major scale, and this is a tough one. The Locrian mode is the least used, and probably the most misunderstood out of all of the modes of the major scale. This one isn’t tough to play, though. It is just a C major scale like the others, but this one starts on the letter B… Continue reading “Breaking Down the Barriers: The Locrian Mode”

Bill’s white Tele is equipped with MJ-wound Custom Shop “Seymour’s ’53 Specials”.

There’s a lot of ways from which you may know of the name Bill Mumy. Perhaps from Babylon 5 if you’re a child of the 90s, or more likely from his iconic role as Will Robinson on Lost In Space if you’re older, or a fan of vintage sci-fi TV dramas. Or maybe from his voiceover work on cartoons like Ren & Stimpy or Batman: The Animated Series among others. Comic books? He’s written for both DC and Marvel (!). If you’re a parent, possibly from his children’s show Space Cases, or the children’s album “Kiss my Boo-Boo”. The guy gets around. But, if you didn’t happen upon the children’s album, what you may not know about him is that since childhood he’s been (and continues to be) an avid musician. Continue reading “The Bill Mumy Interview”

For 40 years Seymour Duncan has been developing products to help musicians find their voice and get the most out of their instrument. We thought it would be fun to look back at when some of our more notable products came out. This list is by known means exhaustive but we tried to include as many products as possible. From the original JB developed back at the beginning to the Shapeshifter Stereo Tremolo, this list spans the ages of our history.

What year were you first introduced to Seymour Duncan?

Ah, it’s an argument guitarists have been having since we started strumming our first G chord: should we learn and continue to play songs we like for fun and money, or should we forge our own path just like our heroes did? Certainly we can debate this in a civil manner, right? Right? Game on! Continue reading “Cage Match: Cover Bands vs. Original Bands”

Perri Ink. – the company founded by guitarist Nick Perri of Silvertide – has introduced two new custom guitars, the South St and the Melrose. These instruments feature boldly different body styles to each other but they share a lot in common too: both feature quarter-sawn maple necks with reverse headstocks and rosewood fingerboards, solid alder bodies, vintage 6-hole tremolos, and a trio of Perri Ink. Label Seymour Duncan mini-humbucker pickups.

Continue reading “New Perri Ink. Guitars With Own-Label Seymour Duncan Pickups”