Excalibur -pre-surgery prep

For those that read my last review of the 59/Custom Hybrid and the STK-S7 used as an S/H combo (or as a primer for anyone that didn’t), l love Strats with Floyds and S/H pickup combos. That’s probably my No.1 favorite pickup combo, followed by a S/S/S combo with a vintage Strat bridge, and then any LP-style two humbucker setup (Floyd optional…lol). But in terms of versatility, especially w/o a tone control -they can be tricky to choose pickups for, as far as matching goes. If you’re like me, you probably don’t want a huge want a huge volume disparity when switching between pickups with clean tones, or for the neck pickup to wilt or mush out with heavy distortion.
Continue reading “More S/H Superstrat Pickup Combo Adventures: The JB/STK-S6 Set”

At Seymour Duncan we’re committed to giving you the tools necessary to get the bass tone you’ve always dreamed of, with pickups for all types of basses and all genres of music. We’ve created a wide array of pickups for P-Bass, Jazz Bass, Rickenbaker, Music Man and Soapbars. Changing out your pickups can completely transform your bass into a new instrument. Many of our models come in both 4- and 5-string versions and even some for 6-string. Continue reading “Choosing a Bass Pickup”

Seymour Duncan Artist Nick Perri (Shinedown, Perry Farrell, Silvertide, Matt Sorum, SINAI) has just released his latest line of guitars under the Perri Ink. Guitars brand. The Anthem is made distinctive by it’s hand-made Perri Ink. Cartel American Flag pickguard and its use of a Callaham bridge. This, combined with it’s eye catching natural wood finish makes the Anthem a visually striking guitar that sounds fantastic too.

Introducing the PERRI INK. “Anthem”; a new benchmark for PERRI INK. Custom Guitars. It features an in-house custom made black & white American Flag pickguard, a timeless design, and top-shelf components like a Callaham Tremolo, Kluson tuners, and Seymour Duncan Custom Shop pickups. This guitar stands out from a mile away; both sonically & ascetically. Take pride in this great land and let people know what you stand for. Handmade, American made, and built with love.
Continue reading “Perri Ink Guitars releases the Anthem”

We all know the story: you have a gorgeous-sounding acoustic guitar and you need to perform with it onstage, but you don’t want to deal with the ‘quack factor’ of under-saddle piezo pickups, nor do you wish to be anchored to a mic or two. And you don’t want to perform an irreversible or otherwise destructive mod on your prized guitar.
Continue reading “The Acoustic Tube SA-1 Soundhole Pickup”

In an effort to make his Telecaster more versatile Leo Fender designed the Stratocaster. A radical double-cut design with a truly unique vibrato bridge and three single coil pickups was what the major changes entailed. The guitar Leo designed is still one of the most popular guitars in the world. The tones are unmistakable ‘Stratocaster,’ and the clear yet warm tones have been embraced by, literally, generations of guitar players. But is that reputation really an earned one, or is the popularity of the Stratocaster nothing but a simple reaction to having nothing else available in the fifties and sixties, with as its penultimate result being embraced by millions of players? And what if the old Strat’s rep isn’t earned, what are its faults?
Continue reading “Sensual Sensual Singlecoils”

The Alnico II Pro is currently my neck pickup of choice, because it does so many things so well. Probably the most famous with its association with Slash, it is the inspiration behind the APH-2 Slash  pickup. Both are constructed with a weaker Alnico II bar pickup, which immediately softens the mids compared to Alnico V-based pickups. The APH-1 is a great choice for jazz, blues or classic rock or a few other things, as we will see in a minute. I’ll concentrate on the neck model, since that’s what I have.
Continue reading “The Alnico II Pro”

Seymour Duncan has a wide range of active pickups that were designed to give you a truly organic sound with a wide frequency range (more tone). Our standard AHB-1 Blackouts are available in both Phase I and Phase II sizes, which means that you can easily find the right replacement for your guitar that already has active pickups. They are also available in 7-string and 8-string. Our Blackouts for Metal is our highest output active pickup and is designed for pure aggressive tone. Our EMTY Blackouts will give you the pulverizing tone that Mick Thomson of Slipknot has been known for and it also comes in a 7-string version that is available in Phase I and Phase II sizes. Continue reading “Choosing The Right Active Pickup”

“So, I’m back from the painter. Let’s do this.”

Building your own Strat-style guitar is one of the most fun and rewarding experiences I’ve discovered. I started as a teen, inspired by Eddie Van Halen, and never stopped. I was mesmerized by all the inner workings and details that came together to make a killer sounding, classy-looking guitar that played great too.

The options available to home builders these days make it possible to build truly unique, one-of-a-kind instruments you just wouldn’t find hanging on a random music store’s wall. Not only neck/body/fingerboard wood combinations, but bridge and pickup configurations as well. If you’re meticulous and plan EVERY detail of the guitar, you will end up getting exactly what you want.

Continue reading “It’s ALIVE: Building a Parts Strat”

In the last two articles we looked at switches, and then four-conductor humbuckers and some things you can do with them. This time around, we’re going to look at some new types of switch, and see how we can use those to access even more tones from a humbucker.

DPDT Switch Wiring

DPDT on-on switch
The switch we looked at last time looks like this:

It’s a double-pole, double-throw switch, and it has two positions. This type is called an “on-on” switch, because a connection is made in both of these positions. This is the type of switch built into push/pull pots. It’s also the most commonly-used type of mini toggle switch. You can use it as a simple on/off switch by only using two of the poles, or you can use more connections to create more complex switching systems.
Continue reading “Guitar Wiring Explored – Switches Part 2”

Strictly 7 Guitars recently announced the addition of the Spectral Keith Merrow Signature Guitar to its growing line of 7 and 8 string guitars. This guitar features the Seymour Duncan SH-8 Invader –  a humbucker that has a well-earned reputation as one of the most aggressive passive pickups ever. To celebrate the launch of this new guitar, Seymour Duncan and Strictly 7 have joined forces to launch this giveaway. Between August 20^th and September 3^rd, everyone in the world will have a chance to enter to win this guitar. Continue reading “Keith Merrow Strictly 7 Guitar Giveaway”