Florida punks Against Me! announced a slew of headlining U.S. dates this January and February, (see tour dates below) with Cheap Girls and Fences supporting. The band will be touring in support of their fifth studio album, White Crosses, released by Sire/Warner on June 8th, 2010. White Crosses was produced by veteran producer Butch Vig (Green Day, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins) who also produced Against Me!’s 2007 album New Wave. Against Me! is singer/guitarist Tom Gabel (Custom Shop Rickenbacker humbuckers), guitarist James Bowman ST59-1b, Antiquity P-90 Dog Ear and bassist Andrew Seward SPB-3, and 2011 will see new drummer Jay Weinberg (Madball, The E Street Band) joining them on the road. Tickets for a handful of shows are currently available but the majority will go on sale this Friday, December 10th. Visit www.againstme.net for the most current info and click here to read a new feature, compliments of Spin Magazine.

Garnering much critical acclaim, with SPIN.com claiming “White Crosses… Gabel is at his best when he’s feisty: “Spanish Moss” and “Rapid Decompression” feel closest to New Wave’s sweet spot of fury and flash.,” and Kerrang commenting ” Tom Gabel is still firing off socially conscious songs with every fiber of his body and those songs are still honest, blue-collar punk belters.”. Rolling Stone added “the songs on White Crosses are “righteous, churning, gut-rollers.” Nylon Guys praises lead singer Tom Gabel as “a staggeringly prolific songwriter.”

1/15, Gainesville, FL (Common Grounds)
1/16, Atlanta, GA (Masquerade)
1/18, Carrboro, NC (Cat’s Cradle)
1/19, Asheville, NC (The Orange Peel)
1/20, Nashville, TN (Exit/In)
1/21, Huntsville, AL (Crossroads Café)
1/22, Memphis, TN (Hi Tone)
1/23, Little Rock, AR (Juanita’s)
1/24, Dallas, TX (Tree’s)
1/25, Houston, TX (Warehouse)
1/26, Austin, TX (Emo’s)
1/28, Phoenix, AZ (The Nile)
1/29, Anaheim, CA (Chain Reaction)
1/30, Los Angeles, CA (Music Box)
1/31, San Francisco, CA (Slim’s)
2/1, San Francisco, CA (Slim’s)
2/3, Portland, OR (Hawthorne Theatre)
2/4, Seattle, WA (Neumos)
2/5, Spokane, WA (Knitting Factory)
2/6, Billings, MT (Railyard Ale House)
2/8, Fargo, ND (The Venue)
2/9, Sioux Falls, SD (The Vault)
2/10, Iowa City, IA (Blue Moose Tavern)
2/11, Bloomington, IL (Castle Theatre)
2/12, Madison, WI (Majestic Theatre)

This wiring was designed for one of our sales reps in the Southeast, Joe Wilson, who wanted to add some extra versatility to his Tele®, while retaining the stock look. For this scheme, we use our “tapped” Hot Lead (STL-2T) and a Vintage Rhythm (STR-1) pickups. We used a special 4-pole 5-way switch in place of the standard 3-way switch.
In position 1, you’ll get a hotter Tele lead sound.
Position 2 will give a traditional Tele lead sound.
Position 3 gives you both the rhythm and “traditional” lead sound in “parallel” (the typical Tele wiring).
Position 4 gives the rhythm and “traditional” lead sound in “series,” a warmer and fuller sound for smooth jazz runs.
Position 5 gives you the rhythm pickup by itself. Continue reading “The “Joe Wilson” Wiring for Telecaster”

For those of you who are going with a full set of stacks or Lil’ sized humbuckers and would like to still be able to get single-coil sounds – or at least keep that classic Strat ‘quack’ in positions 2 and 4 on your switch – this is an easy way to split all three pickups with only one standard dpdt push/pull pot (or mini-toggle if you prefer – they both wire the same way). Continue reading “Splitting Three Pickups For Strat”

Strats are versatile guitars. We can get a ton of different sounds from them, and that’s why we play them. The one thing you can’t do, however, is get your neck and bridge pickups selected at the same time for that Tele middle-position kind of sound). Well, with this diagram, you are one push/pull away from being able to do just that. This diagram uses a push/pull to turn on the bridge pickup IN ADDITION TO whatever is selected by the 5-way switch. Continue reading “Adding A Bridge Pickup Switch To A Strat”

Here’s a quick test to determine if your potentiometers need to be replaced or just cleaned. With the guitar plugged in, try turning the scratchy pot back and forth quickly a few times. If the scratchiness starts to lessen, then the pot needs cleaning. If the scratchy sound doesn’t go away or sounds more like a “click,” then the pot needs to be replaced. Continue reading “What Can I Do About Scratchy Pots?”

Our friends across the pond found out in late November, but we were busy worrying about  the naughty-or-nice list when we found out about a different list entirely. Guitarist, the UK’s top guitar magazine, featured a December cover story on The 101 Best Stomp Boxes of All Time Ever. The Seymour Duncan Deja Vu Tap Delay and Pickup Booster ranked No. 61 and 67 respectively. To celebrate, we’ve posted an all-new video on cool things you can do with the Deja Vu Tap Delay.

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 worthy, even for punk…

“Maybe it’s time to give them a smash,
Run them all over and burn them to ash.
I’ll get all new ones, yeah, that’s what I’ll do!
I’ll charge ‘em and pay until 3002!”
Just as I got out my lighter and gas,
A man with a beard screamed “Stop, you jack*ss!”

The big guy approached and demanded I stop.
I thought to myself,  “Please, don’t be a cop!”
He strummed on my Strat, then on my Tele.
He checked out my Paul, and laughed from his belly-
“These guitars are fine”, he said with a handful of wire.
“Your pickups are weak, THEY belong in the fire!”

He pulled out these boxes from his magical bag,
“Now, these have the mojo and won’t make you gag!”
He wired them up with a wink in a flash.
“You’ll sound like a master, like Jimi or Slash!
Or Eddie or Dimebag, Page, Blackmore or Beck.
Whomever you like, just don’t bounce your check.”

When I plugged in my axes, my tubes glowed with glee.
Magical sounds were finally coming from me!
My power chords sparkled like Grandpa’s new dentures.
My solos now sounded like Slash meets the Ventures!
I could not believe, as I played one more song,
that these perfect guitars had been mine all along!

“Santa,” I said, as I put my axe down.
“Can you set up my band and my friends across town?”
“Of course!” He exclaimed as he boxed up his tools.
“But my name isn’t Santa, it’s SEYMOUR, you fool!”
I heard him shout out as he drove out of sight
“Happy pickups for all, and to all a good night!”

Happy holidays to all from Duncan Land!

Since the release of the P-Rails back in 2008, people have found many different ways to change a guitar into a multi tone machine. If you are not familiar with the P-Rails, it’s time for an introduction. The P-Rail is a pickup that has the ability to sound like a P-90, a Strat, and a humbucker, all while being a direct replacement for a full sized humbucker. Dustin Kensrue from the American rock band Thrice, along with the help from the folks over at Nash Guitars, found a way to install the P-Rails in a Jaguar-style Warmoth body and get all of the features with the stock Jaguar switching system. He calls his creation “The Jagular.”

“I basically used this schematic as a template, but instead of the push/pull pots, I used the jag switches. Then I put a Gibson style 3-way switch in the third spot on the small control plate. The lower control plate has the two volumes and the upper plate has the two tone pots on rollers, and an empty spot as of now.”

You could say with a band name like Thrice and the P-Rails having three different guitar tones in one, it’s a match that was made to be.

“These pick-ups seriously are awesome. The diversity and quality of tone in every setting is amazing. I trade out gear pretty quickly, and sometimes regret it later. Awhile back, I let go of a sweet Les Paul Special with P-90’s, but using the P-90 settings has taken away any seller’s regret. I can’t see myself buying a traditional pickup again at this point, knowing what I would be missing.”

Stay tuned for the new Thrice album fully loaded with P-Rails; available in spring of 2011.

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We were thrilled to hear the news that Seymour Duncan received two nominations for the prestigious  Music & Sound Awards, presented each year at  NAMM by Music & Sound Retailer magazine. The company was singled out in the Accessories category for the APH-2 Alnico II Slash pickup, but Seymour  W. Duncan himself was nominated for the Music & Sound Hall of Fame/Lifetime Achievement Award.

Here’s what Seymour had to say about the  recognition: “I’m honored to receive the Lifetime Achievement Hall of Fame nomination, especially on the eve of our 35th Anniversary. It’s really meaningful coming from all the dealers we’ve worked with for years. That’s why I feel this is really for everyone in our company. Many people know we’ve helped players get great tone, from guys like Jeff Beck and Slash, to thousands of musicians everywhere. But dealers know how we’ve tried to be helpful and respectful toward the people who represent us, with fair terms, quality products, and our 21-Day Real-World Guarantee. You’ve helped us help musicians. And for that, I thank you.”

Have you seen the new Seymour Duncan Liberator Solderless System? Watch Frank install a pickup in just under two minutes using the Liberator Solderless System. And you can’t miss, even if you try, his yellow guitar.

Tell us what you think. Follow us on our Facebook page for more updates!