software

I do!
Even though i am partial to EMG's there simply is not a better passive on the market than seymour duncans pups.
I wish him all the best and of course keep up the great work!

1... Seymour seems to be one of the few who care about serving their customers more than just looking for profit...

For the longest time, he was one of very few guys, maybe the only guy, constantly trying to innovate and come up with something totally new -- in addition to recapturing or in some cases refining/improving classic designs, so yeah, I'm glad Seymour is there doing his thing. I don't know if he invented the stack, but his stacks were the first I'd ever heard of.

Fralin is the only other guy I can think of in his league in that regard, though pretty much all of his stuff is about vintage tones. You won't find anything like the DD or CC or Invader in his shop. (10k 'bucker is the most you can get out of him, according to his website anyway). But Fralin has come up with some very interesting and innovative stuff in recent years, like the Unbucker and the Split Single. Seymour ought to look into his own take on these ideas, assuming he can avoid copyright infringement.

What I would like to see Seymour do, as others have suggested in other threads, is look into what I call 'Tweeners, by which I mean humbuckers in the 9k to 12k range. (The only one I'm aware of is one of the parallel axis 'buckers, the Blues Saraceno, I think.)

He's not alone, though, because Bare Knuckle is the only pickup maker I know of that has really explored this range and taken it seriously. Everyone else, Seymour included, appears to have an either-or mentality -- either pure vintage or metalhead -- which is no doubt dictated by the market so I can't fault them for that. In fairness, Fralin will, as mentioned before, cover the 9 to 10 range, but probably more and more reluctantly the closer you get to 10.

But Seymour does appear to have everything covered in single coils. I can't think of an output or tone niche that he hasn't at least attempted to cover.

the first stack i remember was in the 1982 timeframe, the dimarzio hs-1 ... did seymour have one before that?

i think SD has 'in the middle' pups too ... the custom series arent (to my ears) puer vintage nor pure metal ...

t4d

Don't misunderstand -- I was at User Group Day and if it wasn't clear to me before, it is now that you can call up Seymour and he'll wind you anything you want. I didin't mean to imply otherwise. But it's going to be double the cost.

I'd like to be able to grab something like, say, a Seth Lover wound to 9.5 or maybe a Custom Custom underwound to 12 at a music store and walk right out with it having paid in the same price range as his other 'buckers you can find in a store.

i see your point - fair enough


Originally Posted by tone4daysthe first stack i remember was in the 1982 timeframe, the dimarzio hs-1 ... did seymour have one before that?

i think SD has 'in the middle' pups too ... the custom series arent (to my ears) puer vintage nor pure metal ...

t4d

Don't know if Seymour stacks came out DiMarzio's that or not, but I'm thinking probably, because I remember some of his pamphlets in stores and ads in GP at the time explaining what a quot;stackquot; is, as if the concept was unheard of up to then. I can't say for sure but I'm thinking these ads were around 1980/81.

UPDATE: I have to take it back about the Split Singles -- the 3 3 bar in the Custom Shop page is a dead ringer for the Fralin Split Single, so Seymour is one step ahead of me on this. (I suppose it's even possible that Fralin got the idea from Seymour.)

Fralin has two versions though, the quot;P-92quot;, which is with the usual bar magnet, and the quot;Twangbuckerquot;, which has no bar magnet but rod magnets for pole pieces like on a Tele or Strat pu.

Well Duncan did hit one hell of a homerun with the JB......what an original and important pickup for so many people's tone.

Huh? How is it possible to thank Seymour for creating Seymour?


Originally Posted by ranalliWell Duncan did hit one hell of a homerun with the JB......what an original and important pickup for so many people's tone.

1 I couldn't have said it better myself!! Thank god for Mr. Seymour W. Duncan!

I thank God for everyone and pray that they all are able to see the truth. is the king of tone and he is interested in making pickups to help make our tone into something that makes our senses sour and help our being at rest for our
never ending search for tone.

I wouldnt go as far as to say that I thank God for him. But he is certainly up ther e with the likes as Mike Soldano, Leo Fender, Randall Smith, Jim Marshall, Paul Reed Smith and so on ....


Originally Posted by korovamilkdudHuh? How is it possible to thank Seymour for creating Seymour?

made my day!


Originally Posted by StringmachineI wouldnt go as far as to say that I thank God for him. But he is certainly up ther e with the likes as Mike Soldano, Leo Fender, Randall Smith, Jim Marshall, Paul Reed Smith and so on ....

yes he is as important to tone as all those guys

He was one of the first -- as far as I know, THE first -- to really get into subtle variations on classic designs. 30-35 years ago you pretty much had generic vintage-output or Dirty Fingers/Super Distortion type pickup. Seymour was the first I'm aware of to offer a wide variety of both basic designs. Vintage = Seth Lover, Alnico 2 Pro, Pearly Gates, 59, Antiquities, Jazz, etc., and the hot stuff = JB, CC/C5/C series, Distortion, Full Shred, etc. And his variety of takes on the single coils is even wider.

Granted not all those designs were available 30 years ago, but you get the idea. The replacement pickup world is a better place because he came along.

Actually, the first stacked single coils were invented in the 1930's, believe it or not. Bill Lawrence would probably claim to have the first commercially successful one with his L-250 blade type (still made by his former partner). I'm not sure who had the first single coil sized side-by-side coils pickup. Joe Barden is probably thought to be the first, but he and Bill Lawrence had words one time over who was first. In the grand scheme of pickups, none of this really matters. Duncan makes a great line of pickups, and I agree that they do actually care about their customers. This Forum is an evidence of that, especially when you see the director of sales and marketing jump in from time to time. Most other manufacturers' upper management people would not bother. To me, that says alot.


Originally Posted by ZhangliqunI'd like to be able to grab something like, say, a Seth Lover wound to 9.5 or maybe a Custom Custom underwound to 12 at a music store and walk right out with it having paid in the same price range as his other 'buckers you can find in a store.

Well, that's what Tim at Bare Knuckles does.

Once again: Thank you SWD. quot;You're the greatest.quot;

I thank Seymour every time he hands me my paycheck.