Seymour Duncan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Seymour Duncan is a company that is most famous for manufacturing of guitar pickups, and currently has a line of effects pedals. The company was founded in late 1978 by guitarist and luthier Seymour W. Duncan in Santa Barbara, California.
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[edit] Notable users
The first artist signature pickup was the SH-12 "Screamin' Demon" model, created for George Lynch (Dokken, Lynch Mob). Seymour Duncan also wound the humbucker in Eddie Van Halen's Frankenstrat guitar. Another well known Seymour Duncan artist is the late "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, with whom they collaborated on a signature pickup, the SH-13 "Dimebucker", which has been used on Abbott's tribute guitars, produced by Washburn Guitars and Dean Guitars.
Seymour Duncan's Alnico II Pro (APH-1) pickups are also exclusively used by Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash. Seymour Duncan's best selling pickup model is the SH-4 "JB Model" humbucker, that originated from a pickup Seymour made in 1974 after seeing that Jeff Beck had hotter than usual pickups in his Les Paul. Jeff has never used the pickup, which in fact stands for Jazz Blues, not Jeff Beck, although many still choose to believe otherwise. The confusion was made in the original Seymour Duncan catalog when Seymour stated how he measured incredibly high output pickups in Beck's guitar, on the same page as the JB pickup, one of Jeff's common nicknames.
Dave Mustaine of Megadeth collaborated with Seymour Duncan to produce his very own signature set of active humbuckers, "Dave Mustaine Livewires". The late Randy Rhoads used Seymour Duncan Jazz and Distortion pickups on his Jackson custom (now Rhoads style) guitars.
Synyster Gates of the metal band Avenged Sevenfold has custom Seymour Duncan Invader pickups on his custom Schecter guitar. Mike Dirnt of Green Day used Seymour Duncan Antiquity Pride II pickups on is Fender '66 and '69 Precision Bass.
Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day uses the SH-4 "JB Model" humbucker, on his Fernandes Stratocaster and his Fender Stratocaster.
[edit] Effects pedals
Relatively new to the Seymour Duncan product line is the effects pedals series. The first pedal introduced was the Pickup Booster, a clean booster. The second pedal introduced was the Tweak Fuzz, a fuzz pedal with a "Tweak" switch that switches between six modes of fuzz. Introduced at Winter NAMM in 2006 was the Twin Tube Classic, a dual mode tube distortion pedal.
[edit] Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB Model
The Seymour Duncan JB model has become one of the most used aftermarket guitar pickups in guitars today, covering most genres of music. Based around an Alnico V magnet, the overwound coils produce higher amounts of output gain, while still retaining clarity and the signature Seymour Duncan sound. It is known for its strong treble response, cutting mids, smooth bass response and rich harmonics making it an excellent choice for guitars of most woods, including mahogany and alder. This is ideal for as versatile guitar that may be used for playing ranging from classic rock to alternative rock to heavy metal. It is most commonly used in the bridge position in an electric guitar, paired with the Seymour Duncan SH-2N Jazz Model in the neck position. The JB model is one of the most popular pickup for electric guitars.
