Seymour Duncan

Seymour and Cathy Duncan started rewinding and building pickups by hand in Santa Barbara, California, in 1976, at a time when almost no one sold pickups as a standalone product. The SH-4 JB Model humbucker, released not long after, became the company's most widely fitted pickup and still anchors the catalogue alongside newer designs and signature sets. Seymour Duncan has since expanded into pedals and amplifiers, but pickups remain the core of the business, still wound at the original Santa Barbara facility with around 120 staff. Most of what we cover is pickup swaps — guides to choosing a set, and the new humbuckers that show up in signature guitars from Jackson, Charvel and PRS. Here's what we've written.