Funny Seymour Duncan Hate.

[El Dunco]

I was at a local music shop I frequent yesterday and somewhere in the conversation with the assistant/one of the owners I brought up how I noticed he isn't selling any Seymour Duncan pickups anymore.

He responded that there were problems with the contract (despite plenty of people buying them) but also that he couldn't stand Seymour Duncan pickups...

I probed a bit further. He much prefers Dimarzio and believes Duncans are no good for metal and that they only make a good rock pickup.

I tried for a more specific reason? "What didn't you like about them?"

All he could tell me was "The sound".

Now me... I can't get enough of Duncans. I also have my share of DiMarzio equipped guitars, but I haven't noticed anything about them that blows the Duncans away. Could it be that he isn't as savvy about matching the Duncans and which guitars they're actually best suited to than us here on the forum?

I'll admit, there's a lot that the pickup descriptions in the magazines and catalogs do not tell you that you'd have to be a forumite to know.

I've tried a lot of different kinds of premium pickups in a lot of different guitars. I'm only young and haven't had as much time or experience as some of you.

What do you think?

[Aceman]

Re: Funny Seymour Duncan Hate.

First of all, if this was a work day, I would have SOOOOOO called up SD, asked to talk with Evan etc, and showed this dude the love. He would have been SO embarassed.

Now, as per the issue:

As I have always said - Some people have Larry's ear, and some have Seymour's. Larry hears a bassy / mid thing. LArry hears experimental progressive sounds. Seymour hears mids / highs, he hears classic sounds.

I have used both, and currently have Mostly SD, but also DiMarzio and one Gibson pickup. I'll use what sounds right. As should EVERYONE.

The guys is a tool, a fool, and doesn't know what he is talking about. That is unfortunate for his customers.

[GilmourD]

Re: Funny Seymour Duncan Hate.

I don't understand the hate for any brand... As I always say...

There are Duncans I love and Duncans I do not like at all.

There are DiMarzios I love and DiMarzios I do not like at all.

There are Lollars I love and Lollars I do not like at all.

There are GFS pickups I love and GFS pickups I do not like at all.

There are Bill Lawrences I love and Bill Lawrences I do not like at all.

There are Laces I love and Laces I do not like at all.

There are ________ I love and ________ I do not like at all.

[jimman]

Re: Funny Seymour Duncan Hate.

I think regardless of what his personal opinion on Duncans are, it is pretty dumb to not stock Seymour Duncan pickups. They are very popular pickups and to not stock them is just hurting business IMO. There are plenty of Duncans suitable for every style and to not sell them would be foolish.

[metalmachine]

Re: Funny Seymour Duncan Hate.

I think regardless of what his personal opinion on Duncans are, it is pretty dumb to not stock Seymour Duncan pickups. They are very popular pickups and to not stock them is just hurting business IMO. There are plenty of Duncans suitable for every style and to not sell them would be foolish.

I concur

[El Dunco]

Re: Funny Seymour Duncan Hate.

I think regardless of what his personal opinion on Duncans are, it is pretty dumb to not stock Seymour Duncan pickups. They are very popular pickups and to not stock them is just hurting business IMO. There are plenty of Duncans suitable for every style and to not sell them would be foolish.

I think he'd still be selling them, he said something about it being hard to restock them. I doubt he'd stop selling them just because he personally hates them.

I'm just to figure out exactly what about the Dimarzios he likes so much that Duncan's don't have. I like both of them but there is no clearly superior pickup brand out of the two.

There are holy grail moments which happen between very specific pickups and guitars but that has nothing to do with the brand either... I'm just that more loyal to Seymour Duncan (I buy/have more of them) but that's also to do with the "family" feel of the user group especially after jamming with the man himself up on stage.

Obviously it's a matter of taste, but what is his taste?

[jmh151]

Re: Funny Seymour Duncan Hate.

Pickups are hard to stock IMO. Any Guitar Center or Sam Ash never has the ones I want in stock, and though they say they can order them, when it comes time to do so they come up with excuses why they cant- so I always end up hunting them down online

[Laughing Kookaburra]

Re: Funny Seymour Duncan Hate.

First of all, if this was a work day, I would have SOOOOOO called up SD, asked to talk with Evan etc, and showed this dude the love. He would have been SO embarassed.

Now, as per the issue:

As I have always said - Some people have Larry's ear, and some have Seymour's. Larry hears a bassy / mid thing. LArry hears experimental progressive sounds. Seymour hears mids / highs, he hears classic sounds.

I have used both, and currently have Mostly SD, but also DiMarzio and one Gibson pickup. I'll use what sounds right. As should EVERYONE.

The guys is a tool, a fool, and doesn't know what he is talking about. That is unfortunate for his customers.

+1

[chadd]

Re: Funny Seymour Duncan Hate.

Pickups are hard to stock IMO. Any Guitar Center or Sam Ash never has the ones I want in stock, and though they say they can order them, when it comes time to do so they come up with excuses why they cant- so I always end up hunting them down online

I probably have one of the best pickup selections in the country at a shop a few miles from my house, the shop is pretty much a pickup-only operation on ebay at this point. Unfortunately, the owner is also a major pain in the ass to deal with in person. Cash-only and you have to listen to him rant about whatever is bugging him that day and brag about how many pickups he sells before you can get out the door. I won't even set foot in there anymore.

[jimman]

Re: Funny Seymour Duncan Hate.

I think he'd still be selling them, he said something about it being hard to restock them. I doubt he'd stop selling them just because he personally hates them.

I'm just to figure out exactly what about the Dimarzios he likes so much that Duncan's don't have. I like both of them but there is no clearly superior pickup brand out of the two.

There are holy grail moments which happen between very specific pickups and guitars but that has nothing to do with the brand either... I'm just that more loyal to Seymour Duncan (I buy/have more of them) but that's also to do with the "family" feel of the user group especially after jamming with the man himself up on stage.

Obviously it's a matter of taste, but what is his taste?

Not being able to restock them makes more sense. Maybe his Duncan hate comes from not being able to restock them maybe?

I agree that neither is clearly superior. I will say at least in my local music scene, Dimarzios seem to have a reputation for being "metal" pickups. Them and EMGs are probably the most common pickups used by the "metal" bands in my area. Personal experience tells me that both Duncan and Dimarzio make some good pickups for metal, but I have always preferred Duncans PAFish pickups to Dimarzios. It is all taste though.

[atreidesheir]

Re: Funny Seymour Duncan Hate.

The costs for small businesses are getting prohibitive. My friend owns a local music shop and the contract requirements for his dealership purchases are limiting his options. He gave up his Gibson and Epiphone dealer status because they required him to purchase $15,000 new stock each month. He couldn't handle it because the new Gibson guitars are hit and miss on quality. If he has 5 or 6 clunkers hanging for a year(and it definitely was happening), he had far too much cash tied up and too few options.

But that guy should be better at customer service and sell the Dimarzios, not tear down the SDs.

[zontar]

Re: Funny Seymour Duncan Hate.

I'll use what sounds right. As should EVERYONE.

Exactly.

I had a friend years ago who didn't understand why I didn't change the pickups in my 70's Iceman. It has Super 80's, and I like the sound--which is what I told him.

There are people who are dedicated fans of Super 80's (& Super 70's)

He had become a fan of Duncans that he put in a Les Paul.
He told me they were better than the pickups I had.

I responded that they may be better, but I like what I have, so I was sticking with it.

When I later bought a Les Paul that originally had humbuckers-the previous owner had put in a P-90 type pickup They were loose & moved and didn't really do the job I wanted them to.

In that case I did put in SD's (Duncan Distortions-bridge & neck)-I originally bought the bridge one when I was going to make a guitar, bu that fell through. I didn't buy many parts, but I had some money from my Grandmother & bought the pickup with it. SO I just needed a neck pickup. I had them wired series/parallel, and I love them.

Not long ago, as I posted here, I put a P-Rail in the neck and a JB in the bridge of my LP copy--the original pickups were weak, and I was setting it up for slide--so I wanted something that would sound good to me for what I was doing with it.

They made a huge difference and it's almost like I have a new guitar.

But my other electrics have the stock pickups in them, and other than possibly my bass, they will stay that way.

If I get another guitar?
Who knows?

But yeah--use the brand & model that does what you want it to do.
If you're handy with doing the work yourself, swap them out if you like.

But I agree--use what will do the job you want done.

[jimo]

Re: Funny Seymour Duncan Hate.

[QUOTE=Beer$;3271293]I think he'd still be selling them, he said something about it being hard to restock them. I doubt he'd stop selling them just because he personally hates them.

I'm just to figure out exactly what about the Dimarzios he likes so much that Duncan's don't have.
.................................................. .................................................. ................

It is probably because he had a problem getting a pickup or stocking something, and instead of saying that, he just says "Well, they suck and I don't like them" I know lots of people like that, they run HOT OR COLD.

[verbotenco]

Re: Funny Seymour Duncan Hate.

Pickups are just magnet and winds of wires, very low tech, not rocket science, so it doesn't matter whether you go for DiMarzio or SD. The difference is the artists who endorse them, and in this case money talks: That's why it's not uncommon to see artists switching from one brand to another, and their sound is the same cause the pickups are basically the same but carrying a different brand now.

[LtKojak]

Re: Funny Seymour Duncan Hate.

Pickups are just magnet and winds of wires, very low tech, not rocket science, so it doesn't matter whether you go for DiMarzio or SD. The difference is the artists who endorse them, and in this case money talks: That's why it's not uncommon to see artists switching from one brand to another, and their sound is the same cause the pickups are basically the same but carrying a different brand now.

If you're saying that basically all p'ups are the same, your statement couldn't be more wrong.

It's like cooking a meal. All ingredients are the same, but depending in who did it and how it was done, the dish can be anywhere from delicious to flat-out disgusting.

This simple principle applies to p'up making very well to serves to illustrate why you're wrong.

HTH,