Gaps in the product line?

[orpheo]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

Dmz has plenty of "sets" Evolution, D-Activator, D-ActivatorX, Breed, Titan, Transition, Gravity Storm, Dominion, Illuminator, Steve Morse, and that's not inclusive single coil sets

Listed separately. I.e., for example: ego bridge is listed under high output. Evo neck under medium. SD lists the sets under one name, in stead of separating the two pickups making the set.

I said that before in my previous post. Maybe I should've said 'dmz doesn't list the sets together creating the illusion that there are less pickups available than what's really the case'.

[dominus]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

Dimarzio humbuckers:

10 vintage
18 medium
21 hot
_________

49 total.

Seymour Duncan Humbuckers:

21 vintage
15 medium, incl sh6n
23 hot

__________

59 total

Are you counting Custom Shop / Special order Duncans there?

All of the Dimarzios you're listing are readily available for < $70.

[orpheo]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

@dominus

Rear the original post! I clearly state:

Oh, and I haven't even considered floor shop custom and the customshop in this lineup. Just regular production.

[orpheo]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

@dominus

Rear the original post! I clearly state:

Oh, and I haven't even considered floor shop custom and the customshop in this lineup. Just regular production.

[sosomething]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

I guess I'll go ahead and chime in here. I read about a third of the responses (this topic is pretty long after all) and I thought it might be good for SD to get an opinion from a guy who ISN'T intimately familiar with all that many pickups... so here goes.

When I was doing my Westone project (see my avatar) earlier this year, I wasn't even sure where to begin, but I knew I needed to replace my pickups (this guitar had gone through a fire and they were literally fried... just ask if you're interested in it's story). Anyway, I did a lot of online research, read a lot of opinions, and saw a lot of adjectives pertaining to pickups and sound that were difficult to quantify. It became clear very quickly that I just needed to be able to hear these pickups for myself. Limited funds, though, made the idea of trial and error rather unsavory. I really liked the sound samples that Seymour Duncan had on the website, and spent many hours listening and comparing before coming up with my decisions for my purchase (SH-4 Bridge, STK-S2 Center, SH-2 Neck). Knowing that the samples were using the same guitar and rig setup gave me confidence that I could listen to two different pickups and be able to hear the difference between them.

My point is that there were several pickups I saw on the site that did not have a corresponding sound sample... so I have no idea whether there are gaps because I simply did not get a chance to hear them all. As someone who is most definitely NOT well-versed in all the pickups out there and the variations in sound, but who is a purchaser nonetheless, I really appreciated the ability to hear the differences before making my selection and would have gladly spent a few more hours doing it had there been a more complete offering of samples.

Obviously SD (like any other manufacturer of anything) is asking about gaps because they want more market share... which is a great strategy. Making it easier for those of us who are not experts to make an informed decision seems like another great way to do that, regardless of the gaps. In fact, taking it a step further and adding samples of series vs split vs parallel would have been FANTASTIC!

Don't want to sound like I'm complaining, though... I am a VERY satisfied customer!

This is a great point. To someone unfamiliar with the product line, the "gaps" exist plainly in our sound demos!

To your point - those sound demos were produced quite a few years ago and represented a pretty intense undertaking. Many of the pickups sold that do not have sound samples were not released yet at the time those samples were created, and the practice of making new samples hasn't been kept up. I agree that this can make it tricky when choosing a pickup based on those samples.

However, it should be noted that there are a huuuuuuge amount of demos available on YouTube, both produced by us and by 3rd parties, that do a great job of highlighting the sound of almost all of our products. The Seymour Duncan Blog is also a fantastic resource, specifically with regard to the sonic differences between the different modes you mention (split, parallel, etc.).

I don't bring that up to refute you at all - I think you're totally right! But the next time you have a project, don't miss out on all the other fantastic resources available for checking out pickups. And also don't forget that we have a 30-day exchange policy. You can keep trying and returning pickups until you find exactly what you're looking for.

[frankfalbo]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

...And also don't forget that we have a 30-day exchange policy. You can keep trying and returning pickups until you find exactly what you're looking for.

Actually it's Dimarzio that has a 30-day exchange policy. Duncan's is still 21 as far as I know. LOL

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/21-day-exchange/warranty_inform/

[dominus]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

@dominus

Rear the original post! I clearly state:

I'm counting 40 humbuckers total. Are you including actives then?

[MacBradley]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

This is a great point. To someone unfamiliar with the product line, the "gaps" exist plainly in our sound demos!

To your point - those sound demos were produced quite a few years ago and represented a pretty intense undertaking. Many of the pickups sold that do not have sound samples were not released yet at the time those samples were created, and the practice of making new samples hasn't been kept up. I agree that this can make it tricky when choosing a pickup based on those samples.

However, it should be noted that there are a huuuuuuge amount of demos available on YouTube, both produced by us and by 3rd parties, that do a great job of highlighting the sound of almost all of our products. The Seymour Duncan Blog is also a fantastic resource, specifically with regard to the sonic differences between the different modes you mention (split, parallel, etc.).

I don't bring that up to refute you at all - I think you're totally right! But the next time you have a project, don't miss out on all the other fantastic resources available for checking out pickups. And also don't forget that we have a 30-day exchange policy. You can keep trying and returning pickups until you find exactly what you're looking for.

Years ago, I actually ran into the same issue with not having all the pickups I wanted to hear available on the comparison recordings. And while online demos are nice for advertising and getting a pickup known and heard, it doesn't help very much with comparing pickups. As you guys at SD know...even moving the mic an inch makes a world of difference...even having the volume of the recording varies how audio quality is perceived (queue whining about volume wars here). It might be a good idea for you guys to run through and re-do the process once every year or two. I'm aware it is a lot of work, but man does it sure help getting and idea of what a new pickup will sound like relative to another from your lineup.

[beaubrummels]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

There's almost 10 pages of reinventing the wheel, now even more rounder.

How about actually inventing something that doesn't exist? What about a single area/boundary pickup covering the area from bridge to neck that responds to where my picking hand is on the strings? Or that intensifies the effect of using bare finger over pick, or fingernail vs bare finger? Velocity sensitivity, but not synthetic or synthesized - modifies the tone stack based on how hard I pick? OR how about a pickup in a cassette that can slide out of the ring and be replaced even between songs?

This post will get flamed all to hell, because there's no innovation, invention or creativity here.

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

necessity is the mother of invention.

[blueman335]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

This post will get flamed all to hell, because there's no innovation, invention or creativity here.

We're all doomed. Why bother doing anything? Why get out of bed?

[sosomething]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

There's almost 10 pages of reinventing the wheel, now even more rounder.

How about actually inventing something that doesn't exist? What about a single area/boundary pickup covering the area from bridge to neck that responds to where my picking hand is on the strings? Or that intensifies the effect of using bare finger over pick, or fingernail vs bare finger? Velocity sensitivity, but not synthetic or synthesized - modifies the tone stack based on how hard I pick? OR how about a pickup in a cassette that can slide out of the ring and be replaced even between songs?

This post will get flamed all to hell, because there's no innovation, invention or creativity here.

If you get flamed for this post, I'm guessing it'll be due more to your derisive condescension than to any lack of innovative thinking in all the people who already took the time to thoughtfully answer my question.

You feel me?

But that doesn't mean there aren't some good ideas in your post, because there are. Interesting stuff for sure, and I may use it as fuel for another thread.

[treyhaislip]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

There's almost 10 pages of reinventing the wheel, now even more rounder.

And what is wrong with re-inventing the wheel?...

[blueman335]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

And what is wrong with re-inventing the wheel?...

Mankind has kept improving things for hundreds, even thousands of years.

[donaldr]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

Full harnesses for popular configurations like Ibanez (HSH), Fender Strat (SSS/HSS), Fender Tele, Gibson Les Paul/SG (HH) WITH SD Liberator (other pots being CTS) and Orange Drop caps as standard will be a good start.

There are many customer who don't buy new pickups because:
1- They have to buy soldering equipment and learn how to do it properly
2- Afraid of scrapping $50-$60 by overheating new pots/caps
3- To expensive to have guitar tech not knowing the result
4- Current available harnesses still need soldering

Having harnesses with your Liberator will help newbies to easily put whatever new pickups. It will also be a safer solution as they only have to remove current pots/switch/jack nuts and keep it so they can revert back to original config if needed.