Seymour Duncan factory tour pics

[Thames]

Re: Seymour Duncan factory tour pics

Very very cool Curly, thanks for sharing!

[Rocker35]

Re: Seymour Duncan factory tour pics

Great pics Curly, thanks for sharing!!!
Shame that I live in the wrong part of the world - I'd love to take a tour and meet everyone there.
I wonder if the wife wants to holiday in California this year!!??!!

[jeremy]

Re: Seymour Duncan factory tour pics

very cool guys, looks like you guys had a blast. how'd that super sound scott?

[tone4days]

Re: Seymour Duncan factory tour pics

thanks for posting the pics .. and congrats on enjoying a visit at the mothership .. i hope to make it there some day myself

cheers,
t4d

Re: Seymour Duncan factory tour pics

Bloody hell Scott, you're one big mofo!

Those mile runs you do must only take 5 or 6 steps...

[Stevo]

Re: Seymour Duncan factory tour pics

I think that most people would be surprised at the ambition and the human factor of this factory. Evan may be the VP of marketing, but he is also a practicing musician who knows a ton about the industry in general. Seymour is "the Man", but he is a really friendly guy who still works long hours on the bench. MJ is like Seymour, a very cool person who continually contributes a lot to the industry with her wide range of knowledge.
This company is an absolute stereotype buster, considering modern business.

Whoa Scott it looks like you will have to come back to get a good picture with Kellie Scott Miller and I grabbed Curly's camera for a few of those pics, while Curly was distracted with guitars and stuff

[Scott_F]

Re: Seymour Duncan factory tour pics

I finally get my pic taken with Kellie and all we see is the part in her hair. Nice job Curly!!!!!

Actually, Evan took one with his camera of me, curly and kellie. Hopefully, he'll email it to Curly.

[Curly]

Re: Seymour Duncan factory tour pics

thanks for the compliments!
I know there were some other factory pics that Evan posted once, but I searched and didn't find them .

I think a lot of people assume that SD has these great big machines where you load in a spool of wire, a rack of bobbins, a rack of magnets, flip a switch, and it automatically starts cranking out pickups.

Frankly, I'm amazed at how much of the assembly seems to be done by hand.

I wish I'd taken a shot of the auto winding machines ... they're only about 2' x 2'. I thought I had a shot of the Leesona, but couldn't find it ... I got my camera about 3 days earlier
there should be pics somewhere on the regular site, though

My feeling is that the use of automation is more a matter of consistency than speed. That said, I think the strat Antiquities have that little extra sublte complexity that some players on the ultimate tone search will have to have. I've also heard a great local player (my amp tech) just crank on regular ol' SSL's

but, the production is very "hands on" for sure

Nice! So Curly: what's one or two things that surprised you about the Duncan factory? Something you'd pictured one way but maybe was alot differant than you'd imagined? Did you meet Seymour? Nice job! Lew

Lew,
good question...
I probably thought the factory was a little larger ... the main production floor seems like it's about 40' x 60' - not really huge, not crowded, but laid out pretty efficiently. Kellie, Cathy Duncan, Evan, Billy in sales, Scott Miller, and other staff members are in a nice loft space above, overlooking the floor

the factory is in a semi-industrial area, although semi-industrial in that area means an almost rural setting with green fields, rows of eucalyptus, and orchards outside, with a view of the Channel Islands to the south and the hills to the north a short drive away.

we met Seymour at the beginning of the tour - he was pretty busy, but generous with his time, especially considering he was getting ready to leave for a trip to Cleveland

about 10 years ago, I had a dealer license, and went to quite a few vintage guitar shows, and had a booth at a couple of shows. One of my friends and a partner at the time was a great slide player from Florida, Pete Quigley, who was living out here in San Diego at the time. Pete was good friends with Cesar Diaz, was into the vintage thing early, and was the one who really was responsible for getting me to use Seymour's pickups, since he had Seymour wind quite a few. Seymour was always at the vintage shows back then, and a bunch of us went out to dinner at one of the Pomona shows with him.

when I saw Seymour at the factory, he recognized me, and I mentioned that I used to see him all the time, and was friends with Pete, who both he and MJ know

I always remember Seymour as being surrounded by a line of folks at the shows, and helping them one at a time. He's always been very gracious with his time and his mission in life, and is responsible for a whole niche industry really.

When I thought about it later, I was impressed with how harmonious the atmosphere at the factory is. These are all folks who enjoy their work, and I for one appreciate that, and am sure that accounts for some happy pickups. It reminds me of an old dairy ad - "our milk comes from contented cows"

-----------
If Scott reads this, I hope he'll tell the story that MJ told him about ZZ Top's local concert.

Peace

[BlueSnMettle]

Re: Seymour Duncan factory tour pics

Man Curly, Great job!!! Thanks for sharing.
Looks like you guys really enjoyed yourselves. It's kinda the way I had it envisioned (not high-tech looking, but heart & soul). Guess that's why SD are the best. Real people, real pride. That's the kinda place I'd love to work. Thanks again for sharing, G.

Peace,

Darrin

[Dave]

Re: Seymour Duncan factory tour pics

Fiery car wreck...

[JfromHouston]

Re: Seymour Duncan factory tour pics

awesome!

[Biu]

Re: Seymour Duncan factory tour pics

Cool! I wouldn't want to rumble with Scott, he's huge! Did you guys have time to jam together?

[Dave]

Re: Seymour Duncan factory tour pics

Wow, guys super fun!

[Dooogz]

Re: Seymour Duncan factory tour pics

I think a lot of people assume that SD has these great big machines where you load in a spool of wire, a rack of bobbins, a rack of magnets, flip a switch, and it automatically starts cranking out pickups.

Frankly, I'm amazed at how much of the assembly seems to be done by hand.

My ideas about how SD assemble have changed. I did think they had massive machines! How wrong i was!

[Hoss]

Re: Seymour Duncan factory tour pics

awesome!!!

looks like good times!!!