Gaps in the product line?

[Ptolemaeus]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

Standalone neck humbuckers. All of the ones SD offers are either part of a well thought out set (Full Shred, Black Winter, WLH, etc) or seemingly put in a set to make a set (Invader, Distortion). Don't get me wrong, I like all those pickups, especially the DDn, however the catalog is seriously lacking in medium output neck options. Most of it is either vintage ('59, etc) or balls out (DD, BW).

 

[El Supremo]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

In general, everything is AlNiCo 2 or 5, I wonder why there aren't more offerings that utilize other magnets, especially in the single coil side, where there is A5, A2, A5+A2, degaussed A2, degaussed A5... but no A3 or A4.

This. Some dedicated A3 and/or A4 humbuckers would be nice.
A lot of the higher end retro Gibson line up uses A3 pickups (which aren't sold seperately as far as I know) and they sound pretty killer (even though a big part of that would be the actual guitar, but nevertheless...).

 

[guitar74]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

Not for me. I have found my go to pickup, the Pearly gates/'59 combo. I do also use the Full shred, JB, and Custom Custom and just recently tried the Perpetual Burn which I love. I wish SD would re-issue the Convertable Amp line. Pickup wise, I think I am covered.

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

We did just roll out the Build Your Own Pickup page on the Custom Shop site. While it's (admittedly) not well integrated into seymourduncan.com yet, I think this is a good start. Unfortunately this level of customization is going to put you squarely into custom shop / boutique pricing, which should be understandable given the amount of inventory we'd have to accumulate in order to scale something like a '59 with every magnet available.

Like you said, this should be expected and should be no problem with people using it. When I talk with, say Warmoth, about the options I'm looking for in a new guitar body or neck, they are very clear with me of what they will do or what they feel uncomfortable doing. When it comes to off menu requests, I expect there to be some kind of charge for this request. People who want customization should pretty much be able to understand they will not get the custom shop item for the studio price. As long as the pricing is reasonable, most people seeking these custom requests probably will not have any problems with it.

As far as what I'm looking for in pickups, I'm usually pretty happy with the Jazz and Alnico II Pro humbuckers in most guitars. I would like to see a HSH set featuring a stacked single coil for split options where the stacked single coil has a nice volume match with the humbuckers. I'm looking to try the WLH set in a new guitar I have in production so I'm pretty stoked about that. I would probably be more inclined to use a Screamin Demon in some of my guitars if SD made a good neck option to pair with it. I also wonder why the '78 is not part of the standard line-up yet.

 

[DreX]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

On the contrary, there's no problem with asking when all you're interested in is each individual person's opinions.

I said the problem lies within how people describe what they want versus what can be provided, I did not say there was anything wrong with opinion. If I say "I want a warm, sweet, articulate pickup", you might say "try the Antiquity", and I'll say "no no no, I mean warm like the APH-2 but with better cleans", then you say "you might like the Jazz", and I say, "ooooh too bright!", so there are cases where adjectives don't do justice what can be discovered through trial and error, and it seems that, for example, the use of A3 and A4 is an area of trial and error that hasn't been well explored in the standard product line sense.

Unfortunately this level of customization is going to put you squarely into custom shop / boutique pricing

which is why I suggested it be standard product line and not custom shop. If you don't forecast good sales, then so be it, but at that point any idea that might come up in the thread will be relegated to the custom shop and it's inevitable price point.

 

[St_Genesius]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

Honestly, the mad flailing about of people trying SO HARD to come up with some noteworthy design variances in the recent Forum Pickup threads has suggested to me that SD has got its bases pretty well covered.

 

[Kac]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

I would agree the bases are certainly fairly well covered, other than carrying all the DiMarzio, Gibson, and Fender pickups under the Seymour Duncan name, there really isn't a whole lot that can be done to fill gaps. But as we can see here there are certainly a few requests. One thing that was mentioned that I find noteworthy is Why wasn't the '78 ever made into a production model pickup. That's one of my all time favorite humbuckers and it would be great to have it a little more accessible, other than used or special ordered.


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[DreX]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

Honestly, the mad flailing about of people trying SO HARD to come up with some noteworthy design variances in the recent Forum Pickup threads has suggested to me that SD has got its bases pretty well covered.

Maybe there's just certain kinds of businesses where your customers don't precisely know what they want until you give them some options, like the menu at a restaurant for example. They'll ask the customer how their food tasted, how well the wait staff treated you. rate your experience on a scale of 1 to 5... but you never see them ask customers for new menu ideas, and if they asked a room full of customers to design a new menu item by committee, an outcome like the Forum Pickup process might very well happen.

 

[DreX]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

other than carrying all the DiMarzio, Gibson, and Fender pickups under the Seymour Duncan name, there really isn't a whole lot that can be done to fill gaps.

Which is to say, all the knowns are known, but the unknowns remain unknown.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

In general, everything is AlNiCo 2 or 5, I wonder why there aren't more offerings that utilize other magnets, especially in the single coil side, where there is A5, A2, A5+A2, degaussed A2, degaussed A5... but no A3 or A4.

+1. Stock magnets aren't going to be the perfect magnet for every genre and every guitar. Duncan can add some 'new' models with no extra coil development or expense by using different magnets, as they did with the Custom and Jazz. They really should have Customs in regular production with A8's and UOA5's. Likewise a '59 set with an UOA5 in the bridge and A4 in the neck. Or an A2P set with A3's. Custom/'59 hybrid with a warmer magnet. JB with A2 or UOA5 for those who want a hot PU and aren't into '80's metal. How about a new Phat Cat set with a different set of magnets (to brighten the neck and beef up the bridge)? We've done a lot of testing with replacement magnets.

Also be nice to have a few Custom Shop PU's in production at production prices, like the '78 and Brobucker. Gibson finally came out of their slumber and introduced several PAF's. Why doesn't Duncan create some excitement with a flurry of new (easy-to-produce) PU's?

 

[GilmourD]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

Standalone neck humbuckers. All of the ones SD offers are either part of a well thought out set (Full Shred, Black Winter, WLH, etc) or seemingly put in a set to make a set (Invader, Distortion). Don't get me wrong, I like all those pickups, especially the DDn, however the catalog is seriously lacking in medium output neck options. Most of it is either vintage ('59, etc) or balls out (DD, BW).

Custom companions. Figure out a neck wind for the Custom and make matching sets with all the magnets.

Sent from my Moto X 2014 using Tapatalk

 

[El Supremo]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

They really should have Customs in regular production with A8's and UOA5's. Likewise a '59 set with an UOA5 in the bridge and A4 in the neck. Or an A2P set with A3's. Custom/'59 hybrid with a warmer magnet. JB with A2 or UOA5 for those who want a hot PU and aren't into '80's metal.

Would be cool to me if they'd bring out a special edition Custom with the most popular mags included. Or, perhaps even cooler, Duncan mag swap kits. Or maybe even include hex screws and whatnot. Sort of a Duncan Pimp Your Pup Kit .

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

Custom companions. Figure out a neck wind for the Custom and make matching sets with all the magnets.

Well, this is kinda done already... a '59n, a Jazz neck or a Full Shred neck for the Custom 5, a PGn or Seth neck or APH1n for the Custom Custom.

What I'd like to see done in the Duncan lair is to break away of the A5 p'up rut (too many of those, which most IN MY OPINION sound "better" with just about any other magnet than that), and offer p'ups with two rows of screws and vintage ones with short legs.

Also, single-coils with a stagger designed for a plain 3rd. Finally breaking from the brakes tradition put on R&D and start to make more "form-follow-function" designs. In few words: setting the bar at a new level, creating a "new standard", so to speak.

HTH,

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

A4 '59n and/or Jazz N.

I know that this is a simple DIY mag swap but not everyone is confident about doing this to a brand new pickup.

A2 JB

Jazz Bass B pickup that is hot enough to balance for output with an SPB-1 but not as hot as an SJB-2B.

STC-3 bass EQ with adjustable mid range frequency. (Lose the Slap Contour function, maybe?)

 

[St_Genesius]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

Okay, that's a legitimately cool idea. Like "Hey, you wanna tinker? Here's a bundled set of stuff to let you do that."

Way more interesting to me than suggesting that we need Production models of every pickup type, with every magnet, in 0.1 Ohm intervals.

Would be cool to me if they'd bring out a special edition Custom with the most popular mags included. Or, perhaps even cooler, Duncan mag swap kits. Or maybe even include hex screws and whatnot. Sort of a Duncan Pimp Your Pup Kit .

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

A4 '59n and/or Jazz N.

I know that this is a simple DIY mag swap but not everyone is confident about doing this to a brand new pickup.

A2 JB

Jazz Bass B pickup that is hot enough to balance for output with an SPB-1 but not as hot as an SJB-2B.

STC-3 bass EQ with adjustable mid range frequency. (Lose the Slap Contour function, maybe?)

I agree, not everyone wants to take a brand new pickup apart and start swapping things around...even a used pickup.

 

[elelpe]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

A new version of SD Broadcaster with A5, 42awg, 8.5-9k dcr AND Custom for tele with A3, 43awg, 10.5-11k . I have Duncans in my guitars but my tele.

 

[jimman]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

We did just roll out the Build Your Own Pickup page on the Custom Shop site. While it's (admittedly) not well integrated into seymourduncan.com yet, I think this is a good start. Unfortunately this level of customization is going to put you squarely into custom shop / boutique pricing, which should be understandable given the amount of inventory we'd have to accumulate in order to scale something like a '59 with every magnet available.

Is a simple magnet swap not just a shop floor custom instead of a full custom shop pickup?

 

[dominus]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

Just wondering what you guys felt might be some under-represented segments in the Seymour Duncan product line. This is a good question to ask now and again.

There have been a lot of interesting things released in the couple of years on both ends of the spectrum - from the stuff aimed at extreme metal (Nazgul/Sentient, Black Winters) to stuff designed for vintage-inspired tastes (Whole Lotta Humbuckers), to something in between (59/Custom Hybrid)... But I wonder if there's anything missing.

Have you recently wanted to buy an SD but went with something else because, ultimately, we don't offer what you needed for a particular project?

Medium-hot humbuckers. Bridge and neck models. Trembucker versions of the Pearly Gates Plus and Distortion neck.

A neck pickup specifically designed for the 59/custom hybrid seems to be a requested product, we're voting for a forum pickup currently to fit that need though.

I didn't bother asking anyone with more experience than I had with the seymour duncan line up, but recently I was looking for a very "liquidy" neck pickup, and maybe it was just my search terms, but I kept reading about the dimarzio liquifire and air norton for that, with very little mention of a fitting seymour duncan product. I don't know if its a hole or if there is a different word for what I wanted that would help me find a duncan product with that sound.

I wonder if an overwound Jazz would work there. Maybe a Jazz bridge model?

I'm admittedly curious why the '78 hadn't jumped from the custom shop into regular production. Is there something than doesn't translate onto the production line equipment?

I'd be curious about this one too, but not willing to pay custom shop prices. I think there'd be a market for it with all the EVH heads.

In general, everything is AlNiCo 2 or 5, I wonder why there aren't more offerings that utilize other magnets, especially in the single coil side, where there is A5, A2, A5+A2, degaussed A2, degaussed A5... but no A3 or A4.

A few more A8s along with A4s might be something to look at, especially in the medium output range pickups.

I think I'd be more interested in more Duncan Performer pickups than trying to cover more ground. Though I make more money than when I first started buying pickups, less of it is disposable now. With all the crap my kids are into, it's much more likely I'd buy a $35 Performer than a $70+ USA model.

A Performer based Custom would be amazing.

Purely a marketing term IMHO.

Have you played the Liquifire? It's an awesome pickup.

Non vintage sounding or based mid output neck humbuckers

preferably with short hex screws not the slug and fillister arrangement that SD so loves.

Black hex screws.

10 k through 12k pickups for guys who want a compromise of clean and heavy.

Dimarzio Titans and Transitions are fantastic. I can be a pretty heavy handed person since I have to practice some unplugged and got a decent live setup. I don't need a flamethrower but I don't want the honk of playing low gain pups. Mid compression is all need. I am not a sloppy player but the fatigue of playing live... It helps to have some. I am a play the guitar guitarist... not play the pickups guitarist. We've all had that uber distortion to fix sloppiness phase. Not all of us are still like that anymore.

(extreme metal of course not what I am talking about...)

Absolutely, although high output pickups still have their place. :firedevil

I don't know what you mean by that... I think I am on the same page with you.

But with SD bringing in peeps in the Djent genre and bringing in the Sentient and Pegasus to 6 stringers.... they are trying to get more dimarzio-y. Its a good market since most modern metal guys are moving from super duper high gain pups to mid range... since they are using modelers.

I've been out of the gear scene for awhile... The only production pickup (besides the ones i mentioned above) I can think of is only Screamin demon and lilpups in that range. Are there any more?

Screamin' Demon is still too weak for that. I may have to try one in the neck at some point. I did like the Perpetual Burn though, so more in that output range would be cool.

I agree with this. I haven't tried every SD pickup but I've yet to play/hear one that responded and performed like the DiMarzio Liquifire. One of my main pickup combos is the DMZ Liquifire in the neck with the SD Screamin Demon in the bridge.

The Liquifire has more output than the Demon. Try swapping them.

 

[Ptolemaeus]

Re: Gaps in the product line?

Custom companions. Figure out a neck wind for the Custom and make matching sets with all the magnets.

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I think that'd be cool. If Duncan came out with a group of new neck buckers, maybe a few unique winds, maybe your Custom idea, that'd be great. I just remember having a hell of a time finding a pickup for the neck slot of my PRS and being disappointed by everybody's neck options.