Legitimacy of LTD EC-401 Seymour Duncan Pickups

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Filipe Marquez

New member
Hey guys, how are you doing? So i'm interested in maybe purchasing a LTD EC-401 i saw in a store here in my country. The pickups, according to the old espguitars site, are supposed to be SD's (JB/59 if i'm not mistaken). Only thing is i don't see the Seymour Duncan logo in the chrome cover of the pickups, and as the store is a bit untrusted i'm afraid they might've swaped the pup's for others. So my question is:

Do the Seymour Duncans on the LTD's of this model are supposed to have the seymour duncan logo? Or are they supposed to have just the 'naked' chrome cover?

And, if i purchase the guitar after they guarantee me that it's the Seymours, is there a way for me to check for the authenticity of the pups?

Thanks!
 
Re: Legitimacy of LTD EC-401 Seymour Duncan Pickups

Filipe Marquez said:
Hey guys, how are you doing? So i'm interested in maybe purchasing a LTD EC-401 i saw in a store here in my country. The pickups, according to the old espguitars site, are supposed to be SD's (JB/59 if i'm not mistaken). Only thing is i don't see the Seymour Duncan logo in the chrome cover of the pickups, and as the store is a bit untrusted i'm afraid they might've swaped the pup's for others. So my question is:

Do the Seymour Duncans on the LTD's of this model are supposed to have the seymour duncan logo? Or are they supposed to have just the 'naked' chrome cover?

And, if i purchase the guitar after they guarantee me that it's the Seymours, is there a way for me to check for the authenticity of the pups?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
You can test the resistance of the pickups with a multimeter. All you would need to do is plug a cable into it and then test the resistance in either position and compare those readings to the published specs.
 
Re: Legitimacy of LTD EC-401 Seymour Duncan Pickups

They won't have the logo on the chrome cover, but it will have a Seymour Duncan stamped base plate and a sticker with the model number on the base plate. (That's the bottom of the pickup.) Loosen the strings, unscrew the screws holding the ring down, gently wiggle the pickup up and out and look at the bottom. Should look like this:

FS-JB_zps07e7fd06.jpg
 
Re: Legitimacy of LTD EC-401 Seymour Duncan Pickups

LTD "400" series guitars get American pickups whereas the constructionally similar 259 models do not.

Some covered Seymour Duncan OEM pickups have a very small logo printed in the corner of the cover. I can provide a photograph when I get home from work.
 
Re: Legitimacy of LTD EC-401 Seymour Duncan Pickups

dominus said:
They won't have the logo on the chrome cover, but it will have a Seymour Duncan stamped base plate and a sticker with the model number on the base plate. (That's the bottom of the pickup.) Loosen the strings, unscrew the screws holding the ring down, gently wiggle the pickup up and out and look at the bottom. Should look like this:
Click to expand...
Thanks Dominus!
Funkfingers said:
LTD "400" series guitars get American pickups whereas the constructionally similar 259 models do not.

Some covered Seymour Duncan OEM pickups have a very small logo printed in the corner of the cover. I can provide a photograph when I get home from work.
Click to expand...

Yeah, Funkfingers, that's what i mean. How come not all of them have though?
 
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Re: Legitimacy of LTD EC-401 Seymour Duncan Pickups

Filipe Marquez said:
Yeah, Funkfingers, that's what i mean. How come not all of them have though?
Click to expand...

It's up to the OEM customer's preference. Sometimes they want the branding of the "Seymour Duncan" logo on their metal cover. And sometimes they want the traditional vintage look of a non-logo pickup.

ESP always takes logos on their uncovered humbuckers. But they never take logos on their covered humbuckers.
 
Re: Legitimacy of LTD EC-401 Seymour Duncan Pickups

Ask the seller if you can check the pickups' bottom to verify the authenticity of the pickups. Easier and makes more sense than checking the DC resistance.
 
Re: Legitimacy of LTD EC-401 Seymour Duncan Pickups

idsnowdog said:
You can test the resistance of the pickups with a multimeter. All you would need to do is plug a cable into it and then test the resistance in either position and compare those readings to the published specs.
Click to expand...

Thanks for answering!

Evan Skopp said:
It's up to the OEM customer's preference. Sometimes they want the branding of the "Seymour Duncan" logo on their metal cover. And sometimes they want the traditional vintage look of a non-logo pickup.

ESP always takes logos on their uncovered humbuckers. But they never take logos on their covered humbuckers.
Click to expand...

Thanks, i didn't know that! =)

Brian Griffin said:
Ask the seller if you can check the pickups' bottom to verify the authenticity of the pickups. Easier and makes more sense than checking the DC resistance.
Click to expand...

I think they wouldn't let me do that. Only thing is if they weren't Seymour's i could sue them and have my money back.

Either way the source of my doubt is that this guitar is a bit underpriced compared to others of the same model here, and i've previously seen a PRS that was exposed in their store exposed in another store too sometime after, like the same exact guitar, so i was under the impression the stores here buy instruments from each other that are "stuck" in sales, so you couldn't be sure where exactly it comes from, leaving room for them to maybe selling used products as brand new, that could have been modified.

Either way thank you all for your answers, maybe i'll give a look to it now knowing ESP doesn't take logos in. Thanks!
 
Re: Legitimacy of LTD EC-401 Seymour Duncan Pickups

ESP pickups have brass baseplates, so if the baseplates aren't brass they're probably Duncans, unless they're Duncan Designed, which is more or less the same thing.
 
Re: Legitimacy of LTD EC-401 Seymour Duncan Pickups

They shouldn't be though. If the guitar is brand new as they're selling it, it has to be SD, otherwise they're lying, since it's an EC-401.
 
Re: Legitimacy of LTD EC-401 Seymour Duncan Pickups

I say take the guitar home to try out and unscrew the pickups and see if theyre real. If they are keep it. If not then take it back, get your money, and don't ever go back to that store.
 
Re: Legitimacy of LTD EC-401 Seymour Duncan Pickups

I trust that they're legit. ESP doesn't really fool around with stuff like that. They certainly wouldn't want SD to catch wind of doing things like that. If you get it and find out it's not legit, report it to ESP and SD and get your money back.
 
Re: Legitimacy of LTD EC-401 Seymour Duncan Pickups

RStabler said:
I trust that they're legit. ESP doesn't really fool around with stuff like that. They certainly wouldn't want SD to catch wind of doing things like that. If you get it and find out it's not legit, report it to ESP and SD and get your money back.
Click to expand...

It's not ESP you have to worry about. It's the seller.
 
Re: Legitimacy of LTD EC-401 Seymour Duncan Pickups

Brian Griffin said:
Ask the seller if you can check the pickups' bottom to verify the authenticity of the pickups. Easier and makes more sense than checking the DC resistance.
Click to expand...
Yeah checking the dc resistance is hard. Not nearly as easy as unstringing the guitar, unscrewing the pickup rings and looking at the bottom of the pickups. If the store manager isn't cool with disassembling the guitar for you he's got something to hide.
 
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Re: Legitimacy of LTD EC-401 Seymour Duncan Pickups

Assume for the moment that the LTD guitar is brand new, unmolested apart from a little in-store customer try-out wear.

Take a look in the control cavity. The soldering joints should have that "first and only time" look about them. Additionally, the pickup output cable should be four conductor + shield, following the Duncan colour codes. (The neck/Rhythm pickup could have single conductor + metal braid shield cable.)
 
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