Seymour Duncan

Seymour Duncan

Type	Private
Industry	Pickups and effects pedals
Founded	1976; 41 years ago (1976)
Founder	Seymour W. Duncan and Cathy Carter Duncan
Headquarters	Goleta, California, United States
Products	pickups effects pedals
Number of employees	120
Website	seymourduncan.com

Seymour Duncan is an American company best known for manufacturing guitar and bass pickups. They also manufacture effects pedals which are designed and assembled in America. Guitarist and luthier Seymour W. Duncan and Cathy Carter Duncan founded the company in 1976, in Santa Barbara, California. Starting around 1983–84, Seymour Duncan pickups appeared in Kramer Guitars as standard equipment along with Floyd Rose locking vibratos, and can now be found on instruments from Fender guitars, Gibson guitars, Yamaha, Charvel, ESP Guitars, Ibanez guitars, Mayones, Jackson guitars, Schecter, DBZ Diamond, Framus, Washburn, and others.

Seymour W. Duncan became interested in guitars at a young age, and after lending his guitar to a friend who accidentally broke the pickup, Duncan decided to re-wind it, using a record player turntable to hold the pickup in place and rotate it while spooling wire around the pickup bobbin. He was then inspired by how the tone of the guitar had changed for the better, and started learning more about pickups from guitarist/inventor Les Paul, and later mentor and humbucker inventor Seth Lover. After having developed considerable skill working on guitars, Duncan gained employment at the Fender Soundhouse in London, where he started working on the instruments and pickups of artists including Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page. After having moved to California he met and married Cathy Carter and decided to start a pickup rewinding service. With demand for his services growing, Duncan and Carter eventually expanded into offering their own , Telecaster and humbucking pickups, and within two decades had a full assortment of pickups for electric, bass and acoustic guitar as well as electric guitar accessories. In 2012 Seymour Duncan was inducted into the Vintage Guitar Hall of Fame for contributions to the music industry, and he continues to create pickups in the Seymour Duncan factory in Santa Barbara, California.