The Seymour Duncan Thirty-Five

The Seymour Duncan Thirty-Five History & Care Instructions Welcome & Congratulations T h e S e y m o u r Duncan Story The sound of an electric guitar or bass starts with the pickups—but in Seymour W. Duncan’s hands, the pickups themselves become masterfully crafted instruments. Starting as a young teen, Seymour often worked ten-hour days as a professional—if underage—guitarist. During that time he kept detailed notebooks about guitar sounds he heard, and tinkered with the instruments of friends, who included young Robbie Robertson and Adrian Belew. In the early ’70s, Seymour relocated to London, playing sessions by night and work- ing days at the Fender Sound House, the repair shop that served as his postgraduate laboratory. There, he serviced guitars and wound pickups for Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, the Who, Robert Palmer, Mick Ronson, Jeff Beck, and other leading lights of British rock. Some came for pickup repairs, others to seek help creating a distinctive guitar voice via one of Seymour’s custom pickup creations. Seymour kept exhaustive notes and took meticulous measurements on every guitar that came in. In 1975, Chris Rainbow brought Seymour to LA as guitarist for his recording session there. Seymour connected with the vibrant music scene in Topanga Canyon, where Jamie Shane of Canned Heat fame introduced him to Cathy Carter. Just like in London, musicians at the time were on a quest to capture the best tone of the old “pre-CBS” Fenders and Gibsons, yet colored with more output and new sounds. The large “corporate” guitar brands at the time had lost their heart and changed most everything about their guitars for the benefit of the “bottom-line”. They had simply stopped listening to what their customers wanted. In 1976, the Seymour Duncan Company’s first product was a set of brass bridges for Fender Tele® guitars. These sweet sounding and sustain-rich bridges were inspired by the best of the vintage guitars Seymour touched and cared for in London. The company also offered custom pickup rewinds and soon earned a reputation for musician- centric products. After moving to Santa Barbara and borrowing $1250 from a friend, Seymour and Cathy quickly expanded into offering authentic vintage and Seymour- designed single coil pickups. Always listening, carefully, to what their customers wanted. By 1980, after getting another “micro” loan from a friend, they were able to finally tool up to build humbuckers. Now they could offer all musicians the same magical “JB”, “Jazz”, “’59” and other pickups Seymour had been hand building for Jeff and others in London. And that was the beginning of a wonderful company, full of bright and dedicated teammates, many of whom are still there today. From Kevin Beller, longtime engineer and designer of the convertible amp, the first quiet single coils, and the successful Rails and Stack series, to Maricela “MJ” Juarez who joined Seymour in the Custom Shop. It’s a team effort, but it’s lead by Seymour who, to this day, you can still find in the Custom Shop as happy as ever behind a winder. The years have passed, but the mission never varied. Seymour Duncan helps musicians achieve the tone that sets them apart. Seymour and Cathy in 1978. Seymour holds the Telecaster given by Jeff Beck in exchange for creating the original “Tele-Gib.” 1 The Seymour Duncan Thirty-Five For 35 years Seymour W. Duncan—and the company that bears his name—have collaborated with countless players, from household names to bedroom beginners, acquiring unrivaled insight into guitar and bass tone. Now all that expertise is embod- ied in a stunning new guitar. Created to celebrate the Seymour Duncan company’s 35th anniversary, the limited- edition Seymour Duncan Thirty-Five hearkens back to Seymour’s roots as a guitar tech in early-1970s London, where he wound pickups for the biggest names in British rock. A huge Yardbirds fan, Seymour conceived a custom guitar for Jeff Beck, pairing a Fender Telecaster with a set of specially voiced Gibson-style humbuckers he wound. Beck even- tually used the instrument, dubbed the “TeleGib,” on Blow by Blow, one of the most acclaimed instrumental rock records of all time. Jeff was so thrilled with that “TeleGib”, he gave Seymour the Esquire guitar he used on the early Yardbirds recordings in trade. The pickups Seymour made for Jeff and that first “TeleGib” were the concepts behind what would become the Seymour Duncan Company’s first production models, the JB and Jazz. The quintessential set of hot-rodded humbuckers, to this day, the JB remains the world’s most popular humbucker. Those pickups and that instrument have inspired the Seymour Duncan Thirty-Five. The Thirty-Five is hardly a literal reproduction. Like many things Seymour Duncan makes, the guitar relies on both vintage production techniques and bold new ideas. Some features are strictly old-school, notably the guitar’s JB and Jazz Concept pickups, which are tonal clones of Seymour’s 40-year-old originals. Other vintage-style details include the single-piece truss rod and the guitar’s substantial but comfy neck. The guitar boasts many modern features as well. It comes with a second pair of pickups: limited-production Zephyr Silvers that deliver unprecedented sonic detail via cryogenically treated silver-wire coils. The guitar also boasts the Liberator™ Solderless Pickup Change system, which lets players switch between the provided pickups and any other humbuckers in minutes. Meanwhile, precision CNC engineering provides an innovative fretboard shape optimized for string-bending. But the Thirty-Five’s greatest attribute is its astonishing attention to detail. Many parts were painstakingly handcrafted: Seymour and longtime Custom Shop manager Maricela “MJ” Juarez personally made each pickup, and Seymour engraved every neck plate. Frank Falbo, Seymour Duncan’s Vice President of Product Development, did all the fretwork, verifying that every fret is perfectly seated and shaped. Famed father- and-son luthiers Jean and Matt Larrivée oversaw wood selection, carving, sanding, and assembly, and Matt crafted every truss rod by hand. From its Tahitian black pearl neck inlays to its 35,000-year-old mastodon ivory nut, every detail of the Seymour Duncan Thirty-Five is drop-dead perfect. The Seymour Duncan Thirty-Five reflects our company’s 35-year pursuit of perfect tone. We have every confidence that it will help you find the tones of your dreams. We had fun building it we hope you enjoy playing it just as much! 3 Photo by Cody Duncan. the neck. This type of truss rod allows subtler adjustments than the modern double- Special Features expanding type, and it works beautifully with the Thirty-Five’s strong, stiff neck. Unpainted neck pocket. We initially “undercut” the Thirty-Five’s neck pocket. That way, we can cut to the final dimensions just prior to assembly, removing all finish for an ultra-resonant, direct-to-wood connection. One-piece swamp ash body. A single-piece body resonates with a clear, unified voice. We choose body blanks for their volume and attack. As a result, the Seymour Duncan Precision neck angle. The Thirty-Five’s neck must be slightly angled to accommodate Thirty-Five’s body is loud and articulate, with a strong fundamental and beautifully the tune-o-matic-style bridge. We rout this angle directly into the neck pocket without balanced overtones. resorting to shims or a micro-tilt adjuster. One-piece quarter-sawn maple neck. Tone comes first when we select wood for a Comfortable neck profile. The Thirty-Five’s neck shape fuses several popular vintage Thirty-Five neck. We seek out the perfect balance of strength, stability, and resonance. profiles. It’s substantial yet comfy, with just a hint of a V-shape. The nut width is 1.75”, though the sloped shoulders provide the sleek feel of a slightly narrower neck. Custom fretboard profile. Precision CNC engineering provides the perfect fretboard shape under string tension. This ensures the smoothest playing experience and minimal Seymour-engraved neck plates. Seymour W. Duncan personally handcrafts each string noise. The fretboard surface is optimized for string-bending. A subtle, custom- neck plate, punching and countersinking the holes, stamping the serial numbers, and compounded radius commences just above the 12th fret, reducing fret-out when bending shaping and polishing each unit prior to plating. high strings toward the middle of the fretboard, even for players using an ultra-light setup. A gentle fall-away compensates for the natural pull at the bolt-on neck joint. State-of-the-art bridge hardware. Bill Callaham mills the Thirty-Five’s ABR-1-style bridge from a solid billet of cold-rolled alloy steel, as opposed to more common Handmade vintage-style truss rod. Matt Larrivée makes each Thirty-Five truss rod. materials such as zinc alloy, brass, or aluminum. This formulation provides a stronger Each has a custom length and fit. We use a traditional single-action design because fundamental and better overtone alignment. A locking TonePros tailpiece also it has a more focused tone and adds the minimum amount of non-wood material to contributes to the Thirty-Five’s strong, unified voice. Photo credits for this page : Left by Andreina Diaz, Right Cody Duncan. Photo credits for this page: Bottom Left by Andreina Diaz. All others Cody Duncan. Upper Left: Each SD35 body is crafted from a single piece of swamp ash selected for volume and attack. Left: Seymour hand-engraves each neck plate. Bottom Left: The neck is made from strong, resonant quartersawn maple. Right: The neck pocket is cut after the guitar is finished, providing a paint-free, wood-to-wood junction of neck Right: Frank Falbo personally installs every fret, making sure each is perfectly seated and shaped.

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