This Guitar Is Available As A Fabulous Fake
Seymour W. Duncan is a guitarist and guitar
repairman, but is best known as the man behind
Seymour
Duncan Company, the manufacturer of guitar
pickups, bass pickups, and effects pedals located in
Santa Barbara, California. Born in New Jersey,
Seymour grew up in the fifties and sixties, during a
time when electric guitar music grew into greater
acceptance. Seymour's teenage passion was focused
upon guitars by a great uncle who introduced him to
the music and legend of Charlie Christian, Chet
Atkins and Les Paul.
The Seymour Duncan Signature Esquire guitar is an accurate replica of
Duncan’s personal 1954 Esquire created by the
Fender Custom Shop.
It features a lightweight solid ash body, special
shaped hard rock maple neck and a custom-designed
pickup built by Duncan himself. Every aspect of the
construction of this guitar was personally overseen
by Duncan, particularly the special wiring.
The Esquire is among the most sought-after
instruments in our entire family of Telecaster
guitars. Introduced in 1950, it later became the
weapon of choice for greats including
Jeff Beck and Bruce
Springsteen, and has re-emerged time and again in
the hands of many other great players.
Seymour began playing clubs and during one show, his
Telecaster's lead pickup broke, forcing him to play
the rest of the night on the rhythm pickup.
Necessity being the mother of invention, Seymour
rewound that lead pickup on a record player spinning
at 33 1/3 rpm.
While he developed his playing skills, Seymour's
knowledge of how guitars work developed at an
equally prodigious pace. Seymour took every chance
he had to talk with players about guitars, tone and
electronics. After spending time with musicians such
as Les Paul and Roy Buchanan, Seymour realized that
it was his guitar, and not his playing, that
prevented him from producing those wonderful tones
that defined great players. Suddenly, and forever,
Seymour was hooked on the dynamics and character
differences of pickups.
As Seymour tinkered devotedly with materials and
techniques, his bag of tricks grew and grew. At Les
Paul's suggestion, he bolted for England in the late
'60s where his intention to play soon mixed with the
opportunity to further his pickup research working
in the Repair and R&D Departments at the Fender
Soundhouse in London. It was here that he did
repairs and rewinds for such artists as Jimmy Page,
George Harrison,
Eric Clapton,
David Gilmour, Pete
Townshend, Jimi Hendrix,
Peter Frampton, and Seymour's guitar hero,
Jeff Beck. It was
through his work with Beck in particular, that
Seymour honed his pickup winding skills—some of
Seymour's first signature pickup tones appear on
Jeff's early solo albums. Seymour's sabbatical in
England resulted in a flock of new fans and friends.
Seymour came back to the United States, and
eventually settled in California. He established
contact with industry luminaries such as Leo Fender,
Les Paul, and Seth Lover (inventor of the humbucker
pickup) and continued learning about and making
pickups. Demand for his custom pickups grew and, in
late 1978, together with Cathy Carter Duncan, he
started his own company, Seymour Duncan Pickups.
Today the company has over 100 employees whose
dedication results in the continual refinement of
pickup and effects pedal technology.