Design your own pickup and let us know in the comments exactly how you want it to sound. MJ, Derek and Seymour will use your notes to help pick the right materials and wind for your pickup. Since your pickup is made specifically for you, please allow 4-6 weeks for it to be completed.
We are passionate about quality so we ask for your patience while we craft your pickup. For shipping time estimates, please visit the Shipping & Returns page.
Showing reviews 1-20 of 39 | Next
Posted by Aceman from the SDUG on 15th Feb 2024
I love a Pearly Gates, but I have always wanted one that was just a touch hotter in the bridge. I ordered one from the Custom shop wound up to 9k and it is everything I wanted! Been playing it (along with a PG neck) in my newest Les Paul. Just sounds fantastic neck, neck+bridge, and bridge alone. Just classic Les Paul goodness with just a little extra oomph. Fantastic. Custom Shop was super easy to deal with. Great communication! Thanks MJ!!!
Posted by Unknown on 15th Feb 2024
Absolutely superb sounding pickups with lots of different options to cover all music styles and instruments. I ordered an S-Deco humbucker, and it has far exceeded my expectations.
Posted by Unknown on 26th Dec 2021
This humbucker that was engineered for me, is amazing. The pickup on ten has distortion for the metal guitar gods. When the volume is rolled down this monster has the Vanhalen harmonically rich tones. On ten with a high gain amp the overtones are amazing. Never loosing the warm fat tone. Great thumping lows to screaming highs. On clean I can get some of the country twang. It’s a great pickup. Sincerely Brian Fisher
Posted by H on 2nd Sep 2021
I cannot stress enough how happy I am with my custom pickups. I wanted to give my trusty Fender Telecaster a gnarlier sound without changing it's looks (a sleeper guitar, if you will). I have always been a fan of the Black Winters, I have them in some of my other guitars, but I wanted to keep the chrome plated look of the original pickups that came with my Telecaster. Enter Seymour Duncan Custom pickups. Now, not only do I get the sound of Black Winters but I get to keep the original factory look of my Telecaster. I've had a few friends pickup that guitar without knowing and literally scream "HOLY F***!!!! WHAT WITCHERY IS H?!?!?!" They cannot believe their ears. Especially since the Black Winters are super versatile, I can play anything on this guitar and not have it look just like a made-for-metal axe (which it can more than handle that too). All in all, highly satisfied. I will be ordering more custom pickups in the future. A+++
Posted by Joshua LaRose on 12th Aug 2021
I have to say I'm impressed with the product I received. I was not sure that I described what I was looking for well. But, they got it right. I have been using SD for many years and always wanted to blend some of my favorite pickups. Thank you so much and I definitely plan to order again for my next guitar build!
Posted by CHARLES on 20th Mar 2020
wanted a one-off pickup for a custom v build. called and made a last minute change, even though the pickup was already made they accommodated my request. The Duncan team more than satisfied with a truly great sounding pickup. this is not my first and definitely not my last Duncan.
Posted by Dave Lee on 14th Nov 2019
Admittedly, this has taken me longer to review than I wanted because after receiving these pups I decided to refinish the guitar and replace all the hardware... I digress: I ordered two custom pickups from the custom shop, and these guys friggin nailed it! They took my description of what I was looking for and knocked it out of the park. These things rip, and they compliment this instrument so well it's hard to describe. Even tuned down to drop B, I have lost zero tonality, the mids and highs that are normally dulled by a lower tuning shine right through the mix. I installed them with a blower switch, which in retrospect was unnecessary because even with the pots and tone caps in the signal chain, these pups shine and I can't even tell the difference between that and having them wired directly to the output.
100% A++++ Guys!!!
Posted by James Morton on 29th Aug 2019
I ordered in July and got the pickup pretty fast. I had been searching for the 1971 Flying "V" Medallion tone. I did not want to buy a vintage pickup. I described early UFO through a Marshall . MJ wound the final product 14k . I thought it would be to hot but it's not , moderate as I described and volume rolls off well.
It sounds great . I am building a small amp to further hone the sound.
Very high quality product , thanks !
Posted by Unknown on 10th Aug 2019
I was excited to find out I could custom order my own pickup after weeks of trying to decide which pickups to buy. The result is fantastic! Exactly the sound and look I was trying to get. Thank you!
Posted by Patrick Byington on 17th Mar 2019
I asked for a darker and thicker (but still articulate), low output version of the Custom Custom. I got something a little bit more fun. It's 9.1k of throaty, smooth, sweet bark. My favorite 'low output' pickup that I've ever heard. It's many more degrees closer to the sound in my head than any pickup I've previously tried. Thank you MJ!
Posted by Karan Taktawala on 27th Nov 2018
When your out to swap pickups on a Maryland made PRS, you need to be pretty darn sure on what your motivations for it are. At the end of the day PRS make a killer pickup stock!
So when I found myself wanting the same platform out of my 58/15LT neck pickup but with a little more mid range to it.... Enter MJ and her team.
The pickup arrived on schedule and it’s bang on! Kudos to the guys over at Duncan & the custom shop. Special shout out to Arwin who responded very patiently to all my demands
Posted by Hank Edward Cieplinski on 22nd Nov 2018
When I found out I could have my own pickup designed as if I were Eddie VH or Slash or whoever, I thought why the hell wouldn’t I? It’s not even expensive to do so. And I’m so glad I did. The customer service at Duncan is outstanding. The rep asked me specific questions about everything from who I grew up listening to, who I like, what I like about this or that tone until he was confident he knew what I was after. And I have to say my pickups exceeded my expectations. I didn’t think a pick up could make that much of a difference with the guitar / amp / hands also in the equation, but they do. I noticed the difference after the first gig and feel lucky to have had the opportunity to pin point what I wanted. Thanks to everyone at Duncan. I’m going to make another custom guitar in the near future and they will be one of the first calls I make when I do.
Posted by DaveZ on 9th Oct 2018
.. and I say "probably" because I haven't tried them all. ;)
I ordered a bridge Antiquity pickup with coil splitting wiring and quite frankly, this is the best pickup I've ever played. (and I've 30+ years gigging experience)
The Antiquity has an amazing airiness and open quality, while being warm at the same time... something I've never heard from a pickup before.
Posted by JFM on 10th Sep 2018
I set out on a journey looking for the perfect sound. I bought every picup imaginable from every vendor old and new on a my quest to find that magic i felt i was missing from my sound. I went through a lot of SD pickups. Most were close to what i wanted but i was missing that last puch that last 10% to get me where i was in that tonal bliss. I decided to send my specs to MJ and the Sd team to see if there was anything that they could do. I can say they delivered in a way that is just incredible. The pickup they build is by far the most clear, detailed, accurate and articulate pickup i have ever heard in my life.It was axactly what i was looking for.It will take all the high gain i can throw at it and then i roll it back for some Wes Montgomery. I'm floored.I ordered another set unpotted and they built me a special matched neck that is outstanding. I sent them another spec for another build i can't wait to try it out. My stylle of music is hard rock/rock/classicrock/blues /Jazz so i'm all over the place.
Posted by Drew Wheeler on 4th Aug 2018
Wow, these pickups are spectacular! I ordered a set of P-rails for my Strandberg 8-string in a soapbar housing. Looks like a metal guitar, sounds like any damn thing I want. These came out even better than I'd hoped. Huge thanks to MJ and all the good folks at Seymour Duncan for helping this weirdo live the dream!
Posted by Bob O. on 9th May 2018
I needed the perfect pickup for guitar with only a single pickup, in the bridge position and I figured, since this guitar was only going to have one pickup, it netter be a great one right? The folks at the custom shop delivered. I'm a huge fan of the SH-5 Custom, but I wanted something with more aesthetic personality. After some helpful input and advice from Arwin, I ended up ordering a Custom 8 (SH-5 with an AlNiCo 8 mag instead of the usual ceramic) Trembucker with a chrome cover and 12 black hex screws. This pickup is exactly what I expect to hear when I turn up the gain. I'm already planning my next custom shop order and I can hardly wait.
Posted by Dayve on 26th Apr 2018
The guys at the custom shop killed it when they built my “Triggered JB”! The Alnico V magnets sound awesome. The pickup is 18.32 K and it is chunky in the rythms and sreams during solos. The sustain and harmonics are ridiculous!! (In a good way) Bottom line- this is the best pickup I’ve ever used and I’ll be buying 32 more for all my other guitars!
Posted by Jachin Harder on 25th Feb 2018
Quick back story, I had ordered another brand humbucker from an artist who has his own signature pickup series. The artist failed to complete the order or even communicate.
My Les Paul's stock pickups always sounded kind of thin and harsh. I also wanted something with a little bit hotter of output, but not full on shred. I discovered that Seymour Duncan had a custom shop and commissioned them to build my pickup.
Was first impressed with the speed they completed my custom pickup, didn't expect that all.
But most of all, I was impressed with the sound. They understood my requirements and delivered a true fire breather, that can also clean up using the guitar's volume control!
Well done SD Custom Shop!
Posted by Seth Deaton on 25th Nov 2017
From the values right down to the bobbin color, Seymour, MJ, and the custom shop exceeded all expectations and made a pickup better than I ever could have imagined. Great tone, great quality, great service. Seymour Duncan all the way!
Posted by Kevin Victor Rodriguez on 12th Aug 2017
If you're making up your mind about whether or not it would be worth the expense to get customs, it definitely is. I had very specific qualities I wanted out of the tone for my custom order and they nailed it!
Showing reviews 1-20 of 39 | Next
