The High Voltage Humbucker Set from the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop was developed for one of rock's most iconic guitarists (initials A.Y.), this is one pickup set that's ready to rock all night long. Its story goes back to 2008 when we started working on a formula for a special pickup that took the basic vibe of the Pearly Gates but altered its course to head down the highway to hell. Then we had to replicate it so the artist's road guitars all sounded as good as his Number One with that pickup.

 

We made something close to a Pearly Gates but with specially calibrated Alnico II magnets to give it the tone he was needing, says Maricela MJ Juarez of the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop of the mysterious artist this design was originally made for. He liked them so much that then he brought in his black guitar so he could have the tone of those pickups in that guitar too. The DC resistance is around 8.6, 8.7k in the bridge and 7.7k in the neck.

The result is a vintage-voiced humbucker set which MJ describes as something clean and something bluesy but with not a lot of low end. Perfect for plugging into a cranked-up Marshall and delivering stinging blues-rock leads, brash chord stabs and driving single-note riffs.

These pickups are made with chrome covers and they're aged in a different way to our nickel Antiquity covers, MJ explains: the aging gives the covers a played-in look but they're more resistant to corrosive sweat compared to nickel, which is great news if you run around a lot on stage.

 

• Magnets: Alnico II
• Lightly Aged Nickel Covers
• Authentic 70s sound