This line of pickups features two slotted pole pieces per string, which removes distortion from the string’s vibration pattern.
Performing lightning-fast arpeggio sweeps, aggressive tremolo picking, and propulsive down-tuned riffs requires guitar tone that can keep up the pace and cut through the mix. While experimenting with different Seymour Duncan pickups over his career, Brandon’s sound became defined by our Parallel Axis humbuckers. This line of pickups features two slotted pole pieces per string, which removes distortion from the string’s vibration pattern. This ensures better note separation and extended sustain by creating a decentralized magnetic field.
Seymour Duncan Custom Shop Brandon Ellis Dyad Parallel Axis Humbucker
B Ellis Dyad Parallel AxisDabbling in pickup design himself, Brandon concocted a hybrid pickup combining two of his favorite Parallel Axis models: The North coil of a Crazy 8 and the hotter South coil of a Parallel Axis Trembucker Distortion, along with the Alnico 2 bar magnet from an RTM.
The result is the Dyad, a high output Humbucker with a sizzly bite and a super articulate pick attack that perfectly suited Brandon’s needs. Despite being a single bridge pickup, the Dyad offers more tones than meets the eye. Flipping the pickup upside down, in Brandon’s words “offers a chewier, mid-range focused sound for guitarists looking for more body out of their instrument in standard tunings.”
Seymour Duncan - Brandon Ellis Signature Dyad Parallel Axis™ Humbucker
The Dyad is available in humbucker and trembucker spacing, and comes standard with dual Seymour Duncan logos facing inward in tribute to Brandon’s original homemade design.
MSRP - $180
For more information, please visit seymourduncan.com.
The modern guitar hero dishes on her signature Ibanez YY10s, hints at their potential successors and tweaks, and reveals the ideal pedal that hasn’t landed on her board (yet).
Since we last saw Yvette Young in 2019, the guitar-playing musical illustrator has been challenged, and proven courageous.
“I went from a situation where I was afraid of one of my bandmates, and did what I needed to do to free myself from what I felt to be an emotionally, and thus creatively draining, situation,” Young revealed to PG earlier this year. She parted ways with Covet’s members during the recording sessions for the new album, Catharsis, and had the bass parts re-done by noted touring and session bassist Jon Button.
Through the writing and recording process she found personal purification. “I feel like, on Catharsis, some of the songs are a bit darker and it was definitely me having an outlet for some stuff that was painful, but a lot of it is uplifting and very happy and dance-y,” Young said. “Music is transformative. If you’re ever feeling in a bad mood, if you write music that sounds really happy, it can uplift you. Writing music that sounds like how you wish you felt can be really helpful sometimes.”
And while processing her feelings through the guitar, she became reinvigorated with the instrument and rediscovered its inherent joy.
“I really have to be my own fortress and I have to really stay in tune with what excites me,” admitted Young. “The direction I go in becomes really clear when I focus on what gives me goosebumps when I’m playing, what makes me jump up and down ’cause I’m so excited about it.”
Her charismatic, vivid guitar stories excite us, so we wanted to get the scoop on her ever-changing tools and palette. Weeks after releasing Catharsis, Yvette Young and her Covet bandmates headlined Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl. She invited PG’s Chris Kies onstage for a conversation covering her Ibanez YY10 signature models (and their potential upcoming changes), her dream pedal, and the key switches (and the alternative tones they produce) on her stomp station since the last Rundown.
Brought to you by the D’Addario Trigger Capo.
Signature Sparkle
During this headlining run, Young is traveling only with a pair of her signature Ibanez Prestige Series YY10 models with three Strat-style single-coil pickups. She has another Ibanez sig, the YY20, that is in a two-pickup, T-style configuration, but she notes in the Rundown that she prefers how the YY10 reacts with overdriven tones through her pedals and AC30. For Catharsis, she locked into F–A–C–G–C–E and wanted this set to feature fewer tuning moments and a more seamless musical narrative. Both touring YY10s have alder bodies with roasted maple necks, but “Creamsicle” has a rosewood fretboard and standard Seymour Duncan SSL52 Five-Two Strat pickups.
A fun fact from our 2023 PG interview with Yvette: These signature guitars are tuned (low to high) F–A–C–G–B–E when they are shipped. “I wanted to just kind of challenge people to try it,” she said. “I’ve been talking to a bunch of students and they’re like, ‘I never tried open tunings because I’ve always been scared of tuning it to something different.’ I was like, ‘Well what if it just came that way?’”
Green Machine
A roasted maple neck gives “Flubber” a different vibe, and its Wilkinson single-coils have sent Young down an experimental phase; she hints at P-90s potentially showing up in a future YY model. She says that the Wilkinsons are more “pristine and clear” in comparison to the Five-Twos that break up and get gritty in a pleasing way. This sparkly 6-string is reserved for tunings she drops down to D. Both guitars take D'Addario NYXLs (.011–.056).
Chime Time
Yvette has plugged into the same high input of the top boost channel of this Vox AC30 for years. Her settings reveal that she still uses the amp’s reverb even though there are two reverb pedals on her board, though Young does dial out all the amp’s trem.
Launchpad
Young has a lot of room to soar in an instrumental trio, so she travels with a plush pedal playground. Staples still being stomped on from the 2019 Rundown include a couple EarthQuaker Devices—The Warden and Avalanche Run—a MXR Carbon Copy Deluxe, an Electronic Audio Experiments Longsword, a Caroline Guitar Company Somersault, and a Meris Mercury7. For this tour, she’s welcomed some new noisemakers aboard, including a Universal Audio Galaxy ’74 Tape Echo & Reverb, a Hologram Electronics Microcosm, a Walrus Audio Julianna, a Beetronics Fatbee, a pair of Boss boxes—a DD-3 Digital Delay and OC-5 Octave—a double dose of DigiTech—Whammy Ricochet and FreqOut—a ZVEX Mastotron, and a Ground Control Audio Noodles. A D’Addario Chromatic Pedal Tuner keeps her YY10s in check.
The Maricela “MJ” Juarez 40th Anniversary limited-edition sets include collaborations with Peter Frampton, Steve Miller and Pete Anderson. Each collaboration is limited to 160 sets worldwide.
MJ remarks about the collaborations: When I started working at Seymour Duncan in March 1983, I had no idea that I would have the opportunity to custom-wind pickups for some of the best guitar players in music. Over the last 40 years, I have put my love, heart, and soul into every aspect of what I do here at the company. Peter Frampton, Steve Miller, and Pete Anderson are like family to me, and it has been an honor to help them craft their signature sounds that have been heard by people all over the world. Now we are excited to give musicians everywhere access to these special pickups we have created together. I hope they bring you joy, inspiration, and great tone!
Frampton Comes Alive Humbucker Set
When Maricela “MJ” Juarez first started winding pickups at Seymour Duncan in 1983 she already had dreams of working with one guitarist in particular: the one and only Peter Frampton. Once she began managing the Custom Shop and building pickups for some of the biggest guitarists in music, her dream came true. MJ was afforded the opportunity to wind a set of humbuckers for Peter. He has since used these pickups in countless recordings and performances over the years. The Frampton Comes Alive Humbucker set is built to those same specs with Alnico 2 magnets and a vintage output for Peter’s dynamic, stadium-filling sound. The first 160 sets were signed by Frampton and MJ and will show you the way to Peter’s great humbucker tone - whether through your talk box or the sound system of a sold-out arena! To quote Peter: “They bring the best out of the guitar.”
A portion of the proceeds from the “Frampton Comes Alive” MJ40th Pickups will be donated to The Peter Frampton Myositis Research Fund as well as Notes for Notes, who provide youth with free access to music instruments, instruction, and recording studio environments so that music may become a profoundly positive influence in their lives.
The Joker Strat Set
2023 marks the 50th year since Steve Miller’s multi-platinum album ‘The Joker’ was released and it is also MJ’s 40th year with Seymour Duncan. To celebrate both historic occasions, MJ is proud to present The Joker Strat set. The set features a custom wind MJ has been making Steve for years. All three single-coil pickups are wound for vintage output around Alnico 2 magnets, with Steve’s signature printed on the cover and the iconic Joker mask on the bottom plate. This set is a must-have for Steve Miller fans and Strat players alike.
A portion of the proceeds from “The Joker” MJ40th Strat Pickups will be donated to Notes for Notes, who provide youth with free access to music instruments, instruction, and recording studio environments so that music may become a profoundly positive influence in their lives.
The Pete Anderson Working Class Tele Set
The powerhouse guitarist and producer behind Dwight Yoakam’s biggest hits, Pete’s signature Bakersfield-inspired tone is instantly recognizable. Over 40 years winding pickups at Seymour Duncan, Maricela “MJ” Juarez has built sets for Pete that have been on chart-topping records and on stage heard by fans all over the world.
The Pete Anderson Working Class Tele Set is a recreation of the pickups in his 1959 Telecaster. These are the pickups you’ve heard on the numerous classic records Pete has played on and produced. The first 160 sets have been aged to perfection in the custom shop and are signed by both Pete and MJ. With Alnico 5 magnets and a vintage output wind, these expressive pickups are perfect for those looking for a tried-and-true Telecaster tone!
A portion of the proceeds from the “Working Class” MJ40th Tele Pickups will be donated to Notes for Notes, who provide youth with free access to music instruments, instruction, and recording studio environments so that music may become a profoundly positive influence in their lives.
For more information, please visit customshop.seymourduncan.com.