The Seymour Duncan ’59/Custom Hybrid (SH-16) is a humbucker with a true grassroots origin story. It was born on the Seymour Duncan user forum, where players experimented with swapping coils between two classic Duncan bridge pickups, pairing one coil from the vintage-voiced ’59 Model with one from the hotter Duncan Custom. The combination became so popular that Seymour Duncan made it an official production model, and it has been a go-to bridge pickup ever since. It is one of our favorite bridge humbuckers and has found a home in our own personal HB guitar.

The mismatched coils provide great grind and crunch that is perfect for classic rock and harder styles of rock. With a DC resistance of only 11.2K, it has great clarity, cleans up nicely when you roll back the volume, and the clean tones are sweet and clear with no harsh midrange bump. It is tight enough for some metal-inspired chug, yet it has the singing, emotive qualities of a good PAF-style humbucker, making it a true do-it-all pickup that can range from country to hard rock. Split the coils with the 4-conductor wiring and you get the Custom’s 7K coil for a more distinct single-coil sound. For a balanced set, pair it with a Seymour Duncan ’59 Model or Jazz Model neck pickup.

Specifications:

• Model: Seymour Duncan SH-16 ’59/Custom Hybrid
• Part number: 11102-86-B
• Position: Bridge
• Color: Black (uncovered)
• Output: Medium, passive
• DC resistance: 11.2K
• Magnet: Alnico 5 bar magnet
• Coils: Mismatched, one ’59 Model bridge coil and one Duncan Custom coil
• Coil split: Custom’s 7K coil for single-coil tones
• Wiring: 4-conductor shielded lead wire, wiring instructions included
• Bottom plate: Nickel silver, short leg
• Potting: Vacuum wax potted for squeal-free performance
• Spacing: Standard humbucker spacing, 6-string
• Hand built in Santa Barbara, California, USA

In the words of Seymour Duncan:

“The ’59/Custom Hybrid is a medium output humbucker pickup that sparkles with upper midrange harmonic content and grit. The brainchild of our incredibly knowledgeable forum members, this humbucker is the result of experimental coil swapping in order to push into new tonal territory. The mismatched coils, and the alnico 5 bar magnet keep the low end nice and tight and give the mids a grind that is perfect for hard rock and metal. Plenty of crunch and bite on top as well. When split, you get the Custom’s 7k coil for a more distinct single coil sound. Pair with the ’59 neck or Jazz neck model for a nicely balanced setup.”

Hand built in Santa Barbara, CA, the ’59/Custom Hybrid medium output humbucker pickup uses mismatched coils, an alnico 5 bar magnet, a nickel silver short leg bottom plate, and 4-conductor lead wire for multiple wiring options, and is vacuum wax potted for squeal-free performance.