Seymour Duncan celebrates 50th Anniversary at NAMM 2026
ANAHEIM, Calif. (KEYT) As the National Association of Music Merchants hosted its 125 show, Santa Barbara- based Seymour Duncan celebrated it 50th anniversary.
"It's 50 years since we started Seymour Duncan in Santa Barbara which is pretty amazing we have had so much community support and all the friends we have met do many orders over the years from We Jeff Beck to Slash, Pink Floyd, I mean all these bands, we have done work for in Santa Barbara which is so great we are lucky to live there and have friends ," said Seymour Duncan.
His son, Derek Duncan serves as the manager of the Custom Shop.
"It is 50 years since my parents founded it, it is also a big year because we're going to be moving to a new facility, " said Duncan, "We are looking forward to the next 50 years."
The new location will be near the Santa Barbara train station.
"Santa Barbara is our home it is where we were born, it is the most welcoming community with tons of people who would share what they know so I could learn what I didn't, whether it was the adult ed classes, Oh my gosh, so we would all go to those, it is a wonderful community with the spirit of giving, "said Cathy Carter Duncan, "We have people on out floor 45 years they have been with the company, we have hired people when they are 65, our average tenure for our production team is 24 years. That’s 65 people, so we are a family company."
The Duncan family members are like rock stars to the musicians visiting and signing autographs in their NAMM location.
The company makes hand-crafted guitar pickups, bass pickups and pedals that helped amplify the sound.
Marcella "MJ" Juarez is one of their longtime employees.
"It is a pleasure for me to be working for Seymour Duncan for 43 years, and giving the best tone to all the musicians all over the world," said Juarez.
And speaking of anniversaries, Connie Ross, 95, has seen a concierge at NAMM for decades.
" have been here 45 years. They opened this in the Disneyland hotel in the basement. I worked that and we almost froze to death so it was very cold but I love NAMM, I love the people, It has been a long long journey for me, " said Ross.
When asked about favorites, Ross said, "Oh yes, Elvis Presley was here and many many others, Elton John, and oh I can’t even remember, anyway a lot of my friends have left, I miss them because we works so many years together but I’m still here and I enjoy it every year.”
Other local companies that take part every year include Drum Workship based in Oxnard.
DW partnered with Roland to create the DWe kit .
DW and Roland invited composer Tom Scott and Friends to play in their space during NAMM.
Emerging artists, including Ethan Bortnick, drew a crowd on the outdoor Yamaha stage at NAMM.
Other artists made appearances inside or just walked around to check out the equipment.
Musicians were able try all kinds of instruments including half a million dollar Fazioli pianos.
Visitors return year after year, never knowing who or what they will see at NAMM.
For more informaton visit http://namm.org , https://seymourduncan.com and https://dwdrums.com
