# Yngwie Leaves Dimarzio for Seymour Duncan



## Nick1 (Jan 8, 2010)

I knew about his split from Dimarzio. I thought Fender was going to make his new pickups but it turns out that is actually going to be Seymour Duncan. 

Heres the info........


When Yngwie J. Malmsteen set out on a quest to bring his tone to a higher level, he turned to Seymour Duncan. The result of hundreds of hours of intense tone pursuit is the YJM Fury: only available from Seymour Duncan.

Application 
Hum-canceling single-coil-sized pickup based on our original Stack® pickup design. Recommended for rock, neo-classical, shred, hard rock, power metal, and heavy metal.

Description
The bridge pickup is aggressive and handles Yngwie's hard-hitting chordal onslaught. The neck pickup balances Yngwie's fluid left hand technique with his broad mix of right hand pick attack for a tone that's sweet and fluid, but with great articulation and responsiveness to dynamics.

Complete setup
The YJM series includes a dedicated bridge pickup and a separate neck/middle pickup. Pickups can be purchased individually, in a three-pickup set, or in a pre-wired pickguard ready to drop into your Strat guitar with an 11-screw hole "USA" pattern. The loaded pickguard includes a "no lube" volume potentiometer that meets Yngwie's demands for a very fast and responsive pot.

Guitars
The YJM Fury will directly retrofit most single-coil equipped guitars. Though originally designed for a Fender® Strat with a scalloped maple fingerboard, the YJM Fury will work well with any bolt-on guitar that utilizes traditional single-coil-size Strat pickups. The YJM Fury is the same pickup that Fender installs in their YJM Strat guitars.

Available Mods
Available in off-white, white or black

Pickups for Strat® - STK-S10 YJM Fury - Seymour Duncan/Basslines


----------



## -K4G- (Jan 8, 2010)

Interesting.


----------



## CooleyJr (Jan 8, 2010)

Nice!


----------



## Nick1 (Jan 8, 2010)

Im wondering how different these are going to be from the HS-3s? I hope its totally different and not the same exact pickup except from Duncan instead of Dimarzio.


----------



## BigPhi84 (Jan 9, 2010)

Wow, that was really unexpected!!! It must have hurt DiMarzio to know that one of their biggest endorsees jumped ship to their largest competitor.


----------



## MetalBuddah (Jan 9, 2010)

wow! That is one of the most surprising things I have heard in a while


----------



## lefty robb (Jan 9, 2010)

MetalBuddah said:


> wow! That is one of the most surprising things I have heard in a while




Seriously, this is unbelievable, Him and Mr.Dimarzio were supposedly really good friends.


----------



## Bloody_Inferno (Jan 9, 2010)

A "business" decision perhaps? 

And I don't think Dimarzio would be hurt too much loosing Yngwie considering the already good company they have (Satch, Vai, Gilbert, Petrucci etc).


----------



## Prydogga (Jan 9, 2010)

Wow, to have that kinda power, "I'm a big endorser for one of the biggest pickup companies that makes really high quality pickups, I might just jump to another one." Well, I hope SD can fulfill his wants of pickup tone.


----------



## MaxOfMetal (Jan 9, 2010)

With Vai, Satch, Petrucci, Timmons, John 5, Steve Morse, and several other big name players, I don't think they'll [Dimarzio] will miss him too much. Not to mention they still make his pickups, just under a different name. 

I have a lot of respect as a player for Yngwie, and I'd be lying if I said I never went though a "HOLY FUCK HE'S FAST, LET'S SHRED!" phase, but in the course of the last few years, he's really lost a lot of his edge, especially in the guitar scene such as this one.


----------



## Nick1 (Jan 9, 2010)

My guess is that YJMs decision to leave Dimarzio was due to money not cause of tone or quality or features so much. I say that because Dimarzio could have _easily_ made him any kind of pickup he wanted with whatever output or eqing or whatever for him. YJMs the last guy I would have thought would leave a company for another. He has been _so_ loyal to Fender, Marshall, Boss/Roland, Dimarzio forever! Unlike countless others who jump ship from company A to company B for reasons such as money and whatnot.  (Cough Dave Mustaine Cough)

Whats next? Are were going to see Angus Young leave Gibson and jump to Dean and start using Crate amps or something.


----------



## MaxOfMetal (Jan 9, 2010)

Nick1 said:


> My guess is that YJMs decision to leave Dimarzio was due to money not cause of tone or quality or features so much. I say that because Dimarzio could have _easily_ made him any kind of pickup he wanted with whatever output or eqing or whatever for him. YJMs the last guy I would have thought would leave a company for another. He has been _so_ loyal to Fender, Marshall, Boss/Roland, Dimarzio forever! Unlike countless others who jump ship from company A to company B for reasons such as money and whatnot.  (Cough Dave Mustaine Cough)
> 
> Whats next? Are were going to see Angus Young leave Gibson and jump to Dean and start using Crate amps or something.



Artists are just like us (guitarists). Every now and then the need to change strikes them. This isn't the first artist to "jump ship" and most certainly won't be the last. 

I can't think of a single artist who has used ONE brand for anything for their entire career and playing span.


----------



## signalgrey (Jan 9, 2010)

big ol cup of MEH!

I know YJM is a name...but is he still relevant anymore? yknow?


----------



## TheMasterplan (Jan 9, 2010)

I don't actually care about any of this, I just wondered if anyone else felt like they were reading a romance novel when it talked about things like "his fluid left hand technique" and other such things. Fuck I lol'd hard.


----------



## TheSixthWheel (Jan 9, 2010)

signalgrey said:


> big ol cup of MEH!
> 
> I know YJM is a name...but is he still relevant anymore? yknow?



Dude, c'mon - that's like questioning the relevance of anyone who's made music ever, whether or not it was groundbreaking, or even good.

I'm not a YJM fan, but of course he's relevant. Shit, I'd even call him successful. If you can't see the relevance of a musician making music which you're not into, then that's not the artist being no longer relevant, that's you not liking that artist's music.


----------



## MaxOfMetal (Jan 9, 2010)

TheSixthWheel said:


> Dude, c'mon - that's like questioning the relevance of anyone who's made music ever, whether or not it was groundbreaking, or even good.
> 
> I'm not a YJM fan, but of course he's relevant. Shit, I'd even call him successful. If you can't see the relevance of a musician making music which you're not into, then that's not the artist being no longer relevant, that's you not liking that artist's music.



I think he's referring to how Yngwie's time in the spotlight has pretty much passed. 

The only two threads on him, or where he has even been brought up, in the past several months have been his dropping off the Dimarzio roster, and then this thread, telling us he's with Duncan. 

I certainly think he's a valid musician, and at one time I did idolize him in a way. He isn't the most relevant guitarist. Look at how many times names like Broderick, Loomis, Abasi, etc. are thrown around. There's no denying he's no where near as popular (even within the guitar playing community) as he once was.


----------



## Apophis (Jan 9, 2010)

Interesting news


----------



## signalgrey (Jan 9, 2010)

MaxOfMetal said:


> I think he's referring to how Yngwie's time in the spotlight has pretty much passed.
> 
> The only two threads on him, or where he has even been brought up, in the past several months have been his dropping off the Dimarzio roster, and then this thread, telling us he's with Duncan.
> 
> I certainly think he's a valid musician, and at one time I did idolize him in a way. He isn't the most relevant guitarist. Look at how many times names like Broderick, Loomis, Abasi, etc. are thrown around. There's no denying he's no where near as popular (even within the guitar playing community) as he once was.



i was. of course his music and abilities will always be relevant in that sense. All i mean is that he isnt this big shit guy (as much as he may have been in the past) and that the style of music he is selling is a bit dated. That doesnt take away from what it WAS etc.... And you are right. I dont like his music but that doesnt mean i dont appreciate what effect he had on music in general.

I am indeed referring to his time in the spot light. These companies should be endorsing more fresh blood as mentioned above, people that maybe were INSPIRED by YJM. I say MEH because...its not like Petrucci or Vai jumping ship. If Vai ever left Ibanez or Dimazrio....thats a big deal. YJM moving companies...doesnt strike me as big news. Maybe if he were still actually making music instead of being a pretentious wank 

just my opinion, not intending to ruffle any feathers


----------



## ShadyDavey (Jan 9, 2010)

He's re-released the same album almost verbatim for the last few years....and I'd class myself a fan 

He's capable of so much more but I guess he's got a stable fan bass and has become comfortable......I doubt this new pup or Marshall sig. head will change anything apart from his bank account.


----------



## Esp Griffyn (Jan 9, 2010)

I love the bit where it says "Will work in any bolt on guitar that uses single coil pickups" - does that mean the pickups won't work in a neck through guitar uses single coils?


----------



## Daggorath (Jan 9, 2010)

I was a big fan of him back in the day, but the more he released the less I liked him. He hasn't the modesty to reconsider his composition, playing etc. People have copped his style and expanded on it over the years.

Saying this, I prefer his tone/rig to the endless ibanez/excessive delay shred types. I doubt very much that these pickups wont just be a dimarzio with "Seymour Duncan" written on them.


----------



## ArtDecade (Jan 9, 2010)

Curious... I wonder who approached who. Both companies make great pickups any way you look at it. I have used Seymour Duncan pickups for years, because I wanted to by Marty Friedman when I was growing up.


----------



## Cancer (Jan 9, 2010)

signalgrey said:


> big ol cup of MEH!
> 
> I know YJM is a name...but is he still relevant anymore? yknow?



The modern shred scene as we know it started with Mike Varney and Shrapnel Records, and Yngwie was their first and biggest signing. They guy has influenced just about ALL the shredders on the scene today, so yeah he's a bit of a big deal.


----------



## MaxOfMetal (Jan 9, 2010)

Cancer said:


> The modern shred scene as we know it started with Mike Varney and Shrapnel Records, and Yngwie was their first and biggest signing. They guy has influenced just about ALL the shredders on the scene today, so yeah he *was* a bit of a big deal.



Fixed.


----------



## Janiator (Jan 9, 2010)

I'm sure Larry will miss Yngwie. From what I've seen, they were good friends.


----------



## MaxOfMetal (Jan 9, 2010)

Janiator said:


> I'm sure Larry will miss Yngwie. From what I've seen, they were good friends.



I have a feeling Yngwie burnt a bridge or two with this.


----------



## Koshchei (Jan 9, 2010)

ShadyDavey said:


> He's re-released the same album almost verbatim for the last few years....and I'd class myself a fan
> 
> He's capable of so much more but I guess he's got a stable fan bass and has become comfortable......I doubt this new pup or Marshall sig. head will change anything apart from his bank account.



I agree with this. He's been re-releasing Alchemy over and over again. 

As a genre-definer, I don't think that he's irrelevant, but I think that he's managed to dig himself into a huge rut by listening to his audience too much and to his muse not enough. I hope that he manages to finish another orchestral piece before he loses his virtuosity due to age.


----------



## Harry (Jan 10, 2010)

Hmm, interesting news, but not surprised he went to Duncan instead of Fender


----------



## signalgrey (Jan 10, 2010)

hahaha thank you to the person who Neg Repped me and told me to shut up...for having an opinion contrary to theirs.

well done sir.



Cancer said:


> The modern shred scene as we know it started with Mike Varney and Shrapnel Records, and Yngwie was their first and biggest signing. They guy has influenced just about ALL the shredders on the scene today, so yeah he's a bit of a big deal.



well i did state that i was not talking about his relevance in terms of his legacy. i was talking about his time in the spot light. might wanna go back and read that part a couple posts down.


----------



## budda (Jan 10, 2010)

I feel as though no one but me noticed the OP's avatar... as there are.. something.. something..


----------



## Esp Griffyn (Jan 10, 2010)

MaxOfMetal said:


> I have a feeling Yngwie burnt a bridge or two with this.



Indeed - but I'm still dying to know what motivated the swap, its not like Yngwie could have been asking for anything ridiculous. Anything he wanted building would have been well within Dimarzios capabilities, its not like he asked for slanted, coil tappable humbuckers for a 10 string guitar to be his new sig model or anything.

Also, whether Yngwie is relevant or not (I really don't think he is, his resurgance in popularity around 99-2003 is quite far behind him), the Fender YJM strat is pure secks. Anyone who has played one will agree with me I'm sure.


----------



## Harry (Jan 10, 2010)

Esp Griffyn said:


> Indeed - but I'm still dying to know what motivated the swap, its not like Yngwie could have been asking for anything ridiculous. Anything he wanted building would have been well within Dimarzios capabilities, its not like he asked for slanted, coil tappable humbuckers for a 10 string guitar to be his new sig model or anything.
> 
> Also, whether Yngwie is relevant or not (I really don't think he is, his resurgance in popularity around 99-2003 is quite far behind him), the Fender YJM strat is pure secks. Anyone who has played one will agree with me I'm sure.



Can't say I disagree about the Malmsteen strat.
Epic playability, just feels great in the hands


----------



## Koshchei (Jan 10, 2010)

Esp Griffyn said:


> Indeed - but I'm still dying to know what motivated the swap, its not like Yngwie could have been asking for anything ridiculous. Anything he wanted building would have been well within Dimarzios capabilities, its not like he asked for slanted, coil tappable humbuckers for a 10 string guitar to be his new sig model or anything.
> 
> Also, whether Yngwie is relevant or not (I really don't think he is, his resurgance in popularity around 99-2003 is quite far behind him), the Fender YJM strat is pure secks. Anyone who has played one will agree with me I'm sure.



It's a great guitar, now that they use machine screws to anchor the neck, rather than wood screws. The old ones play like a dream, but the necks shift all over the place. Fender has the sloppiest neck pockets on the planet.


----------



## ShadyDavey (Jan 10, 2010)

Great guitars for certain! I used to own a vintage white version and I wish I had never sold it...

As far as his relevance - his place in the history of shred/neoclassical is assured but the days when I used to rush out for the latest piece of Malmsteen vinyl are long gone. It's about time he either shifted gears although from what I understand he's still quite massive (and not just his waistline) in Europe?


----------



## onefingersweep (Jan 10, 2010)

I wonder how many cheesecakes he gets for this...


----------



## Nick1 (Jan 10, 2010)

I somewhat miss my YJM Strat that I sold to EDRoz a few years back. I say somewhat cause I took my American Deluxe Strat and YJMed it. Scallops and Dimarzios as well as all the things I wish the YJM Strat had. I wonder if the price for the YJM Strat will change with the new Duncan pickups as well as the value of all of the ones prior to the Duncan switch.


----------



## signalgrey (Jan 11, 2010)

i dunno what it is about SD. the stuff ive used by them has left me a bit under whelmed i always have thought of them as a more " hot rod rock" sound and dimarzio as the more "prog" and "shred" company. i know thats not the reality of things as both companies have a wide range of stuff. just my personal view/experience. I see YJM as a Dimarzio guy. i guess he needed money for sammiches.

stolen from IbanezshredderB's sig


"The guy's an asshole. It's pretty well know in musical circles that he's just an idiot. But I would love to jam with him. I remember him sending me a letter saying "Dear Joe, it's nice to know that someone is not copying my style" signed Yngwie J Malmsteen." - Joe Satriani


----------



## HighGain510 (Jan 11, 2010)

Cancer said:


> The modern shred scene as we know it started with Mike Varney and Shrapnel Records, and Yngwie was their first and biggest signing. They guy has influenced just about ALL the shredders on the scene today, so yeah he's a bit of a big deal.



They're saying is he HIMSELF relevant NOW, not was he an inspiration to guys 10-20 years ago. I think YJM is a very talented player and definitely moved that style of music forward but he hasn't done much recently that is of great acclaim, just essentially coasting and riding the coat tails of his prior accomplishments. I would think that a company endorses an artist because a) they like their music (not always true ) and b) they are able to draw in customers who want to play what they're playing. 


Not sure I could ask most kids in high school when the last time they heard a song by Yngwie on their iPods, but if you ask them about _____ (insert any other CURRENT band that they worship, endorsed by whomever) I'm sure you would get an entirely different response. When it comes to endorsements, that is really what the company is looking for and to be honest, I don't think DiMarzio is completely losing out there as I don't think YJM is pulling in a ton of sales based on how relevant he is to the music scene CURRENTLY.


----------



## Cancer (Jan 11, 2010)

HighGain510 said:


> Not sure I could ask most kids in high school when the last time they heard a song by Yngwie on their iPods, but if you ask them about _____ (insert any other CURRENT band that they worship, endorsed by whomever) I'm sure you would get an entirely different response. When it comes to endorsements, that is really what the company is looking for and to be honest, I don't think DiMarzio is completely losing out there as I don't think YJM is pulling in a ton of sales based on how relevant he is to the music scene CURRENTLY.



When it comes to endorsements, manufacturers are looking for artists that can move gear, period. While "pulling in a ton of sales" (assuming you mean cd's) probably helps to some degree, name recognition and being seen in a live context is probably much more important. Eddie Van Halen, currently, has a ton of branded gear through Fender, is he "pulling in a ton of sales"? I doubt it. Same could be said for Eric Johnson, or George Lynch, or even of the number of artists whose demographic can actually afford to go out buy their own gear as opposed to whatever they can talk mommy and daddy into buying.


Is Dimarzio losing out, maybe, maybe not. This may be a tonal decision for all we know, or it could be financial, we'll never know. Personally I don't care, but just implying that Malmsteen (or any other endorsed artist for that matter) isn't relevant because he isn't "pulling in a ton of sales" is just plain wrong.


----------



## Nick1 (Jan 11, 2010)

Now I just want to hear this new Duncan YJM Fury pickup. I doubt Ill replace my Tone Zone S- Area 67 and Cruiser for a Duncan. I never really liked Duncans that much. A little too bland and uninspiring. The only 2 things I liked that they ever did was the Pickup Booster and I do like the Blackouts better than EMGs. But I really dont dig actives all that much.


----------



## zimbloth (Jan 11, 2010)

Who cares what artists endorse? So much of that stuff is about contracts, business decisions, egos, politics, etc. Very rarely is it about what the artist actually thinks is the best. It's almost always about money or respect. I'm sure the Duncans will be outstanding but that's really not the point. Anyone who gets swayed from one company to another based on what a guitar player like they does is a sucker IMO.


----------

