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. 

"We have had so many orders over the years from Jeff Beck to Slash, Pink Floyd, we have done work for in Santa Barbara ," 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.

"Our average tenure for our production team is 24 years. That’s 65 people, so we are a family company,“ said Cathy Carter Duncan.

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.

"Elvis Presley was here, Elton John, and oh I can’t even remember," said Ross, " 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

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