Working At Seymour Duncan

Many people often ask how what it’s like to work at Seymour Duncan. The first major perk is that unlike some companies that are located where the labor is cheapest, Seymour Duncan is located right where it started in Santa Barbara, California – commonly referred to as the American Riveria. It’s about a 20-minute walk to the Pacific Ocean and the factory is quietly tucked into a grove of eucalyptus trees.

The first daily tradition is the dance: twice a day employees dance to a selection of tunes as way to unwind, stretch and exercise. If it’s your birthday you’d better watch out since you will be wearing the birthday crown and having all the girls dance with you.

Chances are good that on any given day there’s free food somewhere, whether it be donuts, cupcakes or if there is a special occasion, full catering during lunch.

If you’re a pet lover, you can bring your dog to work. Just don’t be surprised when you’re talking about Alnico 5 magnets or bucket brigade chips with someone and suddenly a blur of dogs go running through your legs at full chase.

There are other special occasions you can enjoy too, like the company picnic where Seymour W. Duncan gets on stage and jams, and there’s usually tons of food and prizes to go around. Or the holiday picnic that occurs in December and recently featured prizes (guitars), and ping pong balls to throw at people. Engineering is also famous for its themed parties, including a Margarita day that apparently has some history to it…



You might even get a chance to get tickets to see one of your favorite artists in concert.

Many people here play in bands, and Seymour Duncan is considered a flexible work environment: if you need to leave for an early gig or if you stayed up to 3am playing songs at a local bar and you need to sleep in a bit, that’s alright: just make up that time later. Everyone here is extremely talented and works as hard as you could possibly imagine, but the Seymour Duncan tradition is that everyone is treated well as a result.

If you want to test out a new or existing pedal or pickup, head down into the soundroom and use one of a dozen different guitars or amps. Not to mention the employee discount which shall not be made public lest it be spoiled.

Employees of Seymour Duncan get paid sick and vacation leave, which is especially helpful so you don’t end up like this guy:

Everyone at Seymour Duncan makes a fair wage, gets health benefits and 401K matching contributions. The best part of it is, well, working for Seymour Duncan. A place known for quality and excellence, and surrounded by history. Don’t be surprised when you hear someone walking up to you and you turn around to see Joe Bonamassa, Yngwie Malmsteen, Dino Cazares, Eddie Van Halen or Steve Miller.

One of our employees is a huge EVH fan (well most of us are actually) but he happened to be gone the day Eddie came by. When told this, Eddie sat in his chair and wrote a note for the employee which said “Ed VH here (Van Halen). I did your job today. -Eddie Van Halen.”

So how does one go about getting a job at Seymour Duncan? Keep this link bookmarked and make sure to join the forum so you can keep up with the latest openings. Even if they aren’t any jobs available, you can still pre-apply for openings here.