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Aug 17, 2023

Seymour Duncan releases “spanky” Cory Wong guitar pickup set

“It gives a really nice, spanky tone,” Wong says of his signature pickups. Credit: Seymour Duncan Want more Guitar.com breaking news as it happens? Follow us on Telegram. Seymour Duncan has released

“It gives a really nice, spanky tone,” Wong says of his signature pickups.

Credit: Seymour Duncan

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Seymour Duncan has released the Cory Wong signature Clean Machine pickups used on his 2021 signature Stratocaster.

The Cory Wong signature Clean Machine pickups are now available at authorised Seymour Duncan retailers, and are based on the Antiquity Surf pickups but modified into a trio of single coil pickups in line with Wong’s wish to maintain the three single-coil sensibilities of a Stratocaster. The Clean Machine pickups feature a high-output, hum-cancelling stack bridge pickup utilising an Alnico V magnet, while the middle and neck single-coils are equipped with Alnico IVs.

Seymour Duncan has also released a video of Wong demonstrating his Clean Machine pickups. Watch it below.

In the video, Wong explains the process of creating the pickups and the sound he was aiming for, sharing, “I just like the look of an SSS Strat, rather than an HSS, but I like the thickness and sound of that humbucker in the bridge. The single-coil in the bridge doesn’t quite have enough body to it – it sometimes feels like it empties out – so we decided to try an Alnico IV magnet in the neck and middle, and a hum-cancelling, stacked Alnico V in the bridge.”

Wong continued, “We wound them a little hotter. It gives a really nice, spanky tone. It handles overdrives and distortions a lot better than the softer-wound one. It captures that spanky, clean thing, but as soon as you hit the overdrive, it still has the nice, warm thing and it pushes the drive in a really pleasing way.”

The Cory Wong signature Clean Machine pickups retail at $317 for the full set. The higher-output bridge pickup can be purchased individually at $119, while the neck and middle pickups are priced at $99.

The Vulpeck guitarist received his signature Stratocaster in 2021, with the guitar featuring a slightly scaled-down alder body, finished in transparent sapphire blue. It sports a modern D maple neck, topped with a rosewood fingerboard with rolled edges and a compound 10-14-inch radius.

More information is available at Seymour Duncan’s website.