Duncan Custom Custom or..?

[Schaf]

I have JB's in a couple guitars. I also have an Aldrich in my les paul. The aldrich has more midrange and is more open/less compressed. It's high output but I think it gets a more natural PAF type tone.

I gotta tell you though, I have a Peavey Wolfgang and I really like the pickups in that. They definately have a nasty crunch and they clean up really good when you back off the volume. Better than any other pickup I have. I have the aldrich, JB's and Duncan Distortion.

Schaf

 

[Schaf]

You use the Suhr Aldrich with 500k volume pots? Anybody tried it with 250?k

Thanks again!

Someone asked this question on TGP and John Suhr said that it just suckes the life out of that pickup.

Schaf

 

[silverfacechamp]

I have a JB in a mystery wood Epi. LP Classic that I like pretty well.

I also have the Custom Custom in a Squier '51. I don't think there's any pickup that would've worked better in that guitar. Great crunch and lead tones and it sounds FANTASTIC with the coils split. I highly recommend it in strat-type guitars.

 

[JohnSykes]

You use the Suhr Aldrich with 500k volume pots? Anybody tried it with 250?k

Thanks again!

Someone asked this question on TGP and John Suhr said that it just suckes the life out of that pickup.

Schaf

Hey, cool info, thank you.

So id have to use 500k volume pot with SCN neck+ middle and Suhr Aldrich in bridge, i guess...

What about the DSH+? Also 500k recommended?

 

[jhale667]

You use the Suhr Aldrich with 500k volume pots? Anybody tried it with 250?k

Thanks again!

Someone asked this question on TGP and John Suhr said that it just suckes the life out of that pickup.

Schaf

Hey, cool info, thank you.

So id have to use 500k volume pot with SCN neck+ middle and Suhr Aldrich in bridge, i guess...

What about the DSH+? Also 500k recommended?

Have you thought about splitting the difference, as they say, and trying a 300k pot, since you're running singles too? Might not be too much for them, and hypothetically would suck slightly less life out of the Aldrich?

 

[Dave L]

The Aldrich is a very unusual pickup... it´s really hot but has some characteristics you´d expect from a sweet lower-output pickup. Great dynamics and touch sensitivity coupled with massive output and power in all the right frequencies. I think it might be the most versatile bridge humbucker I´ve ever tried, at least if we´re talking rock. It´s very balanced despite all that midrange... no honk through my mid-heavy rig.

I have it in a Charvel 750XL, by the way. Set-neck superstrat, mahogany, 24.75", Floyd.

 

[JohnSykes]

You use the Suhr Aldrich with 500k volume pots? Anybody tried it with 250?k

Thanks again!

Someone asked this question on TGP and John Suhr said that it just suckes the life out of that pickup.

Schaf

Hey, cool info, thank you.

So id have to use 500k volume pot with SCN neck+ middle and Suhr Aldrich in bridge, i guess...

What about the DSH+? Also 500k recommended?

Have you thought about splitting the difference, as they say, and trying a 300k pot, since you're running singles too? Might not be too much for them, and hypothetically would suck slightly less life out of the Aldrich?

That could be an option.

Also, i found this in the Suhr forum, some dude posted it. Let me know what you think:

"POTS: ...a VERY general "rule-of-thumb":

SINGLECOILS................
1Meg = ear-piercing, shrill
500K = bright, punchy
300K = clean, articulate
250K = normal FENDER

HUMBUCKERS................
1Meg = bright
500K = punchy
300K = normal GIBSON
250K = dull, constrained


CAPACITORS:
Common Capacitor Values
.005 mf Treble and bright flow though easily
.033 mf Cuts out a small amount of brights, has good mid range,
.047 mf Beefier sounding, lots of mids and bass , most electric guitars don't exceed this value
.100 mf Bass sounding, almost all brights are gone, used mostly in electric bass and active pickups"

 

[jhale667]

You use the Suhr Aldrich with 500k volume pots? Anybody tried it with 250?k

Thanks again!

Someone asked this question on TGP and John Suhr said that it just suckes the life out of that pickup.

Schaf

Hey, cool info, thank you.

So id have to use 500k volume pot with SCN neck+ middle and Suhr Aldrich in bridge, i guess...

What about the DSH+? Also 500k recommended?

Have you thought about splitting the difference, as they say, and trying a 300k pot, since you're running singles too? Might not be too much for them, and hypothetically would suck slightly less life out of the Aldrich?

That could be an option.

Also, i found this in the Suhr forum, some dude posted it. Let me know what you think:

"POTS: ...a VERY general "rule-of-thumb":

SINGLECOILS................
1Meg = ear-piercing, shrill
500K = bright, punchy
300K = clean, articulate
250K = normal FENDER

HUMBUCKERS................
1Meg = bright
500K = punchy
300K = normal GIBSON
250K = dull, constrained


CAPACITORS:
Common Capacitor Values
.005 mf Treble and bright flow though easily
.033 mf Cuts out a small amount of brights, has good mid range,
.047 mf Beefier sounding, lots of mids and bass , most electric guitars don't exceed this value
.100 mf Bass sounding, almost all brights are gone, used mostly in electric bass and active pickups"

Interesting...I've only tried a 250k w/a humbucker once, when one crapped out on me, local music store was out of 500s, had a gig, dropped it in , HATED it. Yanked it as soon as I got a 500k. This was with a Duncan Distortion years ago. Though I've heard people on the Duncan forum say 250s are one trick to tame the JB in certain guitars.
Steve Blutcher of Dimarzio recommended using 1 megs for the tone pots (w/a 500k volume) with the Virtual Vintage Strat pickups, tried 'em and they provide a HUGE, almost wah pedal-like sweep, and yeah "10" can be a bit shrill with say a VV Solo in the bridge. I run mine on about 8, except when I need "that extra little... push over the cliff" as Nigel Tufnel would say...

Met Blutcher at NAMM years ago, and he also turned me on to (and later outlined in GP mag) the "Eric Johnson" tone mod, where the middle pickup is disconnected from the tone circuit so you have separate controls for the bridge and neck. Quack city in the notch positions. LURVES. He also suggested using a bright pickup in the middle so you could "dial in as much darkness as you want with the bridge and neck pickup." As for the middle's tone always being on "10" he said something like "Who uses the middle pickup on a Strat by itself, anyway? Exactly."

My humbucker guitars don't need no steenking tone controls...lol. Pretty sure I have .047s w/the Virtuals, but I'll have to go pull my spares and check...

 

[JohnSykes]

Yeah, i also have that "EJ Mod" on my Strat. Its pretty cool to have.

You know, at first i didnt like the SCN pickups at all, but the middle position by itself is nice for chords and middle+neck i really like for mid-gain stuff. The Soldano Avenger in the low gain input with a TS9 is perfectly decent for bluesy solos.

The neck pickup by itself... I have to say it could be better, but i guess they are stayin...

OR i could buy a HSH pickguard and buy an Aldrich set for neck and bridge and keep the middle SCN...

 

[War Admiral]

I think the CC sounds pretty good in Superstrats w/floyds...fills it out and sounds pretty thick. Heres an old clip of me playing a maple GMW with a Floyd straight into a '79 JMP 2204...

 

[JohnSykes]

I think the CC sounds pretty good in Superstrats w/floyds...fills it out and sounds pretty thick. Heres an old clip of me playing a maple GMW with a Floyd straight into a '79 JMP 2204...

That sounds really cool. Nice playing also!

Btw, it seems that the SCN pickups are better with 500k volume pots. So i guess my Strat is already with a 500k volume pot.

 

[ericsabbath]

holy diver

 

[JohnnyC]

If you do get the Custom Custom route...and arent happy with it...dont ditch it straight away.
get an alnico 5 bar and swap the magnet and youve just converted it to a Custom5
ceramic bar makes it into a Custom.
etc

swapping the magnet bar is easy as and does make a noticable diffrence.

 

[ericsabbath]

the holdsworth is just a double screw bobbins JB, btw

 

[Vrad]

I can't speak for the other brands since I haven't tried them. For an alder guitar, I'd go either with a JB or Duncan Distortion.

The Holdsworth is similar to a JB if I remember correctly. But I think it has a sweeter top-end.

I had the CC in a dark guitar years back and it kind of ruined it for me. I think that's a pickup that belongs in a VERY bright guitar.

The Duncan Custom is terrific also. Feel-wise it reminds me of a DD, but it's smoother and thicker sounding. Great pickup but it might be too thick in an alder guitar. But that's just my hypothesis, I got no experience to back that up...

 

[firejack]

The Duncan Custom is terrific also. Feel-wise it reminds me of a DD, but it's smoother and thicker sounding. Great pickup but it might be too thick in an alder guitar. But that's just my hypothesis, I got no experience to back that up...

I have the Duncan Custom in an Edwards Snapper.
It's an Alder body guitar with a Maple top, Maple neck and Maple fretboard and it sounds great.
Really sweet and vocal for leadwork and also makes it dead easy to hit screaming pinch-harmonics.
For hi-gain rhythm work it has a tight, punchy low-end and an aggressive mid snarl.
There's a couple clips in my sig with it being used for lead tones if you are interested.

 

[JohnSykes]

Ill check those clips, thanks.

Btw, anyone knows if the Custom Shop Stratocaster Pro is routed for H-S-H config? It the one that says "pro model 1106" in the back of the headstock.

 

[jhale667]

I had the CC in a dark guitar years back and it kind of ruined it for me. I think that's a pickup that belongs in a VERY bright guitar.

The Duncan Custom is terrific also. Feel-wise it reminds me of a DD, but it's smoother and thicker sounding. Great pickup but it might be too thick in an alder guitar. But that's just my hypothesis, I got no experience to back that up...

I like and use them both, but the CC can be a bit lacking in lows in IMO...but I don't find it too dark in my Koa Strat, and it's a warm-sounding guitar to start with. I have the Custom in my Ash Strat, and while I love it - great low-end, less mids than the CC but not scooped like the C5 supposedly is - but the highs can be a little jagged in that guitar at least. I like those so much I have a spare of each in the parts drawer. I want to try making one a Custom 8, but the supplier I'd use is currently back-ordered on A8s...

I used the DD when I was a kid, and I'm going to try it again -I have one going in a build with a Jazz in the neck - the O.G. Randy Rhoads Jackson combo, the one he originally specified - but what do they come stock with now? JB/'59n?

 

[Schaf]

You use the Suhr Aldrich with 500k volume pots? Anybody tried it with 250?k

Thanks again!

Someone asked this question on TGP and John Suhr said that it just suckes the life out of that pickup.

Schaf

Hey, cool info, thank you.

So id have to use 500k volume pot with SCN neck+ middle and Suhr Aldrich in bridge, i guess...

What about the DSH+? Also 500k recommended?

Have you thought about splitting the difference, as they say, and trying a 300k pot, since you're running singles too? Might not be too much for them, and hypothetically would suck slightly less life out of the Aldrich?

That could be an option.

Also, i found this in the Suhr forum, some dude posted it. Let me know what you think:

"POTS: ...a VERY general "rule-of-thumb":

SINGLECOILS................
1Meg = ear-piercing, shrill
500K = bright, punchy
300K = clean, articulate
250K = normal FENDER

HUMBUCKERS................
1Meg = bright
500K = punchy
300K = normal GIBSON
250K = dull, constrained


CAPACITORS:
Common Capacitor Values
.005 mf Treble and bright flow though easily
.033 mf Cuts out a small amount of brights, has good mid range,
.047 mf Beefier sounding, lots of mids and bass , most electric guitars don't exceed this value
.100 mf Bass sounding, almost all brights are gone, used mostly in electric bass and active pickups"

If I recall, he just recommended the 500K.

Schaf

 

[RobotbodiesBFF]

Can't say about the others, but the Duncan CC loves Alder.