duncan custom opinions?

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mchn13

mchn13

Well-known member
I'm looking for a pickup combo for a les paul..I have searched, but wanted opinins on a custm, custom5, or a custom custom.?
I have an sg with a jb in it and love it for just rockin out, but has a lot of honk in the mids and is a bit raw for cleans..I'm leaning towards a custom 5, thinking it might be a bit better for cleans, and maybe smoother under distortion.?
Thanks for any info, and or suggestions. Also, are there any motor city pups that are close to this?

Rig is: studio lp, jcm800, maxon 808, drop d, or standard tuning.
 
What kind of music are you doing?

Though I don't have one at the moment, I love the Custom Sh-5/'59 Sh-1 combo. You can still get good cleans out. Cool thing about the Custom, it has bottom end, and it is tight in lower tunings. It isn't to terribly hot. I really like it.

Don't know much about MC pickups, but Bare Knuckles is another option.
 
DoomBuggi":1qyh7fy6 said:
What kind of music are you doing?

Though I don't have one at the moment, I love the Custom Sh-5/'59 Sh-1 combo. You can still get good cleans out. Cool thing about the Custom, it has bottom end, and it is tight in lower tunings. It isn't to terribly hot. I really like it.

Don't know much about MC pickups, but Bare Knuckles is another option.
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That's kinda it as well; will be using it in two bands, one an indie-ish rock band that I use the low input of the marshall, and an old bassman head in stereo, and the other band is a hardcore band with southern rock tendencies..
 
SH-5 is a good pup and not too hot as was mentioned. Nice tight bottom and very crunchy. One thing though, it needs to be in the right axe... can sound bright and harsh in some guitars.
 
mchn13":1gd1f5vs said:
That's kinda it as well; will be using it in two bands, one an indie-ish rock band that I use the low input of the marshall, and an old bassman head in stereo, and the other band is a hardcore band with southern rock tendencies..
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In that case, I would say it is safe to recommend the Sh-5/Sh-1 (Custom/59) combo. It will get you there, and it still has a warm sound. It gets a tight hot-rodded effect. If you want to go balls out, it will definitely get you there. Its one of my favorite Seymour Duncan pickups.

If you need it to be less ballsy, you can either back down the gain on your amp, or your Maxon. You can also lower the volume knob on your guitar. One thing that is good, you can adjust the pickup height to compensate for different tonal, and output requirements. The lower you get it, the less bass, and output you will get. I find that the Custom is very responsive.

Grab some more opinions on here, and get a feel for what you like. The Sh-5 is like a hotter, tighter Sh-1. You can get a classic tone out of it, as well as modern. Is all about your set up, and playing style. If anything, you can call Seymour Duncan Pickups, and talk with James, or Scott. They are really nice guys, and they are delighted to communicate.

In a Les Paul, I think it the Custom/59 combo is a No Fail situation.
 
I agree with the above. Its a great pickup for just about any style. I played one for about 10 years in a custom and it was the best sounding pickup for that guitar, and I tried a bunch in it.
 
I like all three, custom, custom5 and custom-custom. I have not tried them in a LP. I pus DiMarzio's I'm the Lester :) I do think the custom-custom would work well on a Les Paul though.
 
AmpliFIRE":45ajn21k said:
nitro":45ajn21k said:
Great pickup,very VH1 sounding....... :thumbsup:
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I think you're referring to the Custom Custom
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the custom sh-5 is pretty VH sounding...it just has this character that's hard to nail down. like a hot rodded PAF with some....upper end white noise (kinda like a tv on snow channel) but not annoying at all like that...really hard for me to explain....as goofy as the white noise thing sounds...it's not an icepicky pickup in a standard les paul wood configuration...and even though it's kinda high output....i dont find it having that automatic drive like an invader or even an EVO or tone zone. duncan customs have their own thing going on and they are REALLY tone knob friendly...especially in a 250v 500tone configuration with 203mp cap on the tone.

i've been itching forever to try a custom custom though, and i've never gotten around to it. i will soon though, now that i have my pickup stable movin and a shakin!
 
The custom custom is far from the early VH sound.The custom custom is a mud bomb no highs at all due to the alnico II magnet,a alnico II magnet pickup wound to 14k is going to be very muddy......... :thumbsdown:
 
nitro":z0pg62uq said:
The custom custom is far from the early VH sound.The custom custom is a mud bomb no highs at all due to the alnico II magnet,a alnico II magnet pickup wound to 14k is going to be very muddy......... :thumbsdown:
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I beg to differ...the CC is a great sounding pickup in a bolt on.

The custom is a great pickup, but is ceramic and too tight and crisp for VH. I've got an A2 custom/59 hybrid in my Strat right now. It definitely has an early VH vibe...
 
Very cool. Thanks all. My other guitarist has a custom in his ibanez artist that I will try through my rig this week. Any thoughts on the custom5? Looks about the same output but different eq curve.....? Again, trying to stay in the ballpark, output-wise, but have the decent clean as we'll...
 
mchn13":3905j79k said:
Very cool. Thanks all. My other guitarist has a custom in his ibanez artist that I will try through my rig this week.
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Just so you know, (if you don't know already), that pickup is going to sound completely different in the Ibanez than it will in the Les Paul.


Cheers,

Joseph
 
Yeah, guess you're right, just hoping to nail this down before I go down this long ass road of chasing pickups again...... I really want to get something like my jb, but a more balanced eq that would make it better for cleans. For straight getting it done; the jb in the sg is amazing for a growly marshall grind, but barks too much in the mids for cleans.
 
mchn13":3qx6z8d3 said:
Yeah, guess you're right, just hoping to nail this down before I go down this long ass road of chasing pickups again...... I really want to get something like my jb, but a more balanced eq that would make it better for cleans. For straight getting it done; the jb in the sg is amazing for a growly marshall grind, but barks too much in the mids for cleans.
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I had a JCM 800/Maxon OD808. I use a Les Paul Studio with an ebony fretboard. I have had the JB, and the Custom in it. Now I have BKP Painkiller in the bridge, and a SD Alnico II Pro in the Neck. For my cleans I use it in the middle. Works well when backing off the gain. May or may not work for you, but its worth a shot. With the Sg, try playing in the middle toggle position with the cleans.

If you have a soldering Iron handy, it may be worth it to take it on the road with you. Playing those pickups alone is going to get different results than in a band mix situation. You could use the road as a lab, and experiment with different pickups, if you can afford the time to change them out. Then again, if you are on the road, some times you have to work with what you got, and that isn't always a bad thing.

Any how, pretty sure that the Custom/59 will be pretty balanced in that guitar. To each their own. I wish the best of luck though, and I sincerely hope you find something that not only works for you, but that you enjoy immensely.
 
That just shows that some dont really know about the early VH1 sound.Some need to listen to the first Van halen album(VH1),its very crisp and bright also very aggressive.The custom custom will not be crisp and bright.MJ at duncan wasnt around back then(79 early 80s) working for seymour.Ive tried the custom custom because I listened to MJ.The custom custom has this muddiness to its tone......... :thumbsdown:
 
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