Custom 8 paradise!

Re: Custom 8 paradise!

Sweet review.. How does the C5 compare to the C8 volume-wise?
 
Re: Custom 8 paradise!

Tor said:
Sweet review.. How does the C5 compare to the C8 volume-wise?
Click to expand...

probably like night and day, since the a5 has much less mids than the a8, and more mids have a good bit more volume(imo) than scooped mids in similar settings.
 
Re: Custom 8 paradise!

Tor said:
Sweet review.. How does the C5 compare to the C8 volume-wise?
Click to expand...

I dont think Night and day. Ill try to do a back to back tommorrow. I dont recall having to do much volume tweaking. I know the C8 has a more even eq spread and the C5 is bigger in the lows. but otherwise..
 
Re: Custom 8 paradise!

I will say this.. Im spoiled to the C8s now.. I always liked the tone of my Explorer with the Custom in it. Since Ive been playing so many C8s lately, the Explorer sounded alittle harsh to me today.. I have one more A8 magnet.. I know what must be done....
 
Re: Custom 8 paradise!

BloodRose said:
I will say this.. Im spoiled to the C8s now.. I always liked the tone of my Explorer with the Custom in it. Since Ive been playing so many C8s lately, the Explorer sounded alittle harsh to me today.. I have one more A8 magnet.. I know what must be done....
Click to expand...

LOL....<envisions holding the doomed ceramic magnet between his fingers>....ARRRRRGH! To t'e PLANK wit' ya, mateyyyy! ;)
 
Re: Custom 8 paradise!

BloodRose said:
I dont think Night and day. Ill try to do a back to back tommorrow. I dont recall having to do much volume tweaking. I know the C8 has a more even eq spread and the C5 is bigger in the lows. but otherwise..
Click to expand...

By all means, don't stress it, but if you are curious yourself, I'd appreciate to see your conclusions from it here. :)
 
Re: Custom 8 paradise!

I played my first worship set this morning with the Custom 8 in the bridge and a regular 59 in the neck of my C-1 Classic...I used the POD's "Mississippi Criminal" for the lead tones...great combo - going direct from the POD XT to the PA, my improvised lead on Hillsong United's From The Inside Out sounded like total shredfest! I love waking people up on Sunday mornings, LOL...
 
Re: Custom 8 paradise!

gOgIver said:
In terms of harmonics, natural and artificial, how do the Custom (ceramic) and Custom 8 compare?
Click to expand...

Very similar. To me, the beauty of the Custom 8 is that is gives the power of the Custom but adds warmth and some bloom to notes. So harmonics?? OH YEAH!! I was jamming today with my MG104 (598b in the neck and C8 bridge) thru my PV classic 30 and was getting sweet tones and no probs with harmonics and that isnt the most overdriven amp. Good stuff!!
 
Re: Custom 8 paradise!

Tor said:
Sweet review.. How does the C5 compare to the C8 volume-wise?
Click to expand...

Tor, Sorry for the delay my friend... I was able to plug up my strat with C5 and my Kramer 6000 with C8 for a shootout.. I now have many guitars with C8s, but I chose the kramer since its the closest to the strat.

First, the set up... Used my Marshall JCM800, turned up to a very loud 2.
I was concered that the pickup heights would throw off the results as they look very different visually.. The strat pup is very low. Close to the pickguard and the Kramers is very high.. BUT.... Due to the floyd vs vintage trem, the distance to the strings on both was 1/4 of an inch!!! Very cool!
The results.... Well, it was EXTREMELY tough to tell. honestly they are VERY close.. I tried on the clean channel and on clean, the C5 sounds alil louder because of the bigger bass and treble.. On high gain, they are very close.. The C8 to my ear, has the PERCEPTION of being alil louder because it has more midrange.

So, Id say they are very close. C5 alil louder in the bass/treble

Bottom line is if you are going from a C8 loaded guitar to a C5, you should not have to make any big change to the volume setting on the amp.

Hope that helped some..??
 
Re: Custom 8 paradise!

Ya know...SD already offers the Custom-coiled pu with an A2 (Custom Custom), A5 (Custom 5), and Ceramic (Custom)...why not just make the Custom 8 part of their regular production line and get it overwith?!?! LOL...IMHO (and many others in these here forum parts), the Custom 8 is the best of the lot anyway! ;)
 
Re: Custom 8 paradise!

Quicksilver689 said:
Ya know...SD already offers the Custom-coiled pu with an A2 (Custom Custom), A5 (Custom 5), and Ceramic (Custom)...why not just make the Custom 8 part of their regular production line and get it overwith?!?! LOL...IMHO (and many others in these here forum parts), the Custom 8 is the best of the lot anyway! ;)
Click to expand...

Yeah, this is how the C5 came into being.. many of us were changing magnets with alnico 5 and LOVing what was then called the Custom Custom Custom. (get it??) We raved about it so much that the great folks at Duncan made it a production pup, but called it Custom 5 due to the magnet..

So, Im hoping for a production C8. The did create the Alt 8! so they have alnico 8 magnets laying around!! I have to say, I do like the Alt 8 alot too! It just isnt the same.
 
Re: Custom 8 paradise!

yeah...I was trying to avoid the 3x nomenclature! LOL....so that would theoretically make the Custom 8 the....er...Custom Custom Custom Custom....that's just getting ridiculous! ;)
 
Re: Custom 8 paradise!

BloodRose said:
Tor, Sorry for the delay my friend... I was able to plug up my strat with C5 and my Kramer 6000 with C8 for a shootout.. I now have many guitars with C8s, but I chose the kramer since its the closest to the strat.

First, the set up... Used my Marshall JCM800, turned up to a very loud 2.
I was concered that the pickup heights would throw off the results as they look very different visually.. The strat pup is very low. Close to the pickguard and the Kramers is very high.. BUT.... Due to the floyd vs vintage trem, the distance to the strings on both was 1/4 of an inch!!! Very cool!
The results.... Well, it was EXTREMELY tough to tell. honestly they are VERY close.. I tried on the clean channel and on clean, the C5 sounds alil louder because of the bigger bass and treble.. On high gain, they are very close.. The C8 to my ear, has the PERCEPTION of being alil louder because it has more midrange.

So, Id say they are very close. C5 alil louder in the bass/treble

Bottom line is if you are going from a C8 loaded guitar to a C5, you should not have to make any big change to the volume setting on the amp.

Hope that helped some..??
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for the comparison -- it helps a ton! :)
 
Re: Custom 8 paradise!

Well I just tried out the C8 for a bit and I can tell you that it is louder than the C5. My amp has a trim for the input and I had to lower it to get a good level. So I'd say it's definitely a bit louder - and it's louder than the Custom as well.

I liked it OK - but for me, in this particular guitar, I like the C5 better. I feel like the C8 starts moving toward some of the things I didn't like in the Custom. But in my guitar and to my ears it's better than the Custom. If I hadn't tried the C5 first, I would have been extremely pleased by the improvement over the Custom (here's the thread I started a little while back about my bridge pickup search: https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?t=159424 )

The C8 is a very cool pickup. Much like when I tried the JB8, the low end is very tight and everything sounds very clear. Though when I first plugged in I felt like my tone knob was down a little, but it wasn't. I don't think that it's that the highs were lower, but that the output is more compressed than that C5 (which I had been using for about a week). I don't think it's as compressed as the Custom, which I didn't like in this guitar. So I feel like it's a more focused pickup than the C5. It was great for heavy riffs and drop D tuning. With the C8 though I couldn't quite find that AC/DC like tone that the C5 just does almost automatically. It definitely seemed more modern to me.

So... I like the C5 in this guitar a bit better, mainly because I feel it's less compressed and feels more dynamic. In my guitar it gets me closer to the sound I like. Still I can definitely see why people like the C8. It's tight and very powerful and clear. Sounded great clean (much better than the Custom). If you feel like the Custom is harsh, then this could be a big improvement for you that will save you some cash. Definitely worth a try.


I forgot to mention that I didn't think it balanced well with my Jazz neck pickup....
 
Last edited:
Re: Custom 8 paradise!

GoDrex said:
Well I just tried out the C8 for a bit and I can tell you that it is louder than the C5. My amp has a trim for the input and I had to lower it to get a good level. So I'd say it's definitely a bit louder - and it's louder than the Custom as well.

I liked it OK - but for me, in this particular guitar, I like the C5 better. I feel like the C8 starts moving toward some of the things I didn't like in the Custom. But in my guitar and to my ears it's better than the Custom. If I hadn't tried the C5 first, I would have been extremely pleased by the improvement over the Custom (here's the thread I started a little while back about my bridge pickup search: https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?t=159424 )

The C8 is a very cool pickup. Much like when I tried the JB8, the low end is very tight and everything sounds very clear. Though when I first plugged in I felt like my tone knob was down a little, but it wasn't. I don't think that it's that the highs were lower, but that the output is more compressed than that C5 (which I had been using for about a week). I don't think it's as compressed as the Custom, which I didn't like in this guitar. So I feel like it's a more focused pickup than the C5. It was great for heavy riffs and drop D tuning. With the C8 though I couldn't quite find that AC/DC like tone that the C5 just does almost automatically. It definitely seemed more modern to me.

So... I like the C5 in this guitar a bit better, mainly because I feel it's less compressed and feels more dynamic. In my guitar it gets me closer to the sound I like. Still I can definitely see why people like the C8. It's tight and very powerful and clear. Sounded great clean (much better than the Custom). If you feel like the Custom is harsh, then this could be a big improvement for you that will save you some cash. Definitely worth a try.


I forgot to mention that I didn't think it balanced well with my Jazz neck pickup....
Click to expand...

Yeah, The C5 was my fav when it came out, and I still have one in a couple of guitars and it stays right there!!
Ive said before that the C8 is very similar to the feel and eq curve of the Custom, it just adds alittle alnico warmth.
 
Re: Custom 8 paradise!

Rammer69,
I wish I could record. Of course, my playing bites, but I could lay down some samples of The crazy 8, alternative 8 and Custom 8. 598b and 598n and others..
 
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