Anyone find the Custom harsh?

[Surgeon]

Re: Anyone find the Custom harsh?

I really hear no harshness in this pick-up, it's actually by far my favorite bridge pick-up in les pauls (I have it in two of my lps).
It has the perfect amount of bite and a tight bass which I love.
To each his own I guess but it sounds just superb in my guitars through all three of my heads (Orange TH30, Orange Rocker30 and Mesa rectoverb).

Sure it bites but I really don't hear it as harsh.

[BloodRose]

Re: Anyone find the Custom harsh?

that's exactly what i have found, in my mahogany super-strat. for me, it's not just a treble-y harshness, that could be tweaked with the amp's control; it's an overall graininess in the highs and mids.

i'm a big fan of A8 magnets, but for me the Custom 8 is smoother in the highs and not grainy in the highs and high mids. that harshness or slight thinness that i get from the ceramic Custom is gone.

Yeah, Im a HUGE C8 fan!!

adjust your pickup screw heights till everything is even.

Soso has a blog about it.

Ill try that.. I think they are flat tho.

With OD, it really delivers a serious 'kick in the butt' PAF type tonality; I love it for that, not to mention the output balance vs. the neck pickup. Unfortunately, I do find the Custom's tonality brittle in a non-overdriven mode where soloing lacks even minimal warmth and chord playing sounds clanky. The best I can coax from it under these conditions is to combine it with an Alnico magneted neck pickup where the aforementioned extremes are cut to a tolerable level for albeit, limited playing situations.

I keep reading about how an Alnico 8 magnet is the remedy. I'm dubious about this due to the fact that a friend of mine put an A8 in his JB. The magnetic pull on the strings was so strong that he had to adjust the JB radically lower to where (to my ear) the JB sounded virtually like it's OEM self. The point being, I'm afraid that I'll wind up with a Custom 5 which I do not like at all.

Of course, the bonafide remedy is surely in Mr. Duncan's brain somewhere.

Ive never had any string pull probs with A8 and have used them alot in customs and a couple in Jbs.

I really hear no harshness in this pick-up, it's actually by far my favorite bridge pick-up in les pauls (I have it in two of my lps).
It has the perfect amount of bite and a tight bass which I love.
To each his own I guess but it sounds just superb in my guitars through all three of my heads (Orange TH30, Orange Rocker30 and Mesa rectoverb).

Sure it bites but I really don't hear it as harsh.

I think it would be great in an LP. And prolly if I had a tone control I could roll it down a tad. I have it in a superstrat and it just seems to be alil much in this application.
Just for the sake of not turning anyone off on this pickup, Harsh was probably not a correct word. It just seems to be alil much in this guitar with no tone control.

Thanks for the input all!

[Dark Order Lord]

Re: Anyone find the Custom harsh?

I just find the Sh5 as not aggressive enough for me, too much low end, and twangy. The Sh6 DD and the Custom Shop #188575 'Tyrannotitan' nails it for me.

Though I have a friend in a hardrock band called ijunk who plays his Jackson Soloist direct into a JCM800 2203 and the sh5 is ****ing unbelievable so much raunch and growl!!!!

[sosomething]

Re: Anyone find the Custom harsh?

adjust your pickup screw heights till everything is even.

Soso has a blog about it.

If you adjust them so they're all flat, you have successfully completed Step 1 of the multi-step process I wrote about.

Making them flat is just a starting point.

Typically, a pickup adjusted for balance with have the screw poles at different heights depending on the volume of the individual strings.

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Anyone find the Custom harsh?

Harsh was probably not a correct word. It just seems to be alil much in this guitar with no tone control.

No, I think the word "harsh" was right on. Sometimes I also use the term "brittle". It's a quality of the ceramic mag. Some people really like that sound and refer to it as "cut" or "bite". And that's all fine, to each his own. But I, personally, like you and Blueman, and others, just can't get along with that brittle, edgy, high end of ceramics. The Custom is the first pup that I tried a mag swap on and it was an exciting improvement (I took out the ceramic and, of course, replaced it with an A8). The A8 cured the brittleness problem without really changing the basic character of the pup. The C8 is definitely my favorite of any of the Customs.

[Ashurbanipal]

Re: Anyone find the Custom harsh?

Didn't AddictionFX start selling an unoriented ceramic mag a while back? I remember someone on the forum posting a big pu demo which featured this mag. From what I recall, in a DD, the unoriented ceramic still kept the power and punch but softened that brittle/bitey high end. Sounded pretty good.

[GilmourD]

Re: Anyone find the Custom harsh?

I have a Charvel with a custom in it (no tone control) and it just seems to be a tiny bit harsh to me. Granted, I was only able to run it thru a tweaker with el84s, so maybe it would be better thru an el 34 loaded amp. But to my ear (they are BAD ears, so thats why Im asking) the custom just seems alil harsh. I played my explorer with a custom 8 and it was MUCH sweeter and smoother. Is this just me being spoiled to the C8 or ???

Thanks for your input!

For any newbies, Im NOT saying the custom is bad sounding, Its a great pickup, but right now this one seems to be all bidness and not smooove.. haha

What's the wood setup on that guitar? If it's got a maple board is the neck one or two piece?

[CountFeedback]

Re: Anyone find the Custom harsh?

For me the Custom 100% delivered for OD & Distortion sounds but for clean was not “harsh” but not open enough. Clean Custom has too much emphasis on the pick of the note and not enough fullness to the sustain of the note, which is odd because you hit the distortion and its fat sustain for days.

I’d say I’m an alnico5 guy but I like the regular Custom better than the Custom5. Regular Custom great for straight ahead rock’n! Custom 5… kind of lumpy.

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Anyone find the Custom harsh?

Custom = edgy, brittle, bitey
C8 = Sweetness.

[BloodRose]

Re: Anyone find the Custom harsh?

No, I think the word "harsh" was right on. Sometimes I also use the term "brittle". It's a quality of the ceramic mag. Some people really like that sound and refer to it as "cut" or "bite". And that's all fine, to each his own. But I, personally, like you and Blueman, and others, just can't get along with that brittle, edgy, high end of ceramics. The Custom is the first pup that I tried a mag swap on and it was an exciting improvement (I took out the ceramic and, of course, replaced it with an A8). The A8 cured the brittleness problem without really changing the basic character of the pup. The C8 is definitely my favorite of any of the Customs.

Yeah, You know Im with you in the C8 camp!

What's the wood setup on that guitar? If it's got a maple board is the neck one or two piece?

Alder body, quartersawn maple neck, ebony board

Custom = edgy, brittle, bitey
C8 = Sweetness.

Yep!

[GilmourD]

Re: Anyone find the Custom harsh?

Hmmmm... Ebony board... Definitely a bright piece of wood.

My point in asking that was the in one guitar you may end up with harshness depending on the wood and hardware content while another may have sweet highs with the same pickup.

The C8 may be perfect for that guitar but a regular Custom might be perfect if you swapped for a rosewood board neck.

[sosomething]

Re: Anyone find the Custom harsh?

I'm very familiar with the guitar in question, and I can say it's not an inherently trebly or bright guitar acoustically. It's actually quite balanced and very loud, so you're going to get max mileage out of whatever pickups you put in there.

I'd say if you already really like the C8, go with that!

[surface54]

Re: Anyone find the Custom harsh?

they tried to put too much bass into it, and in consequence the upper register sits very stiff/borderline harsh/brittle. it takes a perfect setup dialed in for this particular pickup and output for it to sound right.

[BloodRose]

Re: Anyone find the Custom harsh?

I'm very familiar with the guitar in question, and I can say it's not an inherently trebly or bright guitar acoustically. It's actually quite balanced and very loud, so you're going to get max mileage out of whatever pickups you put in there.

I'd say if you already really like the C8, go with that!

Yeah, you are familiar with it. : ) Yeah, it is beastly accoustically! Another problem I have too, is that Im not able to play my main rig either, so it may have better balance with my splawn.. Ive heard the recordings made with the guitar and they sound STELLAR!! But my chops arent that good either.. Will prolly try a C8 tho, cuz Ill always wonder till I try it.

[rumblebox]

Re: Anyone find the Custom harsh?

out of 12 amps i tried at guitar center, the tweaker was the only one i couldnt get to sound the way i wanted. Way too harsh and gritty.

the custom is one of my favorites, but it doesnt agree with every amp... the tweaker being at the top of the list.

And i only like it for high gain metal. No low-gain or clean tones. The custom8 shines in all 3 categories.