Duncan Custom SH5 vs Distortion

[Zado]

Hi there everyone,new to the forum as user,though I've been lurking for quite a while since I noticed there are tons of very competent guys here,and it's honestly a pleasure to be asking directly to you now,hoping not to be a pain in the butt with already answered questions.

Essentially: I play a Schecter Hellraiser,quite a nice guitar,I like playing here,and EMGs have been fun for some years now.A wind of change has been blowing here lately,and now with more 80's hard rock oriented preferences,I've decided to swap them for a couple of passives.Thing is: the guitar itself sounds rather dark/bassy with a certain compression and lack of clarity on higher registers even while unplugged.While the dark sound was somehow helpful with the 81 (which gained body)for modern metal,it really gave no satisfaction with more vintage oriented rock tones.

Now,I'm stuck with two pickups I've found possibly helpful for my purpose (Schenker,Aldrich,Vandenberg,some hair metal,Campbell,VH...oooh I know you like that question, about "best pickup for VH tones" ):

-Duncan Custom Sh-5

-Duncan Distortion


I was never really into JB,many friends of mine love it,but I've always found something I couldn't stand,though it's said to be possibly the best 80s pickup made by Duncan,along with Distortion.Yeah,Duncan Distortion....Never cared for it cause,you know,it's one of those pickups you usually see on youtube reviewed with absurd ear bleeding gain,something that can only let you think "this is wound with corpse veins and teeth insteat of magnets",not actually appearing as a rock piece of gear.Then you come to know it was Lynch most used pickup,and your perspective changes,and you start gathering interest and infos about it.The pronunced upper mids would come handy in my situation right?Not sure if it could be a lil "too much" though,I don't need an EMG 81 mkII or something like that.
On the other hand the Custom appears to be just as good with its upper mids,roaring,but more calm and controllable when needed,for classic rock and other lighter genres too.Problem is: I read here that the SH-5 can sound awful muddy in a warm sounding guitar.

I was considering the Screamin Demon too,which could be not gainy enough for the bridge,but fit the bill as a neck pickup (something with great definition is needed there).Also,I like the tightness of a ceramic magnet for the bridge position(another reason why I chose the two guys above).


Any suggestions/solutions?

[darthphineas]

Re: Duncan Custom SH5 vs Distortion

Find the video that compares all the high output models in a back to back shoot out using the same guitar and same riffs. Still, no idea why someone hasn't made it a sticky, but it's also on YouTube. Something like "Seymour Duncan high output pickup comparison" so something similar. It also has a log in the description of what is playing at what time, so you can jump right to what you want or in between a few models quickly.


Sent from my armored space station via iPad using Tapatalk

[Bfeeney]

Re: Duncan Custom SH5 vs Distortion

...the guitar itself sounds rather dark/bassy with a certain compression and lack of clarity on higher registers even while unplugged

That's mahogany. I found after many pickup purchases and sales it was the guitar not the pickups I didn't like. I got rid of a JB/59 set because of it. Grrrrrrrr!

Now all my guitars are basswood and ash.

[EDX]

Re: Duncan Custom SH5 vs Distortion

if you are kind of guy that actually makes use of tone and vol knobs you may get love with the dimebucker (using the knobs in positions beyond 10 and 0) and since you are getting from actives, a seymour liberator 500k as tone pot, and a seymour yngwie 500k pot, also a 0.1 cap (for more range on the pot), why the dimebucker, it's not too mid boosted as the distortion, actually most guys describe it as scooped (the mids on the dime is mostly flat) has a ton of highs (maybe more than the 81, at least enough to make a uber-dark maghonay slab sound articulate and clear, still rauchy and aggresive), so if you are open to a pickup wich you may had the volume knob on positions as 5 and tone 7, dimebucker can be your best friend and lover haha, and you may use the volume as a rythm/lead control (something like 2 or 4 for do rythm and had an almost paf out level buth ceramic tight crunch, and then for the solo instead of use a booster as much people, just crank the volume and get crazy)

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Duncan Custom SH5 vs Distortion

Whoa! Someone from Vicenza! Did you have to evacuate when they disposed of that bomb the other day?

[Zado]

Re: Duncan Custom SH5 vs Distortion

Find the video that compares all the high output models in a back to back shoot out using the same guitar and same riffs. Still, no idea why someone hasn't made it a sticky, but it's also on YouTube. Something like "Seymour Duncan high output pickup comparison" so something similar. It also has a log in the description of what is playing at what time, so you can jump right to what you want or in between a few models quickly.


Sent from my armored space station via iPad using Tapatalk

You mean this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryzie8mham8

It's a great vid no doubt,butI can't feel particularly attracted by the kind of sound produced but those pickups all around.Also,according to it,the Distortion is a clear winner (both with and without the track),being more vivid,clear and lively,but then I saw this other one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqHUYIzsFCw

and I honestly preferred the JB,finding the DD too in your face

That's mahogany. I found after many pickup purchases and sales it was the guitar not the pickups I didn't like. I got rid of a JB/59 set because of it. Grrrrrrrr!

Now all my guitars are basswood and ash.

Yeah,sometimes maho behaves this way,though I've often found rather brilliant sounding LP..as they say,every guitar it's a story apart

if you are kind of guy that actually makes use of tone and vol knobs you may get love with the dimebucker (using the knobs in positions beyond 10 and 0) and since you are getting from actives, a seymour liberator 500k as tone pot, and a seymour yngwie 500k pot, also a 0.1 cap (for more range on the pot), why the dimebucker, it's not too mid boosted as the distortion, actually most guys describe it as scooped (the mids on the dime is mostly flat) has a ton of highs (maybe more than the 81, at least enough to make a uber-dark maghonay slab sound articulate and clear, still rauchy and aggresive), so if you are open to a pickup wich you may had the volume knob on positions as 5 and tone 7, dimebucker can be your best friend and lover haha, and you may use the volume as a rythm/lead control (something like 2 or 4 for do rythm and had an almost paf out level buth ceramic tight crunch, and then for the solo instead of use a booster as much people, just crank the volume and get crazy)

I thought about that,that the DB could solve it all,but I honestly have bad memories about it...I played some Deans back in the day and I couldn't dial out the amounth of high frequencies no matter what.Maybe it's just TOO highmids oriented,you know

Whoa! Someone from Vicenza! Did you have to evacuate when they disposed of that bomb the other day?

Hey,you know my place! That's weird and great at the same time! Nope I was outside the red zone,not by much,but still outside!Luckily everything worked fine and nothing happened,but it took half a day,so there was a bit of apprehension...I hope this will be the last time,but so many bombs have been found here,I bet it wont

[darthphineas]

Re: Duncan Custom SH5 vs Distortion

I think you found it. While I don't play that style of music, he plays through enough of the pickups that I do know that I can get an idea of how the others relate.


Sent from my armored space station via iPad using Tapatalk

[Aceman]

Re: Duncan Custom SH5 vs Distortion

Without getting too deep into this, I think the distortion is the pickup you need. Deal with miss at the amp. But the distortion will take care of all the Mahogany issues.

That said - as mentioned - it may be the guitar, not the pups.

And I never see the Custom (of which I am a huge fan) as muddy - even in mahogany. It is tight also - but has considerably more bass than the distortion.

Your acoustic assessment of the guitar itself, however, has me worried. I always say that you can't ADD tone that isn't there. All you can do is make bad tone louder….

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Duncan Custom SH5 vs Distortion

I've got a Schecter Hellraiser which is my #1 out of over 30 guitars. Obviously I really love that guitar. But the EMGs were gone very soon after I got the guitar (about 7 years ago) And I've tried lots of passives in it.

The Distortion is a really great pup but it has a really bright and brittle high end which didn't sit well with me, but it may just be the ticket for what you're after.

However, I think a better choice for you would be the Custom (either with the ceramic mag if you want very bright highs, or with an A8 magnet to smooth out those highs and give it a bit more warmth). Not as gainy as the Dist., but certainly can be pushed to wherever you want it to go. I finally ended up with a P-Rail (with an A8 and an A5) which has been in it for probably 6 years now and I have no intention of ever replacing it.

For the neck, you can't do much better than the Demon.

[Zado]

Re: Duncan Custom SH5 vs Distortion

Mmm at the moment I'm leaning more towards the Custom.Maybe the DD would be a better choice for what I want t play,but to me it seems like a love or hate pickup, while the Sh5 might be just a good transition from my actives to passives,and when I will feel tired of it I will end purchasing a DD.


Also,I have a single humbucker superstrat project ongoing,so the DD might just come in handy for that right?

[EDX]

Re: Duncan Custom SH5 vs Distortion

hmm a floor shop custom of a full shred with ceramic magnet, full shred and custom are almost the same wind, but full sherd is more articulate than the custom and a thick ceramic will make it very crunchy and more tight

[Lux84]

Re: Duncan Custom SH5 vs Distortion

I have only Custom and Distortion in both all mahogany guitars, so i can really talk only about those two. As you can see in a seymour duncan tone chart the Custom has less mids, more bass, and the same treble as Distortion. and the Custom has less output than Distortion. both are ceramics magnets. i notice more low end with Custom in the bridge. also Distorion is more agressive, but if you add some mids from the amp if you have Custom, you will make sound more aggresive from Custom too. i would definately choose Distortion and not the Custom for what you were saying you play. for anything metal thosee two pickups are great... but for classic vintage rock, i would choose something else, because they both have too much low end and agressivenes for that kind of stuff. i have to put back my bass to 3 or 4 of 10 on my JCM 800 if i want those tones. and still it isn't there perfect tonnality. but for some early classic metal stuff and all heavier stuffi think the Distortion on bridge makes the sense.

[Zado]

Re: Duncan Custom SH5 vs Distortion

mmm what do you suggest for more classic rock tones with hard rock and metal good capabilities?

In the guitar heroes list i put on the op post there's Schenker..i remember someone saying that the custom is a good pickup for those tones...isn't it?

[Lux84]

Re: Duncan Custom SH5 vs Distortion

I suggest to you to try both in that guitar, with your setup and then decide by yourself which one you like the best when you play a guitar through different tube amps, you see how different pickups could effected the whole sound. then you will see, what you really want, and there's diffferent tube amps, with some of it, you would even not have to have those higher output pickups, to sound in the way Schenker sound. but with the different ones, you will need higher output pickups. maybe your EMG's don't work well for that stuff you say..... i would like to say EMG's are not gonna give you classic rock sounds, but i won't, because the whole think really depends if you have a vintage amp, or modern amp with lots of gain Schenker used a lots of different guitars, a lot of different Marshalls back in the days, and now i think he uses Engl amplification. but i can't really reccomend you which one pickup, to achieve with your guitar will give you closer to the sound you want.. you must try it yourself to know that try a couple of different pickups with your amps, and than decide which one is a killer one for you you are about to spend some money, but every investement in that will give you closer to the sound you want ! and you can sell them or return them later, if you don't like the specific model

[Nacho8807]

Re: Duncan Custom SH5 vs Distortion

I think you'd really like the DD, especially for 80s rock tones. It's nice and clear, articulate and authorative without being "over the top". Rhythms are tight and crunchy, leads rip through the mix, and in my Les Paul I've never found the highs to be brittle, but this may not be true in every guitar. I haven't used the Custom but I recommend the Distortion to pretty much everyone these days. It's a lot more than just a metal pickup.