Ash RG421 Hardtail pickups

[Bill Dennis]

Looking for something for this guitar. Used mostly for rock stuff live through a Flyrig 5 v2. Considering a 59, JB or Custom. I usually cut a lot of mids on the fly rig so thinking 59 or JB. Thoughts?

[Mincer]

The JB has mids, they are just upper mids. The Custom or Custom 5 is the pickup that sucks out the mids. I bet with a Custom 5, you'd be fine.

[Bill Dennis]

Its an interesting point you make about the JB. The mid knob on the fly rig is centered on 500hz, which is definitely in the low mid range. The upper mid boost of a JB may be effectively the same by lowering the relative amount of low mid in the balance. I really like the fly rig for a lot of reasons but the eq curve does seem a touch skewed towards single coils. I use a super switch and do a lot of parallel and split sounds which is why I am hesitant to order the 59 as I think that may be a touch weak for that.

[Mincer]

I love my Fly Rig, too!

If the 59 might be too weak, bump up to the 59/Custom Hybrid. It has essentially the same EQ, but louder. Above that, you have the Custom, which 'feels' different due to the compression of the output, but the EQ is scooped like the 59. For a more extreme scoop, there is the Custom 5.

[Bill Dennis]

I think I will try the Custom. I have played the C5 and it feels like it maybe too much scoop. The 7k coils of the custom line feel like they may be about right for parallel and coil cuts. Pair it with a 59 in the neck since I have one. If it has too much bass I can cap it to thin it out or maybe go to a jazz neck

[jeremy]

custom/59n is a good setup. i doubt youll have issues with the 59n since you have 24 frets which pushes the neck pup a touch closer to the bridge

[eclecticsynergy]

Remember that a standard 59N will have the 2-conductor lead. If yours doesn't have it you might need to look for one with a 4-wire hookup.

IMO the 59N is very unlikely to be boomy in that guitar. Should sound great.

One nice thing about the Custom is that, if too hot, it can easily be changed into a Custom5 or a CustomCustom.