What would you replace the Custom Custom with???

[Monsta-Tone]

I have the TB-11 Custom Custom in a few guitars. I used to love them with lots of gain!
Now that I'm delving into medium to low gain and lots of cleans, I find that they sound too much like a stuck wah pedal.

Guitar 1:
'14 Fender American Deluxe Strat HSH - 2 point trem with giant brass block
Duncan Jazz - neck
Carvin AP11 - middle
Duncan TB-11 - bridge
Neck and middle sound incredible and warm with cleans or overdrive
Bridge is good, but too much high mid and just not very full sounding with less gain

Guitar 2:
'20 Kiesel Delos 24 fret SSH - 2 point trem with ball bearings
Kiesel Berrylium - neck and middle
Duncan TB-11 - bridge
Neck and middle sound good with gain, too warm on cleans, I'll probably leave them in this guitar
Bridge is good, but same as Guitar 1

Guitar 3:
'92 PRS Custom 24 - 1 piece vintage Milcom tremolo
Duncan 59 - neck
Duncan TB-11 - bridge
Neck is full and fat sounding - I might replace it with a Jazz or Pearly Gates so that it's a bit brighter (sounds freakishly good with gobs of gain)
Bridge - same as the other 2 guitars

I have a couple of Blues Saraceno Trembuckers that I might try in one of these guitars, not sure if it will be a huge difference.
I'm not extremely familiar with this TB.
I also have a few older original Parallel Axis pickups, but I think they will be too bright and open wah sounding also.

So far, my favorite sounding guitar is an Anderson Angel HSH
HF1 - neck
SF-1 - middle
HF2+ - bridge
It just sounds great no matter what amp, pedal, setting I use


What do you guys suggest?
I'm looking for a medium output bridge pickup so that it sounds great clean and dirty.
Nice and full sounding with no shrill highs
Trem spacing
Lots of sustain

[jeremy]

id try that patb3 first. itll be quite different than the cc, great pup. the others you mention, i assume are patb1? the patb3 is probably brighter but i never find the high end of any of the patb pups harsh. if those are in fact patb1 bridge models, those might suit you well

[Monsta-Tone]

Thanks! I'll give the PATB3 a try this weekend. I was trying to remember the model number of the Parallel Axis pups, thanks!

The others are PATB1's
One is a vintage pickup from an early run, it sounds the best, but still too much output I think for what I want
Another of the PATB1's is a black back one that I think was OEM in some guitar, it sounds really good as well, but pretty hot

[playas]

I'd absolutely second what Jeremy says about the PATB-3 (no experience with the 1):
Lots of high end but never harsh/brittle sounding...I'd say you'd like it.
BTW I replaced a CC with a Seth (in an LP style) and a JB (hss strat) but neither are the direction you want to go and patb sounds like it could well be.

[Mincer]

Another one to try is the 59/Custom Hybrid.

[beaubrummels]

To just tame a CC's mids I'd put a Custom 5. To lower the output a bit and tame the mids, I'd put a Jazz bridge or Pearly Gates. Something in between might be a Whole Lotta Humbucker or Black Winter, depending on how much treble and low end you want. 59/C is also a good option. Sounds like very different guitars, though. I'd expect all these suggestions to respond differently in each.

[Monsta-Tone]

Right on, thanks guys!
I'll look through my box of pickups. I might still have a Pearly Gates bridge laying around....after I try the PATB3

[Ascension]

Would go back to the Berrylium bridge in the Kiesel as really like those for the tones you are talking. Might also want to look at a Perpetual Burn and the Hybrid I really like but would be more mid heavy than the Custom Custom. The Custom 5 is a really big open sounding pickup so might want to just swap that A2 for a 5 in those Customs.

[Monsta-Tone]

Would go back to the Berrylium bridge in the Kiesel as really like those for the tones you are talking. Might also want to look at a Perpetual Burn and the Hybrid I really like but would be more mid heavy than the Custom Custom. The Custom 5 is a really big open sounding pickup so might want to just swap that A2 for a 5 in those Customs.

I pulled the Custom Custom out of my Delos last night. Then I realized that the CC was the only pickup that I had with multiple screw holes on the base......
I thought, "I should try the Berryllium again....." but I couldn't find it!
We moved from Hawaii to Idaho in August of last year. We're still unpacking. It's a ***** to move 3 kids, a wife, and 2 dogs across an ocean. For some reason, I've done it 3 times........

I put the CC back in and cleaned the guitar/put new strings on.
This morning, I went through every box and guitar case and found the Berrylium.......I'll swap it in this morning!

[Monsta-Tone]

Well.....The Berrylium is much better in the Delos for lower gain and clean stuff.
It still sounds a little bit squashed, but not nearly as much as the CC did.
Now I'm wondering why I changed this pickup out in the first place......


I'll give the PATB3 a shot in the PRS or Strat later on today!

[SFW]

Both the PATB-1 and PATB-3 are excellent. Think fat PAF for the PATB-3. The PATB-1 is what most people wish the JB would sound like.


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[elelpe]

Sounds like Screamin Demon' to me. I don't find its high end shrill in my alder body + rosewood/maple neck guitar (pairs nicely with Phat Cat)

[Demanic]

I have a pickup mounted in the neck of one of my strats. A4 mag 9.4k with slight coil mismatch. Clear, powerful without getting distorted. Find something like that.

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[eclecticsynergy]

I bet the PATB-3 will do very well indeed; that's one awesome pickup.

+1 on the Perpetual Burn, an underappreciated model.
It sings but doesn't honk. And it cleans up very nicely indeed

Hybrid was another great recommendation IMO.
It's got mids but with far less "vowel" tone than the CC.

+1 also on mag swaps in your Custom Customs.
Try A4, and UA5, or rough A5 for less midrange.
Custom wind takes very well to many different magnets.
The ceramic Custom rocks, but that's probably not ideal for this case.