WTB: Custom 8 bridge

[Frater106]

Hey, guys! Anyone have a Custom 8 bridge for sale? I prefer a gold cover or double-black model in 50 mm spacing. In the Alternative, can you guys tell me in detail how to do a conversion from a regular Duncan Custom myself? I’ve never swapped magnets before. Thanks!

[GuitarDoc]

Pretty simple to do it yourself. Remove tape around coils, loosen baseplate screws, push out existing magnet part way to check polarity (sometimes you need to pry it a bit to "crack" the wax potting), remove magnet, push in new magnet in the same polarity orientation, tighten baseplate, rewrap the tape, done.

There are tutorials on youtube that may be beneficial to watch.

[Frater106]

Thanks!

[ArtieToo]

So . . . what are the tonal characteristics of the Custom 8? How would it differ from an Alternative 8?

[GuitarDoc]

I think the Alt 8 has lots more mids. It is a really good pup too and I like it a lot.

[hamerfan]

Pretty simple to do it yourself. Remove tape around coils, loosen baseplate screws, push out existing magnet part way to check polarity (sometimes you need to pry it a bit to "crack" the wax potting), remove magnet, push in new magnet in the same polarity orientation, tighten baseplate, rewrap the tape, done.

There are tutorials on youtube that may be beneficial to watch.

Just to be clear: remove only the textile tape around both bobbins together, not the paper tape around each coil.

For me it's an on-off relationship with the C8. Currently I use my Custom as C2, before that it had a unoriented A5 magnet. The C8 was a bit too much for me, I even liked the ceramic Custom a bit better.

[ArtieToo]

For me it's an on-off relationship with the C8. Currently I use my Custom as C2, before that it had a unoriented A5 magnet. The C8 was a bit too much for me, I even liked the ceramic Custom a bit better.

I find these topics interesting, because there seems to be more going on with magnets than simply gauss ratings. An A8 is very close to an A2, (7400 gauss vs 7500 gauss), so there shouldn't be a dramatic difference between the two. But apparently, there is.

[misterwhizzy]

My experience with the Custom wind is very similar to what hamerfan wrote. C2 works but just lacks a little bite for me. C8 is way too much and has something in the mids that always gets tiring eventually. I haven't gone C5 because the users here have scared me off the scooped mids idea. For a long time, I thought the stock Custom was the perfect bridge pickup for my Les Paul.

[Gtrjunior]

Just to be clear: remove only the textile tape around both bobbins together, not the paper tape around each coil.

For me it's an on-off relationship with the C8. Currently I use my Custom as C2, before that it had a unoriented A5 magnet. The C8 was a bit too much for me, I even liked the ceramic Custom a bit better.

That is my experience with the C8 as well. I like the tone but it’s just way “too much”. I much prefer the A2.