Custom Shop verses Custom Shop pickups

[JB6464]

One you can buy at any Duncan dealer and the other has to be ordered if you want MJ to wind it.
But other than MJ winding it, can you really hear a difference or is it just bragging rights because she wound it.
But they both come from the Custom Shop.
Pickup in question is the Antiquity JB.

[hamerfan]

The point is MJ is winding it to your personal specs if you order it thru CS directly. An Ant JB with a bit lesser windings and a RC A5 (maybe she can do Unoriented A5??) would be my recommendation. Prices are roughly the same.

[Mincer]

I always thought that ordering directly will allow you to specify everything about your pickup. It is 'Custom' after all. Ordering through a dealer gets you some of their standard winds...also great, but not as personal.

[beaubrummels]

I thought MJ wound almost all of them for the Custom Shop?

There are perceptible differences, but I doubt all players can perceive the differences. Some may not hear it due to the equipment they use, some due to the listening environment they are in, some due to their sensitivity to identifying frequencies.

[Mincer]

Derek winds pickups there, too..and there might be a few others. It has been awhile since I've been there.

[Leon Of Late]

I always order direct and request that MJ wind my pickups. She won’t be there forever and I want as many as I can get. She never disappoints.

[eclecticsynergy]

I think the OP might mean Shop Floor Custom vs Custom Shop proper.
One you can specify some aspects, and order through any dealer.
The other is fully customized, and you talk with MJ directly.

[Mincer]

I think the OP might mean Shop Floor Custom vs Custom Shop proper.
One you can specify some aspects, and order through any dealer.
The other is fully customized, and you talk with MJ directly.

If that is the case, then..
A Custom Shop pickup is made specifically for you. You get to specify the specs, or even better...describe the sound you want to MJ, and she will build it (and it might be a different formula than you think)

A Shop Floor Custom is ordered through any Authorized Dealer, and it allows you to change certain aspects of a regular production pickup. Read more about it here.

[JB6464]

So, what I'm getting at is let's say you want an Antiquity JB.
One option is you can buy them just about everywhere online at any Duncan dealer from Ebay to Reverb to Music Zoo, etc.
Other option is calling SD and have them make you one with MJ winding it.
Both pickups are built the exact same with the same DC output and down to the wire and degaussing of the magnet.

Can you really hear a difference between an Antiquity JB wound by whoever at the custom shop verses another one that MJ wound, or is it bragging rights because she is famous at SD?

[beaubrummels]

If you don't tell MJ to do anything different to the pickup, then, no, you shouldn't hear a difference.

But also, the majority of Custom Shop pickups are wound by her anyway, so there's a strong likelihood if you order a Custom Shop pickup from a dealer who has one, there's a big chance it will have an MJ signature on it already.

[jeremy]

most humbuckers in the custom shop are still machine wound, an antiquity jb is basically going to be an antiquity jb.

[Mincer]

I don't think anyone is winding anything by hand these days.

[80's_Thrash_Metal]

I always order direct and request that MJ wind my pickups. She won’t be there forever and I want as many as I can get. She never disappoints.

Same.

[eclecticsynergy]

I don't think anyone is winding anything by hand these days.

Except Zhangbucker.

Nowadays the term "handwound" generally has come to mean hand-fed onto a rotating bobbin.
But for an upcharge David will actually hand-wrap the coils.
He's the only winder I know of who does that, at least since Tim White retired.
There might be others I don't know about, of course.

I shudder to think how long it must take to wind a pair of humbucker bobbins entirely by hand.
Even David has said he might not continue offering the 'pure-handwound' option forever.

[Mincer]

Except Zhangbucker.

Nowadays the term "handwound" generally has come to mean hand-fed onto a rotating bobbin.
But for an upcharge David will actually hand-wrap the coils.
He's the only winder I know of who does that, at least since Tim White retired.
There might be others I don't know about, of course.

I shudder to think how long it must take to wind a pair of humbucker bobbins entirely by hand.
Even David has said he might not continue offering the 'pure-handwound' option forever.

Oh cool, I didn't know that. So it is entirely by hand? Like 1 hand has the bobbin, and the other the wire? That's crazy, man.