Chris EmCee
New member
Alright, so I've been trying to "upgrade" my Custom Shop 78's (mainly bridge, but I have the set) for about three weeks now. Not to rehash what I've already said in other posts, but I've been playing those pickups for four years and LOVE them, just looking for a little tighter bottom end and a little more "Oomph".
My local place had in stock a 59/Custom Hybrid, but the SH version. I need/prefer the TB, especially since my bridge route is angled, like a Kramer, but I've had other standard spaced bridge humbuckers in there beforehand it usually works out okay. This one is a little different though with the mismatched coils, but knew it would be good enough to see if I liked the pickup or not.
Shown is my #1, my Warmoth Soloist build, shown with the 78's installed as I originally built it over four years ago and had it that way up until recently, and then with the Pegasus/Sentient set installed after a complete electronics overhaul. So, I threw in the 59/Custom.....and for the first time, after about 7 different bridge pickup swaps, I finally actually LIKE one!
One thing I've learned in this short but feverish pickup swap journey, is that if I'm going to swap the 78, I'm going to compromise 'something', and that 'something' is going to be different with each pickup. I love how the low end of the 78 is "chewy" (that's actually a good description....I don't find it loose or flubby at all, those aren't the right words, not in my guitar anyway), and yet I wish it were a little tighter, if that makes sense. I love the "snarl" of the 78, but wish it had a little more juice, in which case, you lose some of that snarl. I like the EQ curve on the 78, yet I wish it were a little different in the mids, maybe just a touch more mids, if that makes sense. In any event, what I've learned is that if I want the "other things", i.e. a slightly tighter bottom end, a little more output to hit the amp a little harder, etc., I'm no longer going to have a 78, I'm going to have......something that isn't a 78. I've come to terms with that and ready to try something else, not because I no longer like the 78, because it is one KILLER pickup in my experience, but I'm just ready to try something else.
In the meantime, I've tried a Duncan Distortion (I'm not sure why, not for what I do, the Mayhem set came out of a Charvel of mine years ago and I found them in a box), a Duncan Pegasus/Sentient set (and quite frankly, I didn't give them a fair chance....they were actually a good sounding set of pickups!), a Suhr SSV+, a Suhr Thornbucker+, a Dimarzio 36th Anniversary PAF, and all of those came right back out and the 78 went right back in after about a day. That was all before I came to terms with the fact that I wasn't going to find a "78+", which....I think is what I'm after, the 78, just....more of it.
In any case, now that 59/Custom is in there, and I actually like it.
Now my question - I have an RMA with Seymour Duncan to swap my Pegasus/Sentient set, and I'm pretty set with neck pickups (there's a Suhr Thornbucker neck pickup in there right now, and it sounds pretty decent, I might just leave it in there actually), so I'm going to select two bridge pickups. I do believe that after soldering it in this evening and actually enjoying playing it, the 59/Custom Hybrid is going to be one of the two, but I'm still undecided on what the other one should be. Should the Custom Custom be the other one? I've never had one, and I'm curious how it not only sounds, but FEELS (why doesn't "feel" get talked about as much as sound? A pickup can "sound" great to a player, but the "feel" can be all wrong with pick dynamics, dynamics in general, how immediate the transient is, etc. and so on), especially since it has an Alnico 2, and I've had such a difficult time trying to knock the 78 off it's throne, which also has an Alnico 2, so I remain curious about the Custom Custom.
Either way, given what I've said, and that I like the 59/Custom (I'm SO glad to have finally thrown a bridge pickup in that I didn't want to desolder and take right back out!), should I keep the Custom Custom as my second option, or try something that hasn't even been mentioned yet? I don't "think" I want the regular Custom to be my second option, as I have a feeling it would be too "bold" and not as "gentlemanly" as I would prefer. Custom 5....maybe, but it seems to have a really steep "smiley face" EQ and I'm not sure I'd be happy with the much lower bids. I'm thinking Custom Custom, but I'm open to suggestions.
A couple last things here - the mids on the 59/Custom are super interesting, they're very....."powerful", but not overbearing or in a bad way, and it feels like it's more like lower mids than upper mids, and I like it. It's definitely MUCH different in the mids than any of the above pickups that I mentioned installing, including of course the 78. How does the midrange on the Custom Custom compare?
And the low end on the Custom Custom, how does that compare to the 78? I know it's WAY different than on the 59/Custom, so I won't even bother asking for a comparison there, but does the fact that it has an Alnico 2 retain some of that "chewy" bottom end, but hopefully a little tighter than the 78?
So.....59/Custom Trembucker, and....what's my Option B?
My local place had in stock a 59/Custom Hybrid, but the SH version. I need/prefer the TB, especially since my bridge route is angled, like a Kramer, but I've had other standard spaced bridge humbuckers in there beforehand it usually works out okay. This one is a little different though with the mismatched coils, but knew it would be good enough to see if I liked the pickup or not.
Shown is my #1, my Warmoth Soloist build, shown with the 78's installed as I originally built it over four years ago and had it that way up until recently, and then with the Pegasus/Sentient set installed after a complete electronics overhaul. So, I threw in the 59/Custom.....and for the first time, after about 7 different bridge pickup swaps, I finally actually LIKE one!
One thing I've learned in this short but feverish pickup swap journey, is that if I'm going to swap the 78, I'm going to compromise 'something', and that 'something' is going to be different with each pickup. I love how the low end of the 78 is "chewy" (that's actually a good description....I don't find it loose or flubby at all, those aren't the right words, not in my guitar anyway), and yet I wish it were a little tighter, if that makes sense. I love the "snarl" of the 78, but wish it had a little more juice, in which case, you lose some of that snarl. I like the EQ curve on the 78, yet I wish it were a little different in the mids, maybe just a touch more mids, if that makes sense. In any event, what I've learned is that if I want the "other things", i.e. a slightly tighter bottom end, a little more output to hit the amp a little harder, etc., I'm no longer going to have a 78, I'm going to have......something that isn't a 78. I've come to terms with that and ready to try something else, not because I no longer like the 78, because it is one KILLER pickup in my experience, but I'm just ready to try something else.
In the meantime, I've tried a Duncan Distortion (I'm not sure why, not for what I do, the Mayhem set came out of a Charvel of mine years ago and I found them in a box), a Duncan Pegasus/Sentient set (and quite frankly, I didn't give them a fair chance....they were actually a good sounding set of pickups!), a Suhr SSV+, a Suhr Thornbucker+, a Dimarzio 36th Anniversary PAF, and all of those came right back out and the 78 went right back in after about a day. That was all before I came to terms with the fact that I wasn't going to find a "78+", which....I think is what I'm after, the 78, just....more of it.
In any case, now that 59/Custom is in there, and I actually like it.
Now my question - I have an RMA with Seymour Duncan to swap my Pegasus/Sentient set, and I'm pretty set with neck pickups (there's a Suhr Thornbucker neck pickup in there right now, and it sounds pretty decent, I might just leave it in there actually), so I'm going to select two bridge pickups. I do believe that after soldering it in this evening and actually enjoying playing it, the 59/Custom Hybrid is going to be one of the two, but I'm still undecided on what the other one should be. Should the Custom Custom be the other one? I've never had one, and I'm curious how it not only sounds, but FEELS (why doesn't "feel" get talked about as much as sound? A pickup can "sound" great to a player, but the "feel" can be all wrong with pick dynamics, dynamics in general, how immediate the transient is, etc. and so on), especially since it has an Alnico 2, and I've had such a difficult time trying to knock the 78 off it's throne, which also has an Alnico 2, so I remain curious about the Custom Custom.
Either way, given what I've said, and that I like the 59/Custom (I'm SO glad to have finally thrown a bridge pickup in that I didn't want to desolder and take right back out!), should I keep the Custom Custom as my second option, or try something that hasn't even been mentioned yet? I don't "think" I want the regular Custom to be my second option, as I have a feeling it would be too "bold" and not as "gentlemanly" as I would prefer. Custom 5....maybe, but it seems to have a really steep "smiley face" EQ and I'm not sure I'd be happy with the much lower bids. I'm thinking Custom Custom, but I'm open to suggestions.
A couple last things here - the mids on the 59/Custom are super interesting, they're very....."powerful", but not overbearing or in a bad way, and it feels like it's more like lower mids than upper mids, and I like it. It's definitely MUCH different in the mids than any of the above pickups that I mentioned installing, including of course the 78. How does the midrange on the Custom Custom compare?
And the low end on the Custom Custom, how does that compare to the 78? I know it's WAY different than on the 59/Custom, so I won't even bother asking for a comparison there, but does the fact that it has an Alnico 2 retain some of that "chewy" bottom end, but hopefully a little tighter than the 78?
So.....59/Custom Trembucker, and....what's my Option B?
