59 Custom Hybrid vs Custom Custom

[dilver]

Help me decide… I play classic rock/heavier rock and typically prefer pickups with A5 but also like A2 mags. I have a Custom 5 in one of my guitars that I like a lot and I’m looking for a bridge pickup in another guitar. I know the Custom models are the same with different magnets, but the hybrid has different coils.

If the hybrid has more bite than the Custom Custom, does it sit between the Custom 5 and the Custom Custom?

Would I like the Custom Custom, if I like the Custom 5? What I wish the Custom 5 had was a bit more of a vocal quality.

 

[uOpt]

The CC really lacks treble. Special use only for me.

 

[ToneFiddler]

i tried the custom5 and custom custom.
for me it was a rather big difference!
you can always put a unoriented A5 in your custom5.

 

[Mincer]

The Hybrid absolutely has more treble, and the CC is more powerful. I love the CC as it tends to occupy a huge swath of frequencies- it takes up a lot of sonic space in a 1 guitar band. The Hybrid sounds like a more traditional scooped 'hot PAF-type' pickup.

 

[AdrianSD]

What I wish the Custom 5 had was a bit more of a vocal quality.

You might find the JB, perhaps with a roughcast or unoriented A5, quite suited for what you want.

 

[Teleplayer]

While the custom 5 has good dynamics and feels slightly PAF-like, the custom custom loses those qualities. If you normally prefer pickups with A5 magnets, I don’t think you would like the custom custom. It is surprising how much difference a magnet can make.

 

[thrill74]

Having had both in the bridge of the same guitar I can weigh in mildly. If you like the EQ and attack of the Custom 5 then the CC will be somewhat of a let down in comparison. The CC has a fuller body in the mids but the low end is spongy and the high end is too smooth. Again, that's just from comparison to the C5. If you go from the C5 to the Hybrid then the EQ AND the attack of the C5 is there as well as mids. It is probably my favorite pickup for the bridge of a Les Paul. In my PRS I had better luck EQ-wise with the C5.

 

[dilver]

Appreciate hearing all the experiences. I ordered a 59 Custom Hybrid and will see how it works out in my upcoming 3 pickup ash build. Hoping it pairs well with the Pearly Gates in the neck.

 

[Mincer]

The Hybrid sounds amazing in an ash guitar, btw.

 

[Archer250]

The Hybrid sounds amazing in an ash guitar, btw.

So does the CC

The entire Custom Family sounds great anyways tbh

The Hybrid ALSO sounds great with an A2

 

[Mincer]

So does the CC

The entire Custom Family sounds great anyways tbh

The Hybrid ALSO sounds great with an A2

The CC is my favorite bridge pickup, but I never tried it in ash. Just alder and mahogany.

 

[marcello252]

I was skeptical about the CC, I thought it might have too low highs and bass until I tried it on my basswood strat, it was beautiful, with a gainy Marshall was the closest thing I tried to the EVH vibe I've found, the Hybrid is a bit too hollow and spikey for my taste instead , but it's a matter of taste.
(anyway I've found my piece of mind with an Alnico II Pro, much more dynamic and less hot, but that's another story)

 

[hamerfan]

I quite liked the CC in bright Super strat (maple neck, alder body), but it was not my ticket in a Les Paul. Its was probably the shorter scale of the Paul that robbed a lot of attack and definition.

 

[Archer250]

The CC is my favorite bridge pickup, but I never tried it in ash. Just alder and mahogany.

I got a handwound clone in my Ash/Maple top superstrat, and in a guitar I sold, I also had an actual CC

It's pretty nice, I gotta say.

 

[Chistopher]

Put an Alnico 2 in your 59/C and it will check all your boxes.

 

[Mincer]

Put an Alnico 2 in your 59/C and it will check all your boxes.

That's something I haven't tried. I would probably like it.

 

[Clint 55]

What I wish the Custom 5 had was a bit more of a vocal quality.

Hopefully you like the 59/C. The CC is more vocal like, but it is FAT. If you want to vintage it out, and have the notes be a bit more chewy without the overall sound being massive, you can go A3.

 

[jeremy]

a3 in a cc is a great pup for sure

 

[freefrog]

I've tried various magnets in a Custom/59 hybrid for an Explorer and kept a degaussed RC A5. If memory serves me, it was a bit bland and unclear with A2, a tad too abrasive with ceramic... but it might have been different in another guitar.

Now and to reply to the question in the first post (I quote): "If the hybrid has more bite than the Custom Custom, does it sit between the Custom 5 and the Custom Custom?"

My answer is that as implied by its name and measured specs, the hybrid sits between... a Custom and a 59.

Something to keep in mind IMHO is the stronger North (slugs) coil. Unless the pickup is angled under the strings, it should tame some harmonics usually present with symmetrical humbuckers. That's why it was selected among 8 bridge humbuckers tried in the Explorer aforementioned : the hybrid was taming the ice-picky 3khz peak shown by the frequency analyzer with nearly all other PUs (well, a DiMarzio X2N was taming it too but it was because of its extremely high overall inductance and at the expense of any sonic openess beyond 3khz. Thx to the 59 coil, the hybrid has this openess characterizing low inductance P.A.F. replicas, just softened by the mid-centric voicing of the stronger North coil).

FWIW.
​

 

[Anficht]

a3 in a cc is a great pup for sure

I can confirm. I did the A3 mag in my Custom and it went into my Les Paul and was my favorite bridge pickup until I sold the guitar with the pickup in it.
Still masses of regret for selling it out of a sudden attack of GAS for something else...