A Trio of 8's.... The verdict

[BloodRose]

Re: A Trio of 8's.... The verdict

Thanks All!! Seems like many have found this helpful and that makes me glad.

The C8 works good for downtuning as it retains clarity. However, again the tone of that one is pretty linear and has vintage type of warmth. Id think that if you are tuning that low, you are playing pretty aggressive music and perhaps the ALt 8 would give you the added beef there. The C8 can get plenty aggressive too, as its alot like the Custom but with more feel, but the Alt 8 is a beast..

 

[metalmachine]

Re: A Trio of 8's.... The verdict

i would just like to add that i love the alt 8 thinking of buying 2 more and just loading my carvin and my sg with it. i always end up coming back to this pup. it is more crushing than the distortion or blackouts but also sings better

 

[CountFunkula]

Re: A Trio of 8's.... The verdict

BloodRose, I feel that your review of the Crazy 8 is a little under-appreciative. I personally have ZERO experience with it, but I have heard the Crazy 8 described as a brighter, more pleasant clean. I've also heard that it has more dynamics/articulation than the others and also sings better. What do you have to say about that? I ask because I'm looking to buy one for my maple Jackson.

 

[cheameup]

Re: A Trio of 8's.... The verdict

+1 on the alt 8 love. It has never sounded right to me till I converted my tele to 1 knob , bridge PU only guitar .

it just doesnt play well with other pu's but make it the only pu and its a great all round choice

 

[BloodRose]

Re: A Trio of 8's.... The verdict

BloodRose, I feel that your review of the Crazy 8 is a little under-appreciative. I personally have ZERO experience with it, but I have heard the Crazy 8 described as a brighter, more pleasant clean. I've also heard that it has more dynamics/articulation than the others and also sings better. What do you have to say about that? I ask because I'm looking to buy one for my maple Jackson.

Crazy 8 is great too. My fave go to pup is the C8, so Ive run those in many diff guitars and tend to be biased that way.. :bigok: I bought 2 crazy 8s and one got sold in my Charvel. So my experience was more limited and I dont want to state anything Im not sure of.. Plus, there were more reviews of the crazy 8 than the C8 when I posted this thread. I have however recently installed the other in my Gunslinger, but since my main rig is in storage, Ive not had the proper time to spend.. I will get her plugged up in the next coupla days and report my findings.. Ok? I will say, its a great pup! The girl that bought my charvel insisted on the pickup too because she was so blown away by it. (I originally intended on keeping the pup) The Crazy8 is brighter. Not harsh, but very present. Whereas the C8 has more warmth.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: A Trio of 8's.... The verdict

Ok, got it plugged up to the splawn today.. (Gawd that amp sounds good!!)
anyhow, didnt have any other 8s to compare to, but had 2 identical guitars, one with a Super distortion and one with a Crazy 8. The Crazy 8 was more cutting, but never harsh.. would really cut on leads. Even power chords on the high strings were ballsy, but never harsh. Lows nice and tight, but very present and harmonics were a cinch anywhere.. Compared to the Super D, the Super was much darker.

Hope this helps!

BTW, test axes were BC rich gunslingers.. Alder body/maple neck/board

 

[Grindspine]

Re: A Trio of 8's.... The verdict

I haven't tried the others but that is what I use the Alt 8 for. Good big, throaty rhythm tones and great leads tones that are reminiscent of a JB or Distortion but sweeter and with no icepick. I'm really starting to think its my favorite Duncan.

I had shrillness problems with the Distortion and regular Custom for lead work despite the fact that they are both great rhythm pickups.

I think "throaty rhythm tones" has me sold. That is one of my favorite things about the Duncan Distortion as a rhythm pickup, though the unwound strings can be a little too bright/crisp at times. Saying the Alt 8 has lead sounds like a JB or Distortion, but sweeter and no icepickiness sounds like a total win.

 

[skyydogg01]

How is the alt8 split? I would like to try one in my SZ320ex. The JB and distortion both sounded quite nasally when split. I know I need a high gain pup in that guitar because I have an HR101 in the neck (12k full on). The custom is another choice

 

[cheameup]

Re: A Trio of 8's.... The verdict

How is the alt8 split? I would like to try one in my SZ320ex. The JB and distortion both sounded quite nasally when split. I know I need a high gain pup in that guitar because I have an HR101 in the neck (12k full on). The custom is another choice

I had it on a push pull for splitting and it split ok I guess not great but not bad like all others I've tried. I'm not really a splitting fan and dont use it. I just hooked it up cause it was there

 

[dvanburen]

Re: A Trio of 8's.... The verdict

The Crazy 8 is more distortion flavor. Has more sizzle (NOT fizzy) and more cutting prescence. This is the best choice for players that like the Distortion type pups. This would be the last choice to use clean

The Custom 8 is more PAF/Vintage Flavor. Has a bit of a "squishy" attack with note bloom. This one I could just slam an A chord and hear the tubes clip. This would be the one to use if you want to occasionly cop a brown type of tone. ( NO, its not Brown sound pup!) Im just saying in has that paf natural tone.. This has the warmest clean.

The Alternative 8 is more crisp flavor. This is clean and prescise, but NOT sterile in any way.. Big, present sound all thru the range. This one would be great for guys who use lots of effects and this would probably be preferred by players who like Dimarzios.
Plenty of presence and tone , but very clear. Sounds good clean.

I'm gonna bring this one back to life instead of starting a new thread. After jumping on the Custom8 bandwagon, I have been curious of these pickups. Custom 8 is the only one i have experience with.

Bloodrose, I find your description of the Custom8 to be spot on to my experience and your description of the other two to be very revealing even if someone has not played them.

I love the custom8 alot. I also like the regular custom and the distortion because I play aggressive styles of music. I've always said that if I could have a cross between the DD and the custom 8 that I would have my perfect pickup. the regular custom is close,very close. It sounds huge but does not have the note separation that I love and the mids can get a bit flubby when there is alot going on.

I actually like the JB sound. Its modern and present and has that bite that I love. I dont like the loose low end that pup has and the "honky, nasal thing" bothers me a bit. it has good cleans and overall a nice pickup. I will mention that I've tried the JB8 and one word I can describe it is LOUD. too loud for me. I could hear some nice powerful tone in there but it was just too much for me.

The distortion is a real beast, but I feel like its a one trick pony and unless I am downtuning, (which I do sometimes). It does really well for that. it sounds like 80's hair metal to me. Not a bad thing just not quite what I'm after. I like the cut and bite but the sizzle of that pup offends my ears sometimes.

The Crazy 8 sounds like it is what I need. I want to try that pup but before I fork out the change for it I would like to get some more opinions first. Is this pup like the custom 8 but with a modern tone similar to the JB? I totally know what you mean when you say the C8 has a "squishy" attack. that is spot on. I'm looking for a tight bite. Maybe the alternative 8 is what I need. I'm not sure.

good descriptions BR. Could we elaborate on these some more? thanks

 

[misterwhizzy]

Re: A Trio of 8's.... The verdict

The Crazy 8 is an absolutely incredible pickup. A turn of the volume knob will change your view of pickup dynamics. Maybe it's the wind. Maybe it's the parallel axis design. I don't know. But it goes from jangly clean to full-on saturation without touching the amplifier. With the volume on ten, it fills out to sound enormous. And the split tone is fantastic as well.

My comparison to the Custom 8 is that when you turn up the gain on the Custom 8, it kind of laughs at you and pushes harder. With the Crazy 8, I hear it giving up a bit more and compressing instead of just staying strong and full. I think that makes the lead work a little bit smoother on the Crazy 8, but that may be the guitar it's in as well. I love them both, but for my style, I think I slightly prefer the Custom 8.

I also don't think the Crazy 8 is the step between the Custom 8 and the Distortion. I don't think it's as tight as the Custom 8, either, which isn't as tight as the Distortion. I also don't think my words are conveying its response either. Feel free to ask me any more questions, since they're both in the bridges of my guitars right now, and I'll try to help as much as I can.

 

[dvanburen]

Re: A Trio of 8's.... The verdict

no, thats a big help. I appreciate your response. I guess what I was trying to ask is when I play the custom8 I hear a very warm open pickup with a very tight bottom end. Not as big of bottom end as the custom or the DD. When Bloodrose described it as a squishy attack, I knew exactly what he meant. The custom wind in general has that. It is more vintage. I know somewhat from experience what the A8 does to the frequencies of a pickup so I would expect something similar from the crazy8. I wondered if the crazy 8 had a more modern sound to it like the JB. I feel like the JB has a sharp bite as opposed to the warm growl of the custom. This kind of bite is appealing to me with the style of music I play. I do not like the low end response of the JB especially in mohogany.

In Bloodrose's original review he said that the crazy 8 was more for people who like the distortion, which i do, i just don't like the shrilliness of it sometimes. That's what compelled me to ask about it. I'm not prepared quite yet to fork out 160+ bucks on it without hearing some more opinions.

I love the Custom8 and will always use it. I'm looking for something along the same lines just different.

I like to play with vintage correct tones especially for bluesey rock stuff or more mellow. And I really like it for hard rock. I love the custom 8 for that. It is very versatile and dynamic. But I also play metal and aggressive rock with lots of palm mutes, hammer ons and fast power chords. the custom 8 can do this but I would prefer something different for that. Love the custom, distortion and JB but dislike them for the reasons mentioned. I'm still on the hunt for that sound for me. EMG's are just ok. wont own them again. I like passives

 

[misterwhizzy]

Re: A Trio of 8's.... The verdict

I think the Crazy 8 screams modern. That's exactly what it does. I'd have to pull that guitar out and listen to the pick attack when I play it, and I may do that tomorrow. But I remember the first thing I thought when I played it was "modern."

 

[metalmachine]

Re: A Trio of 8's.... The verdict

I just put a a5 in my alt 8. To me its like the perfect blend of the jb and distortion. Bottom end and mids is like the distortion but the highs are much sweeter. It has fantastic articulation and not separation. Sustain and harmonics for days. I think you would like the alt8. And if it isn't quite there try a5 in it.

 

[dvanburen]

Re: A Trio of 8's.... The verdict

You know, all signs point to yes for the alt8, everything Ive read, it would seem like the perfect pickup for me. But every single soundclip I hear of it I don't like..at all. To me, it sounds like a thinner dimebucker in all the clips ive heard. Never heard one in person thought. thats the only thing that scares me about it.

Metalmachine, Thats cool that you swapped the mag out on that pickup. It really sounds cool. Did you play a distortion or JB before that?

 

[metalmachine]

Re: A Trio of 8's.... The verdict

You know, all signs point to yes for the alt8, everything Ive read, it would seem like the perfect pickup for me. But every single soundclip I hear of it I don't like..at all. To me, it sounds like a thinner dimebucker in all the clips ive heard. Never heard one in person thought. thats the only thing that scares me about it.

Metalmachine, Thats cool that you swapped the mag out on that pickup. It really sounds cool. Did you play a distortion or JB before that?

yeah i got a lot of expience with all 3 of those pups. ironically enough i stuck the a8 back in it. a5 was kool but in the end a8 is what sounds best in that pup imo

i also have expience with the dime bucker. they are nothing alike. there are some good demos on www.tonefinder.com of the alt 8. the alt 8 is huge tight crunchy articulate never harsh or sterile

 

[dvanburen]

Re: A Trio of 8's.... The verdict

cool, thanks for the link. I may just have to try it out. Hopefully bloodrose can chime back in

 

[BloodRose]

Re: A Trio of 8's.... The verdict

Hey Dvanburen! Im sorry, I totally missed this! Ive been really tied up lately trying to get the kids back to school and all. I appreciate your saying my descriptions were accurate! I tried to be objective and accurate.

give me a few of days and Ill try to recompare the c8 vs the crazy 8 and see what I get. Ive not played much lately.

 

[Fusion1]

Re: A Trio of 8's.... The verdict

Has anyone tried a Crazy 2,4 or 5 yet? How about a small or large ceramic in an ALT8 or Crazy 8?

 

[primo]

Re: A Trio of 8's.... The verdict

I haven't tried the others but that is what I use the Alt 8 for. Good big, throaty rhythm tones and great leads tones that are reminiscent of a JB or Distortion but sweeter and with no icepick. I'm really starting to think its my favorite Duncan.

I had shrillness problems with the Distortion and regular Custom for lead work despite the fact that they are both great rhythm pickups.

Totally agree!!!

Cheers Primo.