Another Custom 5 thread :-)

[Yzerman]

Hi Guys,

I put a C5 in my PRS CE22 and it's ok but i'm looking for more. I need a little less bass and a more mids, and i also find the highs a little abrasive. My question is, is the regular custom what i need? I have all the different magnets to try so i'm open to anything. My Les Paul has a JB in it and i like it but the JB did not work well in the PRS.

The guitar is dark to begin with so less highs won't work, i just need them smoother.

I play through a Mesa F50 with a 2x12 & Vintage 30's. I play 90's style rock and i like a tight crunchy tone like VH2 but with a little more gain.

Thanks

 

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: Another Custom 5 thread

Experiment! Especially if you have the magnets, give them a go and see what you like.

Love the username BTW. Not sure if your name or your just paying tribute to Stevie Y

 

[darthphineas]

Re: Another Custom 5 thread

Hi Guys,

I put a C5 in my PRS CE22 and it's ok but i'm looking for more. I need a little less bass and a more mids, and i also find the highs a little abrasive. My question is, is the regular custom what i need? I have all the different magnets to try so i'm open to anything. My Les Paul has a JB in it and i like it but the JB did not work well in the PRS.

The guitar is dark to begin with so less highs won't work, i just need them smoother.

I play through a Mesa F50 with a 2x12 & Vintage 30's. I play 90's style rock and i like a tight crunchy tone like VH2 but with a little more gain.

Thanks

sounds like the scooped EQ of the C5 isn't for you.

sounds a LOT like what Luke Duke said was going on with his PRS. he went through several options and ended up with the DiMarzio Dominion set.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Another Custom 5 thread

I have a couple of CU22's and I've done some pickup swapping in them. I liked the original A4 & Ceramic Dragon set and liked the original A5 Dragon II set even more, but being a tinkerer I thought I could do better.

Tried some Holmes A4 humbuckers but the sound was lacking in mids and seemed steely. Alnico 2 humbuckers didn't sound quite right either. Not enough bass or treble and too much midrange for one thing. And A3 seemed weak.

You know what's coming...roughcast alnico 5 magnets in a 59 set in my '95 CU22, and also in a Seth Lover set for my '02 CU22 are what finally felt like home.

IMO, paf style pickups with roughcast A5 are the ticket in those double cutaway PRS guitars like the CU22.

Since the OP already has a C5 and has the magnets too, I think I'd try a ceramic magnet in that Custom 5 and turn it into a Duncan Custom.

I used a Duncan Custom for quite a long time in a Strat, paired with a Pearly Gates neck pickup. It was a nice blues and rock set...although eventually I missed the more organic sound of an alnico bridge pickup.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Another Custom 5 thread

You seem to have neglected to consider another option in magnets:. UOA5.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

 

[Mincer]

Re: Another Custom 5 thread

UOA5, Rouchcast A5 and A8 are all solid choices for this wind. Buying all 3 will probably set you back $10...well worth doing before you give up on it.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Another Custom 5 thread

You seem to have neglected to consider another option in magnets:. UOA5.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

I like it. Not as much as RCA5...but I like it.

It's a little "nurky" sounding. Like plucking a piece of rubber with your fingernail. "Nurk".

RCA5 sounds more "normal".

I like A4 better in a single cutaway PRS than in a double cutaway PRS.

IMO, this guy gets it mostly right: http://www.romainpickups.com/alnico-magnets-explained/

We all have different tastes and use different words to describe the same thing.

 

[darthphineas]

Re: Another Custom 5 thread

roughcast alnico 5 magnets in a 59 set in my '95 CU22, and also in a Seth Lover set for my '02 CU22 are what finally felt like home.

is "home" the "90's style rock and i like a tight crunchy tone like VH2 but with a little more gain" that the OP plays?

 

[Demanic]

Re: Another Custom 5 thread

I put one in a JB and I love it. I have also heard good things about it being used in the Custom series. Just wanted to make sure that it wasn't forgotten as an option.
On an aside, I'd be very curious to hear from anyone who has tried an A4 in a Custom.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

 

[darthphineas]

Re: Another Custom 5 thread

I put one in a JB and I love it.

put on in a RTM to offset it being in a less than bright guitar. then realized I had to modify (and thereby voiding the warranty) of a premium-priced pickup to get it to sound how I wanted it in a certain guitar. that was another step in the beginning of the end of map swapping for me. it made more sense to buy the right pickup for the right guitar.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Another Custom 5 thread

is "home" the "90's style rock and i like a tight crunchy tone like VH2 but with a little more gain" that the OP plays?

Do you actually own a PRS? A CE22 or a CU22? I've spent hundreds of hours with mine and I've also owned a sweet CE24 that I did the pickup swapping thing with.

 

[darthphineas]

Re: Another Custom 5 thread

Do you actually own a PRS?

yes.



not everything that works for one person will meet everyone else's goals. the OP chases 90's style rock and i like a tight crunchy tone like VH2 but with a little more gain, not Clapton's 60s SG tone.

please remember that we are all friends here.

 

[Yzerman]

Re: Another Custom 5 thread

I have the UOA5 already and i have 2 ceramic mags on the way.... i'll experiment and report back.

As for my username.... Go Red Wings!

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Another Custom 5 thread

Id try a A8 first. It will shave off some of the lows and highs of the C5. Fill in the mids alittle , and give it a sweeter and more organic voice than the Custom will.. I LOVE Custom 8's

 

[AZ Picker]

Re: Another Custom 5 thread

The good ole regular custom with ceramic ended up being my choice for an all mahogany DARK sounding PRS CE22, while I love the Custom 8, it overwhelmed THAT guitar with too much in the low mids and it sounded terrible. But again, it was probably just that particular guitar. The Duncan distortion sounded great, maybe the dark natural tone of the guitar absorbed some of the sizzling highs some people experience. I can't remember if the 59/Custom hybrid was in production at the time I owned that guitar but I'll bet it would have been a keeper as well. It's been great in any other guitar I've put it in

 

[Aceman]

Re: Another Custom 5 thread

To answer the original question:

Currently too much bass, highs are abrasive?

for the love of god do not put a full on custom in that guitar....

 

[JeffB]

Re: Another Custom 5 thread

The best fix to do what you are asking is a 300k volume pot. It's the only way I can deal with the Custom 5 in stock form. It focuses the midrange while shaving off the overzealous extreme lows and highs without losing any clarity or articulation. It still will have plenty of tight bass and clarity in the highs. Its just gets rid of the nastiness. :bigthumb:

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Another Custom 5 thread

To answer the original question:

Currently too much bass, highs are abrasive?

for the love of god do not put a full on custom in that guitar....

You think the Custom has more bass and treble than Custom 5?

Maybe it does, but I don't remember it sounding that way.

I went from the Custom 5 to the Custom and liked the Custom better.

Not enough to keep it forever but enough to use it for a year or so.

Didn't like the Custom 5 at all: too much treble, too much bass and not enough mids.

Same guitar. A Strat though. Not a Gibson.

 

[chadd]

Re: Another Custom 5 thread

Hi Guys,

I put a C5 in my PRS CE22 and it's ok but i'm looking for more. I need a little less bass and a more mids, and i also find the highs a little abrasive. My question is, is the regular custom what i need? I have all the different magnets to try so i'm open to anything. My Les Paul has a JB in it and i like it but the JB did not work well in the PRS.

The guitar is dark to begin with so less highs won't work, i just need them smoother.

I play through a Mesa F50 with a 2x12 & Vintage 30's. I play 90's style rock and i like a tight crunchy tone like VH2 but with a little more gain.

Thanks

I play a lot of 90s stuff through a Road King and use a pretty wide variety of pickups. My Explorer has a Regular Custom, and it sounds great when I need a tight tone (Helmet Unsung, for example). I'm not sure that a regular custom is going to give you what you want, but I would order a bunch of magnets and start swapping. I refer A2 magnets for getting a lot of the tones of that era and I would consider making it a Custom Custom in your case. That said, grab an A2, A4, UOA5 and ceramic then see which one speaks to you.

Oh, and as Hawks fan, nothing but respect for Stevie Y.

 

[BFahz]

Re: Another Custom 5 thread

I just posted a similar issue, with my Arcane pups that are very similar to the C5. In short, I picked up a MXR 10 band (6 band would work too Im sure) and pulled down the 250 frequency and boosted the mids and highs a little, which did the trick. My Small Box went from slightly boomy with what sounded like a muffled high end (adding presence made it more screechy), to having clarity with punch. I ran the MXR in front because to me it sounded better than the loop and probably because the intent was to EQ the guitar.