custom 5 and Pearly Gates neck combo in an LP

[Gearjoneser]

Re: custom 5 and Pearly Gates neck combo in an LP

I can't imagine what one of these with a JC120 and no compressor will do

You don't think the PGn has too much bass when playing chords?

I just figured out your problem. The sh1ttiest rig on planet earth! :friday:

 

[bagouser]

Re: custom 5 and Pearly Gates neck combo in an LP

You don't think the PGn has too much bass when playing chords?

I keep my neck pickup volume either at 50% or tapped most of the time, so no. Try lowering the pickup on the thick strings side.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: custom 5 and Pearly Gates neck combo in an LP

If you play mostly Heavy Rock and/or Metal, try the A8 magnet first into that Custom. If you play Classic Rock, Blues, Jazz Rock Fusion or the like, the UOA5 might be the one you're looking for.

HTH,

+1. There you go!

 

[dlc1953]

Re: custom 5 and Pearly Gates neck combo in an LP

+1. There you go!

Hey like to jump in on this train. So magnet swap to get you to CR/Blues/Jazz is a ?5. If JB is a 5 already how does that work. Or is that only relevant to C5. Would the 8 be over the top for JB and above mentioned genre? Thanks

 

[smorgdonkey]

Re: custom 5 and Pearly Gates neck combo in an LP

But that C5 doesn't always sound great.

I tried 2 different C5 pickups in mahogany guitars. One with a maple cap and one without. I didn't like it at all (I like clean all the way to hard edged stuf) and my bud who likes extremely heavy music hated it. Neither he nor I have any C5 pickups due to that experience. I love the JB in many guitars, love the '59 in the neck in every guitar I've ever heard it in, love the Jazz in the neck of a hollow. C5? Paperweight IMO.

 

[blueman335]

Re: custom 5 and Pearly Gates neck combo in an LP

Hey like to jump in on this train. So magnet swap to get you to CR/Blues/Jazz is a ?5. If JB is a 5 already how does that work. Or is that only relevant to C5. Would the 8 be over the top for JB and above mentioned genre? Thanks

Custom 5's and JB's are wound differently. Customs are 14K and JB's are 16K with thinner wire.

Most of the Custom family works very well in mahogany (a warm wood): Custom, C5, C8, and C4. The CC (A2) tends to be best in bright woods.

The stock JB (A5) does better in bright woods, and with warmer magnets (A2 and A8) does better more often in mahogany. Because of the way both families of PU's are wound, they react to woods and magnets differently. Of course wood is organic and extremely variable, as are the rigs played thru, so there are always exceptions.

Any given PU may or may not produce the sound you want in a given guitar. If you're not thrilled, you are not helpless though. Start with adjusting the set-up (PU, pole piece, and string heights), then PU mods (magnets & different pole pieces), and pot values. With these simple and inexpensive techniques, many of us here can get wonderful tones from PU's who's tones were originally not what we wanted. The power's in your hands, use it.

 

[blueman335]

Re: custom 5 and Pearly Gates neck combo in an LP

I tried 2 different C5 pickups in mahogany guitars. One with a maple cap and one without. I didn't like it at all (I like clean all the way to hard edged stuf) and my bud who likes extremely heavy music hated it. Neither he nor I have any C5 pickups due to that experience. I love the JB in many guitars, love the '59 in the neck in every guitar I've ever heard it in, love the Jazz in the neck of a hollow. C5? Paperweight IMO.

What didn't you like tonewise, and did you try different magnets to change the EQ? Just because a C5 comes with an A5 magnet doesn't mean that's what's going to work best in your guitar and your rig. Duncan took those same coils and made two more PU's from them, the Custom (ceramic) and CC (A2). On this forum we also make the C8 (A8) and C4 (A4) by swapping magnets. Those two add warmth and mids to a C5, and many of us prefer it in mahogany over a C5 now. If you don't swap magnets, your PU choices are usually pretty limited.

 

[smorgdonkey]

Re: custom 5 and Pearly Gates neck combo in an LP

I didn't swap magnets. That is just something that I have heard about here in the last 6 months but, to me, a good pickup has always been a pickup that I could fine a tone that I liked by tweaking pickup height, amplifier settings and vol/tone controls on the guitar itself.

So, I'm not saying that they can't be made useful but in stock form I haven't found them to be.

 

[blueman335]

Re: custom 5 and Pearly Gates neck combo in an LP

I didn't swap magnets. That is just something that I have heard about here in the last 6 months but, to me, a good pickup has always been a pickup that I could fine a tone that I liked by tweaking pickup height, amplifier settings and vol/tone controls on the guitar itself.

Stick around. You can do a lot with replacement magnets, and we'll teach you about it. I was buying and selling PU's, hoping to stumble across ones that fit a particular guitar, which gets to be expensive and frustrating. Once I started swapping magnets, I was able to make PU's sound the way I wanted them to. Much better to spend a couple dollars and 10 minutes to swap a magnet, than to continually lose money in a cycle of buying and selling PU's. I like C5's, but wanted more warmth and mids. I've converted all my various Customs over to either C8's or C5's with unoriented A5 magnets. No more scoop, no more excess treble.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: custom 5 and Pearly Gates neck combo in an LP

I'm all for magnet swaps, but half the time, I have the same kind of luck with tone just by moving around the EQ on the amp. That's really what pickups are...tone shapers. You can either do it from the pickup end, or the amp end.

I notice that pickup tweakers are often amp nuts too. That's been my case as well. As a result, I tend to be very distinctive in what I like for pickups, but constantly experiment with the amp side. Others may be the opposite....constant tweakers with pickups and magnets, yet using the same two amps constantly.

What we're doing is moving tone around in tiny increments, from pickup, magnet, wood, circuit, tube, and speaker. That's what makes the tone search so fun and so ridiculous. The real truth is it's in your hands and musical mind, but when you add it to all those technical variables, it's infinite. It's so obviously THAT, which is why the world of internet gear babble is so crazy at the end of the day.

 

[uOpt]

Re: custom 5 and Pearly Gates neck combo in an LP

Just to make that clear: the awg43 wind on the Custom coils often comes out darker than the JB/DD awg44 wind. The JB can be shrill in a way the C5 is not. A JB/A2 definitely has more highs than a CC.

Don't be fooled by the D/C resistance. They have pretty much exactly the same number of winds (thinner wire on the JB/DD) and the JB/DD has smaller coils, the Custom coils occupy more space. That seems to amplify quite a few frequencies in a range that we perceive as "bright". (technically speaking there is no bright electric guitar but anyway)

 

[blueman335]

Re: custom 5 and Pearly Gates neck combo in an LP

Just to make that clear: the awg43 wind on the Custom coils often comes out darker than the JB/DD awg44 wind. The JB can be shrill in a way the C5 is not. A JB/A2 definitely has more highs than a CC.

Don't be fooled by the D/C resistance. They have pretty much exactly the same number of winds (thinner wire on the JB/DD) and the JB/DD has smaller coils, the Custom coils occupy more space. That seems to amplify quite a few frequencies in a range that we perceive as "bright". (technically speaking there is no bright electric guitar but anyway)

Very well put.

 

[dlc1953]

Re: custom 5 and Pearly Gates neck combo in an LP

Ok, so I got a holr of guy from FX addictions and told me what he liked, says 8 can put you into metal territory, not my thing. 2 maybe to mellow.uo5 maybe? Roughcast? It's gotta be a good match tonally with Pearly but still have lead punch. I understand Joe Perry uses JB I don't think his stuff has a real shrill edge to it. Anyway want to place order by tommorrow so suggestion's would be help-full.

 

[chris_tw21]

Re: custom 5 and Pearly Gates neck combo in an LP

Jb/jazz is going to be in your future if you are playing a les paul.Esp does this stock for a reason.

 

[blueman335]

Re: custom 5 and Pearly Gates neck combo in an LP

Jb/jazz is going to be in your future if you are playing a les paul.Esp does this stock for a reason.

Get a JB/Jazz and it's in your future to end up selling the JB, like most guys with LP's have done. You need to read more threads and colorful descriptions of how horrible a JB in mahogany sounds to most players.

ESP puts JB's in their guitars because that's what Duncan's promoting and giving them discount pricing on; the actual sound quality isn't the overriding factor for ESP. They want to have a well-known hot bridge PU in their guitars. That will sell more of their guitars, than a lesser-known, but better-sounding PU for an LP, like a Custom or C5.

 

[dlc1953]

Re: custom 5 and Pearly Gates neck combo in an LP

Get a JB/Jazz and it's in your future to end up selling the JB, like most guys with LP's have done. You need to read more threads and colorful descriptions of how horrible a JB in mahogany sounds to most players.

ESP puts JB's in their guitars because that's what Duncan's promoting and giving them discount pricing on; the actual sound quality isn't the overriding factor for ESP. They want to have a well-known hot bridge PU in their guitars. That will sell more of their guitars, than a lesser-known, but better-sounding PU for an LP, like a Custom or C5.

Morning. hey thanks for in put but I've already ordered a Pearly for neck[stock PUP is a 59 modelled pup and to bassy and dark for my taste] so Pearly it is for neck. Bridge is ? sell JB could be but what about a 2 or uo5 to fix it up? If not whats good match for PG in Bridge.

 

[blueman335]

Re: custom 5 and Pearly Gates neck combo in an LP

Morning. hey thanks for in put but I've already ordered a Pearly for neck[stock PUP is a 59 modelled pup and to bassy and dark for my taste] so Pearly it is for neck. Bridge is ? sell JB could be but what about a 2 or uo5 to fix it up? If not whats good match for PG in Bridge.

Lots of guys here love a PG set in an LP, and I'm one of them. If you want a hot bridge, a JB with an A2 is a wonderful PU, much better than the stock A5. C8's are getting very popular here in mahogany guitars. One of these three PU's will make you a happy boy, maybe all three of them would.