custom custom question

[Deckles]

so what im trying to understand is how to use the tone chart. specifically for the custom custom. if i were to use that pickup would my bass end become muddy? like if i were using a fuzz and a downtuned guitar. and would i need to cut the bass on my amp? or would it basically cut it for me.

maybe this is what im trying to say. would it brighten up an otherwise naturally dark and bassy sound? would it compliment it nicely, especially after a few minor changes? or would it be the completely wrong pickup?

im only asking cuz i see that josh homme "advocates" it and he tunes low and all that. i dont want his sound, but we have similar set ups, minus i dont use a bass amp.

what i really want for a sound is a bright enough, clear enough, dynamic, dark sound. not an average metal pickup because i dont use high gain amps or overdrive. most of my heavy gain comes from fuzz, but i use a lot of subtle effects to alter my tone as needed and my pickup has to be dynamic enough to keep those from destroying my sound

 

[MikeM]

Re: custom custom question

I find the Cc very dark personally.. Popping a different magnet in could change the flavour a bit though. I have a yearning for a custom with an A3 magnet, maybe even roughcast, but an unoriented a5 seems like it would suit you perfect

 

[Deckles]

Re: custom custom question

what is an a5? is that a magnet? and where would i find out about these?

 

[MikeM]

Re: custom custom question

Yes Alnico 5. Search around on the forum, swapping magnets is a very common practice here :-D

 

[Despair]

Re: custom custom question

I don't play much with fuzz, and haven't really heard the Custom Custom in a heavily downtuned setup. At E flat it's more soft & warm, a buttery lead sound. In brighter guitars, winds up around mid-80s Van Halen. It tends to have slightly squishy bass, though, a common feature of A2 magnets.

An A8 magnet might work for you, but it might even have too much bass for your needs. Which of his setups is yours like? According to wikipedia he heavily uses semi-hollowbody guitars.

How articulate a pickup are you looking for? Something like the Screamin' Demon might work, or it might be entirely too bright. If the guitar is a solidbody, you might like the Full Shred, it's very articulate for down-tuned work (Rob Zombie's guitarist tends to use it heavily, but he tends to thrash solid state amps with it, which isn't like your setup at all).

More details about your setup (guitar, pedals, amp, speakers) can only help us advise you more usefully.

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: custom custom question

Yeah, we need to know what you're using and what sound you're going for before we can help. I can say with fair certainty that a CC is not what you're looking for. A hot A2 pickup with fuzz is gonna be do the low fi QOTSA sound like rolling your tone knobs back. Cool sound, but I have to assume that is not what you're going for.

 

[blueman335]

Re: custom custom question

would it brighten up an otherwise naturally dark and bassy sound? would it compliment it nicely, especially after a few minor changes? or would it be the completely wrong pickup?

Right PU, wrong magnet. A2's have lots of mids, a rounded high end, and a loose low end.

 

[Deckles]

Re: custom custom question

well it is for my schecter semi-hollowbody. and i tune it either Eb or C. i use a peavey valveking or sometimes a fender POS. then russian muff for anything real hardrock and sometimes a qtron filter set so its more of a tonal bypass with some gain so i can do leads the way a wah would change your tone. also an ehx delay and phaser. everything is true bypass. the key to this new sound im trying to go for is the ehx germanium overdrive. i can use it to "fuzz" up my sound or give a raunchier overdrive and basically use one pedal to create a light textured overdrive of my choosing and then add in the muff for real fuzz and blues tone solos or the occasional extra energy in a rhythm.

so i have things that add a lot of bass to my sound and i have things to pump up the leads and highs. thats why i keep my mid high up. i need a pivot point. and i love that "i think i lost my head ache" tone (sort of a half cocked wah effect) and i dont want just a high gain pickup that is sorta bland and uncharacteristic unless its perfect for sound sculpting.

my baritone is really for metal and my sludgepunk band, so as im working on my sound for that next project i want to have it all ready. its something that im finding a hard time to explain. its like a mix of dance and rock and blues. the guitar is not always the focus. its like an indie sound mixed with beck or gorillaz but really is a band that has the ability to play anything with no limitations like a metal or hard rock band has. (like the whole power ballad stigma/that pop song)

sorta a psychedelic dance band that is instrument strong and melodic.

 

[Deckles]

Re: custom custom question

also i love lullabies to paralyze, rated r, and self titled qotsa records. plus a lot of black keys, white stripes, dead weather, mars volta (frances the mute mostly), at least as far as guitar influence. analog anything makes me hard, so classic stuff, especially 70's era and southern rock.

 

[Christopher Caruana]

Re: custom custom question

for me, the CC is best in either a bright guitars or through a bright amp. I had one in my kramer baretta for a while. It had a Maple body, maple neck and a floyd rose.....and on top of that I played it through a JCM 800! 800's arent exactly known for being warm amps.

The CC was great for my case because I had a bright guitar and a bright amp

 

[dr. ad]

Re: custom custom question

Something like the Screamin' Demon might work

^ this

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: custom custom question

had the customcustom in an SG tuned to C standard for a while

sounded awesome...i've got a P-Rails in that guitar now for more diversity but i did not hate the tone with a CustomCustom...

 

[Despair]

Re: custom custom question

well it is for my schecter semi-hollowbody. and i tune it either Eb or C.

my baritone is really for metal and my sludgepunk band, so as im working on my sound for that next project i want to have it all ready.

Guitar model(s) would save some confusion, and are these two separate guitars, or do you have a baritone semi-hollow? Wood (particularly fretboard/neck) and bridge details often impact tone (bigsby, string-through body, various Gibson styles...). I have less knowledge about semi-hollows than solidbodies, but I know that whether it's a thicker carved top or a thinner more acoustic top has a big impact on them, and whether it has f-holes or other soundholes or not impacts feedback & tone. All of which affects what pickup you are likely to want. A feedback-prone body tends not to like extremely high output pickups.

Some semi-hollowbodies are a major pain to do pickup tinkering on, so I probably wouldn't recommend something that might need a magnet swap to fine tune if you are working on one of those.

The rest of the chain is very useful (particularly the overdrive/fuzz, btw is it guitar->OD->fuzz or fuzz->OD? or do you do something more odd, like split it into different amps and use it all simultaneously?).

'59 is pretty popular in the stoner genre, and is a great all around pickup. If you want something more midrangy, a Pearly Gates could be fun. Seth Lovers are a smoother midrangy sound.

Also, is it a dual full size humbucker setup?

I realize we aren't directly addressing your question about the tone chart, but the tone chart is a bit spotty, some pickups have reversed order (TMB instead of BMT or is it the other way around? Been a long time since I've even looked at it), and it really doesn't get all the details. Lower mid & upper mid matter a lot for character, is it fat bass or tight, what woods or construction does it tend to like...

 

[Deckles]

Re: custom custom question

its an old corsair with a bigsby. ebony fretboard and maple body i think

i have my guitar-delay-filter-phaser-fuzz-od
the fuzz goes into the od because otherwise theres a significant volume drop and muddiness issue

i think just a regular pickup change would do it.

with the gain all the way up i get a lot of feedback but i dont need the gain up that high because theres so much distortion in my fuzz anyway

i think the CC sounds nice because of it being a "traditional" sounding pickup with higher output. also, its two humbuckers with a tapping option

im fairly certain i want a jazz in the neck. at the moment it has two duncan designs in (versions of the 59 i think)

the CC is like a 3/7/7 BMT which is why im wondering if thats telling me it wouldnt be good for a naturally bassy tone. although ive heard that the invader is muddy even though its got a 8 or something. so idk how to take that information since i cant exactly try out pickups on my rig

 

[Deckles]

Re: custom custom question

also the baritone is a completely separate guitar and issue.

 

[Despair]

Re: custom custom question

its an old corsair with a bigsby. ebony fretboard and maple body i think

i have my guitar-delay-filter-phaser-fuzz-od
the fuzz goes into the od because otherwise theres a significant volume drop and muddiness issue

i think just a regular pickup change would do it.

with the gain all the way up i get a lot of feedback but i dont need the gain up that high because theres so much distortion in my fuzz anyway

i think the CC sounds nice because of it being a "traditional" sounding pickup with higher output. also, its two humbuckers with a tapping option

im fairly certain i want a jazz in the neck. at the moment it has two duncan designs in (versions of the 59 i think)

the CC is like a 3/7/7 BMT which is why im wondering if thats telling me it wouldnt be good for a naturally bassy tone. although ive heard that the invader is muddy even though its got a 8 or something. so idk how to take that information since i cant exactly try out pickups on my rig

The Custom Custom has lighter bass, but it's also got rolled off treble. It doesn't lack for upper mids or lower mids, though, but it's a bit squishy, maybe even a bit loose depending on the guitar. Think Van Halen around 1984, though he did use brighter body woods then.

The Custom Custom will definitely be less bright than a '59.

If you want a sculptable sound, you probably want something a bit more balanced, but without too much bass push. What don't you like about the '59s? If it's just too much bass, there's a number of things you can try. My first step tends to be dropping in some hex screws under the wound strings. You can also search for Artie's de-mud mod.

I recommend the Screamin' Demon (don't be fooled by the name! It's not a hot high output pickup at all. It has a nice growl and bite, but is quite tight and articulate) because it's got tight bass and is great for tuning down. You might have some trouble with balancing it against a neck pickup, though, as it's a lower medium output. On the other hand, if you like switching to neck for bassier riffing and leads, rather than the cleans many guitarists use the neck for...

 

[Jackson Distortion]

Re: custom custom question

Not to hijack the good OP's thread, but has anyone played the CC through a guitar with an ebony fretboard and maple neck. Alder body? :13:

 

[LatsMcGee]

Re: custom custom question

If you want an A2 that works well under drop tuning I would get an El Diablo. The more I hear it in my friend's Jackson the more I think it's the world's most amazing pickup. Cleans up awesome, does drop tunings great. I reaallly love that PU. I will probably get myself a new axe just to buy one.

 

[cvansickle]

Re: custom custom question

for me, the CC is best in either a bright guitars or through a bright amp. I had one in my kramer baretta for a while. It had a Maple body, maple neck and a floyd rose.....and on top of that I played it through a JCM 800! 800's arent exactly known for being warm amps.

The CC was great for my case because I had a bright guitar and a bright amp

My story exactly. I have a CC in my Charvel So-Cal and it's there to stay. I matched it with a Pearly Gates neck, and it's the only guitar that I absolutley LOVE the middle switch position! My main amp is a Mesa Stiletto Ace, which leans into the Marshall camp more so than the typical Mesa.

I didn't like the stock Dimarzio Tone Zone in that guitar, and the first replacement I tried was the Custom 5. That didn't work, it seemed the Custom 5 just flattened the EQ of that guitar without boosting anything. A dealer/friend suggested the CC instead (so I just swapped the magnet to an A2). Instant bliss. BLISS! Smooth, singing highs, authoritative mids, and a discrete bottom. This sound is perfect in this guitar.

 

[Deckles]

Re: custom custom question

The Custom Custom has lighter bass, but it's also got rolled off treble. It doesn't lack for upper mids or lower mids, though, but it's a bit squishy, maybe even a bit loose depending on the guitar. Think Van Halen around 1984, though he did use brighter body woods then.

The Custom Custom will definitely be less bright than a '59.

If you want a sculptable sound, you probably want something a bit more balanced, but without too much bass push. What don't you like about the '59s? If it's just too much bass, there's a number of things you can try. My first step tends to be dropping in some hex screws under the wound strings. You can also search for Artie's de-mud mod.

I recommend the Screamin' Demon (don't be fooled by the name! It's not a hot high output pickup at all. It has a nice growl and bite, but is quite tight and articulate) because it's got tight bass and is great for tuning down. You might have some trouble with balancing it against a neck pickup, though, as it's a lower medium output. On the other hand, if you like switching to neck for bassier riffing and leads, rather than the cleans many guitarists use the neck for...

yeah i typically use the neck for completely separate stuff than the bridge. sometimes i blend both. i like that round bass, maybe even slightly scooped neck sound that you get in blues. plus a nice octave ring, like the Little Sister Solo, or a number of hendrix or page solos

the thing about the 59 is that it has no interesting character. i find it bright and solid but not special. im not saying its a bland pickup, but maybe a really good pickup for anything. im looking for like an enhancement. i considered the Dc for that reason

as for the screaming demon, i have that feeling like its for tight marshall sounding leads, too much treble and not enough mids

i like my mids to do the beefing and some treble to give it a good edge and then to just sit on my bass. so that in mind which of the suggestions would be the best recommendation? or any other pickup, doesnt have to be high output, maybe even a humbucker size p90?