Custom vs Custom 5 magnets

B

Blobby

New member
So these two p'ups are identical except for the magnets, correct? So ceramic in the Custom, and alnico 5 in the Custom 5.

Are the sizes the same though? Say I want to change a Custom to a Custom 5...do I need a 2.5 x .5 x .125 alnico 5? I think I read the ceramic is 2.5 x .5 x.125

Looking at MojoTone, I don't see 2.5, but I do see 2.44 and 2.625" long alnico 5's, both with the same .5" width and .125" thickness. Is it just splitting hairs at that point?
 
Re: Custom vs Custom 5 magnets

Blobby said:
So these two p'ups are identical except for the magnets, correct? So ceramic in the Custom, and alnico 5 in the Custom 5.

Are the sizes the same though? Say I want to change a Custom to a Custom 5...do I need a 2.5 x .5 x .125 alnico 5? I think I read the ceramic is 2.5 x .5 x.125

Looking at MojoTone, I don't see 2.5, but I do see 2.44 and 2.625" long alnico 5's, both with the same .5" width and .125" thickness. Is it just splitting hairs at that point?
Click to expand...

AFAIK all SD magnets are the same size. I recently swapped magnets between my Custom 5 & Alnico II Pro, leaving me with a Jazz and a Custom Custom. Both of those were the same size, but they're both alnico. I like my ceramic Customs just fine, so I haven't felt the need to pull the magnets from those.

I'm not sure about the Mojotone magnets, but if i were in your shoes I'd get the slightly smaller one as it's closest overall to the original magnet.
 
Re: Custom vs Custom 5 magnets

Or you can try a short A5. It should change the field a bit, but I'm not sure the effect on the tone.

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Re: Custom vs Custom 5 magnets

Addiction-fx, that's a name I couldn't remember but had heard people talk about for mags. Cool, nice to have options.

Thanks yall!
 
Re: Custom vs Custom 5 magnets

Blobby said:
Addiction-fx, that's a name I couldn't remember but had heard people talk about for mags. Cool, nice to have options.

Thanks yall!
Click to expand...

That's where I get mine. I'm very picky but their magnets seem to be very good.

You'll have a choice of roughcast vs. polished magnets.

Both sound good but I prefer roughcast. The tone seems rounder and more complex.

Seems like Duncan tends to use the roughcast magnets in what I think of as being their best pickups: the Antiquity humbuckers.
 
Re: Custom vs Custom 5 magnets

dystrust said:
AFAIK all SD magnets are the same size. I recently swapped magnets between my Custom 5 & Alnico II Pro, leaving me with a Jazz and a Custom Custom. Both of those were the same size, but they're both alnico. I like my ceramic Customs just fine, so I haven't felt the need to pull the magnets from those.

I'm not sure about the Mojotone magnets, but if i were in your shoes I'd get the slightly smaller one as it's closest overall to the original magnet.
Click to expand...

No, even Duncan's ceramics, like in the Custom, are twice as thick as their alnico mags
 
Re: Custom vs Custom 5 magnets

Blobby said:
So these two p'ups are identical except for the magnets, correct? So ceramic in the Custom, and alnico 5 in the Custom 5.

Are the sizes the same though? Say I want to change a Custom to a Custom 5...do I need a 2.5 x .5 x .125 alnico 5? I think I read the ceramic is 2.5 x .5 x.125

Looking at MojoTone, I don't see 2.5, but I do see 2.44 and 2.625" long alnico 5's, both with the same .5" width and .125" thickness. Is it just splitting hairs at that point?
Click to expand...

The ceramic mags are generally twice as thick as alnico. The various lengths of alnicos makes some difference, but not enough to worry at all about.

I always try to buy 2.5" but if I can't find that length (which is extremely rare), I'm not concerned at all. Except, longer than 2.5" won't fit in a normal sized humbucker. Those work better for trembuckers.
 
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Re: Custom vs Custom 5 magnets

This is the type of experimenting that everyone should do. A few hours with a few magnets reveals a lot.
 
Re: Custom vs Custom 5 magnets

GuitarDoc said:
No, even Duncan's ceramics, like in the Custom, are twice as thick as their alnico mags
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I admit that I haven't pulled a magnet from either of my SH-5s, but the spacers aren't any taller than my Custom Custom. I've also heard from several sources that Duncan uses both regular and double-thickness ceramics with the latter being used in the Distortion, Invader, and likely others. I've likewise heard of a Custom with the double-thick magnet being called a 'Big Custom'.
 
Re: Custom vs Custom 5 magnets

I swapped my custom and my custom 5 and they were the same size. They swapped fine

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Re: Custom vs Custom 5 magnets

GuitarDoc said:
No, even Duncan's ceramics, like in the Custom, are twice as thick as their alnico mags
Click to expand...

i am pretty sure the SH-5 custom has a regular sized ceramic like standard gibson A5s and A2s.
The SH-6 DIstortion for example has a double thick one
 
Re: Custom vs Custom 5 magnets

The Custom using a double thick magnet is nonsense. It’s a standard sized Duncan humbucker magnet.
 
Re: Custom vs Custom 5 magnets

Well I'll order multiple magnet sizes to be as mad a scientist as possible. Sane scientists are boring!
 
Re: Custom vs Custom 5 magnets

I find the ceramic mag in the Custom to sound fantastic. Right now, I don’t have any need to experiment with it’s stock form.
I don’t hear any shrill high end as some report with ceramic magnets.
 
Re: Custom vs Custom 5 magnets

Sorry, I meant to say Custom Custom / Custom. Before. So it was alnico 2 / ceramic

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Re: Custom vs Custom 5 magnets

The Custom uses a standard sized ceramic magnet. A lot of Seymour Duncan's ceramic pickups do use double-thickness ceramics like the TB-6 Distortion, SH-8 Invader & PATB-2 Parallel Axis Distortion, and likely several of the newer metal pickups.

There are a few people who really like the punch of a double thickness ceramic in the Customs, probably root of the confusion. But the nice thing about the Custom as a mag swap platform is most options (Custom, Custom Custom, Custom 5, homebrew Custom 8 & Custom UA5) take the same sized magnets without fiddling with keeper bar adjustments for height.
 
Re: Custom vs Custom 5 magnets

eclecticsynergy said:
The standard Custom is one of the only ceramic humbuckers I've been able to bond with.
Click to expand...

I’ll add the Super Distortion to that list also....at least for me.

But yes, the Custom is surprisingly warm and the high end is not harsh or brittle at all.
When I first installed it in my LP, it definitely had more sizzle than the pickup it replaced, and at first I wasn’t sure what to make of it. But now that I’ve had it in there for a month or so, I LOVE it.
 
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