CustomCustom trouble

[blueman335]

Re: CustomCustom trouble

So, blueman, you wouldn't trust anyone at the Duncan Custom Shop to do it if you couldn't or didn't want to? That's pretty much what it sounds like considering theboatcandream mentioned them. Kind of a kick in the teeth to MJ, dontcha think?

My mistake. I thought he was talking about the average tech at a local music store, and there have been plenty of horror stories about them on this forum. I would completely trust the work of the SD shop, but why pay them to do something so simple that thousands of us regularly do in a matter of minutes. $20 plus there's shipping to and from; save the cash. I'd like to see players more self-sufficient and taking control of their tone.

As far as the dental aspects of all this, I missed the reference to the SD Custom shop in that email in my quick read and meant no disrespect to the SD team (that's an apology). I was thinking bigger picture, in terms of the average guy here who goes to a local tech, some of which are very good, others aren't. The botton line is: why not do the easy stuff yourself. You've got many people on the forum to guide you thru almost anything. If you're coordinated enough to move both hands together and play guitar, you can swap a magnet.

 

[ErikH]

Re: CustomCustom trouble

My mistake. I thought he was talking about the average tech at a local music store, and there have been plenty of horror stories about them on this forum. I would completely trust the work of the SD shop, but why pay them to do something so simple that thousands of us regularly do in a matter of minutes. $20 plus there's shipping to and from; save the cash. I'd like to see players more self-sufficient and taking control of their tone.

As far as the dental aspects of all this, I missed the reference to the SD Custom shop in that email in my quick read and meant no disrespect to the SD team (that's an apology). I was thinking bigger picture, in terms of the average guy here who goes to a local tech, some of which are very good, others aren't. The botton line is: why not do the easy stuff yourself. You've got many people on the forum to guide you thru almost anything. If you're coordinated enough to move both hands together and play guitar, you can swap a magnet.

I was hoping that's what you meant. I apologize of my reply there was a little harsh.

:beerchug:

I agree, don't let any local techs do this sort of thing unless they REALLY know what they are doing and have actually done it successfully themselves. Sadly, some self-titled techs can't even wire guitars correctly.

massy, look up the tutorial in the vault or on projectguitar.com for how to swap magnets. It really is easy to do. Just make sure you have the polarity of the magnets sorted out so they are put in the right direction. A polarity tester isn't a bad thing to have either.

 

[blueman335]

Re: CustomCustom trouble

II agree, don't let any local techs do this sort of thing unless they REALLY know what they are doing and have actually done it successfully themselves. Sadly, some self-titled techs can't even wire guitars correctly.

We're on the same page. Let's say you have a tech put in a magnet, but it isn't quite what you want, so you want to try another, or put the original back in. That's another $20 (and maybe shipping too). It doesn't take long before you could have bought another PU...or two. If you have a few guitars, like most of us do, you'll spend hundreds of dollars having techs doing simple stuff like set ups & magnet/pot swaps. Stuff you should be doing. If the local tech is a hack, you may be worse off than when you started. Besides money, all this takes time. Do it yourself & you're done in minutes or hours, and you learn a lot in the process.

Two books that got me started: Dan Erlewine's "How to make your guitar play and sound great" and for the adventurous, Donald Brosnac's "Guitar electronics for musicians", both available at StewMac. And read old threads on this forum; you'll see the many of the same topics rehashed regularly. You'll be up to speed before long.

 

[massy]

Re: CustomCustom trouble

First of all, let me thank you again for all the good inputs you suggested...
Done some experiments...
First of all, rechecked all the wiring, nothing wrong, is EXACTLY the layout on the SD wiring vault...2HB 1V+1T and a PushPull on the tone...
Second, tried to play with the height of the pickup...lowering the bass side cleared a bit the things, but lost most of the power...
Third, made almost every possible try on amps and settings...strange eqs, boosters and various pedals...the low end remains flubby and poor.
I think that I'm Alnico2 incompatible:butkick:
A friend of mine accepted to make a swap...his Duncan Custom for my Custom Custom...
We will see if this is the pickup for my needs:fingersx:

 

[blueman335]

Re: CustomCustom trouble

the low end remains flubby and poor. I think that I'm Alnico2 incompatible:butkick: A friend of mine accepted to make a swap...his Duncan Custom for my Custom Custom...We will see if this is the pickup for my needs:fingersx:

I too am not thrilled with A2's. I think they need the right wood to shine. If you had some spare magents now, all you'd have to do is pop in a ceramic & you'd have a Custom. We've learned to enjoy this tweaking. You just might too.

 

[ErikH]

Re: CustomCustom trouble

Massy, does your amp/speaker cab have an open back or closed back? Yes, this does make a difference in low end.

When I had a CC in a Les Paul, the lows, while not as tight as an A5 or Ceramic, were still holding together. They weren't overly loose either, but more on the edge, if you get what I mean. I was running through a closed back 4x12 at the time and I know that contributed to it. Even when I had the CC in one of my Strats, same thing.

Today, I'm running '57 Classics in my frankenstrat through a closed back combo and get a nice low end response that is not flubby at all. They're a unique pickup though. They have properties of both A2 and A5 which I like a lot.

The Custom may do it for ya. Lots of folks on this board like that in mahogany short scale guitars.

 

[massy]

Re: CustomCustom trouble

I too am not thrilled with A2's. I think they need the right wood to shine. If you had some spare magents now, all you'd have to do is pop in a ceramic & you'd have a Custom. We've learned to enjoy this tweaking. You just might too.

Just place an order for some spare magnets..AlNico5 and Ceramics on the way ;-)
I have the chance to make this swap for free, just a trade between two friends...in a future I'm sure I'll learn to swap magnets...

 

[massy]

Re: CustomCustom trouble

Massy, does your amp/speaker cab have an open back or closed back? Yes, this does make a difference in low end.

When I had a CC in a Les Paul, the lows, while not as tight as an A5 or Ceramic, were still holding together. They weren't overly loose either, but more on the edge, if you get what I mean. I was running through a closed back 4x12 at the time and I know that contributed to it. Even when I had the CC in one of my Strats, same thing.

Today, I'm running '57 Classics in my frankenstrat through a closed back combo and get a nice low end response that is not flubby at all. They're a unique pickup though. They have properties of both A2 and A5 which I like a lot.

The Custom may do it for ya. Lots of folks on this board like that in mahogany short scale guitars.

This is true...I'm running my amps through ALL closed cabs...recto 2x12 and a Marshall 1x12, depending on the needs...V30 speakers...flubbiness has never been a problem...I'm pretty confident that the duncan custom will be the solution:fing2:
thanks!

 

[Aceman]

Re: CustomCustom trouble

Guys - we are REALLY MISSING THE POINT. Harsh highs from a CC????? WTF?????\


You really need to trouble shoot the guitar/amp here! Try other guitar, other known hb's etc....Then have someone REALLY check the wiring on the switch...

When you are done you'll have a fat dark CC, I bet, without swapping pup/mag one. And you'll still be unhappy with the bottom. At which point then I suggest putting a ceramic in there to get the "Custom" as Blueman suggests.

 

[slightly_rude]

Re: CustomCustom trouble

First of all, let me thank you again for all the good inputs you suggested...
Done some experiments...
First of all, rechecked all the wiring, nothing wrong, is EXACTLY the layout on the SD wiring vault...2HB 1V+1T and a PushPull on the tone...
Second, tried to play with the height of the pickup...lowering the bass side cleared a bit the things, but lost most of the power...
Third, made almost every possible try on amps and settings...strange eqs, boosters and various pedals...the low end remains flubby and poor.
I think that I'm Alnico2 incompatible:butkick:
A friend of mine accepted to make a swap...his Duncan Custom for my Custom Custom...
We will see if this is the pickup for my needs:fingersx:

Take a look at the alleged, stock CC magnet. It should have a blue mark of paint on the edge of it indicating it is an AlNiCo II magnet.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: CustomCustom trouble

Do you have a multimeter? If not, you can get a $10 one at Walmart......or pay a little more for a better one.

Plug a 1 foot cable into the guitar, set the meter to ohms, and test the positive/negative on the end of the cable. That pickup should read around 14.4K ohms. If it's much less, something's wrong.

Changing the magnet to a Ceramic would be my next step, so you'll have a beefier and tighter sounding Custom. If that's still too trebley, then adjust the rest of your rig or start turning your tone control down to 7-8.

 

[sonnyblu]

Re: CustomCustom trouble

I tried a CC for my PRS CU22 also... hoping to fatten things up.
My CC reads out a 13.89 K Ohms and I think it sounds about as thin as everything else I have tried also, aside from the DMZ Norton. However... I have not gigged with it yet...
I have always used PG's in my guitars but they are way to bright for this PRS.
The original Dragon I PU was a ceramic magnet and it was fat with mids... I thought to much.
So I am going to do the same... try a ceramic magnet in the CC if I still am not satisfied after the next gig.
Yeah, I think the CC is pretty mushy in the bass too... and I don't play that heavy of music. Ceramic magnet may be the trick...

 

[SwedishHumbucker]

Re: CustomCustom trouble

I have the Gibson Burstbucker Pro pickups with alnico 5 magnets in my Gibson Les Paul standard and they can be pretty agressive and the brigde pickups DC is only 8,5k.
So i´m not sure you need massive DC.
Van Halen uses 9,1k DC in his pickup and put the amp to full volume.
Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates are 8,3 i think i the brigde, mayber that would work for you.
You reallt get nice clean tones with theese kinds of pickup and great artificial harmonics
Good luck

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: CustomCustom trouble

Remove the bright cap before you do anything else on any PRS guitar. The idea is nice but in practice those things do more harm than good 80% of the time

 

[Onslow]

Re: CustomCustom trouble

What sort of wiring mistake(s) would cause a very warm A2 pickup, like a Seth Lover neck, to sound prickly-bright in an Epi Les Paul? Can bad pots or caps completely ruin a pickup's inherent sound like that as well? What cap values are considered bright that I'd want to avoid? My guitar still has all the stock electronics by the way. What can I do? I'm just concerned about the SH55 in the neck for now. Thanks

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: CustomCustom trouble

What sort of wiring mistake(s) would cause a very warm A2 pickup, like a Seth Lover neck, to sound prickly-bright in a Les Paul? Can bad pots or caps completely ruin a pickup's inherent sound like that as well?

If its A)wired in Parallel B) only running one coil or C) wired out of phase you will get a much thinner/brighter sound

Bad / fried pots can certainly have the potential to adversely affect the sound as well.

 

[Onslow]

Re: CustomCustom trouble

Remove the bright cap before you do anything else on any PRS guitar. The idea is nice but in practice those things do more harm than good 80% of the time

What cap values are considered bright in general and which are considered dark(er)? Thanks!

Any reputable tech should be able to tell right away if the pickup is not wired standard, right?

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: CustomCustom trouble

What cap values are considered bright in general and which are considered dark(er)? Thanks!

Any reputable tech should be able to tell right away if the pickup is not wired standard, right?

Any cap wired across pins of the volume pot is a bright cap. Don't confuse this with the cap used for the tone control.

If they kbnow what they are doing, they should be able to. If you aren't doing any splitting in your LP, Green/bare to ground. Red/White soldered together and insulated. Black to hot.

 

[Onslow]

Re: CustomCustom trouble

Okay, thanks alot. Really!

This is the third time I've gone to the shop with this similar problem. Although it's gotten better each time, something still isn't right. I was just wondering if the tech was maybe missing something obvious. This time he's going to replace the pots, and probably the caps too. I'm convinced that my Seth Lover is being split or bleeding over somehow, or only one coil is working, but he doesn't seem to think those are it. If I had a better camera, I'd would've posted pics of the wiring here.

 

[sonnyblu]

Re: CustomCustom trouble

You guy's are right...
I removed the treble bleed cap and I turn the volume pot down just a bit and my CC sounds very sweet now...
However, I really dig the bleed cap on my Jazz neck... so it sounds even Stratier being turned slightly down also.
This is a PRS also... so I am wired with 2 Vol no Tone... so I can do this...