Gibson custombuckers

[gimmieinfo]

Are these very bright and somewhat thin in the lower mids? I have a new 2024 epiphone 1959 custom shop LP (the new one with gibson open book) with these and i'm not sure i really like them. I know they are A3 and i'm really more of a A2 PAF type. I have a regular 50s epi LP too with the A2 probuckers and i'm not sure how much of this difference is the hardware (which is completely different and how much the pickups. But the 50s has a ton of girth while the 1959 is rather thing sounding by comparison. I have aluminum tails on both, the one of the 50s being aftermarket and the 59' cones with aluminum. The 50s has faber steel bushings too So the 50s is much brighter and livlier then stock but is not as lively and bright as the custombuckers in the 59. I am debating whether to try A2 in the custombuckers but if i remove the covers and mess with them i can't sell them later if i should decide it wasnt just the A3 but that they just aren't my cup of tea even with A2. So just wondering if anyone has experience with the gibson custombuckers and if they really sound that much thinner and bright than typical A2 PAFs.

 

[jeremy]

a3 is typically thinner than a2, and the custom buckers are asymmetrical which thins it even more. im not a big fan of the custom buckers in general, but ive only tried them in other peoples guitars, not one of mine that im more familiar with

 

[beaubrummels]

The Custombuckers in my Les Paul are not thin in the lower mids nor thin generally IME. Mine are refined and balanced and sound like a Duncan Brobucker set (assuming there were a neck model also) or like a Duncan A2P set with a much less of a mid-hump while still being chimey. But maybe they just aren't for you, or aren't for that guitar.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I would just sell them if you really don't like them, especially since those pickups aren't cheap. You could probably sell them, and use the funds to get a nice set of Duncan Seths or something fancy that's beefier from them.

I don't have experience with Custombuckers, but AFAIK, they're 7K-ish, with unbalanced coils, and A3 magnets, right? Probably not the recipee for a beefy-sounding pickup.

 

[jeremy]

yeah, something like that. ive seen a chart somewhere that compares different gibson pups, magnet, dck, which coil has more turns ect... but i cant remember where.

 

[Chistopher]

The Custombuckers do not have any meaningful coil mismatch, same as the Burstbuckers on which they are based

 

[gimmieinfo]

Well, i posted because i just got this epiphone custom shop 1959 LP, the new model with the gibson head and a lot of improvements over the previous 1959. And it comes with custombuckers. I was afraid this LP wasn't a good one because it sounds so thin and weak compared to my previous 2013 epi 50s standard with probuckers. I was thinking the custombuckers might be the problem, not the guitar so i posted this to see what you all have to say. Well sir, today i threw a tonerider that i had previously tried in my 50s and didn't like into my new 1959 and there it is...the far rich LP tone i expected from any decent LP but evaded me with the stock custombuckers. Now i happily and LOVING this thing. But considering this tonerider was mediocre in my 50s standard even compared with it;s stock probuckers, i can't wait to hear it with really good pickups ! It also begs the question, what in gods name do people see in those custombuckers?!! I read some reviews on them that is what triggered me to try that tonrider in the ol parts drawer because many of the reviews said exactly what i am hearing. Thin and weak. I can only think maybe those who like them use a lot more gain than i did because the more gain the less tinny and weak they sound. But i doubt that, and It amazes me these are liked by anyone, let alone costing $500/set ! So yeah, they're going on the chopping block to fund a set of A2 tho not sure which. The probuckers are great and only $99/set at epiphone.com, but with one dealbreaking caveat....for some reason they only sell the 2&3 set thats hotter, not the probucker 1&2 set. And the ones on ebay and reverb are the OLD probuckers, pre inspired by gibson 100+ line. So it's probably down to pearly gates or classic 57s. Anyone know how those 2 compare as far as lows that has some percussive-ness for clarity w/o mud/dullness and highs that aren't overpowering and thin ?

 

[jeremy]

i love the pearly gates, but frequently people complain they are bright, especially the bridge. i might try the hades gates, they are supposed to be similar but thicker

 

[Rex_Rocker]

The Custombuckers do not have any meaningful coil mismatch, same as the Burstbuckers on which they are based

I do have experience with the BB 2, 3, and Pros, and I don't know if it's because of the coil mismatch or if that's just the way they're voiced, but they all seem pretty bright and aggressive in the high-end compared to other PAF-y types. I'm not going to say it's because of the mismatched coils because I don't know for sure, but those pickups seem to be voiced bright in general. I would assume the Custombuckers follow that recipee.

 

[jeremy]

the bb pro is bright to me. the bb2 i like, the bb3 has this upper mid thing that i dont care for. i like the bb1/bb2 set. most pafs are bright, some sound like a tele bridge pup