HOW TO: Make a 59/Custom Hybrid

Re: HOW TO: Make a 59/Custom Hybrid

BachToRock said:
HUGE!

Those polepieces spread the magnetic field out over a larger area and since they don'y protrude out the bottom of the baseplate it is more concentrated within the coils for more power.

I initially tried it with an A2, but I think I like the A5 better.

I am going to make another one, but as a JB/Custom Hybrid... with either an A5 or the Ceramic from the Custom.
Click to expand...

Hey BTR, I tried out the 59/custom A5 and can't believe the sweet tone that I'm getting! It's hot enough to play some old school metallica.

I'm now ready to put a hybrid in my aerodyne strat but I'm wondering if you ever made that JB/Custom Hybrid with the invader polepieces? How does it sound compared to a regular JB and about how much would you charge to make me one? Oh and which coil would be better for coil tapping the JB or the custom?
 
Re: HOW TO: Make a 59/Custom Hybrid

<gratuitous bump>

My 59s will be coming on a Brown truck today and my Custom Custom will come out of my brown guitar.

Then the brown sound will go into my LP Studio
 
Re: HOW TO: Make a 59/Custom Hybrid

This hybrid 59/custom5 is the same that Eddie used in fair warning record, or fair warning tour?
 
Re: HOW TO: Make a 59/Custom Hybrid

eddievanhalen1000 said:
This hybrid 59/custom5 is the same that Eddie used in fair warning record, or fair warning tour?
Click to expand...

No. This pickup we're discussing is something that forum bros here have figured out how to make from two separate pickups, and some say it will help you cop a VH tone fairly well. This is not anything that EVH has ever used.
 
Re: HOW TO: Make a 59/Custom Hybrid

eddievanhalen1000 said:
This hybrid 59/custom5 is the same that Eddie used in fair warning record, or fair warning tour?
Click to expand...

i read somewhere something like that too about him using some kind of a Duncan hybrid too, but i can't remember where that was. And it was around that time period too.
 
Re: HOW TO: Make a 59/Custom Hybrid

BachToRock said:
NEW PICTURES & MORE DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS ADDED 5/6/06... see post #128 for additional details...
OK... anyone who has tried it knows that the coolest pickup in the world is the ALNICO 59/CUSTOM HYBRID... it combines the Clarity and Vintage Response of the 59 Model with the Punch, Drive and Body characteristic of the Custom 5 and Custom Custom.
It is fabricated from 1 59 Model coil and 1 Custom coil with an Alnico magnet... it measures out about 11.25k and balances prefectly with typical vintage type neck humbuckers like the 59, Jazz, Seth Lover, Pearly Gates and Alnico pro II.

The problem when you overwind a PAF style 42 guage wire pickup(59 Model, Seth, EVH, etc.) is that it starts getting congested and garbled sounding above about 9k which happens to be right where the excellent Custom Shop EVH/78 Model is... if you wanted some more beef to your tone the next step was one of the 43 gauge Custom models (which all use the EXACT same coils) wound to just above 14k which is the best range for tone with that wire...
The comprimise is that you lose the articulation and dynamic response of the PAF and start to suffer from compression due to the signal travelling through a thinner and greater length of wire, but it is an EXCELLENT tone none the less!

With the Hybrid you get a Meritage of the 2 pickups... the BEST OF BOTH WORLDS... also, each coil has a different resonant peak so the combination is less "peaky" or "one notey" than a standard humbucker. The mis-matched coils also cancel less harmonics so the tone is more complex and posseses some qualities exclusive to single coil pickups. The original vintage PAF's had coil mismatches since they were wound by sight "until they were full" and not to a specific number of turns or resistance... that is one of the many reasons they sound so great.

My favorite NECK pickup is 59/Jazz Hybrid...
Many of the coils can combine to make great Hybrids... read through the posts and see the variations!

STEP 1 - Get your 59 Model and CUSTOM 5/CUSTOM CUSTOM prepared for surgery by removing the tape surrounding the coils.
HybridSTEP1.jpg


STEP 2 - Remove the tape protecting the lead wires and pull them away from the coils
HybridSTEP2.jpg


STEP 3 - Very carefully remove the tape on the lead wires and De-solder the leads that come from each coil... a braided 2 conductor pickup has the screw coil start lead wire soldered to the baseplate and the finish wire is Black instead White
HybridSTEP3.jpg


STEP 4 - Remove the little brass screws from the bottom of the coils
HybridSTEP4.jpg


STEP 5 - Remove the coils to be exchanged
HybridSTEP5.jpg


STEP 6 - Install the swapped coils on each pickup
HybridSTEP6.jpg


STEP 7 - Re-install brass screws on bottom plate to secure the bobbins... tighten LIGHTLY
HybridSTEP7.jpg


STEP 8 - Re-solder the lead wires(shown on left) and tape to prevent shorting out(shown on right)
HybridSTEP8.jpg


STEP 9 - Heat the whole pickup with a hairdryer to get the potting wax flowing... press everything together tightly and then tighten the screws on the bottom snug to secure the whole assembly...
HybridSTEP9.jpg


STEP 10 - After it cools down, carefully tape the whole pickup... I use premium 3M SUPER 33+ as is stays put even with the thin layer of wax around the edge.
HybridSTEP10.jpg


FINAL STEP - Install your new pickup and try to wipe the huge grin off your face after plugging in and discovering the most even sounding and responsive Bridge humbucker you have ever heard!
Click to expand...
Hi, man. Can you tell me if you know; what the humbucker that Eddie used in Star Fleet album?
 
Re: HOW TO: Make a 59/Custom Hybrid

Is there a particular reason you quoted all that to ask that question?
 
Re: HOW TO: Make a 59/Custom Hybrid

eddievanhalen1000 said:
Hi, man. Can you tell me if you know; what the humbucker that Eddie used in Star Fleet album?
Click to expand...

Let me tell you something I've learned about Eddie's guitars. He experimented almost constantly with his guitars, so what was in one guitar on any given song/record is going to be very difficult to find out. At best you'll have some pictures of his guitars from the period and a number of "so-and-so heard from a friend that drank beer with EVH that he was using this" stories.

And last but not least, as I've heard another member on here say (who cops Eddies tone to a T by the way) Eddie's sound is NOT as hard to dial up as some people think it is. Just get the basic physical elements down and leave the rest up to your hands.

Gear's important, but not so important that it's worth getting so caught up in the details that you lose sight of the bigger picture. I doubt Eddie himself could tell you the details that you and most Ed-head are seeking, and he probably never played it twice through the same setup anyways.
 
Last edited:
Re: HOW TO: Make a 59/Custom Hybrid

the 59/Custom hybrid with an A2 magnet would probably go a long way towards a nice EVH type of tone.
 
Re: HOW TO: Make a 59/Custom Hybrid

B2D said:
Was quoting that huge post really necessary to ask that question? :eyecrazy:

Let me tell you something I've learned about Eddie's guitars. He experimented almost constantly with his guitars, so what was in one guitar on any given song/record is going to be very difficult to find out. At best you'll have some pictures of his guitars from the period and a number of "so-and-so heard from a friend that drank beer with EVH that he was using this" stories.

And last but not least, as I've heard another member on here say (who cops Eddies tone to a T by the way) Eddie's sound is NOT as hard to dial up as some people think it is. Just get the basic physical elements down and leave the rest up to your hands.

Gear's important, but not so important that it's worth getting so caught up in the details that you lose sight of the bigger picture. I doubt Eddie himself could tell you the details that you and most Ed-head are seeking, and he probably never played it twice through the same setup anyways.
Click to expand...
OT: ... Ed's sound changed drastically from album to album, sometimes from song to song. But I think the main constant in Ed's sound back then was his Marshall plexi's dynamic overdrive. Though it often bloomed into a juicy saturation... it never ventured into "heavy metal" territory... there was no "TubeScreamer-esque" midrange-hump and grind to it... it didn't have enormous amounts of preamp buzz on top either... and the drive always cleaned up to a nice and clear sound when he fingerpicked the strings. Haven't heard anyone truly duplicate it... not even Ed can anymore... then again he changed to using master volume amps when he first started using the Soldano... and those amps are "preamp buzz and grind" city... just like dem 5150's are. :banghead:
 
Last edited:
Re: HOW TO: Make a 59/Custom Hybrid

What would other good matches be for hybrid PU's? I heard JB/Custom earlier. Any other combinations for a PAF sound and crunch with a bit of JB vibe?
 
Re: HOW TO: Make a 59/Custom Hybrid

on this, i have to recommend against making a hybrid out of a 59n and a A2Pn; the clarity's great but it's quite thin and loses the character of either pickup on it's own.
i preferred the A2 59n, A5P, A2P, 59n, hybrid in that order.

am moving house, and will then make a JB/DDn hybrid which will rule the earth with an iron fist.
 
Re: HOW TO: Make a 59/Custom Hybrid

dr. ad said:
am moving house, and will then make a JB/DDn hybrid which will rule the earth with an iron fist.
Click to expand...

what's a DDn? Duncan Distortion? A Duncan Distortion is the same wind as a JB.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Mincer
A JB/Jazz Hybrid?
2
Replies
26
Views
501
STLMTLHD79
S
D
59 Custom Hybrid vs Custom Custom
2
Replies
20
Views
475
uOpt
uOpt
S
Neck Pickup for 59/Custom Hybrid
Replies
12
Views
232
orpheo
O
C
How bad is the hum in the '59/custom hybrid?
Replies
7
Views
188
Mincer
Mincer
alex1fly
Time to make some hybrids?
Replies
12
Views
257
NotDemanic
NotDemanic
Back
Top