I like Custom 5 but want something like this...

keano12

keano12

New member
I got the custom 5 in my LP and dig it. I have a JB in a LP custom and EMGs in another LP custom.

What I like about the Custom 5
Pros: Big, big wide open tone. Fills up the room. Bang! works grt with my 800.
Balanced.
Cons: on the high strings (g.b.e) it gets pretty vintage and loses the sustain and fatness I am used too.

Is there another pickup similar to this (Duncan or any other company)
that would be a little hotter, same bigness with better lead tone?

I was thinking.... Doug Aldrich, Rebel Yell (****ing expensive). Sending in custom 5 to be wound a little hotter (how much would that be)?
 
Re: I like Custom 5 but want something like this...

Right but the custom will be more compressed and lose that huge open big tone of the SH-14. when I hit a chord it is like BAM! huge. But loses juice on lead tone. Custom being ceramic afraid it will lose that hugeopen quality. when I chord with the EMGs it is no where as big as the SH-14. Would like ot stay in Alnico5 area.
 
Re: I like Custom 5 but want something like this...

Maybe an AlNiCo 8 could get somewhere close to that? Just a thought.....:scratchch
 
Re: I like Custom 5 but want something like this...

You know, I don't find the Custom to be that much more compressed than the C5. Sure, it's more compressed and not as open, but to my ears the difference isn't night and day. An overwound C5 will be more compressed compared to an off the shelf C5. The Custom still sounds huge, and it has more punch than the C5.

That said, they both could use a dose of sweetness on the high end. The Custom Custom is in the same ballpark, and while it certainly has a sweeter lead tone, it doesn't feel hotter than the C5. I'd say the CC is the most open of the three, but it's also the loosest. FWIW, you mentioned Doug Aldrich... I'm fairly certain he uses or has recently used the Custom Custom.

I haven't used one, but by all accounts that I've read I'm wondering if an A8 magnet might be something to look into. It is supposed to have the sweeter highs akin to those of an A2 magnet, yet has the punch and tightness of the A5 and Ceramic. It should be perceptively hotter than the A5 magnet, too. I still need to get my hands on one, though, so I can lose the prefacing sentence at the beginning of this paragraph. ;)
 
Re: I like Custom 5 but want something like this...

So what is a alnico8? Never heard of it? I am kind of leaning towards the Aldrich though custom might be good try.
 
Re: I like Custom 5 but want something like this...

I have a Custom or two in guitars here at the house, I had a CC in a Strat and I've had my share of C-5s here and there. My favorite out of all of them is a 14.75k Custom that started out as a C-5, got turned into a CC and is now a Custom. It'll probably be a C-5 again one day but I am having fun with it as a Custom for now.

The C-5's I have played on were always pretty strong on top. If your Les Paul has the stock pots in it I would start there. Getting the stock 300k pots replaced with a good set of 500k pots just might give you the push you need on the top end to keep it lively.

The C-5 with 500k pots always smoked in my Les Paul.
 
Re: I like Custom 5 but want something like this...

I haven't used one, but by all accounts that I've read I'm wondering if an A8 magnet might be something to look into. It is supposed to have the sweeter highs akin to those of an A2 magnet, yet has the punch and tightness of the A5 and Ceramic. It should be perceptively hotter than the A5 magnet, too.[/QUOTE]

I'd recommend that everyone swapping pickups have a reserve of the seven magnets (A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A8, & ceramic) so they can tweak their tones to get what they want. Otherwise, you're either keeping pickups you're not satisfied with, or selling them at a loss & so you can buy more in hopes of stumbling upon one that tonally fits the wood on your guitar. I'm new at this & managed to find all seven replacement magnets in a matter of a few weeks, so its not that hard.
 
Re: I like Custom 5 but want something like this...

blueman335 said:
I'd recommend that everyone swapping pickups have a reserve of the seven magnets (A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A8, & ceramic) so they can tweak their tones to get what they want. Otherwise, you're either keeping pickups you're not satisfied with, or selling them at a loss & so you can buy more in hopes of stumbling upon one that tonally fits the wood on your guitar. I'm new at this & managed to find all seven replacement magnets in a matter of a few weeks, so its not that hard.
Click to expand...

+1, I used to like my pgn, now I absolutely adore it in the neck of my dark-ish les paul studio
 
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Re: I like Custom 5 but want something like this...

you will probably like the custom 5 because it's a little warmer, it's tight, and has a pretty smooth high end. you can get some nasty harmonics with it too. the only thing is that it sounds a little compressed, but does well for many types of music, and suprisingly superb for metal.
 
Re: I like Custom 5 but want something like this...

I have a Custom 5, a pair of Custom Customs and a A8 Custom currently.
Comparing both of the other set ups to a Custom 5.
The Custom Custom is softer bigger more open and has a killer singing tone.
The A8 Custom is hotter tighter with more mid punch and a sweeter high end but is not quite as organic and open sounding.
 
Re: I like Custom 5 but want something like this...

I had the same idea in mind, and asked Seymour. He said "just overwind it a little." So at User Group Day, my pickup was a 15.3 Custom 5 nickel with a fully gaused A5. It still sounds like a Custom 5, but a little hotter and more JB-like on the high notes. It's essentially a cross between a C-5 and JB.

If you order one from the Custom Shop, I'd request a 15K Custom 5.
I've also thought about taking a C-5 and JB, and making 2 hybrids out of them, which is something you could consider, spending no money by using both of your pickups. I'd imagine that hybrid being a real hit.
 
Re: I like Custom 5 but want something like this...

I warm my C5's with 250K pots & a .100 cap. Takes off the worst of the high end, and still has plenty of raw power, balls as they call it (I keep 500K's on the neck PU, usually a '59N or JazzN). I get a rich & full bridge PU that distorts easily, great for solos. I have this set up on a Sheraton, LP, & SG.
 
Re: I like Custom 5 but want something like this...

I have a set of Aldrich humbuckers in my Hamer Studio Custom (it has a floyd rose bridge). They are absolutely awesome pickups. High output, but not compressed (as compared to the Distortion Neck - PATB1 combo they replaced, which were great, more more compressed and didn't clean up quite as well). I've had a few different sets of pickups in that guitar, but I haven't felt any urge to change them once the Aldrich set went in.

-Austin
 
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