if I'm going Custom Shop - the '78 or S-Deco?

[JohnnyGuitarCA]

Re: if I'm going Custom Shop - the '78 or S-Deco?

Never owned/used a 78 but the S-Deco is a killer bridge pup! If you take the bass of a C5, add the mids of a PG (without the fizziness) and the singing top end of JB (without the ice pick) you will have the S-Deco.

Ohhhhhhh...that sounds GOOOOOOOD!!! :yourock:

 

[Inferno]

Re: if I'm going Custom Shop - the '78 or S-Deco?

You might want to give the custom shop a call, tell them what you're after and have them recommend a pickup for you. I highly doubt that they'd steer you wrong - not that any of us here would either, but still...

 

[B2D]

Re: if I'm going Custom Shop - the '78 or S-Deco?

I was just looking at the S-Deco in the Custom Shop section and I was thinking a 10-10.5K A5 neck model might be right up my alley. Duncan's A5 neck buckers in their regular line aren't quite hot enough for me. This might do the trick.

 

[Got_tone?]

Re: if I'm going Custom Shop - the '78 or S-Deco?

Never owned/used a 78 but the S-Deco is a killer bridge pup! If you take the bass of a C5, add the mids of a PG (without the fizziness) and the singing top end of JB (without the ice pick) you will have the S-Deco.

you make the s deco sound SO good but imagine it with a A8????
























****.... now I want one :smack:

 

[aleclee]

Re: if I'm going Custom Shop - the '78 or S-Deco?

You might want to give the custom shop a call, tell them what you're after and have them recommend a pickup for you. I highly doubt that they'd steer you wrong - not that any of us here would either, but still...

What he said. I dig the '78 set (bridge and neck) in my Driskill but I've come to believe that if you're gonna get a custom shop pickup, you might as well get something "custom" as opposed to something that they wind on a routine basis. If you can adequately describe what's you're looking for, you're more likely to get it from a truly custom pickup.

 

[B2D]

Re: if I'm going Custom Shop - the '78 or S-Deco?

Man... I've really got the jones now to save up for an S-Deco set and slap it in my main guitar.

 

[ddwn421]

Re: if I'm going Custom Shop - the '78 or S-Deco?

Could somebody assign number values to this pickup like they do for the regular SD humbuckers? It seems like, when people review CS humbuckers, they get the same basic idea, but relate the mids, highs, and lows to different humbuckers. Just so we could get on the same sheet of music, so to speak.

 

[dr. ad]

Re: if I'm going Custom Shop - the '78 or S-Deco?

so... how does the S-Deco differ from a distortion neck with an alnico magnet fitted..?

 

[kaknight]

Re: if I'm going Custom Shop - the '78 or S-Deco?

I built a S-deco bridge with MJ at the Seymour Duncan Forum User's Appreciation day about 5 years ago. It's in my Lester and it's been swell. I remember the discussion with MJ and Seymour about what pickup I wanted to build and I said that I was playing a Lester with a Custom 5 and wanted a much more vintage PAF sound, but with the ability to put out enough for some good distortion if need be. I also wanted something that wasn't ice-pick like (as I found the JB was in my rig) or as bluntly thumping (as the C5 was). I asked for a very PAF like tone, smooth, mellow with a bit of rattle, but just not anything so high output that I got breakup when playing clean. They both told me that the S-Deco was the way to go.

I haven't looked back yet. I have futzed around with different neck pickups (probably get a neck s-deco someday) and haven't yet been as happy as that bridge pup. It's really nice. I can't speak for the BB as I haven't heard it. If I were to guess, I would think that the S-deco would sound a bit more "civilized" which may be a good or bad thing depending on what you are playing.

 

[AudioWonderland]

Re: if I'm going Custom Shop - the '78 or S-Deco?

Those two pickups you narrowed it down to are really different then each other, the 78 is 10k, and the s-deco is 12, Van halen in his earlier stuff used a low-medium output P.A.F pickup, and lynch from dokken used a duncan distortion.....totally oppisate.


I heard good things about the 78, if you are going to go custom just get a hotter 78, wound hotter with a a5 mag.

The 78 isn't 10k. 8.5/9k at most. The S Deco is available in about whatever you may want. Mine is 10k

 

[AudioWonderland]

Re: if I'm going Custom Shop - the '78 or S-Deco?

If I decide to plunk down $150-160 on a Duncan Custom Shop pickup, I'm down to one of these two. It's going into a "rock" esquire-- single bridge humbucker tele body, alder, with a strat hardtail bridge, single 250K pot, maple neck & fretboard.

Here's a little background. I'm a tele lover, but dig a great rock sound. Classic hard rock tones to me are DLR-era Van Halen, Guns & Roses, old Dokken & Ratt, Kiss, Bon Scott era AC/DC. That sort of "kerrang" to a good power chord. Pissed off, bitey, but still big sounding and not real compressed. I play through an older (91-92) tweed Bassman Reissue (first year, I believe) w/ the channels jumpered, and a decent dirt box. That's it. My other guitars are a Super Distortion equipped strat (fat sounding) and a tele with a Duncan Broadcaster in the bridge.

Given my gear choices and musical & fave band choices, which would be a more appropriate fit-- the '78 or the S-Deco?

I've seen the S-Deco here being described as the "Brobucker killer". I've read a couple reviews on the '78 as being very, very "pissed off" sounding. I think I've ruled out the Brobucker as the other two seem to be brighter and more aggressive sounding (the '78 definitely). I've checked into the new EVH frankenstein humbucker, but at 14.4K and A2 and a little more compressed than it's predecessor the '78, it seems pretty similar to a CC, so I've ruled it out too.

I've not played either (well, any, if we're including the Brobucker), and I've already done alot of reading here. Without saying what i'm already leaning towards, I thought I'd ask for a little more direction & opinions here.

Also, does the Custom Shop do relicing and is it included in the $160 price tag?

Your advice is most appreciated!

I have a 10k S-Deco 2 and a Bro Bucker. I can assure you that while the S-Deco is an excellent pickup it is far from a Brobucker killer. Thats just nonsense. The Brobucker is about as close to the perfect pickup I have ever found for my taste. I have not played the 78 but based on your wanting a more aggressive sound the 78 is probable the direction I would go of the 3

 

[ganzosrevenge]

Re: if I'm going Custom Shop - the '78 or S-Deco?

i believe that the sdeco is 43 awg. the bro and sdeco dont have anything to do with each other other than they arent paf type or distortion type buckers and are made by the custom shop

Jeremy, I thought the Brobucker had the PAF-spec (42AWG wire, wood spacer, etc.) A la the '59, just more of it to love. It is a killer pickup though