Hi guys.
after long reflection, I decided to test 2 pickups:
the duncan duncan custom custom SH5 and SH14 five.
They both arrived and I have started up the custom five SH14 first.
The goal is not to compare these two pickups together, but to compare each respectively with Duncan JB SH4.
I therefore mounted the Custom 5 Monday, I have played for about 12 hours.
Here's my opinion, compared to JB:
I did not change the EQ of my amp, that will come later, I have initially wanted to try to compare the two to realize the real charakter of each pup, with a sound that I know very well, mine.
A metal sound and a clean sound. the sounds that I use to Reference.
Did I said that I played with a 19" system ?
A Marshall-EL 34 100/100 poweramp and a rocktron voodoo valve Preamp + BBE Sonic maximizer.
Usually the sound of a 19" system is fairly neutral and steril. There is less growl, fat, dirty and warm sound than head amps. In short: less tube sound and feeling .
By cons,we can very well appreciate differences because the accuracy and sound precision is increased as compared to an head amp that colors automatically sounds, for make sounding a mesa like a mesa, a marshall like a marshall and a fender like a fender.
The 19" system remains it more neutral.
I'm lucky , i can make my amp sound like a head amp, with more precision. Not every 19" system can do that. (the Marshall is a very great power amp, and it helps a lot)
anyway:
By reading the forums, I thought, by installing the custom five, that I will get a great balanced sound, with as many lows than treble, but more scooped midds , in short: a hole in the mids, make this Pup a little bit dark sounding or not open enough. Warm but not really "super-open".
The first 2 minutes, it's almost the impression that I had. But in fact, it is much more subtle than that. Much much more.!!!
I will try to describe the sound in several parts.
Part I: metal playing:
rythm and punch:
-By playing pantera style rythms , (or other bands like chimaira) I have immediately understood what it meant "to have punch." The riffs are heavy with a super punch, we feel the pleck stroke and the right hand (if right handed ) :biglaugh: . And despite a more bassy sound than the JB, the accuracy of each note is really much better. Everything is more subtle, more compressed but really opened at the same time.
By playing more cool riffs, we can really feel the difference between JB and Custom five.
The midds of the JB are really increased and dry while the custom five's sound is more fat and round but not too much. Absolutely not muddy.
To give you an idea, it was not the type of fatness of a mesa boogie, even when the bass is fat and mushy, but rather the type of round that has jerry Cantrell of Alice in chains.... We cannot compare amplifiers with guitars but it's just to give you an idea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs02sQxNnV0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvGFkPfRxr4&feature=relmfu
It's the same type of EQ but a little but more medium and a little bit less bass.
Harmonics: The JB had lovely harmonics, to make pinch harmonics à la Zakk Wylde, it was really great.
The duncan 5 is a little less, but also very good.
playing solo:
that was a slap in my face!! while I thought the JB was that there were better, I have been surprised by the ability to play solos with the custom five .
the highs are much, much more defined than the JB !!!! When playing bends, the pup screams with a hell's precision. It is precise, unlike JB who remains, despite the fact that it is fairly acute, still less defined than the Custom five.
For blues and blues rock and "zakk wylde stuff", this pup is the killing one, really.
playing metal, fast runs, and palm mute fast runs :
I have been amazed by the ability of the Custom-five to make sounds the shades of each note, quite accurate. On this point, the JB is really much, much worse, and again, although the JB is more "trebly" and less fat, it sounds more "muddy". Surprising.
Clean:
Before playing the Custom Five, i had too much EQ and warmth differences in tone between the bridge pickup (JB) and the neck pickup (PATB-3-Blues Saraceno).
Now, it's very different. the sound is warm and super well balanced.
position Saraceno / neck + bridge five Custom is really beautiful. It was really a great bluesy sound. The heat of the Saraceno neck pup with the clarity of the Custom-five.
The clarity precisely:
We read everywhere that this pickup has a great clarity, but without really knowing exactly how it sounds / that means...:
The sound had really extraordinary precision and it is really super accurate, really. Crystal clear sound but not harsch, which is really singing highs, very warm. JB it is crapped and sterile sound "clean", say it like it is.
Conclusion: I have done well tested.
how it sounds: Is the five is a custom JB but with more bass and less mids? Definitely NO!
the custom five, aside less mids and more bass, the main difference is in the treble, firstly the higher accuracy of the Custom-five.
Then the treble frequency that are more "strat-type" . Bizarre ain't it ? I do not like it still, is pretty special.
Seymour wrote on the box:
"It offers the optimum balance of warmth, punch and power to clarity.compared SH5 custom, it is more vintage with less distortion, it's purpose very strong and powerfull still, it's fuller than the highs and softer with SH5: slightly less output. Sounds clean are rich and full with enhanced presence. "
This is exactly the right description. More presence!
I therefore change the EQ of my amp. I have lowered the treble for two values: +7 instead of +9 (maximum is +15) and I have as much treble that with JB by +9. Presence was lowered to a single value.
Result: this is perfect! we arrive at a sound like JB with big balls but still different. Much better. The harmonics are also much better after a little sound setting.
I did not think, after reading that JB has such a good reputation, that there would be much difference, I must admit that JB is a superb Pickup but it is from another age compared to the Custom five...really.
I didn't change midds yet, I think that in doing so, we get really a razor edge sharp pickup with big power.
:bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:
It only remains for me to try the custom SH5; to compare toit to the custom five and then put a magnet alnico 8 in the worst of the two, and test again to see what really suits me. Lt Kojack :laugh2:
PS: I will edit this thread as soon as I have tried the custom. so stay tuned. :laugh2:
after long reflection, I decided to test 2 pickups:
the duncan duncan custom custom SH5 and SH14 five.
They both arrived and I have started up the custom five SH14 first.
The goal is not to compare these two pickups together, but to compare each respectively with Duncan JB SH4.
I therefore mounted the Custom 5 Monday, I have played for about 12 hours.
Here's my opinion, compared to JB:
I did not change the EQ of my amp, that will come later, I have initially wanted to try to compare the two to realize the real charakter of each pup, with a sound that I know very well, mine.
A metal sound and a clean sound. the sounds that I use to Reference.
Did I said that I played with a 19" system ?
A Marshall-EL 34 100/100 poweramp and a rocktron voodoo valve Preamp + BBE Sonic maximizer.
Usually the sound of a 19" system is fairly neutral and steril. There is less growl, fat, dirty and warm sound than head amps. In short: less tube sound and feeling .
By cons,we can very well appreciate differences because the accuracy and sound precision is increased as compared to an head amp that colors automatically sounds, for make sounding a mesa like a mesa, a marshall like a marshall and a fender like a fender.
The 19" system remains it more neutral.
I'm lucky , i can make my amp sound like a head amp, with more precision. Not every 19" system can do that. (the Marshall is a very great power amp, and it helps a lot)
anyway:
By reading the forums, I thought, by installing the custom five, that I will get a great balanced sound, with as many lows than treble, but more scooped midds , in short: a hole in the mids, make this Pup a little bit dark sounding or not open enough. Warm but not really "super-open".
The first 2 minutes, it's almost the impression that I had. But in fact, it is much more subtle than that. Much much more.!!!
I will try to describe the sound in several parts.
Part I: metal playing:
rythm and punch:
-By playing pantera style rythms , (or other bands like chimaira) I have immediately understood what it meant "to have punch." The riffs are heavy with a super punch, we feel the pleck stroke and the right hand (if right handed ) :biglaugh: . And despite a more bassy sound than the JB, the accuracy of each note is really much better. Everything is more subtle, more compressed but really opened at the same time.
By playing more cool riffs, we can really feel the difference between JB and Custom five.
The midds of the JB are really increased and dry while the custom five's sound is more fat and round but not too much. Absolutely not muddy.
To give you an idea, it was not the type of fatness of a mesa boogie, even when the bass is fat and mushy, but rather the type of round that has jerry Cantrell of Alice in chains.... We cannot compare amplifiers with guitars but it's just to give you an idea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs02sQxNnV0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvGFkPfRxr4&feature=relmfu
It's the same type of EQ but a little but more medium and a little bit less bass.
Harmonics: The JB had lovely harmonics, to make pinch harmonics à la Zakk Wylde, it was really great.
The duncan 5 is a little less, but also very good.
playing solo:
that was a slap in my face!! while I thought the JB was that there were better, I have been surprised by the ability to play solos with the custom five .
the highs are much, much more defined than the JB !!!! When playing bends, the pup screams with a hell's precision. It is precise, unlike JB who remains, despite the fact that it is fairly acute, still less defined than the Custom five.
For blues and blues rock and "zakk wylde stuff", this pup is the killing one, really.
playing metal, fast runs, and palm mute fast runs :
I have been amazed by the ability of the Custom-five to make sounds the shades of each note, quite accurate. On this point, the JB is really much, much worse, and again, although the JB is more "trebly" and less fat, it sounds more "muddy". Surprising.
Clean:
Before playing the Custom Five, i had too much EQ and warmth differences in tone between the bridge pickup (JB) and the neck pickup (PATB-3-Blues Saraceno).
Now, it's very different. the sound is warm and super well balanced.
position Saraceno / neck + bridge five Custom is really beautiful. It was really a great bluesy sound. The heat of the Saraceno neck pup with the clarity of the Custom-five.
The clarity precisely:
We read everywhere that this pickup has a great clarity, but without really knowing exactly how it sounds / that means...:
The sound had really extraordinary precision and it is really super accurate, really. Crystal clear sound but not harsch, which is really singing highs, very warm. JB it is crapped and sterile sound "clean", say it like it is.
Conclusion: I have done well tested.
how it sounds: Is the five is a custom JB but with more bass and less mids? Definitely NO!
the custom five, aside less mids and more bass, the main difference is in the treble, firstly the higher accuracy of the Custom-five.
Then the treble frequency that are more "strat-type" . Bizarre ain't it ? I do not like it still, is pretty special.
Seymour wrote on the box:
"It offers the optimum balance of warmth, punch and power to clarity.compared SH5 custom, it is more vintage with less distortion, it's purpose very strong and powerfull still, it's fuller than the highs and softer with SH5: slightly less output. Sounds clean are rich and full with enhanced presence. "
This is exactly the right description. More presence!
I therefore change the EQ of my amp. I have lowered the treble for two values: +7 instead of +9 (maximum is +15) and I have as much treble that with JB by +9. Presence was lowered to a single value.
Result: this is perfect! we arrive at a sound like JB with big balls but still different. Much better. The harmonics are also much better after a little sound setting.
I did not think, after reading that JB has such a good reputation, that there would be much difference, I must admit that JB is a superb Pickup but it is from another age compared to the Custom five...really.
I didn't change midds yet, I think that in doing so, we get really a razor edge sharp pickup with big power.
:bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:
It only remains for me to try the custom SH5; to compare toit to the custom five and then put a magnet alnico 8 in the worst of the two, and test again to see what really suits me. Lt Kojack :laugh2:
PS: I will edit this thread as soon as I have tried the custom. so stay tuned. :laugh2:
