Let's talk Custom Shop.

[Benjy_26]

Recently, while researching some pickups for one of my guitars, I was looking through the Duncan Custom Shop page. I noticed that there isn't a whole lot of information or even a description about these pickups. The only info available is a resistance figure and the magnet type, along with the type of guitar that the pickup should be fitted in.

Now, I'm not going to call for a web site redesign, but I know for a fact that some of the members here have some of the Custom Shop offerings. I think it's high time that we make a thread comparing and maybe contrasting these Custom Shop pickups to their production floor counterparts.

I'll start with some of the ones in my stable.



First off is the Antiquity neck humbucker in my Hamer. This pickup is wound in the mid 7K range, is unpotted, and has a Dun Aged alnico II magnet. The guitar it's in is an '81 Hamer Special. This guitar has a thick mahogany body with a thin, flamed maple veneer. The guitar has a double cut, LP Jr silouhette and uses Hamer's old school Sustain Block bridge (like the one in Hamer's Talladega). The neck is mahogany with a rosewood fingerboard, has 22 frets, and sports a 24.75" scale. Unplugged, this guitar has plenty of snarly mids, has a clear, clean high end, and has a plump round low end that displays some twang when you dig in. THis guitar sports a 3 way Gibson style switch and a trio of 500k pots.

The Antiquity neck pickup translates the guitar's natural voice very faithfully. Played clean, it's got airy highs, round lows, and plump mids. The cleans are some of the bewst I've heard from a pickup with PAF construction. There's plenty of attack and snap, but there's enough warmth to let you know you're hearing a PAF type and not a modern wind. The cleans are good enough for funk, jazz, and pop. Compared to the APHn that it replaced, the Antiquity is brighter, has a looser low end, and the mids are not as creamy when played clean. Throw some gain at it, and classic rock and blues show up in spades. Played through something Marshally, it evokes Clapton's tone on Disraeli Gears. Keep ratcheting up the gain, and it'll do well up until you get to Slash-level doses. Anything after that, and the sound starts to get cluttered and unfocused. FWIW, the APHn that was in this guitar before it stayed clearer and more focused under high gain.

I would recommend this pickup for folks who like a warm neck tone but still need plenty of clarity for clean complex chords, funk riffing, or chord bashers and for classic rock/early metal guys who want their guitar to sound like an old Gibby.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Let's talk Custom Shop.

The bridge pickup in this same guitar just so happens to be S Deco. This pickup sits in at 11.5k, has a full factory potting, and has a standard alnico V magnet. Think of this pickup as a modern take on a PAF and you're in the ball opark. The voicing is going to be very similar to an alnico V based PAF, like the PAF, but it's much broader. The highs are clean, crisp, and bright, the mids have a slight scoop to them, and the lows are tight and growly witha hint of twang. Sounds like a description for a 59b or PG+, right? The differences start when you play them back to back. The S Deco's highs seem to have a shimmer that the standard PAF's don't. It's not ice-picky, but there seems to be more sparkle and chime to the high end of this pickup. It's almost like having a humbucker with the high end of a good single coil blended in. The lows are tight and twangy, but they're also very deep. Piano-like, almost. The midrange is subdued when played softly, but just like any good PAF, if you dig in, you get some nice growl, grind, and squacky harmonics. THis makes for a very good clean tone. SO good, in fact, that I have not felt the need to install any kind of coil splits or series/parallel switching on this guitar. This pickup when clean can do pretty much everything. Funk is there, as well as 80's pop when using modulation, and even some modern country with judicious use of a compressor. Dial in some gain and it does ZZ Top, AC/DC, Zep, heck, any kind of classic rock or blues you can think of. Keep adding gain and it'll happily do modern rock and hard rock without giving up that clean PAF style voicing. Keep adding gain, and metal and nu-metal are easily done. Rythm, leads, it's tight and big enough for both. Some might find it lacking in output and punch for more extreme metal stylings, but at that point, I'd just go to actives. Me, I'd recommend this pickup to anyone witha Gibson, Schecter, PRS, Hamer, or Heritage that needs to cover a lot of bases but likes to spend most of their time in modern/hard rock land. The closest production pickup I have tried to the Deco is the Demon. Main differences are that the high end on the Deco is sweeter and softer, the Deco is slightly hotter, and the low end on the Demon is deeper and tighter. Swapping the hex poles on the Demon for fillisters brings it closer to the Deco, but it's not quite there.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Let's talk Custom Shop.

The next pickup I'm using right now is a Custom Shop wound Antiquity/Pearly Gates neck hybrid. This pickup sits in at 7.6k, is fully potted, and uses a full strength alnico II magnet. I have it in an Epi LP. This guitar is your basic player's MIK Epi. Upgraded bridge and pots (500k CTS with .022mfd Orange Drops), Kluson type tuners, and a "mahogany" neck and body along with what seems to be a maple veneer over some kind of cap using a light colored wood (looks almost like soft maple to me). Unplugged, this guitar resonates well, with an emphasis on high mids, with a decent low end response and good, if dry highs.

This pickup, compared to the full Antiquity wind, has a BIG push in the low mids. This makes it sound a bit thicker, and at times muddy when played clean. Using the proper right hand technique nets you some great, warm tones for blues and jazzy comping. Clean chords can be had, but you don't want to bash them as the notes might get a bit jumbled. Not to say that this pickup is muddy (it is in no way shape or form) it's just that the unpotted Antiquity is so clear, it almost feels like comparing a single coil (Antiquity) to a standard Duncan humbucker. What's cool about this voicing is the way it reacts to gain. Push it into a Marshall style amp on the verge of break up and it sounds big, fat, and juicy. "Cheap Sunglasses" jumps from this pickup. Keep throwing gain at it and it starts to sing. It fattens up and compresses, but it never gets muddy. Shreddy lines and big riffs are easily handled. This pickup replaced a PGn and most recently a Demon in this guitar. Compared to the PGn, the cleans are sweeter and brighter, while the OD tones are a bit more focused and fatter. This pickup is definately for the lead player, whether clean or dirty. It's big, fat, and expressive without giving up clarity.

The closest pickup from the production line to this Custom wound hybrid would be the PGn. It's about as clear and defined, but the PGn/Antiquity hybrid has it beat in thickness and lower mid complexity. I'd say that this pickup is for the guy who thinks that the APHn is a bit too subdued but the PGn is too rude and doesn't really care for alnico V PAF's in the neck.

The bridge pickup paired to the PG/Antiquity hybrid is the Custom Shop El Diablo. This pickup is wound above 20k (my meter doesn't go that high), uses an alnico II bar, and uses big blades (similar to the old Hot Stack Strat) as pole pieces. One thing to keep in mind is this pickup is oversized compared to "normal" humbuckers. This means either using the included ring, or clearancing your existing unit. Looking at the specs on paper, you'd expect a muddy, compressed, fire breathing monster of a pickup. While it is big sounding and is a heavy hitter, it's surprisingly friendly. The voicing is a bit strange for such a highly wound beastie. The highs are thick, but they do stick out. The mids are neutral, neither scooped nor spiked, but they seems to be overshadowed by the big bass response and the somewhat extended highs. The cleans are bubbly and chimey (as long as your amp has a TON Of headroom) and low gain tones are handled well. It'll do old school rock and blues, but it's much happier when you throw gain at it. LOTS of gain. This pickup makes playing easy. It's so thick that you can solo way up into the higher frets without thinning out your sound. Normally, past the 15th fret, I'd switch to the neck to solo. With this pickup, I can go all the way to the 22nd fret without noticing any notes sounding thinner or smaller than any other. Shred and fusion come easily. Sweep picking and arpeggios are a breeze on this pickup. It is compressed ( you can't have that much wie wrapped on a bobbin and NOT be) but it still translates right hand technique rather well. In fact, I don't find it to be any more compressed than, say, the CC. Rythm tones can be brutal. BIG low end without losing fucus and enough sizzle on the top end to provide growl and bit to power chords. I don't down tune much more than a half step, but I think that this pickup would get along very well in down tuned applications with lots of gain. There really is no production equivalent to this pickup (sad to say). The closest I've ever played to this thing would be Dimarzio's Super 3, but that pickup is hotter, WAY more compressed,and has a stiffer, grainier high end than does the DIablo.

I can see this pickup working for hard rock and metal guys as well as stoner rock guys who still need some clarity and pop to their sound. FWIW, Mike Tempesta used this pickup in his Schecters while playing with Powerman 5000. I love his tones and I really dig this pickup. Definately a keeper and HIGHLY recommended to fellas looking for high output without giving up tone.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Let's talk Custom Shop.

BTW, I'd really appreciate it if owners of CS pickups would chime in with their thoughts on their pickups and what production pickup most closely approximates it. When I way production, I mean stock, out of the box. No crazy hybrids or mag swap wonders, please. It's not that I'm anti-mods, it's just that comparing to stock production pickups would give less experienced guys a better base line to compare to.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Let's talk Custom Shop.

IMO, the comparison that you are trying to make is unfair and unrealistic.

Part of what is "better" about the Custom Shop pickups is the extra attention that is lavished upon them. There is also the ability to request whatever personal tweaks that you may desire.

By definition, a production line pickup is not going to get that little extra something that the personal touch brings.

 

[bagouser]

Re: Let's talk Custom Shop.

Benjy, Thanks a bunch for these reviews.
It seems that there are threads DAILY about players wanting to know what the Custom Shop p'ups sound like. I myself have wondered about S-Deco, Brobucker, and El Diablo. From what I've gotten from this forum and 2 or 3 phone conversations with MJ,

Brobucker is a thick but sweet hot PAF with exceptional balance. Has lightly scooped mids and sparkling highs with a vintage style voice. Like a medium output C5 with a little more "life".

S-Deco is a somewhat more aggressive PAF with lots of mids and sustain. Hot, "cut thru the mix" distorted tones and crisp, bell like cleans. MJ tells me this one is very popular and they wind an assload of them.

El Diablo is an extremley powerful HB meant for chunky metal riffs and muscular power chords. I'd love to hear what A2 sounds like in a pickup that is wound this hot.......
THIS IS REALLY ALL I KNOW, AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW ACCURATE IT IS.

SD really needs to get their buttS in gear and put some sound samples/tonechart entries in for the CS pickups.
I'm sure they would sell alot more pickups if potential customers could compare them with soundclips and tonechart specs.......

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Let's talk Custom Shop.

I don't want to compare the pickups to production line pickups, I would just like to draw a line of similarity, if you know what I mean.

Something along the lines of "If you like the Demon. you'll like the S Deco."

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Let's talk Custom Shop.

Benjy, Thanks a bunch for these reviews.
It seems that there are threads DAILY about players wanting to know what the Custom Shop p'ups sound like. I myself have wondered about S-Deco, Brobucker, and El Diablo. From what I've gotten from this forum and 2 or 3 phone conversations with MJ,

Brobucker is a thick but sweet hot PAF with exceptional balance. Has lightly scooped mids and sparkling highs with a vintage style voice. Like a medium output C5 with a little more "life".

S-Deco is a somewhat more aggressive PAF with lots of mids and sustain. Hot, "cut thru the mix" distorted tones and crisp, bell like cleans. MJ tells me this one is very popular and they wind an assload of them.

El Diablo is an extremley powerful HB meant for chunky metal riffs and muscular power chords. I'd love to hear what A2 sounds like in a pickup that is wound this hot.......
THIS IS REALLY ALL I KNOW, AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW ACCURATE IT IS.

SD really needs to get their buttS in gear and put some sound samples/tonechart entries in for the CS pickups.
I'm sure they would sell alot more pickups if potential customers could compare them with soundclips and tonechart specs.......

No prob, man. I think that more info is always a good thing.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Let's talk Custom Shop.

I don't want to compare the pickups to production line pickups, I would just like to draw a line of similarity, if you know what I mean.

Understood.

 

[Jet-Jaguar]

Re: Let's talk Custom Shop.

The only Custom shop pickup I have the Phat Staple. I've only used it in a Warmoth korina strat. I still consider myself a noob when it comes to guitars, so in a way I'm afraid of mis-representing what it is (but I'm sure if I say something way out of line, someone will jump in and correct me.)

The Phat Staple is a loud and clear pickup. Being a single coil, it gets something like a strat-to-P90 sound, but IMHO, fuller than either of those, more bell-like, approaching an acoustic sound. It can do Jazz very well, but being loud, can push an amp very easily, so I wouldn't totally discount it for high-gain situations. In a 25" scale guitar, there's a little bit of twang, and it pretty much announces any mistake you might make playing, but that also means you get all these nice nuances.

Because of it's large staple magnets, it may require some routing to fit into your guitar, as it did in mine.

 

[wolf5150]

Re: Let's talk Custom Shop.

Let me ask a question based on the comment " the extra attention that is lavished upon them "

Would there be ANY difference between a regular JB and one wound in the Custom Shop, if in fact you could order one ???? :scratchch

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Let's talk Custom Shop.

Let me ask a question based on the comment " the extra attention that is lavished upon them "

Would there be ANY difference between a regular JB and one wound in the Custom Shop, if in fact you could order one ???? :scratchch

Good question. My attempts to formulate an answer get bogged down in circular reasoning.

Unless a customer is going to request some deviation from the production line spec, there is no point in paying for a "special" version. Any extra fettling will take up time and cost money. Then, the special/fettled custom order pickup would have to be rigorously A/B tested against the regular production line version. More time and money.

In effect, somebody would have had to go to extraordinary pains to make sure that a "special" pickup matched the ordinary one.

Duh!

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Let's talk Custom Shop.

If all you want is a JB,get a standard JB. Duncan's quality control is awesome, so you know what you're getting.

Now, if you want to use the JB as a basis for a pickup but want something different and want it to sound FAN-FREAKIN-TASTIC, call the Custom Shop.