Love for the SH/TB-14 “Custom 5”
Just wanted to post some love for the SH/TB-14 “Custom 5” pickup. Lots of mixed reviews on the forum. Without doubt, pickups are SO dependent on the guitar, the amp and the player. LOTS of variables to consider. I had recently made the switch to passive pickups after decades of playing EMGs and I haven’t looked back. FWIW, the EMG 57 is a MUCH better choice than the 81 or the 85 - it has ‘passable’ string separation and clarity that the 81 & 85 cannot match. But none of the EMG offerings respond well when you roll the volume back and they end up making any/every guitar you put them in sound identical - regardless of body wood or hardware.
I had been swapping ceramic Customs and Alnico Custom Customs in my various guitars and was really pleased with the dynamics and tones I was finding. So when I saw a ‘previously enjoyed’ TB-14 on Reverb, I could not resist. This thing has remarkable clarity for its rated resistance. Great string separation even with quite a bit of gain and still cleans up beautifully with the volume knob. I’ve got it in an Ash Strat body with a Hipshot 2-point trem - strings through the block like a Fender - with a graph-tech nut and locking tuners. (A 6-screw trem would no doubt sound a bit chunkier.) I’m playing through a ‘newer’ Splawn QR with the mid-cut and old/new switches. Using the ‘old’ voicing and switching the mids back in adds some fullness to the ‘scooped’ characteristic of the A-5 magnet. The pickup has a cool ‘clean’ quality to it even when playing with quite a bit of drive. This pickup won’t lie for you, (neither will a Splawn!) but if your chops are dialed in, the clarity of speedier lead lines sounds absolutely killer.
Might sound harsh or sterile with another guitar or through another amp, but so far, I’m really diggin’ the TB-14.
Just wanted to post some love for the SH/TB-14 “Custom 5” pickup. Lots of mixed reviews on the forum. Without doubt, pickups are SO dependent on the guitar, the amp and the player. LOTS of variables to consider. I had recently made the switch to passive pickups after decades of playing EMGs and I haven’t looked back. FWIW, the EMG 57 is a MUCH better choice than the 81 or the 85 - it has ‘passable’ string separation and clarity that the 81 & 85 cannot match. But none of the EMG offerings respond well when you roll the volume back and they end up making any/every guitar you put them in sound identical - regardless of body wood or hardware.
I had been swapping ceramic Customs and Alnico Custom Customs in my various guitars and was really pleased with the dynamics and tones I was finding. So when I saw a ‘previously enjoyed’ TB-14 on Reverb, I could not resist. This thing has remarkable clarity for its rated resistance. Great string separation even with quite a bit of gain and still cleans up beautifully with the volume knob. I’ve got it in an Ash Strat body with a Hipshot 2-point trem - strings through the block like a Fender - with a graph-tech nut and locking tuners. (A 6-screw trem would no doubt sound a bit chunkier.) I’m playing through a ‘newer’ Splawn QR with the mid-cut and old/new switches. Using the ‘old’ voicing and switching the mids back in adds some fullness to the ‘scooped’ characteristic of the A-5 magnet. The pickup has a cool ‘clean’ quality to it even when playing with quite a bit of drive. This pickup won’t lie for you, (neither will a Splawn!) but if your chops are dialed in, the clarity of speedier lead lines sounds absolutely killer.
Might sound harsh or sterile with another guitar or through another amp, but so far, I’m really diggin’ the TB-14.
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