Re: Need a neck pup to match up with a Custom
Nightburst said:
Holy crap, that's my dream guitar right there! Got any pictures?
Doesn't the SD sound too bassy in the neck position? How tight is it under high gain?
I could take some pictures (it's the Natural Mahogany model) but I haven't a clue about how to go about posting them.
The SD doesn't sound bassy at all. The output is perfectly balanced as is the tone. The biggest difference, and this is the beauty of it, is the picking attack responses due to the magnet types. The Custom has a very aggressive, PAFish sound whereas the SD has a smoother, PAFish sound. Rest assured though, the SD has plenty of punch too. I get "balls and bells" out of this guitar with a high output - something to finally give a Firebird some dignity as typically, they always have/had weak pickups.
Back to the SD: When I was first considering a higher output neck pickup to match the bridge, I too, was getting conflicting information which was most confusing to me. Most players said it was a very trebly pickup which really didn't break up all that well. My interpretation of the Duncan website's description implied it was bassier than their 59er which to me, is too bassy in the neck to begin with and, the 59er broke up a bit more than I wanted it to on rhythms to begin with. To compound my problem, I was having trouble interpreting the official description of the pickup. I wasn't sure what they meant by "low end cabinet thunk" (or words to that effect) and the other accompanying jargon. I got the impression that it was a Custom 5 with excessive highs. So, I phoned the S. Duncan company for a better explanation. I was told that in addition to it being more powerful than a 59er and less powerful than a Custom 5, it's tonality is in fact, similar to a 59er with slightly less mids and expanded highs. Well, that sounded absolutely perfect to me. Whomever I spoke to asked me what I had in mind and I told him. He said he never heard that particular combination before but theoretically, it sounds like it should work really well. Naturally, I figured that the only way I'll absolutely know for sure is to install it. Like I said, I did and never looked back!
