Need Some Advise for New Pups: Custom 8 & 59n - A4 or UOA5?

[darthphineas]

Re: Need Some Advise for New Pups: Custom 8 & 59n - A4 or UOA5?

I totally agree with you. It baffles me how some really great established guitarists, who happen to be extremely tone-picky, have used the JB with much success. Yet when I try, it sounds like gargling salt water.

The JB has always done me right in any guitar I've put it in. Then again, not all of us are playing a JB through the same rig in the same setting that some of those tone-picky established guitarists are playing and using.

I totally agree that the 59nA4 is a very good option and the only way I will use a 59 any more.

But definitely grab a selection of magnets (they are cheap) and tinker around (quick to change). Try it out for your own ears first and foremost because what works for one doesn't always work for another.


Sent from my armored battle station using Tapatalk

 

[Niloy63]

Re: Need Some Advise for New Pups: Custom 8 & 59n - A4 or UOA5?

I thought the C-1 Classic had body binding?

Kojak is definitely right about the magnet orientation. Don't follow the instructor in that video.

The picture doesn't show it very well, but if you look closely, there's very subtle body binding that you can see in the first picture. Not sure why Schecter didn't match the body's binding with the neck and headstock binding. As for the magnet orientation, definitely will do. Thanks for the heads up!

The JB has always done me right in any guitar I've put it in. Then again, not all of us are playing a JB through the same rig in the same setting that some of those tone-picky established guitarists are playing and using.

I totally agree that the 59nA4 is a very good option and the only way I will use a 59 any more.

But definitely grab a selection of magnets (they are cheap) and tinker around (quick to change). Try it out for your own ears first and foremost because what works for one doesn't always work for another.

That's awesome! I'm always glad to hear when someone is able to make the JB work. As I stated before, some of my favorite guitarists, at least tone-wise, have used JB's in their setup. If I can get my hands on a monstrous amp (Diezel, Bogner, H&K, etc.) one of these days, I'll definitely put my JB back in to see if the issues stemmed from my current value-conscious amps... which is just a nice way of saying my broke a** couldn't afford any better LOL. Got two more years of this frustating, 'always-broke' student lifestyle left. :crazy: Anyhow, I suspect that my current Custom and soon-to-be Custom 8 guitars would also sound better at that point.

I definitely will give it a go around with the different Alnico mags. From all the great feedback, including yours, it looks like the A4 will be a great place to start! Definitely excited about getting the new mag's and p'ups into my guitar.

 

[symptom]

Re: Need Some Advise for New Pups: Custom 8 & 59n - A4 or UOA5?

About the orientation, you got me confused. I've always swapped mags using this logic:

new magnet old magnet
|------------| repel |------------|


is that the wrong way? It always sounded right and when I did the other way, with the smaller side attracting, i get out of phase sounds.

 

[Franknfilms]

Re: Need Some Advise for New Pups: Custom 8 & 59n - A4 or UOA5?

My gear and interests are VERY similar to yours. I have also gone through most of the magnet options in my Custom/59 set. The Custom 8/ 59 A4 is a very good match and the Custom 8 is perfect for the AIC/Tool tones, in my opinion. Lately I have been loving the UOA5 in the bridge though. It is really dynamic, you can hear subtle nuances when you're playing crunchy rhythm stuff, you can very the tone by how hard you palm mute. It is not nearly as thick sounding as the custom 8, I'm really torn between the two, but I can switch back whenever I want.

As for the neck, I actually have 59 bridge model in the neck. I tried a4 and uoa5 and they are just a tad too weak for me and didn't seem as good under heavy gain as the normal a5. I keep the stock a5 magnet in there now. If your schecter has 24 frets, you'll have a pretty weak sounding neck, a lot of the bass is lacking compared to a 22 fret guitar, so I recommend keeping the a5 in there if you like heavy, tight bass.

 

[Franknfilms]

Re: Need Some Advise for New Pups: Custom 8 & 59n - A4 or UOA5?

About the orientation, you got me confused. I've always swapped mags using this logic:

new magnet old magnet
|------------| repel |------------|


is that the wrong way? It always sounded right and when I did the other way, with the smaller side attracting, i get out of phase sounds.

That is one piece of the puzzle but also check for this at the same time:

|------------|
attract
|------------|

 

[symptom]

Re: Need Some Advise for New Pups: Custom 8 & 59n - A4 or UOA5?

That is one piece of the puzzle but also check for this at the same time:

|------------|
attract
|------------|

Yes. Exactly like that, smaller side repelling, bigger side attracting.

 

[Niloy63]

Re: Need Some Advise for New Pups: Custom 8 & 59n - A4 or UOA5?

My gear and interests are VERY similar to yours. I have also gone through most of the magnet options in my Custom/59 set. The Custom 8/ 59 A4 is a very good match and the Custom 8 is perfect for the AIC/Tool tones, in my opinion. Lately I have been loving the UOA5 in the bridge though. It is really dynamic, you can hear subtle nuances when you're playing crunchy rhythm stuff, you can very the tone by how hard you palm mute. It is not nearly as thick sounding as the custom 8, I'm really torn between the two, but I can switch back whenever I want.

As for the neck, I actually have 59 bridge model in the neck. I tried a4 and uoa5 and they are just a tad too weak for me and didn't seem as good under heavy gain as the normal a5. I keep the stock a5 magnet in there now. If your schecter has 24 frets, you'll have a pretty weak sounding neck, a lot of the bass is lacking compared to a 22 fret guitar, so I recommend keeping the a5 in there if you like heavy, tight bass.

Very cool. Glad to hear that the C8 will give me what I need! So you say the UOA5 is even more articulate? At some point, I'll have to try out some of these other mag's to get a real taste of all the potential in these p'ups. But from what I read, it seems that the C8 is more along my path. Of course, I'll never truly know till I try it, but the C8 and 59n-A4 definitely felt like the right place to start.

As for the A4, theoretically speaking, shouldn't you be able to raise the pickup closer to the strings to give it a bit more volume, and use your amplifier/effects to mold the sound to get what you want out of the 59n? I like the idea of a more balanced neck pickup than a screaming, overly treble oriented p'up. That's not to say the stock 59n isn't a great p'up. I'm just trying to get my tone to a place where I feel like I'm standing in the middle rather than the edge of see-saw, if that's makes any sense. I have a feeling that the settings I use on my amp for my LP (w/ a stock Custom and a PGn) won't be suitable for the C8/59n-A4 in my Schecter. We'll see... :33:

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Need Some Advise for New Pups: Custom 8 & 59n - A4 or UOA5?

About the orientation, you got me confused. I've always swapped mags using this logic:

new magnet old magnet
|------------| repel |------------|

That is one piece of the puzzle but also check for this at the same time:

|------------|
attract
|------------|

I'm not sure if I was confused at the orientation in the video or not, but just to make sure we are all clear on this...these are correct.

The long edges should attract when placed edge-to-edge, and the ends should repel when placed end-to-end. And if you place the new mag on top of the old mag, they should repel.

 

[symptom]

Re: Need Some Advise for New Pups: Custom 8 & 59n - A4 or UOA5?

I'm not sure if I was confused at the orientation in the video or not, but just to make sure we are all clear on this...these are correct.

The long edges should attract when placed edge-to-edge, and the ends should repel when placed end-to-end. And if you place the new mag on top of the old mag, they should repel.

Thanks, Doc. It's nice to know that I'm not messing up my pickups all this time. =)

 

[Niloy63]

Re: Need Some Advise for New Pups: Custom 8 & 59n - A4 or UOA5?

Hey guys... I ran into a couple problems during installation.

Problem 1: This one's my fault. I idiotically bought the 2 con wire 59n, and the guitar comes with a 5-way switch (where positions 2 and 4 are setup so that the p'ups are in parallel config). This irritates me immensely!

Problem 2: I feel that this one is NOT my fault. I bought the Custom off ebay, and the seller said that other than normal wear and tear, and pick scratches, the pickup is 100% I then find out during installation that the screw holes are too large to screw into the pickup ring. Seems like it had been modified. The seller was truthful, letting me know that he had screwed the pickups directly into his guitar (no pickup ring), and therefore the screw holes needed to be enlarged. Any suggestions that could possibly fix this, or should I ask for my money back and send the pickup back to him?


Thanks in advance!

 

[B2D]

Re: Need Some Advise for New Pups: Custom 8 & 59n - A4 or UOA5?

Hey guys... I ran into a couple problems during installation.

Problem 1: This one's my fault. I idiotically bought the 2 con wire 59n, and the guitar comes with a 5-way switch (where positions 2 and 4 are setup so that the p'ups are in parallel config). This irritates me immensely!

Problem 2: I feel that this one is NOT my fault. I bought the Custom off ebay, and the seller said that other than normal wear and tear, and pick scratches, the pickup is 100% I then find out during installation that the screw holes are too large to screw into the pickup ring. Seems like it had been modified. The seller was truthful, letting me know that he had screwed the pickups directly into his guitar (no pickup ring), and therefore the screw holes needed to be enlarged. Any suggestions that could possibly fix this, or should I ask for my money back and send the pickup back to him?


Thanks in advance!

You're talking about the screw holes on the mounting legs that are used for height adjustment, correct?

As far as #2 goes... I'd do one of two things.

I had a similar problem with some DiMarzios I got ahold of and I used a tap wrench to bore the holes out to accept 4-40 screws: You can read about what I did here: https://forum.seymourduncan.com/sho...fix-I-did-to-some-DiMarzios-I-have&highlight= Most standard humbucker adjustment screws are 3-48 which are damn near impossible to find in local hardware stores. 4-40 is the next closest size up and that's very easily found.

It's a pretty easy fix (though it did take me a bit to figure it out) but if you don't wanna do that, I'd send the thing back.

 

[Niloy63]

Re: Need Some Advise for New Pups: Custom 8 & 59n - A4 or UOA5?

You're talking about the screw holes on the mounting legs that are used for height adjustment, correct?

As far as #2 goes... I'd do one of two things.

I had a similar problem with some DiMarzios I got ahold of and I used a tap wrench to bore the holes out to accept 4-40 screws: You can read about what I did here: https://forum.seymourduncan.com/sho...fix-I-did-to-some-DiMarzios-I-have&highlight= Most standard humbucker adjustment screws are 3-48 which are damn near impossible to find in local hardware stores. 4-40 is the next closest size up and that's very easily found.

It's a pretty easy fix (though it did take me a bit to figure it out) but if you don't wanna do that, I'd send the thing back.

Thank you for the heads up! I'll look into what I need to get. Haven't done this before, so I'll need to look up a step by step tutorial. I'm sure I'll be able to find a few. Thanks again for the idea!

 

[B2D]

Re: Need Some Advise for New Pups: Custom 8 & 59n - A4 or UOA5?

Thank you for the heads up! I'll look into what I need to get. Haven't done this before, so I'll need to look up a step by step tutorial. I'm sure I'll be able to find a few. Thanks again for the idea!

No worries. Just PM me if you need any help. It's very easy. All you need is the tap wrench and a steady hand and the 4-40 screws.

BTW I forgot to mention that 3-48 humbucker screws are hard to find in stores but they're readily available on Stew Mac.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Need Some Advise for New Pups: Custom 8 & 59n - A4 or UOA5?

Any suggestions that could possibly fix this,

http://www.mojotone.com/guitar-part...umbucker-Frame-Short-49-2mm-1-94#.UY3i_7Uqwe8

HTH,

 

[Niloy63]

Re: Need Some Advise for New Pups: Custom 8 & 59n - A4 or UOA5?

http://www.mojotone.com/guitar-part...umbucker-Frame-Short-49-2mm-1-94#.UY3i_7Uqwe8

HTH,

Ah ha! Mr. Pepe aka Lt. Kojak... you just made my life much easier... again! Thank you! :yourock:

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Need Some Advise for New Pups: Custom 8 & 59n - A4 or UOA5?

Ah ha! Mr. Pepe aka Lt. Kojak... you just made my life much easier... again! Thank you! :yourock:

You're most welcome, Niloy63.

Have fun with your new p'ups! :cool2:

 

[Niloy63]

Re: Need Some Advise for New Pups: Custom 8 & 59n - A4 or UOA5?

Sooooo.... got the p'ups installed and ready to go in the guitar this morning. I haven't done the mag swap yet, because I want to fully appreciate a before/after sound test. Later on tonight (hopefully, if I can finish up my work in time), I'll post up pics and a review of the new stock p'ups before I do the mag swap. I may not be able to get to the mag swap tonight, though. We'll see...

So far, in the 20 minutes or so of playing it during my lunch break, they sound great! As much as I appreciate the stock JB/Jazz combo, I'm definitely already liking the Custom/'59 combo much more! :headbang:

 

[Niloy63]

Re: Need Some Advise for New Pups: Custom 8 & 59n - A4 or UOA5?

I swapped the magnets out last night, so I finally have the C8/'59n-A4 combo in my guitar. If you need information on the guitar to reference, I'll post the specs below the pictures.

C8
Initial Impression: Was surprised at how "large" this p'up sounds. Two words to describe it... "THICK and WIDE-SPECTRUM!" (before I get slack, I'm considering Wide-Spectrum to be one word lol)
Clean Channel: This is especially where I find the C8 MUCH better than the stock Custom. I could sense the "wider spectrum" of tone very easily. It was noticeable right from the get-go!
Low to Medium Gain: I find this setting to be pretty damn good for a bridge pickup, considering for the most part, I use my neck pickups when playing with low to medium gain. The added fullness with the A8 magnet fills out the tone extremely well. And an added bonus, it handles effects really well (i.e., my flanger).
High Gain: It's a little less "mean," and has less "grit" than the stock custom. That's not to say that it's a lesser magnet for high gain. It is slightly more tamed, which makes it easier to work with than the Custom when dialing in your tone from the amp's EQ settings. It has a nice chugging tone for the occasional palm muting that I do... a little less defined, but confers a fatter "chug" than the Custom.
Overall: It certainly is different than the stock Custom I have in my Les Paul. You do notice a decrease in the growl/bite (perhaps due to less mids? I'm not sure about this, but it seems to be the case). It certainly has a noticeably wider spectrum of tone... in other words, it's natural range of EQ is better balanced and easier to work with. I'm EXTREMELY happy with the results! It's a keeper!

'59n-A4
Initial Impression: It took a couple minutes to find the tone I wanted, but once I did, I was impressed! Two words to describe it... "WARM and SMOOTH!"
Clean Channel: Beaituful tone. Less "spikey" than the stock '59, if that makes any sense. I bet with the right acoustic simulator, you could get this p'up to make your electric sound DAMN close to an acoustic.
Low-Medium Gain: While I appreciate the pickup in this setting, I do feel that the stock '59n was a bit better for the dirty crunch tone. But the '59n-A4 still sounds great! Very warm, but not as "rowdy" as the stock '59.
High Gain: The leads are wonderful! Definitely better, especially when playing in a higher register. It sounds like the guitar is actually singing the notes. The harshness that the '59 can have at times was totally gone. No more spiking! I personally would not ideally play open chords under high gain, at least not with the volume pot all the way up. I feel that the definition of each note got lost with open chords, but once I lowered the volume a bit, the definition greatly improved.
Overall: Clean tone is better! Lead tones are better! Low-medium gain settings maybe a little less ideal for blues, but still usable! The A4 '59 takes well to using different effects. I'm in love with the way it sounds on a clean channel with chorus and slight delay... it's heavenly!

Oh... and I need new pickup tape since the ones on right now look dirty and a bit loose.

Pictures

Guitar: Schecter C-1 Classic, 3 Tone Sunburst
Body: Mahogany (medium sized) w/ Quilted Maple Top
Neck: Maple (Neck-thru Body)
Fretboard: Rosewood
Scale: 25 1/2"
Bridge: Tone Pros (w/ String-thru Body)
Pickups: JB/Jazz
Pickup Switch Selector: 5-positions (2 and 4, p'ups are in parallel)

 

[B2D]

Re: Need Some Advise for New Pups: Custom 8 & 59n - A4 or UOA5?

Great review! Thanks for the breakdown.

 

[Niloy63]

Re: Need Some Advise for New Pups: Custom 8 & 59n - A4 or UOA5?

Great review! Thanks for the breakdown.

Anytime! It's high time I contributed some resemblance of knowledge. :bigok: