Old Vintage SH-5.. weak? (Les Paul Porn warning)

[C-Martin]

Hey, i just installed a new Duncan in my Les Paul, an old SH-5 Custom (atleast thats what it was said to be and looks to be). Apparently build by seymour himself and it sounds great in this thing! :smokin:

Its lead was rather short.. it was lenghtened but the job done was rather sloppy imo so i removed the extra wire and relenghtened it myself so it would fit in my les paul's bridge position. Its single conductor and read 14.25 but when i soldered more wire to it it droped to 14.05 and when i installed it in the guitar it read 13.98.. compared to the Burstbucker in the neck that came stock it seems "weaker" it sounds like a custom to me and pretty hot but the neck seems significantly louder than the bridge.. i raised it up pretty high as youll see in the, as you people say, "guitar porn" :laugh2:

Any idea why this would hapen and how i can fix it? maybe i have to send it to seymour to just change the lead to a longer lenght one.. its not THAT bad but i figured the Custom was a high output pickup and would be louder than the stock ones in it.. or am i underestimating the burstbuckers?

Pics of the Seymourized Custom:

Pics of the guitar that ruined my budjet for a year lol ...but she was to hard to resist :smokin:

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Old Vintage SH-5.. weak? (Les Paul Porn warning)

Nah, that Custom reads about right. For some reason, when you put a ceramic magnet in a pickup that's otherwise 14.4K, it dips down to 14.1, which is what it's rated at in the specs. Hot Gibsons do tend to be louder, either from the harsher mids or strong magnets. When you install Duncans, it's more refined and sweeter.

It'd be a good idea to put in something like a 59n or if you want it a little brighter, a PGn or Jazz. Both of those 2 will seem a little lower in output than the Custom. The 59 will sound about equal.

 

[hamerfan]

Re: Old Vintage SH-5.. weak? (Les Paul Porn warning)

If i see it right on the 1st pic, the magnet looks shiney. That means it is not a ceramic, which is alway dark grey. This would the explain the drop of volume this has nothing to do with the DC ohmage!)
If you install a pickup in the circuit the reading of the DC resistance drops about .3k and more. This depends on the fact that pots come into the measurement.

 

[C-Martin]

Re: Old Vintage SH-5.. weak? (Les Paul Porn warning)

If i see it right on the 1st pic, the magnet looks shiney. That means it is not a ceramic, which is alway dark grey. This would the explain the drop of volume this has nothing to do with the DC ohmage!)
If you install a pickup in the circuit the reading of the DC resistance drops about .3k and more. This depends on the fact that pots come into the measurement.

you mean you see that just from the spec of a magnet thats poping out from beneat? lol

if its not a ceramic then what is this pickup? could seymour have made em diferently back then or for charvels?

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Old Vintage SH-5.. weak? (Les Paul Porn warning)

Pics of the guitar that ruined my budjet for a year lol ...but she was to hard to resist :smokin:

Hey, i have the exact same "look" with my Gold Top :smokin: - the Zebra(b)/Nickel . . .


. . . mine is just '59(b)/SLover FWIW !



BEAUTIFULL GUITAR YOU HAVE THERE !!!

 

[C-Martin]

Re: Old Vintage SH-5.. weak? (Les Paul Porn warning)

Hey, i have the exact same "look" with my Gold Top :smokin: - the Zebra(b)/Nickel . . .


. . . mine is just '59(b)/SLover FWIW !



BEAUTIFULL GUITAR YOU HAVE THERE !!!

Thanks! it does look great but it also sounds and fels great.. took me 15 mintues of trying it and cheacking it out to decide i was leaving the store with it... Bet your goldtop looks sweet aswell, i like a good goldtop.

i love the custom and its been my favorite bridge pickup for years but lately ive been drawn more twards vintage style pickups.. lower output, less compressed and more organic sounding... the 78 in my strat just blew my mind so im wondering if maybe i shouldnt try something in the same genre in my les paul.. How does the '59 sound in your goldtop? Any idea what would sound like the custom or have something of an aggressive, tight sounding growl that does palm muting well and keeps a vintage vibe and mojo? Maybe i should just try a 78 in it.. see how it goes..

as for the neck ive been wanting to go either ant or seth but i kinda like to have a slightly more glassy kind of sound.. i find neck buckers in les pauls to sound to "woofy or boomy" and prefer keeping some more clarity while stil being warm and round sounding, pafish kinda neck pickup sound.. the burstbucker has a slight kidna "metalic" sound wich i like but it stil kinda sounds muddy in a way.. i dont know, but i do want to try something dieferent.. i just dont know what yet

 

[MartinSixStringCustoms]

Re: Old Vintage SH-5.. weak? (Les Paul Porn warning)

Thats the same color as my Standard. Nice bro. I like the nickel / zebra look

 

[hamerfan]

Re: Old Vintage SH-5.. weak? (Les Paul Porn warning)

Hi 54'Strat, if you can confirm the silver look of the magnet, it can only be a Alnico 5 or an Alnico 2, since Seymour does not deal with other magnets. If it is an A5 its called nowadays Custom5m and if its Alnico 2 its called Custom Custom. I'm pretty sure the pup was sent to Seymour to get it moddified later on. The "Seymourized" tells that!

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Old Vintage SH-5.. weak? (Les Paul Porn warning)

Thanks! it does look great but it also sounds and fels great.. took me 15 mintues of trying it and cheacking it out to decide i was leaving the store with it... Bet your goldtop looks sweet aswell, i like a good goldtop.

i love the custom and its been my favorite bridge pickup for years but lately ive been drawn more twards vintage style pickups.. lower output, less compressed and more organic sounding... the 78 in my strat just blew my mind so im wondering if maybe i shouldnt try something in the same genre in my les paul.. How does the '59 sound in your goldtop? Any idea what would sound like the custom or have something of an aggressive, tight sounding growl that does palm muting well and keeps a vintage vibe and mojo? Maybe i should just try a 78 in it.. see how it goes..

as for the neck ive been wanting to go either ant or seth but i kinda like to have a slightly more glassy kind of sound.. i find neck buckers in les pauls to sound to "woofy or boomy" and prefer keeping some more clarity while stil being warm and round sounding, pafish kinda neck pickup sound.. the burstbucker has a slight kidna "metalic" sound wich i like but it stil kinda sounds muddy in a way.. i dont know, but i do want to try something dieferent.. i just dont know what yet

I've got a 78 in my R8 and it sounds divine.

Did you do the polepiec tap test with your guitar to make sure both coils work?

Luke

 

[C-Martin]

Re: Old Vintage SH-5.. weak? (Les Paul Porn warning)

I've got a 78 in my R8 and it sounds divine.

Did you do the polepiec tap test with your guitar to make sure both coils work?

Luke

both coils work.. the whole bucker seems to work just fine exept for the wierd details i stated alrady with the ohm reading and output


I am not gonna open the pickup.. but this guy said he could see it just from the picture, i was curious about that. Only makes me more curious to see i this is in fact a Custom or if its an old version of it and it was diferently made beofre... other details i notice is that it has maple a spacer, like the '59 or Seth's.. so this pickup is a bit of a puzzle to me but it seems to have that custom vibe, i have annother custom in black i guess i could try and test the diference in sound with it.

 

[C-Martin]

Re: Old Vintage SH-5.. weak? (Les Paul Porn warning)

I've got a 78 in my R8 and it sounds divine.

btw.. how would you say it compares to other pafish buckers you tried? or a 78 in a strat? does it have that same vibe? or is it just fater more les paul ish and diferent

any clips arround of it in a Les Paul?