Re-exploring the Custom 5

[Ascension]

Last night at Church I had the Purple MG 122 out with a Custom 8 and 59. The tones were a little too bright and harsh and I wanted one of the MG's to have more of a vintage vibe. I swapped the mags today back to the A-5 and it really sounds meaty and smooth through the red head. I was playing a Marshall TSL and a Super-Sonic before so I think this combo might just work out pretty well.
Here is a quick clip with the MG 122/ Custom-5 through big Red and my 2/12 Avatar cab with Vin 30's.
I have the cab in a room by itself now so I can crank this beast to where it sounds right. This was at 3.5 on the master Gain 1 at around 4 and Gain 2 at 7. The cab was close miced with a SM 57. The DB level in the room at this low volume setting was still over 125! That amp sounds incredable but lordie the blasted thing is just STUPID loud! Think more gain on tap than a Boogie Dual Rec but Hiwatt loud on the crunches and with clean headroom and volume like a good Fender Twin! That amp with this pickup in that guitar seems to work well but where the heck can I ever play tha thangie?
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=261302&content=songinfo&songID=7119129

 

[LesPaulRules]

Re: Re-exploring the Custom 5

Sounds pretty good. It does remind me of a souped up 59b, which I think is a good thing.

 

[Ascension]

Re: Re-exploring the Custom 5

Sounds pretty good. It does remind me of a souped up 59b, which I think is a good thing.

It ballances very well tonally with the 59 in the neck on my MG. The question will be how will it cut through a full band ( including horn section )on the solos. I am now back playing as the lead guitarist in the team at Cathedral Of The Cross. That is a 10,000 seat multi cultural mega Church that I played in for several years a while back.
This changes some of my tonal needs and I needed more of a warm meaty vintage Les Paul tonal vibe on one guitar but with a trem( I have my WM-4 Washburn with a Custom Custom/59 for true Les Paul style tones). The MG 122 is set up with a 59 in the neck and the Custom 5 in the bridge. It auto taps in pos 2 and 4 + has the bucker tones in the middle and on the ends.
The band does modern rockin worship stuff but also a lot of Black Gospel stuff with the Choir and some pretty funky stuff that is Jazz orented. I have to cover a LOT of tonal ground on the fly with one guitar. This one will be in rotation along with my MG 120 with a pair of SSL-1's and a Custom 8, My MG 104 with a Custom Custom SSL-5 and 59 and the MG 100 with a pair of Dimarzio Blue Velvets + a JB with an A-8. These Washburn USA MG's have become my go to guitars as of now.
What I bring depends on the set and style of stuff we will play.

 

[RockStarNick]

Re: Re-exploring the Custom 5

As many have said, mids are easier to add in than dial out. For leads, why not step on a graphic EQ set to a slight volume and mid boost, to make the solos cut, and that'll also make your un-EQ'd rhythm tone sit better in the mix.

Ive never had a problem with my solos cutting thru. Does the C5 have the vocal-midrange cut of a dimarzio kinda lead pickup? Not at all. but that's not what it was designed for. That being said, I think it'll cut fine.

 

[Robert S.]

Re: Re-exploring the Custom 5

sounds pretty good Bro.

I am a big fan of the C-5. Mine is a little over wound at 14.75k but the vibe is still there.

 

[veryhungrycaterpilla]

Re: Re-exploring the Custom 5

With mild gain the pup is great, but high gain was not my cup of tea.