SD Custom Custom and mahogany body + neck

Flavio Echart

Flavio Echart

New member
Hi, new to the forum, long term SD user... Need some advice from you nice people...

I've got this Dean ML79 Floyd that I love, stock bridge pickup sucks, neck is good.

The guitar is made out of mahogany with a flamed maple top, the neck is mahogany with a rosewood fretboard.

I tried an EVH Frankie in the bridge position and I didn't dig it too much, was a little muddy... Then I said "let's try the Pantera thing" and installed a Dimebucker��

The Dimebucker is awesome but not my piece of cake, I'm an EVH head, and I play 80s Hard Rock 99% of the time...

So... What I try to achieve now with that guitar is a Les Paul-ish tone, I dig 498Ts, 490Rs, Alnico II Pros, Slash sets, not *very* low output vintage stuff, more a medium output thing.

I had decided to throw a Suhr Aldrich set on it, but I never tried those, I'm afraid The Aldrichs being too hot (they have a HUGE DC Resistance), or too scooped, I don't know... I want a warm tone with a nice buttery midrange, alnico II kind of mids. I also dig a good string separation, don't like that "piano-like" compressed tone.

Duncan pickups I've tried and my comments about them :

Alnico II Pro. Love the tone, but too low output for me
Nazgul. Love it! But a tad too hot. Even when I feel it hot, it has a really good string separation.
Custom. Too compressed, no string separation.
JB. Lots of mids in the wrong place for me. Not digging it
Distortion. Not my piece of cake

So... I NEVER tried a Custom Custom, and none of my friends have one to try. From the SD web, it has similar DC Resistance and EQ in comparison with the Nazgul, but it has the Alnico II magnet which I dig... Seems perfect for me on paper, but I have read about lots of people saying this pickup works well in bright guitars, which is not my case (the Dean is kinda muddy and leans to the dark side)

Do you think it's risky trying the CC in these conditions? Any experience to share?

Thanks in advance and cheers!

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Re: SD Custom Custom and mahogany body + neck

CC might put you back in the same boat at the Franky.

The deal is, I'm not too sure how EVH you're going to get with that guitar.

But here's something to try. Call up Dean. Ask for Pat Baker in the pickup Dept. Tell his what you've got and what you're trying to do. He knows those guitars and he knows a lot more than just Dean Pickups.

See what he says.

Outside of that, it'll be in your amp and in your hands.
 
Re: SD Custom Custom and mahogany body + neck

darthphineas said:
CC might put you back in the same boat at the Franky.

The deal is, I'm not too sure how EVH you're going to get with that guitar.

But here's something to try. Call up Dean. Ask for Pat Baker in the pickup Dept. Tell his what you've got and what you're trying to do. He knows those guitars and he knows a lot more than just Dean Pickups.

See what he says.

Outside of that, it'll be in your amp and in your hands.
Click to expand...

Hey mate, thanks for the advice. I'm not after an exact early EVH tone on this one (I have other guitars for that), it's just that I always tend to that kind of sound...

I'm afraid to go back to the Frankie experience too, anyway, any recs are welcome! Cheers

P. S. : I play an EVH 5150III, but lately I find myself playing a lot more using my Marshall Jmp-1 preamp through the EVH's Power Amp section.
 
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Re: SD Custom Custom and mahogany body + neck

For "warm tone with a nice buttery midrange", Custom Custom certainly fits the bill.

Whether or not it works in your Dean is another matter. It sounds like your Dean isn't inherently bright, so you may end up with nothing but mids, as the Custom Custom is inherently very mid-heavy.

If that's the case, you could probably work with it, however. Just EQ out mids at the amp, maybe disconnect the bridge pickup from the tone control for more top end, even try different strings like Ernie Ball M-Steels or Dunlop Super Bright, which are both good for adding brightness in different ways. M-Steels are more of a screaming vibe, Super Bright are more like a warm but polished shine.

If your Dean is very mid-heavy, Custom 5, with its scooped mids, might also do the job.

I'm kind of in the same boat as you - love A2 pickups and the warmth and squish, but have yet to find the ideal mid-output bridge A2 humbucker. Usually once you start upping the output on an A2 bridge, the mids start getting congested and the lows go away. Now that I think about it, you might also want to try the various EVH pickups out in the market, from Peavey on through to the current Fender ones. Those have varying specs and winds, but generally have the same vibe - hot and fat.
 
Re: SD Custom Custom and mahogany body + neck

Yeah, the CC is mid-heavy. I really like that, but some find it muddy. It is one of my favorite pickups, though. Any A2-magnet pickup will not have the bite of A5, If you still have that Custom you tried, you can switch out the magnet for an A2, and bingo, a Custom Custom.
 
Re: SD Custom Custom and mahogany body + neck

OK, so I ordered a Custom Custom, arrives tomorrow... I'll give it a shot, if I don't like it I'll replace it with something else.

Cheers and thanks for the advice! I'll report back!
 
Re: SD Custom Custom and mahogany body + neck

The CC on the Dean works fantastic. No flubby low end, no lack of bass, no dark tone.

I was surprised and amazed at the tight low end with a great string separation, in fact, it souns *very* similar to my EVH Wolfgang Special, at the point you just *feel* a subtle difference, but you can barely hear it.

Here's a really quick demo I made comparing both pickups. Comment if you can hear something different going on!

https://youtu.be/MP7Oee02Z6A
 
Re: SD Custom Custom and mahogany body + neck

Wow, very nice! I am happy it worked out! I use the CC in my #1, and always loved the tone.
 
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