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New 2013 custom buckers?

randall

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Feb 21, 2002
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1,310
Has anyone had a chance to try these new custom buckers? Very interested to what makes them custom? I hope by putting a A3 in them there are not just calling that custom?
 

jimmyace2006

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Dec 24, 2007
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that is pretty much it. maybe they were running out of names! but they have been using them in artist guitars and collectors' choice guitars for a couple of years.
 

Bugman58

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Mar 10, 2012
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453
In the C.C guitars there wound to sound like the original pups in those guitars. From what i am told the others are wound different also.
 

Minibucker

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Jan 12, 2003
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How concerned are they about the used market, though?
 
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cryptozoo

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Jun 25, 2008
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I agree with JimmyAce, that's hogwash. They put whatever in the guitars and don't make any special attempt at mimicking one particular guitar's sound, outside of coil-splitting and the like on some models.
 

J T

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Oct 20, 2005
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10,501
My CC4 Sandy does sound different than my other R9's. Just the luck of the draw? I dunno...

According to Gibson, intentional.

Gibson:
"exposed zebra-coil humbuckers with Alnico 3 magnets, accurate coil winds, and offset square-window bobbins"

So they made at least 600 of these pu's
 

DanD

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Apr 8, 2007
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that is pretty much it. maybe they were running out of names! but they have been using them in artist guitars and collectors' choice guitars for a couple of years.

Wildwood spec humbuckers have been using the A3s mags for a while. :worm
 

poon99

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Feb 1, 2004
Messages
1,095
Lets see all these are Custombuckers..
2012 CC#4 Sandy bridge 7.74ohm/neck 7.93 ohm
2012 CC#4 Sandy bridge 7.74ohm/neck 7.93 ohm
2013 R9 bridge 7.790hm/neck 7.93ohm
2013 R9 bridge 7.92ohm/neck 7.90ohm

all A3 magnets.
 

Todd68

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Feb 13, 2004
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Had a Beano with A3 pickups. I now have a Sandy. They sound quite a bit different. I suppose that isn't saying much considering two guitars with regular Burstbuckers could sound a lot different.
 

Thunderchunk

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Jan 8, 2004
Messages
164
Given the low windings of the new pickups, I assume they must be brighter than average with low mids?

I'm not sure that's a good thing.
 

JTele

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Joined
May 14, 2011
Messages
60
Given the low windings of the new pickups, I assume they must be brighter than average with low mids?

I'm not sure that's a good thing.

I tend to think that the A3 mags reduce some low-end, too, but not drastically. They're not as hot or as robust as Burstbuckers, but I think it's safe to say that they have a harmonically richer tonal character to them.

BTW, the Custom Buckers in my '11 Dave's 30th Ann. model measure out to about 8.0K on the bridge and about 7.9K on the neck.
 

jimmyace2006

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Dec 24, 2007
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2,157
My CC4 Sandy does sound different than my other R9's. Just the luck of the draw? I dunno...

According to Gibson, intentional.

Gibson:
"exposed zebra-coil humbuckers with Alnico 3 magnets, accurate coil winds, and offset square-window bobbins"

So they made at least 600 of these pu's


It doesn't say accurate to what.....? Sandy, or 1950s PAFs? It also says offset square window bobbins. The offset square window bobbins applies to all 50s PAFs; and in the context of that sentence, it goes with the "accurate coil winds". So, it applies to the average PAF, not just to Sandy. They don't even know how many winds are on the Sandy pickups. For one, the original PAFs in Sandy are probably AL5 magnets, not AL3. So the winds would be completely different if they tried to match a guitar's pickups. And even if they did, they would still sound different in every guitar since every guitar is different and every AL3 magnet is a little different. The Custom Buckers represent Gibson's best guess to PAF sound as of today, nothing more. Otherwise, for special winds, they would be renamed like the Page AL3 burst buckers.

And of course it will sound different from your other R9s; especially if the others are using burst buckers (AL2 magnet). And if your other R9s have Custom Buckers, I'll bet they do not have exposed bobbins like Sandy. That makes a noticeable difference in sound....aside from the two guitars will sound different anyway. And we have not even talked about what effect different pots & caps are having on the sound. There is no way to truly do an A/B comparison in the different guitars.
 

MikeSlub

Administrator
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Jul 15, 2001
Messages
15,166
Besides the ohms measurement of the PAFs in my '59 Burst, there were no sound comparisons done by Gibson when my CC#6 was produced. :hank
 

cryptozoo

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Jun 25, 2008
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tumblr_li0s9igCBt1qbolbn.jpg
 

poon99

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Feb 1, 2004
Messages
1,095

not so fast!!!!
This is what Gibson said for this run
Digital analysis of the guitar reveals a dish carve with a subtle flatness, and a neck profile with just enough "cheek" for the optimum in-hand feel, while its ideal specifications are further echoed in a very slight difference in bridge and neck pickup outputs. In short, the Collector's Choice™ #6 1959 Les Paul #9-1918 is an impeccable recreation of one of the world's most desirable vintage electric guitars.

They didn't say anything about the sound.
 

Mats A

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Joined
Jan 15, 2008
Messages
799
My Factory Burst Dark Burst has the Custom Buckers and they are totally amazing sounding. Smooth and great overtones. Or maybe it´s the 2 piece fingerboard:wah
 

jimmyace2006

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Dec 24, 2007
Messages
2,157
not so fast!!!!
This is what Gibson said for this run
Digital analysis of the guitar reveals a dish carve with a subtle flatness, and a neck profile with just enough "cheek" for the optimum in-hand feel, while its ideal specifications are further echoed in a very slight difference in bridge and neck pickup outputs. In short, the Collector's Choice™ #6 1959 Les Paul #9-1918 is an impeccable recreation of one of the world's most desirable vintage electric guitars.

They didn't say anything about the sound.

That doesn't prove anything to me. The ohm measurements shown earlier in the thread have a "slight difference in bridge and neck pickups", whether they are in Sandy or the R9s. That statement is nothing more than a marketer's drivel, meant to embellish what it really is and build up the guitar. The truth is that Custom Buckers are Custom Buckers, and in my opinion, possibly some of the nicest pickups Gibson has made to date. But they are not "custom" made differently for different guitar runs - again, if they were, they would have separate names like the Page burst buckers with AL3 magnets and Page windings. Gibson could have saved a lot of confusion by naming them something without the word "Custom" in the name.
 
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