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In the last years Custombuckers have the same output (neck and bridge)?

Junae9

Member
Joined
May 7, 2015
Messages
58
I am making a new m2m with zebra custombuckers.
The seller told me that the Custombuckers in recent years
have the same wind and output on the bridge and neck (identical?),
with different small ones depending on who rolls the pickup coils.
I don't agree with his argument.
I would like to hear your point of view.

Thank you.
 

Tommy Tourbus

Active member
Joined
Jan 1, 2005
Messages
871
yes it's true, they don't make them in calibrated neck and bridge sets. The originals weren't made in neck/bridge versions either, so this is what the CS is shooting for. They only ever vary by accident/happenstance. The neck pickup in my SG was actually hotter than the bridge!
 

somebodyelseuk

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 10, 2020
Messages
457
Well...
DC reading and output aren't necessarily the same thing. Output is very much influenced by the magnet. Nevertheless, the CBs in mine are near as dammit identical.
I think the term 'balanced set' is often misused/misunderstood. It was often (usually) the case that you got yourself a knockout sound and when you flipped the switch, the other pickup(s) sounded like shit. Balanced sets attempt to close that tonal gap.
In terms of volume balance, the CBs are balanced, and I have a few guitars where the neck has a higher wind than the bridge, that are also well balanced. Don't get too hung up about DC readings and what should go where.
 

mrbeasty

New member
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
114
As said before Gibson only made one humbucking pickup, with a target resistance of 7.5k. Theoretically they were all identical. If you wanted less, Gibson gave you screws to raise or lower the pickup, and screw poles to adjust each string. Gibson changed their humbucker design over time (PAF, T-Top, etc.) but there was always a single design at a time.

It just so happened that production was never consistent and some folks (Seymour?) realized that a slightly weaker pickup in the neck position helps offset the increased string movement and better matched a hotter bridge pickup. That realization came much later (late ‘70s?) and wasn’t a sales argument until the ‘80s ... and not everybody likes this arrangement (EVH being one).

Early Mighty Mite, Duncan, Dan Armstrong, Burns, and DiMarzio pickups only existed in one version too, and several models were just the same pickup with different magnets. Combining a hot one and a mild one was the recommendation that led to the “bridge” or “neck” concept.
To this day, you can use any pickup in any position you want regardless of the sticker. Gibson is being “authentic” by providing sets made of near identical pickups.

My $0.02!
 
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