Custombuckers

[renderit]

Congrats on the new guitar!


Seems a bit of a straw man. Did anyone say they want that?

No, but many come on here and state you can't really tell the difference so hence: no straw man.

 

[djcmusician]

Yeah, could be, but it's the third set of these that disappoint. I'm not that picky but I want a reasonably bright neck pickup and it seems you never get that with the custombuckers. I put a set of Sheptone Tributes with A2 magnets in my R7. Sounds awesome now. I have an old standard with Brandonwound 59s. Great pickups. Even a Duncan Jazz delivers.

On paper, I would never expect an A2 magnet to be brighter and/or more clarity than an A3 magnet in the neck. Interesting.

 

[programmer]

On paper, I would never expect an A2 magnet to be brighter and/or more clarity than an A3 magnet in the neck. Interesting.

Yes, I was surprised too. But that A2 is in a different pickup with lower wind than the (potted) custombucker I removed.

 

[jimmi]

The custombuckers are too muddy too dark. Boomy in the neck. OK in the bridge because the location helps it out. I think the early unpotted burstbuckers are better imho.

I have 4 guitars with 50s or very early 60s PAFs. The CBs are nothing like vintage PAFs. The newer reissues have so many things right but the pickups just aren’t one of them.

 

[djcmusician]

I’m genuinely surprised at people saying Custombuckers are too dark. If anything, they are too bright and thin compared to real PAFs.

 

[LeonC]

I’m genuinely surprised at people saying Custombuckers are too dark. If anything, they are too bright and thin compared to real PAFs.

Well, "real PAFs" are not that consistent. That's part of it. Custombuckers aren't either, from my experience. That's another part of it. Then, different guitars made from different pieces of wood aren't that consistent and finally different people's interpretations of "too bright" or "too dark" aren't all that consistent either

 

[djcmusician]

Well, "real PAFs" are not that consistent. That's part of it. Custombuckers aren't either, from my experience. That's another part of it. Then, different guitars made from different pieces of wood aren't that consistent and finally different people's interpretations of "too bright" or "too dark" aren't all that consistent either

Okay, or pretty much any other PAF “clone” out there.

 

[jimmi]

I’m genuinely surprised at people saying Custombuckers are too dark. If anything, they are too bright and thin compared to real PAFs.

It isn’t just dark. It is less frequency range. Less detail. 400 mega pixel cameras compared to a 1200. If you never see the higher resolution you don’t notice it but do if you do.

 

[pdfiddler]

Well, just quit listening to all those other pickups. That's what happens when you go whore'in around.

 

[renderit]

Well, just quit listening to all those other pickups. That's what happens when you go whore'in around.

Ha!

But there are SOOOO many good pickups oot there...

Maybes dats why they call 'em pickups!

 

[Bwagster]

I put a pair of Doyle Coils and wiring harness in my 2023 R9. I put the Custombuckers right back in. The CB's sounds great in this guitar.

 

[Any Name You Wish]

If I could have an R9 neck pickup that can get a little more clarity on the low E and A strings I would be happier, especially at lower volume. But, I love the tone of the rest of the strings with the WW underwound csutombuckers, so I don't want to mess that up. Is there a holy grail? A long time ago I chased Strat pickups down the pickup rabbit hole and boy did I waste a lot of time and money.

 

[83Custom]

If I could have an R9 neck pickup that can get a little more clarity on the low E and A strings I would be happier, especially at lower volume. But, I love the tone of the rest of the strings with the WW underwound csutombuckers, so I don't want to mess that up. Is there a holy grail? A long time ago I chased Strat pickups down the pickup rabbit hole and boy did I waste a lot of time and money.

A holy grail? I put a Cream T Billy Gibbons Whiskerbucker in the bridge of my 2019 R8. It was like suddenly having a volume/OD combo pedal put into the guitar. It clears up as you roll back the volume and dirties up on 10. It’s the best replica pickup I’ve ever tried in a guitar. It sounds very, very similar to the Patent # pickup (circa 1965) I have in another guitar.

 

[Any Name You Wish]

Wiskerbucker

 

[MattD1960]

ill be the OTHER guy here, i actually love the custombuckers, I look for guitars that have them, all my historic guitars have the custombuckers in there and i really get along with them i think they are sensitive and clear if u employ ur control knobs they sound fantastic at least to me.

i will add, The R7 and R0 have the CME spec custombuckers which are supposed to be a little underwound those sound THE BEST really like what i get from those two LPs

 

[Any Name You Wish]

FYI - I've been doing some fine tuning on the neck pickup height and pole height with my WW spec R9. I was able to get the woody clarity on the low E and A strings I was looking for. It took a few tries over a few days to dial it in. It is more sensitive than I originally thought. A quarter turn either way can make the difference on these two particular strings. The other string's sound don't seem to be as sensitive to these adjustments - something to do with the lower frequency vibrations I suppose. Very happy with the WW spec underwound Custombuckers.

 

[MattD1960]

FYI - I've been doing some fine tuning on the neck pickup height and pole height with my WW spec R9. I was able to get the woody clarity on the low E and A strings I was looking for. It took a few tries over a few days to dial it in. It is more sensitive than I originally thought. A quarter turn either way can make the difference on these two particular strings. The other string's sound don't seem to be as sensitive to these adjustments - something to do with the lower frequency vibrations I suppose. Very happy with the WW spec underwound Custombuckers.

FUNNY we both mention the underwound versions of these pickups being "better" maybe gibson is catching on cuz thats what there new S bucker is supposed to be about i believe

 

[Standard Magic]

Generally I prefer alnico 5's as they are brighter/clearer but the custombuckers in my 2019 R9 sound clear and bright in the neck, if anything, maybe they're a little too bright. Guitar sounds great! I've played a few other 2020-2022 R9's in store and they sounded a little darker but still good.

A3 magnets are said to be weaker than A2's in bar magnet form (not pole piece), because they are Alnicu. I don't know if this still applies today or applied in the past, I can't be arsed re-researching this, it's up to you if you want to find out more. A number of Historic owners have mentioned that their A3 Custombuckers sounded dark so it's no surprise to me, but it could also be the wood.

Before you spend money on new pickups, it would make sense to just change the magnets first, it's a lot cheaper, A4/5's will make a difference. You can also remove the covers, that costs nothing if fact, you'll have to remove the cover to change the magnet.

 

[TM1]

I got a `61 Murphy Lab ES-335 reissue with a Wrapover bridge(no Tune-o-matic) and it came with Custom buckers! I was very surprizeds at how Great it sounds!. I put an A-4 magnet in it, played it for a day and put the A-3 back in! I have a '64 ES-335 Custom Shop and put in a set of 1965 Pat. No. pickups and they sound perfect in that guitar. It's all about how the wood sounds. This guitar sounds perfect now!

 

[JP'59]

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