NGD! Custom V is DONE!!!

[Bob Savage]

Thanks guys! It was worth every hour I waited for it! SOOOOOO glad I went black and not the faded denim for the finish.

I think faded denim would have looked fantastic too.

 

[JerEvil]

Thanks guys! It was worth every hour I waited for it! SOOOOOO glad I went black and not the faded denim for the finish.

I think faded denim would have looked fantastic too.

Probably. He’d sent a few pics and I ultimately wasn’t feeling it.

 

[ChurchHill]

So freakin' KILLER!! Congrats!! And thanks for posting this! Looks like some damn fine work.

 

[Speeddemon]

That axe looks NOICE!

By the way, given the presence of the maple cap and back, wouldn't the Jazz neck become a bit too strident?
To me, it was one of my least favorite neck pickups; too clinical. I've put a DiMarzio Breed Neck in the neck spot of my Gibson V and that is pure fat-PAF-esque magic! But, that guitar has a lot of mahogany.
A Duncan Screamin' Demon in the neck would probably be cool in your V as well. Plus, it splits beautifully (whereas the Jazz becomes quite thin then).

To be honest, I had these pickups sitting around so just had him install them. Both are a little bright in this guy so I’ll be swapping them out for sure.

I am open to suggestion. Still sounds killer but I have to eq the amps a bit differently.

Sure!
Note that almost all my guitars have been equipped with 500k Bourns push-pull pots for coil-splits (for versatility

For Neck pickups:
DiMarzio Air Norton. Balances out nicely if the guitar is on the brighter side and still love it for liquidy fatness with a good definition in a Les Paul too.
One of THE best split-tones of any humbucker I've heard.
I have it in the neck position in 3 guitars that are totally different from one another:
Ibanez S-series HSH.
Burny Les Paul Standard (H-H)
Charvel So-Cal Pro Mod Super Strat (H-H).

The DiMarzio Breed can be thicker/bigger sounding than the AN, but...it has a very specific top-end jangle that may work or not in a specific guitar. I took it out the Charvel because of that and it is pure magic in my Gibson V.

Duncan Distortion neck SH-6N, if you want tight+liquid high-gain goodness.

Duncan Screamin' Demon SH-12 (in the neck); very balanced with decent character and plays nicely with high(er) gain bridge pickups. It was designed as a medium output Bridge pup, but just like the Air Norton, people found that it does very nice things as a neck pup.

Dimarzio 36th Anniv PAF DP-103
Most characterful, classic PAF, great juicyness and open mids. Split tone is o.k. Least output of the bunch. More classic rock and hardrock oriented.

For Bridge pups,
DiMarzio Norton, to me it works a bit like a tighter, punchier version of the ToneZone. In certain guitars the TZ can have this slightly flubby character in the low-end. Both have insane harmonics though. Also, the Norton (as well as the SH-14) have certain aspects that the standard JB aspires to be. Splits awesomely! This pup made my Les Paul Standard do EVH tones in spades. Quite characterful with a bit of vintage Alnico flavor. (whereas the Duncan Distortion misses this, in favor of more output and punch).

DiMarzio AT-1
Andy Timmons sig; a bit like the Norton, but a tad less harmonics and a slightly beefier bottom end. That's what's in that Les Paul Standard now (together with the AN neck). Great split tones too. Norton has slightly more character in its split tones.

DiMarzio Super Distortion
A classic for a reason. Chunky, rawk, big. Be aware that it doesn't split that nice; quite thin, too jangly.

Seymour Duncan Distortion SH-6
If you need tight, aggressive (not too), punchy, definition. Lots of output, but not too insane. More of a metal than a rock pickup. Split sound is actually quite good. I prefer it over the JB.

Seymour Duncan Custom-5 SH-14
Brings a whole bunch of tight, but big low-end, a balanced mid (some say scooped...f# them!) and a nice -not too bright- present high-end. Quite some character. I have this in an ESP Horizon NT-II, it replaced the JB. Prefer it tremendously over the JB.

Finally, if you want even more character, but a bit less metal, and more hard-rock,
Seymour Duncan Custom/59 Hybrid SH-16
Because of coil mismatch, slightly noisier, but with more character, openness and juicyness, while some hairy and ballsy traits remain. (Hairy balls... )
I got this one in my Burny Randy Rhoads LPC (thick maple cap on mahogany).

I've tried EMG's, but I prefer passive mid/high output pups.
Stuff I have lying around, but still have to try myself:
-Pearly Gates set.
-Putting an A4 mag in the '59 Neck of my ESP (currently occupied by the SH-12)
-Putting an A8 mag in the JB of my ESP.

(these are the recommendations...given your guitar I would not bother with DiMarzio Evo's, 498T's, EMG81's, PAF Pro's, SH-11 Custom Customs)

 

[ZEEGLER]

That axe looks NOICE!

By the way, given the presence of the maple cap and back, wouldn't the Jazz neck become a bit too strident?
To me, it was one of my least favorite neck pickups; too clinical. I've put a DiMarzio Breed Neck in the neck spot of my Gibson V and that is pure fat-PAF-esque magic! But, that guitar has a lot of mahogany.
A Duncan Screamin' Demon in the neck would probably be cool in your V as well. Plus, it splits beautifully (whereas the Jazz becomes quite thin then).

To be honest, I had these pickups sitting around so just had him install them. Both are a little bright in this guy so I’ll be swapping them out for sure.

I am open to suggestion. Still sounds killer but I have to eq the amps a bit differently.

I think I mentioned that to you before I sent it out Jer. It sounded pretty bright to my ears. My Valkyrie has an SH-5 Custom in the bridge position and sounds pretty much perfect. Since both guitars are almost identical in material and construction, I'd think the SH-5 would work in the V. Alternately you could try an SH-11 Custom Custom. I sometimes go that route to tame a particularly bright guitar, but I think you'd be fine with the SH-5. That's what I'm putting in my V.

 

[Markedman]

Is it for sale yet? Oops, I thought I was on TGP!

 

[JerEvil]

That axe looks NOICE!

By the way, given the presence of the maple cap and back, wouldn't the Jazz neck become a bit too strident?
To me, it was one of my least favorite neck pickups; too clinical. I've put a DiMarzio Breed Neck in the neck spot of my Gibson V and that is pure fat-PAF-esque magic! But, that guitar has a lot of mahogany.
A Duncan Screamin' Demon in the neck would probably be cool in your V as well. Plus, it splits beautifully (whereas the Jazz becomes quite thin then).

To be honest, I had these pickups sitting around so just had him install them. Both are a little bright in this guy so I’ll be swapping them out for sure.

I am open to suggestion. Still sounds killer but I have to eq the amps a bit differently.

Sure!
Note that almost all my guitars have been equipped with 500k Bourns push-pull pots for coil-splits (for versatility

For Neck pickups:
DiMarzio Air Norton. Balances out nicely if the guitar is on the brighter side and still love it for liquidy fatness with a good definition in a Les Paul too.
One of THE best split-tones of any humbucker I've heard.
I have it in the neck position in 3 guitars that are totally different from one another:
Ibanez S-series HSH.
Burny Les Paul Standard (H-H)
Charvel So-Cal Pro Mod Super Strat (H-H).

The DiMarzio Breed can be thicker/bigger sounding than the AN, but...it has a very specific top-end jangle that may work or not in a specific guitar. I took it out the Charvel because of that and it is pure magic in my Gibson V.

Duncan Distortion neck SH-6N, if you want tight+liquid high-gain goodness.

Duncan Screamin' Demon SH-12 (in the neck); very balanced with decent character and plays nicely with high(er) gain bridge pickups. It was designed as a medium output Bridge pup, but just like the Air Norton, people found that it does very nice things as a neck pup.

Dimarzio 36th Anniv PAF DP-103
Most characterful, classic PAF, great juicyness and open mids. Split tone is o.k. Least output of the bunch. More classic rock and hardrock oriented.

For Bridge pups,
DiMarzio Norton, to me it works a bit like a tighter, punchier version of the ToneZone. In certain guitars the TZ can have this slightly flubby character in the low-end. Both have insane harmonics though. Also, the Norton (as well as the SH-14) have certain aspects that the standard JB aspires to be. Splits awesomely! This pup made my Les Paul Standard do EVH tones in spades. Quite characterful with a bit of vintage Alnico flavor. (whereas the Duncan Distortion misses this, in favor of more output and punch).

DiMarzio AT-1
Andy Timmons sig; a bit like the Norton, but a tad less harmonics and a slightly beefier bottom end. That's what's in that Les Paul Standard now (together with the AN neck). Great split tones too. Norton has slightly more character in its split tones.

DiMarzio Super Distortion
A classic for a reason. Chunky, rawk, big. Be aware that it doesn't split that nice; quite thin, too jangly.

Seymour Duncan Distortion SH-6
If you need tight, aggressive (not too), punchy, definition. Lots of output, but not too insane. More of a metal than a rock pickup. Split sound is actually quite good. I prefer it over the JB.

Seymour Duncan Custom-5 SH-14
Brings a whole bunch of tight, but big low-end, a balanced mid (some say scooped...f# them!) and a nice -not too bright- present high-end. Quite some character. I have this in an ESP Horizon NT-II, it replaced the JB. Prefer it tremendously over the JB.

Finally, if you want even more character, but a bit less metal, and more hard-rock,
Seymour Duncan Custom/59 Hybrid SH-16
Because of coil mismatch, slightly noisier, but with more character, openness and juicyness, while some hairy and ballsy traits remain. (Hairy balls... )
I got this one in my Burny Randy Rhoads LPC (thick maple cap on mahogany).

I've tried EMG's, but I prefer passive mid/high output pups.
Stuff I have lying around, but still have to try myself:
-Pearly Gates set.
-Putting an A4 mag in the '59 Neck of my ESP (currently occupied by the SH-12)
-Putting an A8 mag in the JB of my ESP.

(these are the recommendations...given your guitar I would not bother with DiMarzio Evo's, 498T's, EMG81's, PAF Pro's, SH-11 Custom Customs)

Cool man! Thanks for the list. I am interested in the Custom 5 for sure as I love the Custom.

That axe looks NOICE!

By the way, given the presence of the maple cap and back, wouldn't the Jazz neck become a bit too strident?
To me, it was one of my least favorite neck pickups; too clinical. I've put a DiMarzio Breed Neck in the neck spot of my Gibson V and that is pure fat-PAF-esque magic! But, that guitar has a lot of mahogany.
A Duncan Screamin' Demon in the neck would probably be cool in your V as well. Plus, it splits beautifully (whereas the Jazz becomes quite thin then).

To be honest, I had these pickups sitting around so just had him install them. Both are a little bright in this guy so I’ll be swapping them out for sure.

I am open to suggestion. Still sounds killer but I have to eq the amps a bit differently.

I think I mentioned that to you before I sent it out Jer. It sounded pretty bright to my ears. My Valkyrie has an SH-5 Custom in the bridge position and sounds pretty much perfect. Since both guitars are almost identical in material and construction, I'd think the SH-5 would work in the V. Alternately you could try an SH-11 Custom Custom. I sometimes go that route to tame a particularly bright guitar, but I think you'd be fine with the SH-5. That's what I'm putting in my V.

Yeah man you definitely mentioned it. I have an SH-5 I can pull out of my Mammoth JerEvil model actually.

Is it for sale yet? Oops, I thought I was on TGP!

LOL! NEVER!!! Look at the damn thing! I'd rather sell one of my kids...