Seymour Duncan Custom SH5 or Dimarzio Super Distortion

  • Thread starter Thread starter nitro
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I now it sounds a bit bourgeois, but it's not a bad idea to get a few pickups and just try them. Super Distortions, Customs, and JBs are easy to find. If you're patient, you can find them for prices where you'd pretty much be guaranteed to break even selling them again. And you can roll through the various magnets pretty cheap (buy a Custom and some spare A5 and A2 mags to get the variations on the Custom).
 
Im really liking vh1tone clip with the Custom Custom.Maybe I should revisited the Custom Custom,I said I didn't like it because it had the mud thing going on maybe it was the amp I was using back then.vh1tone clip doesn't sound muddy at all and it has that nice cut going on that you do hear on VH1.
 
nitro":1pmkinno said:
I'm having second thoughts now if a want to go high output pickup or low output like a PAF type pickup I don't Fn know
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I'm surprised you haven't tried to score an old Ibanez Super 70 -- that's most assuredly the pup in the Greco /Ibanez Korina Destroyer on the first album. I believe that's an A8 mag though, vice ceramic.

Anyways, I just looked on ebay; Super 70s are all over the place. Good luck...
 
The Super 70 was in Edwards Destroyer not the Strat(Frankenstrat)im starting to believe(after all this Fn time)that the pickup that was in Edwards strat was just I rewound PAF with a alnico magnet not a ceramic magnet.Original PAFs as most of you know came with alnico magnets not ceramic.I believe that the Duncan SH-5 Custom(the so-called van halen pickup released in 1979) was something that was made by Seymour after Van halen 1 was recorded.
 
Duncan SH-5 Custom(the so-called van halen pickup released in 1979) was something that was made by Seymour after Van halen 1 was recorded.I believe that the pickup that Edward took out of his 1961 Gibson es335 which had alnico magnet was the pickup that was taken to Seymour to have rewound hotter I don't believe the magnet was changed to a ceramic magnet.I think Seymour knew that Edward used/tried ceramic magnet pickups like the mighty mites and the Dimarzio Super distortion and that's how he(Seymour)came up with the Duncan SH-5 Custom pickup(released in 1979).
 
You didn't mention what kind of wood your new guitar will have, hard to say. But, I find the Custom5 is brighter and more clear than the Custom. The Custom tends to sound muffled to me, compared to other brighter pickups.

Also, try a Dimarzio SD with a 250k volume pot - really reduces the harsh high end!
 
Hey Andy,Alder body strat mapleneck rosewood board Floyd rose.Im talking about the Custom Custom not the regular Custom.I was listening to Rockstah(Mark) clips and the clip were he'was using his orange tolex Mod 5 amp Mark(Rockstah)was using the Motorcity blackbelt PAF(alnico magnet) and I thought that it had a better sound then the clips Mark posted with the Dimarzio Super Distortion.
 
I never like the Custom Custom - way too muddy sounding, not enough highs. Just a muffled pickup.

My favorite lately is the Dimarzio AT-1. It's like a better JB.
 
Andy I said the samething about the Custom Custom until I really listened to more clips of that pickup and it changed my mind.Go listen to some on youtube.Type in Dario van halen on youtube he's using a Duncan Custom Custom.
 
I guess if you have a bright amp (Mod 5), or enough FX (reverb, flanger), the Custom Custom may tame the brightness and sound OK like it does in Dario's vids. I bet Dario would sound better with a SD though!@
 
Andy,Jacob Derrap is using the EVH Frankenstrat pickup which is a high priced Duncan Custom Custom,both are alnico II magnet pickups both wound to 14.k
 
Interesting! I didn't know the Frankenstrat pickup was similar to the CC.
 
Yes they are both alnico II magnet pickups and there both wound to 14.4k.Some will say they are different but there not.The alnico II magnet on the EVH is alittle weaker to make it sound(marketing BS)like a older pickup.
 
AndyK":1yqwdaf9 said:
I never like the Custom Custom - way too muddy sounding, not enough highs. Just a muffled pickup.

My favorite lately is the Dimarzio AT-1. It's like a better JB.
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this isnt the case in my all mahogany 57 RI LPC
 
nitro":29gjj7l3 said:
Yes they are both alnico II magnet pickups and there both wound to 14.4k.Some will say they are different but there not.The alnico II magnet on the EVH is alittle weaker to make it sound(marketing BS)like a older pickup.
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This is not true; they are similar but indeed sound different. The Frank is an assymetric wind; the CC is an even. Also the Frank has a degaussed Alinico II magnet, where the CC's is not. Is the Frank worth all the extra $$?...I don't think so.

At any rate, the Duncan (Custom Shop) IM1 is, according to Seymour, almost exactly the same as the Frank.
 
nitro":l8s82tad said:
Andy,Jacob Derrap is using the EVH Frankenstrat pickup which is a high priced Duncan Custom Custom,both are alnico II magnet pickups both wound to 14.k
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It doesn't sound REMOTELY similar to me. The Custom Custom has no high end and is dull sounding, the Frankenstrat pickup has lots of high end and is quite bright...

Steve
 
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