A contender for my Duncan Custom love?!?!?!?!?

[sully]

I'm as shocked as you, but the Duncan Alternative-8 is in the Mahogany/Maple 'bird I just finished, and holy crap, it kicks ass. Further testing is required....

Sully

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

You ever tried a Custom 5?

If so, how does it compare to the 8?

I like the 5 (at least the one I mutted together) - not sure I like it "better" than the regular Custom but sometimes different is good.

[VitaminG]

sweet. A guy was selling a pair of Alt-8s on aus ebay a while back for a great price, but I've never been able to find any reviews of them or to check them out myself, so I baulked. Next time, I'll have to take the plunge

[sully]

You ever tried a Custom 5?

If so, how does it compare to the 8?

I like the 5 (at least the one I mutted together) - not sure I like it "better" than the regular Custom but sometimes different is good.

Tried a Custom 5 and a Custom Custom and really didn't like either of them. I'm not awesome with tonal descriptions, but I was eager to try the other members of the Custom family when I discovered how awesome the Custom is. The 5 and the Custom Custom didn't work for me at all.

Sully

[plon]

Cool, Sully. I've been swapping alnico 8 magnets into customs for a few years now. I have one in my Rhoads and one in my star. They sound great in those guitars.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Tried a Custom 5 and a Custom Custom and really didn't like either of them. I'm not awesome with tonal descriptions, but I was eager to try the other members of the Custom family when I discovered how awesome the Custom is. The 5 and the Custom Custom didn't work for me at all.

Sully

No problem, I gotta kind a when I read a lot of tonal descriptions anyway "Monumentally woody with a hint of sour grapes, the highs are tinged with a slight mustardy vapor while the lows are open and breathy..."

I want to say that the ceramic magnet is what I love about the custom (I have always perferred ceramic magnet pickups) but then, there is the Tone Zone, which is on paper "the same" as a JB, 18K and Alnico 5 magnet, but it somehow doesn't suck. :dunno:

Anyway I have heard good things about the 8 but not from people who play metal, so, that's another one to check out...

[javert]

I love the custom, so I might check the alternative 8 out. Thanks for the hint! I can't put words on what I hear either. Even though I'm a pro on the technical side of things, I often have no clue what they talk about in gear reviews with the imagery and strange analogies. I try to translate it into technical properties, but it doesn't add up :think:

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

The gear review descriptions are just advertising/marketing bullshit... It doesn't appeal to anything logical or factual.

[wilkinsi]

Perhaps I should get a Custom 5 and Alt.8, stick em in two Warriors, and compare :idea:

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

I think you'll find that the Custom 5 has a subcutaneous woody glow with elastic midranges and champagne highs.



I'm not sure the 5 suits the brutal metal rhythm too well, but damn if I'm not loving the harmonics and lead tone.

[Nightbat]

on the SD forum they rave about the duncan custom 8 (indeed, custom with alinco 8 in it)

[6string40]

Uh-oh...could Mr Sully be starting a new trend here??? You've gotten us all hooked on the Custom, now you're gonna get us all to try the Alt8 aren't you??? You secretly work for Mr Duncan don't you???

Since Sully's is in a mahogany axe right now...who out there (Plon perhaps) has an Alt8 in something else like Alder or Ash? What do you think of it compared to the Custom?

[Trussrod]

Good info, Sully. I prefer the Custom sound but a Custom doesn't always sound like a Custom--lol.

[javert]

You secretly work for Mr Duncan don't you???

Not only that, his pickups have also been hand-wound by Mr. Duncan himself!

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Since Sully's is in a mahogany axe right now...

Ah... That is an interesting point. The Custom definitely let me down in my Mahogany hardtail, it didn't cut through at all, just got lost in the mix, which was never a problem before.

I used a JB in that guitar for the meantime and I think I like it but something a little tighter would be good (but with similar EQ, which the Alt8 seems to have.)

Sully you might have just cost me $70 but helped me figure out what to try in my hardtail.