Duncan Custom for my SL1!

[Mordor]

I decided to swap the JB that originally came with my soloist for a Duncan Custom. I love JBs, but I wanted to change it for two reasons. First is that I have it in almost all of my guitars so I thought I need a change! Second is because the one in the soloist sounds pretty weak compare to the others. I bought it used so maybe is some sort of coil failure?
Anyway, pics and clips next week I hope!

[MartinBarre]

I just got a JB in my new SL3 and I too love it. I thought of replacing the DiMarzios in my RR3 with a JB/Jazz combo but, like you, I think a bit of variety is called for. That's why I ordered the red Invaders instead.
The JB is a great pup, but I think it's good to have a different sound on each guitar so I think you made a good choice.
Pics and a review/comparison will be nice.

[sully]

duncan custom is their greatest pickup, imo. it's between a jb and a distortion, output-wise, but it has a lot of clarity to it as well. they just rule.

sully

[Mordor]

Yeah, according to what I read here and in some other board, I should prefer it over the JBs to, it should have that bass response that JB lacks isn't it? It should be here on monday! I hope my friend will have free time to install it for me!

[shadowcat]

I have a JB in my DKMGT, Distortions in most of my other Jacksons but got my JacksonStars Rhoads with a Custom in the bridge.
The JB lacks big time IMO and is probably a bad match for the basswood DKMGT, too.
Between the other two, I can't decide which I like better... the Distortion is more brutal and in your face, the Custom is perfectly balanced and absolutely sings on the leads.
I think I agree with Sully about the Custom being the best Duncan (of those I tested so far), but the Distortion is better suited for some applications... like brutal deathmetal, which I happen to play most of the time.

[sully]

JBs are kinda funny; i had one in an import firebird (that i no longer have) and it was magical. they're really inconsistent as far as overall tone. I was originally very into the distortion model, but once i tried a custom, holy cats, there's no going back.

sully

[themisfit138]

I was thinking of puting a custom on my King V

[sully]

do it, man! do it now!

[ken]

I have a SD Custom sitting in my living room, waiting to go in the bridge position of my KV2. I'm with Shadowcat that the JB just isn't hot enough, although it sounds better in my soloist than in the V. Maybe that's the inconsistency Sully was talking about? I was going to get a Distortion, but my J. Stars came with a Custom in the bridge and it seems to just be the perfect pickup. Let's hope it's the pickup and not just the guitar!

[toejam]

I had a 7-string Custom in my old Schecter 007 Elite... what a great pup! I've yet to try a regular 6-string version, but I will eventually.
I did have a Custom 5 in my Charvel Star, but that's just the Alnico 5 magnet version of the Custom, and it was too scooped for my tastes. And I usually hate JBs, but the one in my Brian Moore i9f at the moment sounds pretty good.

[ADR]

Great post !!! You guys help me decide a Pup for my new beater (Dinky BASSWOOD/MAPLE) with stock Jackson Pups.
I was debating a Duncan distortion & Custom,Invader or EVH Pup even a "Tone Zone".
I never had till now Basswod body/maple before.So not sure what works really good with this combo.It is the complete opposite of my San Dimas. The Dinky is my Metal beater and want a killer passive pup. The "DD" had way too much midrange for me and not enough bass. How does the Custom compare to the DD as far as level of distortion?
How are picking harmonics on the Custom?

ps: thanx sully,shadowcat and toejam for the useful info.

[shreddermon]

duncan custom is their greatest pickup, imo. it's between a jb and a distortion, output-wise, but it has a lot of clarity to it as well. they just rule.

sully

+1. Sully's the one who turned me on to the Duncan Custom. It's by far Seymour's coolest pickup. It just has this juicy, layered, open-voiced tone to it. And hamonics galore. In comparison, Distortions are too buzzsawy and JBs are too flaccid.

In fact, I just yanked the JBs out of my Y2KV, too. Guess what's going in the bridge position? Yep.

[ADR]

Since were are on the topic of Pups .. I have couple questions: When going to get my Duncan Custom.

Since my Dinky has direct mount Pups,do I need to specify this? Cause screws for Pup rings guitars are fine thread and mine are coarse for the wood and the hole is larger for the screw,I know has to be trem spaced too.
Will I need to change the stock volume pot too? Enlighten me guys.

[Mordor]

Here we go!
I received the pick up yesterday and a dear friend of mine installed it for me yesterday. I must say that this pup is sweet! It's very well balanced and it has lots of tone. I recorded a clip with both pup sounds, I used a basic podxt plexi patch with the stomp section on with overdrive setting. The difference is not as much you can hear it with a real amp. Yesterday I played it thru my tiny terror for a couple of minutes and it was really smooth and nice compressed.

Clip:

http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?fid=10458

The first part is the JB, the latter is the custom.
Oh, one last thing. I noticed that my soloist has a 250k tone pot. That's why the JB sounded so different from the others? thought that humbucker equipped guitars had always 500k tone pots, should I swap the 250k pot?

[rocksoldier]

Do you want the custom to sound brighter compared to how it is now?
If not, just keep it as it is.