Help Me Tweak My Custom 5

[ExplorersRock]

Hey guys! So I was wondering if I could get some ideas on tweaking my custom 5. I have it in a strat-shaped guitar, alder body with a flame maple top, maple neck with rosewood fretboard. Love the sounds but the bass could be tighter. I know that switching to a Custom will fix this but I like this pickup in this guitar. So what can I do to improve this? I know it won't completely fix it and that's fine. I just want to get it tweaked a bit for a little more edge. Should I adjust screws, change them...

[dvanburen]

put an alnico 8 in that sucka! It will come alive. not as hot as the custom but much more musical and will get very tight and punchy.

[CTN]

several options

- lower the pickup and raise the polepieces
- replace the flathead screws with hex screws
- swap the magnet for an Alnico 4 - keeps more or less the same vibe as the C5, but adds a bunch of mids and has lots more articulate attack.

[frankfalbo]

Cut only the pole pieces under the 3 bass strings, flush with the bottom of the pickup. I'm sure you don't need "tighter bass" on the three treble strings.

[symptom]

to me the custom 5 has a tighter bass compared to the custom 8... You could lower the bass side a bit and bring the 3 bass side screws up a little

[JOLLY]

Cut only the pole pieces under the 3 bass strings, flush with the bottom of the pickup. I'm sure you don't need "tighter bass" on the three treble strings.

What's the best way to cut screws like that, Frank? Mark where they need to be cut and then use a dremel?

[LtKojak]

What's the best way to cut screws like that, Frank? Mark where they need to be cut and then use a dremel?

I'm not Frank, but I cut the polepieces flush with the baseplate in all my p'ups.

I put the screws in the vise through four keeper bars, then I use a saw, keeping'em from moving with my other hand. It's brutal, but it works. I always keep four or five sets on stock, as it's something I don't really like doing all the time.

If you can come up with another less brutal way, let me know. The right measure for the screw is 15mm, letting out the lenght of the head.

Jolly, do it BEFORE the Jack Daniels, OK?

[formula73]

Jack Daniels? I've got $5 that says Jolly's a Dickel man.

[jhale667]

put an alnico 8 in that sucka! It will come alive. not as hot as the custom but much more musical and will get very tight and punchy.

THIS.

[formula73]

Jesus ****ing christ. A8 is NOT the answer to tightening up the bass on a Custom 5. It'll add a bunch of low midrange and make the bottom even bigger and looser. Have you guys even tried a C5? If Alnico 8 was the answer to every tone question, it would be in every pickup ever made. I think probably 70% (best guess) who love it so much just love it because you think it puts you a few coolness points above the guy who doesn't know anything but stock Super Distortions and JBs, like saying you liked such-and-such band before they were famous.

It doesn't.

[Kam]

Jesus ****ing christ. A8 is NOT the answer to tightening up the bass on a Custom 5. It'll add a bunch of low midrange and make the bottom even bigger and looser. Have you guys even tried a C5? If Alnico 8 was the answer to every tone question, it would be in every pickup ever made. I think probably 70% (best guess) who love it so much just love it because you think it puts you a few coolness points above the guy who doesn't know anything but stock Super Distortions and JBs, like saying you liked such-and-such band before they were famous.

It doesn't.

Yup.

The Custom 8 is a terrible recommendation for a guy who likes the tone of the C5 but just wants it a bit tighter. I mean, the Custom 8 is one of my absolute favourite bridge humbuckers, but it sounds nothing at all like a C5. The guy wants to tweak his sound, not change it entirely.

[dvanburen]

Id say try the A8 mag

[BRHGM]

Just lower the treble side a bit and raise the bass side to lower the brightness. The custom will be more chunky and the C8 much thicker. Swapping to A4 is not a bad idea. Roughcast A5 would also work.

[DrNewcenstein]

Get an A9. It's one more.

Seriously, record some stuff with the pickup as it is now, then lower the pickup and raise the screws, then record the same tracks again. Listen to both tracks for a few days and really nitpick the sound you're hearing before you change anything else.

[formula73]

Id say try the A8 mag

Yeah. You already said that.

[Kam]

Id say try the A8 mag

So would I, but only on the basis that experimentation is fun and he might find something he likes. Who knows, he might like the C8 even more than he likes the C5. They're both excellent pickups.

I would also recommend it if I hadn't read the OP.

However, I would not recommend it for someone who says he loves his current sound but wants the bass to be a bit tighter. Switching from A5 to A8 is a drastic change to the EQ of the pickup, not to mention the feel and response. If he likes his current tone, why should he change it?

Not to mention that, in my opinion, the Custom 8 does not have a tighter low end than a Custom 5.

Honestly, recommending an A8 mag in this thread is like recommending an Ibanez in a 'How Should I Set Up My Strat?' thread.

[formula73]

Honestly, recommending an A8 mag in this thread is like recommending an Ibanez in a 'How Should I Set Up My Strat?' thread.

Perluss whun.

[dvanburen]

this is just a suggestion based on my own experience. He is not completely happy with something in the C5. he wants tighter bottom end and wants more edge in the sound. Not to mention that he was also toying with putting in a regular custom pickup to make a change... I thought the A8 mag was a logical suggestion. I know he wanted suggestions on the screws but the A8 mag will give him some edge, and I think the bottom end is super tight and it's not as drastic as putting in the ceramic custom. keeps some of the alnico warmth.

oh yeah and, Jesus ****ing christ! There. I had to keep the mood alive in this thread... I figured we just needed to get mad over nothing

[dvanburen]

so on to something positive. Ive never heard of cutting the screws before. So if I understand this correctly, you guys literally cut the screws on the bottom of the baseplate flush with the base? That's interesting. That mod is supposed to tighten up the bass?

[Edgecrusher]

this is just a suggestion based on my own experience. He is not completely happy with something in the C5. he wants tighter bottom end and wants more edge in the sound. Not to mention that he was also toying with putting in a regular custom pickup to make a change... I thought the A8 mag was a logical suggestion. I know he wanted suggestions on the screws but the A8 mag will give him some edge, and I think the bottom end is super tight and it's not as drastic as putting in the ceramic custom. keeps some of the alnico warmth.

oh yeah and, Jesus ****ing christ! There. I had to keep the mood alive in this thread... I figured we just needed to get mad over nothing

Problem is the C8 isnt tighter than the C5 its actually looser nor does it have any extra edge. If he was saying that the C5 was thin and he needed more lows mids then sure an A8 would be a good move.


But beyond that the dude was asking about screws and adjusting them. Not mags.