Duncan's best pickup. The black powder coat finish looks great. I had a few quality control issues with earlier orders (badly dented pickup cover and undrilled mounting holes). However, I didn't realize this until after the return windows closed for each order. I was beginning to lose confidence with this brand, but now it's been restored.

Love Seymour Duncan’s

I love SD pickups. I have used them in all my guitars. This one will be going in a custom guitar I am building. I am sure it will sound amazing when its done.

I finally got my guitar back from the dual pickup installation yesterday and plugged in last night. I definitely approve of my purchase. Well, done, SD, well done.

I have tried a lot of pickups, included Seymour Duncans. The SH5 is THE pickup for me. I play with lots of gain on the amp - and have this pickup installed in a Schecter Blackjack ATX and ESP Eclipse II . They both sounds amazing. Looking to install the same pickup in a Gibson Les Paul and other guitars that I have. Its tight, warm - huge and balanced. "PAF on steroids" is a very accurate description.

My favorite pickup, love them!!! perfectly balanced great warm tone works with every guitar I own😁

Helpful advice over the phone. Thanks

This is the first Duncan Custom I have installed. I usually use the Duncan JB SH-4. I find the Duncan Custom to have more clarity and presence than the SH-4. It is a little more quacky which may not be to your liking but it certainly overcomes the fuzziness found with the JB SH-4. I installed it in a Fender Player Jaguar and am very happy with the sound and the fact that the Trembucker version actually lines up properly under the strings.

Pretty punchy and good sounding... I put in a chibson and like the combo i chose , custom in bridge and pearly gates neck.. I setup with 2 volumes, a main tone, and a 6 way varitone switch wired up 50's flying V way... Its got quite the variety of tones and this pickup alone is a screamer, nice hard driving.

Good stuff.

Full, edgy sound. Replaced my Dimarzio Super Distortion with this pickup. Best decision I made! Plain and simple…it rocks.

Already have one of these in a 1982 Ibanez artist so when I recently decided to do my first build I knew just what I was going to put in the guitar. The order was shipped quickly I have several seymours in various guitars very much satisfied

Awesome tone from this Duncan sh5 custom, this is exactly what I was looking for. I put it with a jazz (sh2n) and it's an amazing combo, completely transformed my schecter into a blues and rock beast, and extremely versatile, most definitely would buy again.

10/10 love it can’t wait to try out some exodus tones

They sound SICK. Switched from PRS 85-TCI that come with the SE guitars. Didn’t know why my distortions were so muddy. And now its all clear and wonderful with the PAF 59’ Humbucker and the SH-5 Custom. Love them!!

This pickup is my new favorite rock pickup!!! Super punchy with screaming harmonics. I've been playing almost 30 years and this pickup definitely gets that brown sound as they say. Tight and thick with excellent high mids.

Awesome

I put the Duncan Custom bridge pickup in an ‘82 Gibson 335s solid body to compliment the dirty finger neck pickup. The sound is amazing.

I wanted a humbucker that could really deliver on some metal riffs as well as clean tones for classic rock and this one did not disappoint. Full, clean sound and amazing tone.

A very good bridge pickup especially for a Les Paul type guitar. Cleared up a lot of the overly dark nature of mine and now the guitars a certified rock machine!

Works great

I'm writing another review of this pickup. In my last review I pointed out how Brian Baker of Bad Religion directed me to this pickup and how it was basically a modern day version of a PAF. It still is, but I wanted to provide an update on my continued use of it. Now, I know the description says this pickup works especially well with Les Paul and PRS guitars, but I must say....I use these in alder body/one-piece maple neck guitars and run it through darker sounding amps. It just works. I don't know what it is, but the balance just works. Brian Baker actually compared this pickup to a Dimarzio Super Distortion and stated its like a Super Distortion, but dialed back a bit which allows for more clarity when it receives more gain. That and it responds well the picking. He hit the nail on the head with the description. By the way, he uses this pickup in his Les Pauls.

I’ve now bought two of these pickups, one in my custom built Firebird guitar and the other in my Jackson JS32 Dinky I’m modifying. And this is such a great sounding pickup, it’s extremely versatile and has great sustain. I love being able to play my progressive metal with all the gain and still hearing how nice those jazzier chords are without just being a mess, but I also love how it sounds when I’ve played a few church gigs with it. Overall just an amazing pickup and I don’t think I can find a better pickup for my bridge position than this.

This is the ultimate EVH Brown sound pickup for those who are wondering. Obviously, the company can't use EVH name on its pickup anymore...

Terrific pickup, wonderful advice from Chris.

This is a fantastic sounding pickup.

Excellent clarity, I have used SH6's for the past 10 years and wanted something different. I also tried the SH4, but the SH5 was exactly what I was looking for.

I have to shout out Brian Baker from Bad Religion for directing me to this pickup. I have been looking for something different from the pickups I usually use (Bare Knuckle Juggernaut, SD Invader, SD CA 50's, and Alnico 2/5 P90's). I love a big, aggressive, sound, but I was looking for something that gives me PAF characteristic with decent amount aggression and a bit more clarity. The Duncan Custom was it AND its a GREAT price! It sounds FANTASTIC with coil split too.

Fast shipping with no issues

Awesome tones, I have a few guitars that I want to replace the pickups in , and the kramer baretta special got the duncan custom. Totally changed that guitars sound. Great stuff, I plan on getting custom shop stuff next thanks again duncan team. You make great products...

This is a GREAT sounding pickup. I have an old '87 HSS Jackson San Dimas style strat with tired sounding active pickups from my metal band days. I refreshed with the Duncan Custom Humbucker, Quarter Pound strat in middle position, and Custom Staggered Strat in neck position. I added a push pull knob to coil split the Custom Humbucker as well. This guitar is now the best sounding & most versatile in tone of my 15 guitars. The clarity and balance of the Duncan Custom is awesome. The combination of these pickups gives so much beautifiul & variety of tone. Goodbye to the limited tone of the old active pickups, & annoyance with batteries!

I like the harmonics that jump out compared to alnico magnets. Still has PAF character, but with a more powerful midrange and hi end. Sets well in a recorded mix. A nice regal sound. A little time spent getting used to its sound and feel, yields great results. Some say darker sounding, but through a pushed plexi type amp, this comes in handy to balance out the tone, yet still has incredible PAF voice like sound.

Great look and sound!

Normally the pickups that are profiled towards rock and metal are of a high output. But the Custom is right in the middle between a pick up with a medium output and another with a high output. It has the EQ (highlighting the mids) and compression (In my opinion it compresses more than a JB) you need to handle any distortion and the necessary output to make all notes sound clear (even using a lot of drive). Definitely the custom series from SD is my favorite not only for rock/metal but to play anything. I have it installed in a Jackson USA DK1 1990 And I am very happy with his performance.

Classic. I like it. Thx