Custom Buckers - not a fan? Am I the only one?

[gkelm]

If it's any consolation, I don't like them. Definitely don't like the BB's nor do I like PAF's. I've always preferred the modern sound of ceramic pups so I load the 496R/500T pups in all my Gibsons(seriously ducks under the table)...! And that includes single coil pups. The older Fender Standard MIM's double ceramic magnets sound better to me than any alnico they have.

Interesting on the MIM thing. Not sure what this MIM Strat has in it, but they sound fantastic!

Oops, my pics are too big to post. Here’s the model:

Fender Standard HSS Stratocaster Plus Top with Floyd Rose 2013 - 2017 | Reverb

Features a lightweight alder body with a figured maple top. Floyd Rose tremolo. Available with Rosewood fretboard in Tobacco Sunburst and Cherry Burst finishes.

reverb.com

 

[Jimmi]

Just got a set in a replacement 59 335 VOS. THe set I had before was fantastic, this one, I find the neck dark and somewhatr muddy. Bridge sounds nice.

Exactly how every set I have heard sounds. Not a fan. Weakest link in an otherwise great guitar.

 

[Jimmi]

Interesting on the MIM thing. Not sure what this MIM Strat has in it, but they sound fantastic!

Oops, my pics are too big to post. Here’s the model:

Fender Standard HSS Stratocaster Plus Top with Floyd Rose 2013 - 2017 | Reverb

Features a lightweight alder body with a figured maple top. Floyd Rose tremolo. Available with Rosewood fretboard in Tobacco Sunburst and Cherry Burst finishes.

reverb.com

Those are a different flavor for sure. It is all a palate. If I grab a LP I want it to sound like a LP and what that means to me is a guitar made 57-60. If I want a modern sound I will grab an Ibanez or something similar (the other part of my collection) just like if I want a strat sound I grab a strat.

I do see the niche of a LP with a modern pickup sound that is tighter and reacts to gain differently and where you can split the pickups. It is a different sound for sure.

 

[Hebaton-SP]

I have a set of Fralin "pure pafs" sitting around, if it was not such a pain to change pups in a thin line ! ...

 

[Radbloke McShreddington]

Those are a different flavor for sure. It is all a palate. If I grab a LP I want it to sound like a LP and what that means to me is a guitar made 57-60. If I want a modern sound I will grab an Ibanez or something similar (the other part of my collection) just like if I want a strat sound I grab a strat.

I do see the niche of a LP with a modern pickup sound that is tighter and reacts to gain differently and where you can split the pickups. It is a different sound for sure.

Interesting on the MIM thing. Not sure what this MIM Strat has in it, but they sound fantastic!

Oops, my pics are too big to post. Here’s the model:

Fender Standard HSS Stratocaster Plus Top with Floyd Rose 2013 - 2017 | Reverb

Features a lightweight alder body with a figured maple top. Floyd Rose tremolo. Available with Rosewood fretboard in Tobacco Sunburst and Cherry Burst finishes.

reverb.com

They'd have to sound better than the fender HB that came in my American pro II HSS strat. It's such low output that it's like they tried to make it into a single coil. At that point it's like why even bother with a full-size HB in the bridge? Very strange. I look forward to disposing of it.

 

[1allspub]

I’ve had 4 RIs with CBs and while none were “bad” per se, none were really what I was looking for either and each guitar was improved by the swapping in some good boutique PAF clones.

The OP’s description as “flubby in the lows” seems to fit my experience as well. I can usually dial-out most of any shrillness in the highs via the amp settings or tone knob of the guitar (unless it’s just tragically shrill), but nothing I’ve ever tried was really successful at “de-flubby-ing” flubby lows! LOL!!! And if something doesn’t have firm, muscular lows, it just sounds sort of tame and lacks the “balls“ you get from a really good set of PAF clones when you push a little (or a lot of ) dirt through them. Just my 2 cents... YMMV!

P.S. I am not a fan of BBs either, those in my experience are usually pretty sterile and shrill sounding. If I had to choose between CBs and BBs only, I’d take the CBs... luckily we aren’t limited to such options these days.

As an update to this post of mine from a couple years ago... I’ve now owned two more sets of CBs (for a total of 6)... the ones in my 2021 R9 and the ones in my 2022 BB7. The R9’s CBs pretty well conformed to my previous experience (see above), BUT... the CBs that came in my BB7 are spectacular! Not flubby at all! Quite the opposite... tight in the bottom end, gritty, ballsy yet still with that open, airy quality you often hear in real PAFs. Out of the 6 RIs I’ve now owned, these in the BB7 are the only ones I’ve kept in the guitar (the ones in my R9 got yanked—now there’s some double white BKP Mules in their place). 1 outta 6 ain’t good odds, but hey, in the case of my BB7, I’ll take it.

As for BBs... I also have to report recent success with them as well. I bought a 2022 60s Standard Unburst recently that came with the 60s BBs, and they are great sounding in that guitar! Maybe not quite as ballsy as the Brandonwound 59 Clones in my 2016 Trad (or the Mules in my R9), but they are plenty ballsy and without a hint of shrillness. They have a similar open, airiness to them like the CBs in my BB7. Not saying they sound just like those CBs (they don’t), but they are more similar to them than BW59s or Mules (both of which are similar in their PAF approach). AND I’ve also had two really great experiences with BB 2s and 3s in my new Epiphone Korina 1958 RI Flying V and Explorer. Both sets are super snarly and ballsy without any shrillness. Really kinda impressed. For a guy whose not had good luck with Gibson pickups over the years (ie, me) to suddenly get 4 sets in a row that are great is a refreshing change. Could this maybe mean that Gibson is onto something? Or at least moving in the right direction? Or perhaps bringing Jared Brandon from Brandonwound Pickups onboard is starting to pay dividends? Or maybe I just got really lucky with these last 4 sets, IDK. LOL!

 

[Angelus]

Like you, good pickups but not a fan... I prefer the burstbuckers too. Just my taste...

 

[DBDM]

(I am already seriously ducking under a thick table, wedged into a corner)
I think most guys are SERIOUSLY overthinking humbuckers. We are talking about plastic bobbins, a length of wire, a magnet, and some slugs and pole pieces. Not much technology even by 1957 standards. I think if most guys spent 1/1000th of the time simply dialing in the heights of the pickups and pole pieces on the humbuckers they already have--they might be better served! (peeking around table to see what is being thrown at me)

 

[Wise Guy]

Interesting on the MIM thing. Not sure what this MIM Strat has in it, but they sound fantastic!

Oops, my pics are too big to post. Here’s the model:

Fender Standard HSS Stratocaster Plus Top with Floyd Rose 2013 - 2017 | Reverb

Features a lightweight alder body with a figured maple top. Floyd Rose tremolo. Available with Rosewood fretboard in Tobacco Sunburst and Cherry Burst finishes.

reverb.com

Well after purchasing a Gibson SG Classic with P90's, I think I get it now. The double ceramic magnet of the MIM Standard gives them more of a mid-range P90 like sound. Not the weak thin alnico sound. At least that's what I've convinced myself of....
I think those Standards like yours were the good years.
Edit: Now I want one with the Floyd Rose. Those are cool.

 

[Great R8]

They seem a little dark sounding but it doesn't bother me, I prefer bright sounding pickups but CB's are good. My 2006 R8 sounds brighter.

 

[Peter Mac]

For my #1 LP a 2009 R9Q, I had tried a few CB's but never quite got the tone I was chasing so in the end I went for a set of Montys PAFs [N:A5 , B:A2] and they just killed from Day 1. To be fair in my comparison, on my #2 LPC I had an old pair of BB1 & 2 so I tried swapping the BB1 A2 magnet for a long A5 rough magnet and this combo just works - no muddiness, clarity abounds. To be totally sure on my #3 LPS [BB2 + SD SH-4] i tried changing the A2 for the A5 again and it does make a nice difference. As all tone is speculative to the ears of each player, I am sure the A3 Custombuckers are a great pickup for some but not for others. I am one of those others. I do prefer the Burstbucker tone in my LPs with both A5 or A2 magnets. To be clear I do not like the Burstbucker-Pro series as they are wound differently and have short A5 magnets and just seem to fall short - more like a 490 than a BB. . . .but that's my opinion.

 

[Jimmi]

(I am already seriously ducking under a thick table, wedged into a corner)
I think most guys are SERIOUSLY overthinking humbuckers. We are talking about plastic bobbins, a length of wire, a magnet, and some slugs and pole pieces. Not much technology even by 1957 standards. I think if most guys spent 1/1000th of the time simply dialing in the heights of the pickups and pole pieces on the humbuckers they already have--they might be better served! (peeking around table to see what is being thrown at me)

Not overthinking imho. I loved the guitar until I plugged it in. Neck pickup was awful. I barely played it plugged in again until I swapped pickups. I adjusted them etc. but I knew from the first chord it was unlikely to be adjusted out. Bridge pickup was ok but the neck was just unforgivably bad

 

[AJK1]

The CB’s in my 60th R9 are schweet !