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

[PauloQS]

I keep going back to my 2019 Standard 60s with the Burstbucker 61R/61T's.

The BB 61s are awesome. They are low output pickups that when adjusted for optimal height is just hard to get a bad tone out of them. The Custombuckers that came on my 2020 SG is very similar to the BB 61s.

However, the CBs on my 2019 R9 are very different. The neck was also muddy at first until I learned how to tame it.

 

[nickdaxe]

I've had 5, to maybe 8 guitars now with Custom Buckers and was only a fan of one set, in a Mike McCready model.

I hate to say it (ducks under table) but I like Burst Buckers better.

I find Custom Buckers a bit honky, flubby in the lows, and at times grating in the highs.

I've spent the weekend reading review after review of people who love them and think they are the best PU Gibson has made since the 50's.

I read they are A3. I've always seemed to get along best with A2 PU's in most guitars in general, but I never really thought it was that big of a deal, but maybe I've underestimated my gravity towards A2.

Now when I say this, I also find them completely random. I've played some that sounded warm and woody, many that bugged me less, but the ones I just got are very honky, very bass heavy and I find myself rolling the tone knob down on the bridge PU to like 5 but still not happy.

I love the guitar in general but I'm considering returning it for an exchange and hope for a better result as far as the PUs go.

Anyone else not a Custom Bucker fan? And does anyone know what magnet is in Doyle Coils? They sound fantastic in demos online, but the site says nothing of the magnet type.

Check your hands

 

[cowboy bebop]

I've had 5, to maybe 8 guitars now with Custom Buckers and was only a fan of one set, in a Mike McCready model.

I hate to say it (ducks under table) but I like Burst Buckers better.

I find Custom Buckers a bit honky, flubby in the lows, and at times grating in the highs.

I've spent the weekend reading review after review of people who love them and think they are the best PU Gibson has made since the 50's.

I read they are A3. I've always seemed to get along best with A2 PU's in most guitars in general, but I never really thought it was that big of a deal, but maybe I've underestimated my gravity towards A2.

Now when I say this, I also find them completely random. I've played some that sounded warm and woody, many that bugged me less, but the ones I just got are very honky, very bass heavy and I find myself rolling the tone knob down on the bridge PU to like 5 but still not happy.

I love the guitar in general but I'm considering returning it for an exchange and hope for a better result as far as the PUs go.

Anyone else not a Custom Bucker fan? And does anyone know what magnet is in Doyle Coils? They sound fantastic in demos online, but the site says nothing of the magnet type.

Couldn't agree more. Alnico 3 is not the way. I had a collectors choice 43 sold a whole ago, pickups had no bite no character. I currently have an 07 R9 and the bb's in it are truly beautiful, musical soulful pickups. 8.4 bridge 7.8 neck perfect. I think the real honduran had a lot to do with the sound of the 07 but these pickups are my favorite more than Wizz more than Jim Wagner...

 

[eigentone]

I find Custom Buckers a bit honky, flubby in the lows, and at times grating in the highs.

I am a fan of CBs. I have them in several guitars. That said, I often reach for a guitar with a different pickup for high gain tones. To generalize a bit, A3 is great for dynamics, clarity and mid/high harmonics but I often favor A2 or A5 for aggressive high gain tones. Particularly rhythm. It also depends on the amp and cab you are using. I like CBs with VOX, Marshall, Fender, etc. I find they get along with all the amps and cabs pretty well. But when I go to really high gain, they can be shrill or lacking lows. CBs are among my favorite modern pickups -- I would not change them.

As has been noted, CBs have a fair amount of variation in design. But I am guessing you will be happiest with a pickup swap.

 

[LeonC]

I have experience with 4 sets of Custom Buckers - CC Waddy Wachtel, CC STP Burst, CC Dutchburst and 2013 Benchmark '54 Oxblood reissue. I loved them in the WW, which was my first experience with them. When I went to try the guitar, I brought my '61 335 with actual PAFs in it and thought they sounded at least as good (in fact, I thought the neck pickup sounded better in the WW) the PAFs. Same for the STP Burst and the Benchmark '54 Oxblood. In the Dutchburst, the bridge pickup sounded really good but the neck--which at 8.05k was notably warmer than any of the other CB neck pickups I had experience with--sounded kinda generic/mushy. I didn't care for that one.

But my personal experience, along with some data that I've collected over the last few years, led me to recognize that all Custom Buckers are not made to the same spec. In fact, in the CC line of guitars (and some others), Gibson was explicitly trying to capture the sound of the specific guitar that they were replicating. I created a spreadsheet to track some basic info on the pickups they used in the CC line and people have been sending me their info. You can see for yourself here. There's one tab for each model on which I have some data. If you'd like to contribute your info you can send it to me in a private message (guitar model, SN, pickup types, DC resistance readings and any other info you want to offer.)

So the upshot is, if you don't care for Custom Buckers, perhaps you haven't gotten to play some of the better sounding ones. I'd suggest trying some that were explicitly underwound (the WW, the STP Burst and 2013 Benchmark series '54 Oxbloods are all underwound, some others are as well). They're my favorite sounding humbuckers; I like them even more than some original PAFs.

 

[Stolen#961253]

I rusually remove the magnets from the Jibson stock pups and use them to hold stuff on my fridge... then I put in functioning AND useable pups from anyone of the aftermarket makers...

 

[AlbinB]

No experience with the custom buckers. Comments about playing at louder volumes are of interest. I have used burstbuckers and 57 classics and overall found them to be good sounding pickups. Setting the height and pole screws may help, sometimes you have to fiddle with those things for a while to achieve the result you are looking for.

 

[Rogueaverage616]

My 2018 R0 and 2019 60th R9,have them and they sound beautiful.In the neck position im able to get that Fat Strat type sound,but with some nasel.

my Historic SG Standard has them as well,however that guitar sounds really dark,i cant get that neck pickup sound described earlier in my post.Its like the neck pickup has no highs.Maby thats just the nature of the SG?
My 2016 les paul Standard has Burst bucker 1 a d 2’s and those sound nice and clear,but are also pretty Hot

 

[Jackomahn]

The CustomBucker was originally made only for the Custom Shop Jimmy Page model. There was a single conductor and 4 conductor version. Unpotted only. Later on they allowed them in CS models and then in regular production models from the Electric division. Potted. I think you can get them either way now.

 

[Deadletteroffice]

Interesting reading these replies. It seems the inconsistency is a consensus, so you can't really have a consensus on a product that is inconsistent in form. It's also interesting that Gibson would take such risk in putting PUs in their most expensive models that may range from "the best PUs I've ever heard" to "I've tried everything and any other humbucker is better". I understand they are trying to give people what they want with the characteristics of original humbuckers, but if I was in that seat I'd have to lean towards making a call to put something at least consistent there. It's a bit of a mystery egg. $5k and up and you might get a good set, or you might get a horrible set.

After reading this thread over the past week, last night I started taking guitar after guitar out to the studio to make sure I wasn't insane. The way I set my amps works with everything from neck and bridge single coils, Strat PUs, TV Jones, lipsticks, Rick's. Whatever I could throw at them. Then I brought this specific Les Paul out again and spent some time to dial it in and found I could roll the bass completely off my vintage Princeton, AC15 or DRRI I currently have out there and it would then be within reason of any other lows of any other guitar I had tried previous. So I came away knowing for a fact that these CB's are super bass heavy. Both PUs. I can accept the honk as a characteristic, even the cutting highs to a degree, but the lows are off the charts. Somebody here asked if I would REALLY return a guitar just because I didn't like the PUs, as if that would be some sort of pettiness on my part. My answer to that is, F yes I would. Are you kidding me? At these prices? Absolutely, without hesitation and without shame.

 

[ErictheRed]

All of this reminds me that I hardly ever change pickups on my own guitars. I have one guitar that I've been rolling pickups through and experimenting, but other than that, I don't buy a guitar unless I like how it sounds. And if I like how it sounds, I don't mess with it!

 

[Archtopanimal]

I’ve tried dialing them in to no avail.

I find them rather bland . I replaced the magnets to good effect .

 

[DADGAD]

The CustomBucker was originally made only for the Custom Shop Jimmy Page model. There was a single conductor and 4 conductor version. Unpotted only. Later on they allowed them in CS models and then in regular production models from the Electric division. Potted. I think you can get them either way now.

I always assumed the Page Buckers that came with the guitar were potted. interesting. i have a set that were wound to spec and potted.

 

[cortland1977]

I've really never liked gibsons modern pickups in any guitar. usually first thing that goes. I have been partial over the years to lollar imperials, zhanbucker pure handwound humbuckers, Tom Holmes, and Throbak options for humbuckers the most as my favorites. If you dig the guitar a lot, why not just try replacing the pups rather than send it back?

 

[cortland1977]

I've had nothing but positive experiences with the four sets I've owned. They take some height adjustment, but I've been able to get great PAF tone out of them without the issues you mention. Interesting that you prefer A2 magnets; with those I have encountered too much shrillness in the bridge (they were WIZZ).

I have also heard that CBs vary from set to set, but I think it can be tough to judge consistency of pickups because all guitars are so inherently different. I'm not sure those variances aren't related to other differences in the instruments, at least in some cases.

I haven't tried the unpotted CBs yet, but I will have some as of Thursday and will report back.

i thought Wizz were kind of shrill as well. Really thought I would love them. They looked cool at least. lol

 

[thor72]

I've had 5, to maybe 8 guitars now with Custom Buckers and was only a fan of one set, in a Mike McCready model.

I hate to say it (ducks under table) but I like Burst Buckers better.

I find Custom Buckers a bit honky, flubby in the lows, and at times grating in the highs.

I've spent the weekend reading review after review of people who love them and think they are the best PU Gibson has made since the 50's.

I read they are A3. I've always seemed to get along best with A2 PU's in most guitars in general, but I never really thought it was that big of a deal, but maybe I've underestimated my gravity towards A2.

Now when I say this, I also find them completely random. I've played some that sounded warm and woody, many that bugged me less, but the ones I just got are very honky, very bass heavy and I find myself rolling the tone knob down on the bridge PU to like 5 but still not happy.

I love the guitar in general but I'm considering returning it for an exchange and hope for a better result as far as the PUs go.

Anyone else not a Custom Bucker fan? And does anyone know what magnet is in Doyle Coils? They sound fantastic in demos online, but the site says nothing of the magnet type.

Nope not a fan either. They came in my R8 and I tried adjusting the height to no avail. Tossed them and put some Doyles in it.

 

[TM1]

When I got my `64 ES-335TDC reissue last June, I wanted to like the Custom Suckers.. I just couldn't get into them and no amount of tweaking screws, etc would make them sound good... I found a set of Humbuckings out of a `65 SG Standard and swapped out the short magnets for a pair of ThroBak A-4's and these pickups sound amazing in this guitar. They're Pat.#'s, Not T-Tops. But the six early T-Tops I own sound pretty good, especially since I installed A-4's in them. Now all I need to do is buy 3 Humbucker guitars...

 

[Stib66]

I really like the custom buckers in my 2020 R0. I find the honky sound with a bright edge quite pleasing and enjoyable to play. I think it is safe to assume that we all are looking for slightly different sounds. I come from a background of having primarily played Fenders before acquiring this guitar, so i may be prone to like trebly guitar tones.

I play mostly at home on a 5 watt Fender champ 600 from 2007 with a reverb pedal in front of it. I have attached a recording of my rig through a SM57 into Garageband to get an idea of the tones i like.

https://soundcloud.com/stib66%2Fclean-jam-sm57

 

[uncle mud]

I've had 5, to maybe 8 guitars now with Custom Buckers and was only a fan of one set, in a Mike McCready model.

I hate to say it (ducks under table) but I like Burst Buckers better.

I find Custom Buckers a bit honky, flubby in the lows, and at times grating in the highs.

I've spent the weekend reading review after review of people who love them and think they are the best PU Gibson has made since the 50's.

I read they are A3. I've always seemed to get along best with A2 PU's in most guitars in general, but I never really thought it was that big of a deal, but maybe I've underestimated my gravity towards A2.

Now when I say this, I also find them completely random. I've played some that sounded warm and woody, many that bugged me less, but the ones I just got are very honky, very bass heavy and I find myself rolling the tone knob down on the bridge PU to like 5 but still not happy.

I love the guitar in general but I'm considering returning it for an exchange and hope for a better result as far as the PUs go.

Anyone else not a Custom Bucker fan? And does anyone know what magnet is in Doyle Coils? They sound fantastic in demos online, but the site says nothing of the magnet type.

I won't buy a post 2011 historic because of the custom buckers. I've owned 3 and changed the pickups on all of them. I think it's the alnico III That I don't like. I've now become a P-90 fan. The CB's are far from the best pickup for the desired paf sound IMO.

 

[88fingersca]

I've spent the weekend reading review after review of people who love them and think they are the best PU Gibson has made since the 50's.

You should have spent your time playing your guitar (with whatever pickups you like) instead of reading what other people think.