Seymour Duncan 59/Custom Hybrid

Passive Humbucking pickup, 11.25k, A8 Magnet
One coil from a duncan '59, one from a duncan custom, put 'em together and what do you get? A rockin' medium output pickup that's more than the sum of it's parts.

I installed this in the bridge position of my les paul, originally with an A8 magnet, then with an A2 magnet, then with A4 (which is supposed to sound like degaussed A5). I changed out a 490t in the bridge position, and I have a pearly gates in the neck. I don't know of anybody who endorses this pickup, because SD can't make a production model b/c of certain patents. You have to get a 59 and a custom and do the dirty work yourself.

Output is medium-high, almost as hot as the custom with the A8 magnet. I think I'm going to put an A5 in it soon, but I may end up replacing it with either a pearly gates bridge pickup or maybe a wolfetone marshallhead. This pickup has all the good qualities of the 59 and custom pickups, it has the 59's touch sensitivity and the custom's response through amps. It likes to sing a lot, but it doesn't jump out of the amp like hotter pickups I've used. In my strat w/ A2, it's brilliant, and I think my favorite bridge pickup in a strat (tied with the VHPAF w/ A2 magnet) I play rock and blues, and the pickup has some of the qualities of a single coil pickup in terms of clarity and harmonic information. Response is pretty even, but slightly scooped (this is only with A4 and A5 though). Works great for medium and high gain situations, but sounds a bit compressed and 'lean' for clean work. If you like low output pickups, but want some of the singing you get from higher gain ones, definitely check one of these out. Great for everything from van halen to AC/DC to led zeppelin to derek trucks, metallica and beyond - the bass response is easily good enough for metal music as well.

It's kind of like a jack of all trades pickup. It's the humbucker for the guy that likes single coils, it's for people who like p-90's as well as people who like vintage strat pickups (it splits really well with a 7.2k coil in the mix). Very versatile, with an interesting character that warrants further investigation. If you want one, they turn up sometimes on the Seymour Duncan User Group forum - you can get there from the sd main page. I love it for everything except it's cleans, which a lower output humbucker would work better for. It's my favorite in a strat, and although I still like it in a les paul, I need something with a little lower output for my style. The price for me was about 75 dollars, or the average between the two pickups, because I sold one to a friend to recoup lost funds.

Pickup features: ,humbucking,passive
Impedence or other specs: 11.25K

Model of guitar or bass: a exact replica of edward vanhalens black/white striped strat
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: duncan custom-custom
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup: edward vanhalen in 1978
You musical style(s): VH covers
Reason for pickup change: I wanted the same tone as VH had on the first record and the custom-custom was not dead on. it was close,but had too much compression,mids and too high a output to be a deadringer for that PAF rewound tone VH had back then. so i read about this hybrid over at http://www.seymourduncan.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=1
and immediately made one. my VH strat already had a custom-custom in it and i had to buy the 59b for the project.
it has one coil from the custom-custom(screw side) and the slug coil of the 59b.

Perceived output level: medium output,a P.A.F overwind
Tone: Perfectly balanced! has the treble and punchy but looser bass you hear on VH I,and the exact midrange response,not just mids,mids and more mids like the CC had. it also has a perfect output,it will clean up great but has balls to spare when pushed!
Sonic evaluation: 1968 marshall plexi which was modded for that melting tubes eruption tone that is so sought after
my guitar is a exact replica of the forst black/white striped strat on the first record. it has a hard ash body with a all birdseye maple neck. vintage fender trem and this one pickup with one 500K volume pot

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play in a VH cover band and this pickup is a no brainer since it nails his tones

Comments: I cant say how exact this pickup is ! it has all the right frequencies at the just right amount.
I have been playing since 1978 after hearing VH I the first time.
this is not a pu you can just go and buy you have to make one yourself or have one made but if you are searching for EVH's elusive older tone here it is! feel free to Email me with any questions about this pickup.