Seymour Duncan Custom Custom

Stratocaster, Alder / maple

Fantastic, not a low or high gain pickup, works best at "Van Halen" or "Aerosmith" distortion sounds. great Leads ala Slash or Satriani are possible, very warm and musical alike, dont put this in a Paula sounds very dark and muddy here. Best in Strats and Teles.
Take the Trembucker version for Strat and the normal for Teles !!!! size !!! Got both !!!

20 years of playing, 8 different guitars, shows, studios, etc...
I know what I m talkin about, when you like Van Halen (the sound, not the egos) and you have a Strat like Guitar (bright sounding wood), this is a great pickup, works great as Singer/songwriter pup and amazing as a lead Pu...so take a try.

Seymour Duncan SH-11 Custom Custom
Moderate output Humbucker with Alnico II magnet, styled for use in bright guitars.

Installed in bridge of Ibanez SA-160, with a HSS design. This guitar is a comfortable, lightweight, and fast playing guitar - in short, a joy to play. However, it is a tonaly bright guitar and the stock pickups were garbage. My 11yr old son, who owns the guitar, wants to play heavy metal and decided the best way to do get that sound would be to install the SD Dimebucker. So, at his request (and against my better judgement), we got him the Dimebucker for Christmas last year. That pickup turned out to be just as thin and weedy and the stock pickup it replaced. Horrible wretched sound on that guitar. My son agreed, and so a new pickup was again on the Christmas list this year. this time he was open to my recommendations. The Custom Custom was it.

Now that it's been installed, we both agree the difference is like night and day. The Custom Custom is a much warmer, thicker, and more pleasing tone than the previous pickups. This guitar sounds like a new instrument as a result. It produces a satisfying distoriton sound and cleans up quite nicely with the volume rolled back. Seymour Duncan's website says this pickup is suited for bright instruments. That certainly holds true in this case.

We also installed an SD Cool Rail in the neck. That pickup is also a huge step forward from the original stock pickups, but that's a seperate review. We've left the stock pickup in the middle position but that will be replaced by a vintage rail eventually.

My son wants to play heavy rock stuff of course. This guitar will do the job, but the current pickup spread makes this a versatile instrument as well.

Passive Humbucker

Gibson LP Classic
Bridge
500T
Duncan 59 neck

Moderate to high output
Used with a Marshall DSL50 through a 2x12 OS Vintage Avatar with V30s
Balanced tone with slightly accentuated mids
I play mostly classic rock and 80s high gain stuff but no mid scooped metal.

First a little history...

For 15 years I used a custom made alder body strat with no pickgaurd and rosewood board with a Duncan Custom in the bridge and 59 in the neck. A little over a year ago I bought a used Gibson Les Paul Classic and after gigging with the original pups for a few gigs I decided to go with the same pup combo as my strat.

There was an huge improvement in clarity and tone from the super hot gibson pups but there was still this bright razors edge aggresiveness that could'nt be dialed out. My setup is a Marshall DSL50 (svetlana EL34s and JJ pre's) and an Avatar Oversized Vintage 2x12 with V30s, so there's plenty of brightness and upper mids there. I always seemed to be turning down the bass and the highs but could'nt find the tone I was looking for.

I had read in the past that the Duncan Custom Custom is just a Duncan Custom with an Alnico 2 magnet instead of a ceramic magnet and should only be used for bright guitars. I never thought that a LP would be considered bright but on a whim I bought an alnicon 2 mag online and had my tech put it in my Duncan Custom.

The difference was incredible! The top end was slightly rounded off without the sharp edge but was still clear. The bottom end was still there but not as overwhelming as with the ceramic mag. But the best improvement was the buttery lower midrange growl that alnico 2 mag added that I had been missing with the ceramic mag.

The Duncan Custom Custom is a ballsy, moderate to high output pup that will cut through without the icepicky harshness of some high output ceramic mag pups and would sound great in all but the warmest sounding guitars, especially if you're using a bright amp.

I read alot of people complain about trying to dial out the brightness of their rig and sometimes amps and speakers are to blame, but I hope this helps give players another option to try before replacing their whole rig. It really opened up my eyes...and ears!

4 inductor cables,
screws and springs are coming with it.

This is my 3th ones I buy for the bridge of my Fender US maple Stratocaster, the first two were destroyed by a stupid guitar tech I have killed after...man I have used them in a Paula ( bridge and neck ) and was not so happy with it becouse a Paula sounds "warm" and the Costom customs sounds "warm" two, so for me it was to warm and mellow here :) So I decide to try thes in a maple/alder Stratocaster wich sounds Bright and i was surprised how cool they are work here, the bity, crispy, sometimes harsh and thin singlecoil sound at the bridge was gone...these humbuckers are not realy louder that the SC. but they work perfect for me there...

as written above, perfect in a Vintage sounding maple alder Stratocaster, not cool in my Paula.
Warm Bass, crunchy mids and mellow highs.

As I say I had two of these wich was killed by a guitar tech. So I buyed the 3th one and do it my one, so you can see I love this in combination with my strat. nothing to add, perfect and trust me I have test many famous Humbuckers with the Strat.
I play 18 years and play Club gigs around 300 people, Studio work and I love jam sessions. my other guitars are a Tele, The Strat and a Paula. Amps are Marshall vintagemodern combo + 2x12 greenback cap. and a old Fender Bassmann, Effects are Maxon delay, Fulltone Wah and a tuner. For Studio work many differnet toys !

Passive humbucking pup

I purchased a used (cheap) Austin Tour Pro (PRS copy) just because I wanted to get a different sound after years of playing a Tele. I really liked the feel of the guitar and, after I replaced the knobs (purely for cosmetic reasons), I decided to create "Frankenguitar". I dropped this in the bridge along with a SH-59 in the neck. I liked the sound of the original pups, but I wanted to kick it up a notch (or five).

Output level is mid to high, which is why I replaced the stock pups. I play through Korg AX300 into a Crate G-212 with 2-12 in. Celestions (great tone for a Crate). The Korg gives me enough effects to cover what I play. The tone favors the mids, but I found it easy enough to control by putting the mid on the amp at 12 o'clock and the low and high at about 2 (and messing with it a little for different rooms and volumes). I play classic rock, LOTS of Zeppelin and this pup has the vintage sound...only on steroids. Only reason I don't give it a "10" is that it isn't as warm as a '59 or Seth Lover, But that is a trade off I made for additional output

I've been playing classic rock since it was called AOR (album oriented rock) and it was what you heard when you turned on your radio. My other guitar is a 1984 Tele Elite which I played for 23 years (what can I say, I loved the tone variations I could get). I picked up my Austin because I really wanted Jimmy Page sound. This pup gets me as close as I can get and still cover Purple, Kiss, Rush, etc. There are pups out there that may be better, but unless you are familiar, you may not get what you're looking for. I find Duncans to be consistent and capable of delivering great sound.

Humbucking passive pickup with only a volume switch

The pickup is installed in a 1988 Horn Scope Kramer Baretta in the slant bridge position. The stock JB that was there is going in my Flying V. The reason I changed it is... I really wanted that early Van Halen sound and I had read that this was going to be the EVH signature pickup but Eddie left Kramer and Duncan for Peavey and that's why the pickup doesn't bear his name.

The pick up screams harmonics when played through distortion or over drive but is bright and clean through the clean channel of my Marshall TSL. The clean sound is a little too bright for my taste but, I did not get it for playing clean, I picked it up for that Van Halen sound for my overdrive and distortion rock playing. The pickup is overly very middy and radically matches that early Van Halen sound to a 'T'. It is a perfect match for Van Halen, not 'Van Hagar' but early Van Halen.

I've been playing since the mid 1980s and I would replace it if it was destroyed. I have several guitars (1996 G&L Legacy with Fender Texas Specials, 1980 Guild S70 with a Duncon JB Jr, Epi Gibson Les Paul Standard with Gibson 57s, and a 1985 Kramer Vanguard with stock JBs)For my Kramer Baretta I just wanted that Van Halen sound and this pickup totally has it down.

well,....check the tone chart at seymores homepage

I have a Fender deluxe stratocaster, which is a great instrument and the best building quality you can get in a Strat for less then 2000 and more dollars, but the electronic of this guitars is shit, so I made the Van Halen style, changed Pickups and potis, ( only the 5way switch and one (new) volumen poti stays, for ultimate pure sound )...first it was just in the bridge position, wich is a great tone so I ordert one for the bridge of my les paul but it doesnt work here, so i have the idea to put the second one in the neck position of my Strat and wow, it was a good deal.
So the bridge one is screwed a littel bit higher, and the one in the neck a littel bit lower to balance the loudness difference out.

The output is like ; it doesnt distort youre clean sound but has enough punch to Rock that shit.
Im using Engl Screamer with modded cabs ( one word; Heritage speakers). A simple digitech delay, Maxon od9 and a Korg tuner.
The main sound can be discribt as punchy bass ( not to much ),
cool "grungy" mids, and sweet but not "harsh" highs.
I play music in the art of; Hendrix, Van Halen or Alice in Chains and it works fine also Dream Theater sounds are possible but its a Humbucker for the expression of your fingers, heart and mind and its a pure fucking Rock N Roll thing, not a digital Nu-death-Metal over powerd gain mudd...so there it doesnt work well...but for me, my style and equipment its sounds like a 9. ( your ears never stop learning so theres always a more better thing you can find ).

I play since 16 years and making music is more than a hobby for me.
I have played much "good" gear and many different pickups ( also in this Strat ) but the best guitar is only as good as the player is. So,...practise, practise and practise.
I like the Custom custom, its a good Humbucker. And yes when somebody stealing my guitar or this baby goes up in flames, I would buy a deluxe strat and make the same thing again.

Passive humbucker, 14.4k resistance, 5.2 K resonant peak.
Alnico II bar magnet.

This went into the bridge position on a Squier Tele Custom. Alder body, one piece maple neck/fretboard.
I'm replacing the stock humbucker, the sound of which was too undefined/generic.
The neck humbucker is a Dimarzio Air Classic Neck. A vintage-syle P.A.F.-voiced pickup.
The stock tone of the Squier tele custom is generic medium-high humbucker with more of a blues rock tone than a tele tone, and the neck and bridge pickups sounded almost exactly the same. I switched the neck to the Air Classic, but with the stock bridge it was still just a one-trick pony.
The only artist I made note of using this pickup is Greg Hetson of Bad Religion. That got me to to take a closer look at the pickup but wasnt a deciding factor in my purchasing it.

I mainly play through a Digitech HotRod distortion box into my Crate 25w solid state combo. I play a lot of different kinds of rock from classic to punk to sounds bordering on metal. I'm at the low-end of being an "intermediate" player.
The output is decidedly hot (a good bit more than the stock pickup which was meant to be "hot").
This pickup is a lil bright, maybe too bright for some woods/setups or personal tastes. The bass is "there" but not as prevalent as the mids and treble. Clean, this pickup is bright and a little dirty. When distorted this pickup isn't very chunky or anything like that, but it gives a powerful sound. The trebble is clear and defined, the mids give it presence and edge, the bass isn't overpowering, and the harmonics are great. A rather "tight" sound as opposed to an open sound. Good for leads, sweet pinch harmonics, and chords have more note separation and definition.
This pickup responds very well to my controls on both my guitar and my amp, and by rolling back the tone I get a more towards a vintage "open" kind of tone that isn't as sharp, or I can scoop the mids a lil and get a good buzzsaw tone for power-chords. Crank the mids a lil bit and I have an articulate lead tone thats pretty can be bluesy or ballsy depending on the gain.
In the middle position I can get a great variety of tones, basically the big, open sound of the Dimarzio Air Classic combined with the mids and high end of the Custom Custom. With the bridge volume rolled back a bit and the neck on full, I get a full, chunky rhythm tone that makes palm mutes stand out the way the Custom Custom can't do by itself.

I've been playing on a hobby level for 5 years. My other guitar was an Ibanez S-S-H strato-copy with a Dunacan vintage staggered neck pickup and a Dimarzio Super Distortion bridge humbucker. I recently had to sell that though.
If this was somehow lost or stolen or whatever, I'd replace it with another custom custom.
I love being able to use the independant tone and vol. controls on my tele to get the clean sounds and/or bass presence from the neck and the power and trebble aspects from the bridge and be able to mix those aspects and get great versatility.

As far as what I expect from the bridge pickup of a humbucker-humbucker tele used mainly for the harder kinds of rock, I think I've nailed it. The custom custom gives me a wide set of tones that can go from sweet to raw and in your face, rhythm or lead.

you allready know this.

Fender `99 USA Std. Strat
Bridge position
Stock Fender,Seymore Duncan Jeff Beck jr.
middle and neck singlecoils of Fender.
Artists that have used it a periode; Eddie van Halen in his early days, Jerry Cantrell, and van Leuveen.
I want a bigger, more dynamic responseble sound that the fenders...but...

The output is higher than a singlecoil,
Using a Marshall Plexi, modded Engle Screamer, Vox Ac30 reissue.
My effect chain; T rex Replica ( always and everywere ), sometimes a Maxon OD 9, Fulltone 69 and a Crybaby classic, but most I use the chanels of the amps, and very good cables.
The tone is very mellow, so for Santana lead style perfect, stays clean, but thats all. Not a allround pickup not the best for Rock-Metal sounds. Once i installed it in my Paula, but just for 3 days.
In my opinion it just works with bright instruments. The think that let my go back to Fenders 57/62 singlecoils is the fact that the custom custom mellows out the bass response on the E,A,D strings...
So for smooth lead playing 9 points.
But for allraound sounds a 6.

no, I let this thing hang around I dont want and need this anylonger.
I play 16 years and have to much equipment.
I compare it to many other guitars but any guitar is different ??!!, I only build it in my Gibson Paula and that was bad.
The attack at the bigger strings is ugly, but mayby normal for alnico II magnets so...
I m not satisfied with this, and go back to the roots thing ( Fenders 57/62).
Maybe someday you find it on ebay.

Humbucking, Passive
Trembucker version (TB11)

Ibanez RGT220H
Fitted in Bridge position
Replaced Ibanez IBZ pickup due to the harsh tone of the IBZ bridge position
Neck IBZ remains in situ

Medium/high output
Feeding Line6 PodXT Pro
Tone - It's a bit like describing tastes, but in practical terms it moved the guitar away from a harsher "vai" type tone, to a more balanced "Satriani" type tone. I won't replicate the SD website specs, but what I'm getting at is that the mids are more emphasised, with a fantastic balance on the lower strings that means that you don't have to drop the bass end of the pickup to stop it overpowering a lead run. This is good for lead work, but not neccessarily what you might want for powerful heavy rhythm stuff.
The above description seems to contradict the advertised tonal qualities on the respective manufacturers websites, but I can only relate my experience.
The clarity of the sound is excellent, allowing lead work to be easily heard through the mix without having to resort to higher volume. The parallel and tapped modes sound perfectly acceptable to me, although I am no great exponent of s/c pickups and will therefore refrain from comparison.
I use this for Satriani/Vai/Moore type songs - very lead orientated, and therefore am providing this review on that basis.
It's actually a good match for the IBZ neck pickup, as this IBZ is nowhere near as harsh as the bridge position. The combined position, with both pickups active, is also interesting in that it is then combining two very differently emphasised tones - not what is normally intended, but very usable.

I would certainly replace this pickup if it went missing.
I've been playing for 35 years and own a JEM777, several custom strats, a custom Soloist, and the RGT220 to which this pickup is now fitted.
It has transformed a great feeling guitar with a harsh tone, into my favourite guitar in virtually all aspects.
Over recent years I have moved several guitars to SD pickups for very similar reasons, in that they appear (through my several re-vamps of my equipment) to give a more audible, clear and balanced tone for the type of lead work that I use them for (especially Satch sounds).