Custom Core Pickup's experience?

[rwinking]

In another post I mentioned how I found a store doing a BOGO with H-150 CCs. So I ended up with an Artisan Aged CC for less than half price. It is a great guitar but I was suprised at how "meh" the pickups were especially the neck pickup. (I assume they are not potted as they squeal at higher volumes) They just seem to lack a certain sparkle that most high end pickups seem to have.

Anyone else experience this?

[TalismanRich]

Maybe my memory is off, but I thought that all the Heritage made pickups were potted.   There was the wax potting setup in the pickup winding room.   I'm wondering if the squeal is due to the covers rather than the coils themselves.   It's easy to test... when it starts to squeal, press on the pickup cover and see if it stops.  

[rockabilly69]

Yes these are potted! But like Rich says, check the covers, they are the source of a lot of problem squeals!

Edited November 13 by rockabilly69

[rwinking]

I'll try that. What are the experiences regarding tone? Like I said, the neck pickup is pretty dark. So far I prefer either the Dimarzio Anniversay PAFs or the Seth Lovers.

[zguitar71]

I thought they were using an A3 magnet in the neck which shouldn’t be dark. Maybe they changed to an A4 which I sometimes find a bit dark. A4 an are pretty common in the neck. You could try to change the magnet to an A2. Also see what the ohm reading is. If they are in the 8s then they tend to be dark in the neck position imo, the low 7s is great for a neck. 

[Kuz]

10 hours ago, zguitar71 said:

I thought they were using an A3 magnet in the neck which shouldn’t be dark. Maybe they changed to an A4 which I sometimes find a bit dark. A4 an are pretty common in the neck. You could try to change the magnet to an A2. Also see what the ohm reading is. If they are in the 8s then they tend to be dark in the neck position imo, the low 7s is great for a neck. 

I have a Gibby CS '62 335 RI with their Custom Buckers that use A3 magnets for neck & bridge.  I have a CS '64 345 RI with their MHS pickups (A3 in the neck, A2 in the bridge).   I have also tried to  use a number of Peter Florence Custom Voodoo humbuckers (A3 magnets in neck & bridge) in my Heritage 150s over the years.

I do understand what he means when he says the neck is pickup is "dark".   

I personally would not call A3 pickups "dark", but very "sterile, flat, and anemic".   The A3s to my ear don't have enough punch.  I am an A2 humbucker fan.  I had the Parson's Street A3 potted pickups in my Custom Core and took them out because the A3 bridge was under powered (and without any overdrive when played clean, it was kind of bright) and the neck A3 was just SO focused and flat that it had little to no bloom or overtones.   But again, this has been my experience with all A3 humbuckers not just the Heritage A3 pickups.  I really am just not an A3 fan.  A2s all day for me.

[DetroitBlues]

1 hour ago, Kuz said:

I have a Gibby CS '62 335 RI with their Custom Buckers that use A3 magnets for neck & bridge.  I have a CS '64 345 RI with their MHS pickups (A3 in the neck, A2 in the bridge).   I have also tried to  use a number of Peter Florence Custom Voodoo humbuckers (A3 magnets in neck & bridge) in my Heritage 150s over the years.

I do understand what he means when he says the neck is pickup is "dark".   

I personally would not call A3 pickups "dark", but very "sterile, flat, and anemic".   The A3s to my ear don't have enough punch.  I am an A2 humbucker fan.  I had the Parson's Street A3 potted pickups in my Custom Core and took them out because the A3 bridge was under powered (and without any overdrive when played clean, it was kind of bright) and the neck A3 was just SO focused and flat that it had little to no bloom or overtones.   But again, this has been my experience with all A3 humbuckers not just the Heritage A3 pickups.  I really am just not an A3 fan.  A2s all day for me.

Would a magnet swap make a difference?

[zguitar71]

6 hours ago, Kuz said:

I have a Gibby CS '62 335 RI with their Custom Buckers that use A3 magnets for neck & bridge.  I have a CS '64 345 RI with their MHS pickups (A3 in the neck, A2 in the bridge).   I have also tried to  use a number of Peter Florence Custom Voodoo humbuckers (A3 magnets in neck & bridge) in my Heritage 150s over the years.

I do understand what he means when he says the neck is pickup is "dark".   

I personally would not call A3 pickups "dark", but very "sterile, flat, and anemic".   The A3s to my ear don't have enough punch.  I am an A2 humbucker fan.  I had the Parson's Street A3 potted pickups in my Custom Core and took them out because the A3 bridge was under powered (and without any overdrive when played clean, it was kind of bright) and the neck A3 was just SO focused and flat that it had little to no bloom or overtones.   But again, this has been my experience with all A3 humbuckers not just the Heritage A3 pickups.  I really am just not an A3 fan.  A2s all day for me.

I also love A2s. I have a P90 with A3s and really like it in the neck but that is a bit different since there are two magnets with p90s. Mostly though I have settled into A2 magnets for everything. 
 

Changing magnets can make a big difference and it is worth a try. I have bought them from Philadelphia Luthier, they are cheap and it’s easy to do if you are ok with a soldering iron. IMO A2s have more character than 3 or 4s and therefore have a noticeable very noticeable difference. 

[Kuz]

4 hours ago, zguitar71 said:

I also love A2s. I have a P90 with A3s and really like it in the neck but that is a bit different since there are two magnets with p90s. Mostly though I have settled into A2 magnets for everything. 
 

Changing magnets can make a big difference and it is worth a try. I have bought them from Philadelphia Luthier, they are cheap and it’s easy to do if you are ok with a soldering iron. IMO A2s have more character than 3 or 4s and therefore have a noticeable very noticeable difference. 

Boom!! This it the word.  Well, said.

[Kuz]

10 hours ago, DetroitBlues said:

Would a magnet swap make a difference?

Yes, most definitely.  The source and the type of Magnet (A2, A3, A4, A5) is 90-95% of the pickup's tone.... BUT.... All A2 magnets are NOT the same.   A cheap over sea's magnet is NOT the same as a US sourced, US made to exact specs magnet.  Chinese magnets are harsh & brittle sounding and can be all over the place in terms of output.  I have paid $80 for a set of USA specific spec'd magnets.  I am sure many here will scoff at that, but you get what you pay for... 

[big bob]

Dimarzio AnniversayPAFs
 

one of my favorite pickups by far.