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Post subject: Custom Shop 54 Pickups!
Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2013 7:18 pm
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Hello Fender folk, my first post here!

I've just spent the afternoon installing a set of Custom Shop 54 Pickups into a "partscaster" strat (Fender Deluxe alder body, Mighty Mite neck) and all I can say is WOW, did I choose the right pickups for this guitar.

(That's a rhetorical question. Of course I did.)

When I built the guitar in 2005, I wanted a really high-output screaming monster so I put S*ymour D*ncans humbuckers in it, a JB in the bridge position and an SD Jazz in the neck and to be honest, I never really loved it. The neck has a really thick rosewood slab fingerboard and the guitar ended up sounding way too dark, way too midrangey and only had one sound, full-on overdrivey grunt. Fine if that's your sound but I came to realise that it's just not me.

The CS 54's have cured all that! I've never heard such wonderful string definition and tight, TIGHT bass from a strat pickup. There's a high end that just sparkles almost like an old telecaster sound and the way they respond to dynamics makes the guitar feel like I'm playing an acoustic. A bit of compression and reverb and the bass strings take on that "piano" quality. The high end is cutting but soft at the same time, never harsh but perfect for recording where you sometimes need to lift a guitar out of a midrange mush sound. Think Richard Thompson's strat sound on Shoot Out The Lights, wonderfully piercing, bell-like, bags of sustain even on clean tones but never harsh or displeasing. Even on single pickup settings these pickups are distinctive and full of that 1950s twang. I've enjoyed the clean tones so much I didn't even get round to turning any overdrive on and that's the true test of a pickup (for me).

One word of warning, I probably wouldn't install these in an ash-bodied guitar with a maple neck, that may prove to be a bit too trebly. In a darker-sounding alder body with a rosewood board these things are first class. I love my strat again!

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Last edited by GilgaFrank on Fri Jan 11, 2013 1:51 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop 54 Pickups!
Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2013 7:35 pm
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A steel base plate may be added to the bridge pickup to tame some of the "bite" (if necessary). Also, experimentation with the tone-cap value can yield some interesting and occasionally pleasing sonic results. The 54's are a great set of pickups, much like the Fat '50s.

Rawk on!

8)

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop 54 Pickups!
Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2013 8:05 pm
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Good point, steel baseplate might be a good idea in naturally brighter guitars. I'm keeping them stock though, I love that top end sparkle.

It's 3am here and I can't stop playing the solo to The Beatles' Nowhere Man, these pickups absolutely nail that sound.

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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop 54 Pickups!
Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2013 11:28 pm
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GilgaFrank wrote:
It's 3am here and I can't stop playing the solo to The Beatles' Nowhere Man, these pickups absolutely nail that sound.


+1!

I experienced a similar "deja vu" vibe when I plugged my ash-bodied, maple-fretboard, hardtail Strat with a set of Fat '50s into my '68 Deluxe Reverb with a JBL D120F speaker for the first time after assembling the guitar. It did a pretty fair representation of "Day Tripper" too.

Rawk on!

8)

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop 54 Pickups!
Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2013 7:43 pm
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GilgaFrank wrote:
Hello Fender folk, my first post here!

I've just spent the afternoon installing a set of Custom Shop 54 Pickups into a "partscaster" strat (Fender Deluxe alder body, Mighty Mite neck) and all I can say is WOW, did I choose the right pickups for this guitar.

(That's a rhetorical question. Of course I did.)

When I built the guitar in 2005, I wanted a really high-output screaming monster so I put S*ymour D*ncans humbuckers in it, a JB in the bridge position and an SD Jazz in the neck and to be honest, I never really loved it. The neck has a really thick rosewood slab fingerboard and the guitar ended up sounding way too dark, way too midrangey and only had one sound, full-on overdrivey grunt. Fine if that's your sound but I came to realise that it's just not me.

The CS 54's have cured all that! I've never heard such wonderful string definition and tight, TIGHT bass from a strat pickup. There's a high end that just sparkles almost like an old telecaster sound and the way they respond to dynamics makes the guitar feel like I'm playing an acoustic. A bit of compression and reverb and the bass strings take on that "piano" quality. The high end is cutting but soft at the same time, never harsh but perfect for recording where you sometimes need to lift a guitar out of a midrange mush sound. Think Richard Thompson's strat sound on Shoot Out The Lights, wonderfully piercing, bell-like, bags of sustain even on clean tones but never harsh or displeasing. Even on single pickup settings these pickups are distinctive and full of that 1950s twang. I've enjoyed the clean tones so much I didn't even get round to turning any overdrive on and that's the true test of a pickup (for me).

One word of warning, I probably wouldn't install these in an ash-bodied guitar with a maple neck, that may prove to be a bit too trebly. In a darker-sounding alder body with a rosewood board these things are first class. I love my strat again!


What about buzzing? I love how my single coils sounded but kept getting a buzz/hum. How do you keep the 54s from doing that?

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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop 54 Pickups!
Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2013 8:33 pm
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Single-coils are prone to buzz -- there's no escaping that. But the annoyance can be minimized by using Fender's full-size aluminum shield beneath the pickguard. Many also prefer to use shielding tape or paint within the pickup and control cavity routs (this may cause a change in the guitar's tone to varying degrees). Lastly, loosely twist the wires together running from the controls to the output jack and use a quality instrument cable.

HTH

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop 54 Pickups!
Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 3:06 pm
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Thanks for the tips.

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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop 54 Pickups!
Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 8:34 pm
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I was really surprised out how the CS 54's resist buzz and electrical interference. They're not "noiseless" but certainly quieter than the pickups on some of my other strats. It's just a thing you learn to do with strats, if you get a hum then move across the studio, stand away from strip lights, even just turn and face a different direction and the noise is gone.

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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop 54 Pickups!
Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 8:44 pm
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You may have that luxury in a studio but an on-stage environment may demand more definitive prophylactic measures to minimize undesireable pickup noises.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop 54 Pickups!
Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 12:19 am
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I'd like to get some 54's for my AVRI '62, I wonder if they sound good with a fuzz box?


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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop 54 Pickups!
Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 9:58 am
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RootsRockers1987 wrote:
I'd like to get some 54's for my AVRI '62, I wonder if they sound good with a fuzz box?


You'll let us know, of course.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop 54 Pickups!
Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2013 10:02 am
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RootsRockers1987 wrote:
I'd like to get some 54's for my AVRI '62, I wonder if they sound good with a fuzz box?


I wish I could comment but I'm afraid I don't use pedals. Vacuum tubes only here. And it's a difficult job to make a Fender guitar sound bad through tubes.

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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop 54 Pickups!
Posted: Fri May 10, 2013 9:02 am
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When I got my CS 54's, I was confused about which one was intended as the bridge pickup. I had heard that the bridge unit would be marked with a red dot, but there were no such markings on my set. I went with the order in which they were packaged, by default.

It's a major hassle to change positions (physical positions, not switched positions) on my guitar, but after some experimentation with a meter, I have isolated one as being the bridge pickup. Maybe.

I'm still not sure.

The sound of the bridge pickup with this set is dissapointingly thin and weak. The other two are nice and crisp, and full sounding.

I'm wondering if a thin bridge sound is just characteristic of this set? It doesn't nail the "strat" sound on the bridge only position.

Sigh.


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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop 54 Pickups!
Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 3:17 am
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fendermike: the positions are labelled on the box!

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Post subject: Re: Custom Shop 54 Pickups!
Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 2:44 pm
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My box doesn't look like that. It's definitely genuine, but there are no designations for placement.

Worse yet, on the back the pickup specs are described top to bottom starting with the bridge, like this:

Custom '54 Strat Bridge - DC Resistance 6.5K / Inductance 2.75 henries
Custom '54 Strat Middle - DC Resistance 5.9K / Inductance 2.4 henries
Custom '54 Strat Neck - DC Resistance 5.9K / Inductance 2.4 henries

This is the opposite of how your box reads, and it confused me even further. I tried it both ways.

Ultimately, I checked them with a friend's meter after they were installed and confirmed that the bridge was the bridge. But still, it sounds weak to me. Not weak enough to think it's installed or wired improperly, but weak enough to disappoint me!

Not knocking them. The other two are FANTASTIC!


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