Yes, You Heard Me

My Review of the Seymour Duncan Custom-5 for Stratocaster (The Cat-Five)

Introduction

So in my quest for good tone, I had previously put a Seymour Duncan George Lynch Lil' Screamin' Demon (GLLSD) in my Fender Showmaster FAT SSS. It fit well with other single coils, but in the end, it didn't have enough punch for what I wanted. The GLLSD's constant growl that some have described was annoying to me, because I wanted a pickup that would clean up better than this. At the time, my decision was between asking the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop to make me a Full Shred in a stacked humbucker in single coil size, or the Seymour Duncan Custom-5 in the same housing. I already have a Full Shred in my Fender Showmaster QMT HH, so I decided, after a lot of research, to ask for a Custom-5 in a single coil size stacked humbucker. It is called a Cat Five.

This is my review of this pickup. Spoiler alert: I am more than satisfied with the result!

Price

The price was about $198. This is more expensive than other pickups that Seymour Duncan offers, but that's because I asked for the custom shop to create it. The illustrious Maricela Juarez, or "MJ", wound this pickup herself, so it's worth the money in my opinion.

Research

I had played a full size Seymour Duncan Custom-5 once before in a shop. I think it was installed in a Schecter or an ESP guitar. I was impressed at how it sounded clean but didn't have much time to run tests on it that day in the guitar shop.

When I began looking for another sound, I found Keith Merrow's video Seymour Duncan 6-String Bridge Pickups 2015, 15 Model Comparison, Metal Rhythm. I immediately loved this video. Of course, the Full Shred, my favorite bridge humbucker starts off the video series. But then I found that he also played a Custom 5 in this comparison, and I was immediately in love with the expanded bass and treble. But it still remained clear.

As a side note, someone needs to put up a Support Keith Merrow fund, as this guy's video is the single best comparison video for Seymour Duncan pickups that I've ever watched.

Playing It

When the guitar tech handed me the guitar after installation, he commented that the pickup sounded "dark to him." I was a bit concerned but shrugged it off and plugged into a Fender SuperSonic, my favorite amp, at the store. I took some recordings of the pickup using a Boss BR-80, just open air in an enclosed amp room.

I immediately loved it! I tend to switch to bridge for my solos, so I prefer vintage (low) output neck (and in this case, middle) pickups for a contrast in church music. Church music tends towards cleans being played from neck pickups and solos from bridge pickups. The output of the Custom-5 is a tiny bit high (the guitar tech placed it at recommended height to the strings). But it fits with bright pickups like single coils and doesn't sound out of place (except perhaps in output level). I have not had it wired for splits to see how it would work when split, but I may do so eventually. I have really never heard of any worship or Christian song that requires a vintage single coil sound, so I doubt I will be wiring splits any time soon.

I tend to like pickups that can remain clear or at least have decent clean tones. The Full Shred is the embodiment of what my ears like to hear. The Custom 5 is great and is almost like a Full Shred with slightly more "meat." The Custom 5 is not as clean as the Full Shred but in a basswood body guitar like my Showmaster FAT SSS, the high bass and treble (in terms of the EQ listed on the Seymour Duncan website) even out, since basswood tends to emphasize the mid range.

It can handle metal tones very well, and has enough push to push the SuperSonic (which is not a typical guitar for metal) into metal territory. Honestly, I love the SuperSonic because it has excellent cleans and high output, but it's not typically an amp used for metal. One would probably need to put a distortion pedal in front of it to push it into metal territory.

Sound Clips

So here are the sound clips. Settings: SuperSonic, drive knobs at 7.5, volume and reverb at 3, and all other knobs (EQ) at half. Boss WL-20 wireless system. No pedals. I did not alter the sound clips either. Sound clips came from a Boss BR-80, set to Live Record during the entire process. I was there to give some good clips, not to be perfect with my playing, so keep that in mind. The Custom-5 was a fire breather! Very good indeed!

Conclusion

I am very, very satisfied with this pickup, even if it was slightly more expensive.

On a side note, the GLLSD is a bit too expensive for what it is, and I wonder if that's because George Lynch's name is on it. I am in no way trying to be disrespectful to George Lynch, as he is a guitar virtuoso. I just don't like how much the GLLSD cost.

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