Review quickie: Seymour Duncan Five-Two

This is a quirky pickup by Seymour Duncan. The Five-Two here refers to the magnets used in this pickup - Alnico II for the E-B-G strings & Alnico 5 for the D-A-E strings. This model is offered for both Tele & Strat applications. 

Likes

• clarity
• warm cleans
• thick distorted tones

Dislikes

• rather sensitive to pickup height adjustments

If there's any magic manifesting from this hybrid magnet design then it's proving its worth. The Five-Two has very good articulation across the frequencies despite the EQ chart suggesting a scooped setting. In clean mode, it sounds warm with an impressive midrange presence, again, contrary to what the EQ documented. I love this pickup for its lead / solo applications; it sounds very humbucker-ish without becoming mushy at high gain / drive levels. If you wish for a commanding lead tone without resorting to the ceramic discourse, then this pickup is it. I feel that it's rather sensitive to pickup height adjustments, more apparent in distorted settings.

Rating: 90%

Let Larry Basilio convince you:

Seymour Duncan: Five-Two

Availability: Davis GMC

List: $130

Pics: Seymour Duncan

Duncanized offset

Today is an I wanna play a thick neck day but not a Gibson. The only non-Gibson guitar with a thick neck that I own is this Offset Telecaster. It will rival any 50s neck Gibson around while keeping that Fender C-profile in tact. The only difference here is a rounder C carve bordering on a U. I dislike carrying this guitar around because it's heavy. Due to its offset body outline, it won't fit into other, better padded bags to offset (no pun intended) the weight. The feeble strap of the default Fender bag dug into my shoulder with every walking pace.

New pickups: Seymour Duncan Vintage P90 (n) & Five-Two (b); a deserving & much needed change for the tone I embrace. I reserved a separate appraisal for these two so just a brief mention here.

La Bella 9s for today. If you are interested, do visit TYMC.