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Between the Custom and the C5?

The C5 has the most bass. The Custom is brighter. (IMO).

I tried both in my LP Standard and I preferred the Custom (though I didn't stick with either). Hard to describe, but the Custom sounds like a pickup on a mission. It is a hard rock pickup and it does that job brilliantly and leaves you with a big smile on your face. If you want to play more laid back stuff you may find it sounds too hard, though it is the sweetest ceramic humbucker I've heard. By contrast, I couldn't get on with the C5 at all. It felt like a compromise pickup - doesn't cut through like the Custom, and lacks the character and responsiveness of the vintage output models. Others will disagree, but that's how it was for me.

I still have my Custom. I'm saving it, with the hope that I will find a guitar to put it in. It's a nice pickup.

Interesting. I am looking for something to fill out the low end of an instrument without getting the correspnding increase in high end. In that respect it sounds like the C5 could be the better choice. I'm thinking that neither one is as bright as the 59 I am using as the baseline though so maybe its a wash.

I think the C5 may be just right for what you describe. It is less bright than the '59 and has more bottom end. The top end sings. It wasn't right for me and my guitar, but it is a very popular pickup.

I'm not so sure that the Custom is brighter than the C5 -- it's more like it has more sparkle and high-highs. The C5 is lacking mids, so it can sound thin (yet boomy-bassy). Depending on your definition of bright, the lack of mids can make the C5 sound brighter than the Custom.