The default controls are registered in WP_Customize_Manager::register_controls()
, which is hooked to customize_register
. This action is fired in another method, wp_loaded()
, which is hooked to the action of the same name.
To remove these default controls, use your own handler on customize_register
with a later priority, so that it runs after register_controls()
has added them:
function wpse_185386_remove_customize_controls( $wp_customize ) {
$wp_customize->remove_section( 'title_tagline' );
}
add_action( 'customize_register', 'wpse_185386_remove_customize_controls', 50 /* Priority */ );