Which aftermarket pickups worked for you in a PRS CU24

[Sensates]

As above. Tried PAFs and JBs and they just don't work for me these days.

In a PRS Custom24 most PAFs get too bright and plinky, the upper mid thing is too much. I've tried 59s, A2P, WLH, SSV. Same with JB, and it can get pretty muddy with gain.

I'm looking towards a more jazzier creamier tone, a la Robben Ford/Jimmy Herring etc.

[Mincer]

Re: Which aftermarket pickups worked for you in a PRS CU24

To me, their sound is really a combo of the amp and the player, not all pickups. They tend to use PAF-ish pickups, I've never heard the JB called muddy, though. You may be ok with a Custom Custom which has a lot of true mids, and sort of sits between a WLH and JB output-wise.

[Jeff5]

Re: Which aftermarket pickups worked for you in a PRS CU24

I've swapped around a bit in my CU24. Not really after market because it is PRS, but I used a PRS Tremonti for awhile and really loved it for heavier stuff.

I then tried a Bareknuckle Nailbomb and then a Holy Diver. Not bad pick ups by any means, but I don't think I'm a Bareknuckle guy.

I then used a Suhr Aldrich which is also a great pick up. It is a darker, bassier and compressed pup, but also has a lot of dynamics.

I'm now using a Motor City Afwayu and find it to be an absolutely phenomenal pick up. I'm not going to change for awhile now, I swear =D.

Oh, I also threw in a Duncan Custom somewhere in there lol. Honestly, if I didn't have the choices I have and was going to use an SD pick, I'd stick with the Custom. Something about it is just right.

[mwalluk]

Re: Which aftermarket pickups worked for you in a PRS CU24

maybe screamin demon or custom 5 for bridge and either a 59 or PG for neck. Could always try pegasus and sentient, those gave good results in a custom (even if ypur not a metal guy, those have good results for other styles).

[Demanic]

Re: Which aftermarket pickups worked for you in a PRS CU24

I'll bet that the WLH set would sound good.

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[TimmyPage]

Re: Which aftermarket pickups worked for you in a PRS CU24

I'll bet that the WLH set would sound good.

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Theres not much the WLH doesn't sound good in. I've passed them through three guitars now and they sounded fantastic in all of them.

[Maceo]

Re: Which aftermarket pickups worked for you in a PRS CU24

FWIW, I've gotten the best versatility with a 36th PAF neck and a Tonezone bridge... But to get there I went w/50's wiring, 6-way rotary (Neck; Neck/Bridge parallel; Bridge; Neck/Bridge series; Neck/Bridge parallel (out of phase); Neck/Bridge series (out of phase)), and coil taps.

I agree that paf's are a tough fit and 90% of the time I run the neck split... That said, I think the "amp/eq/setup" wisdom is key to pickup utility for me w/that guitar. I set my amp's eq around the tonezone with a volume around 7, and then fiddle with guitar volume & tone/booster pedal/eq pedal to dial in the "70's/metal/djenty/jazzy/insert bad imitation of style here."

Seths and antiquities always seem to do clean and creamy well regardless of the instrument. I loved my A3/UOA5 combo for smooth runs, but I loved stealing Kojak's advice on that combo so much they ended up in my 335 and never went back. I have a Dillion (PRS knock-off) that i have standard 3-way switching on with a sentient/pegasus combo and i *love* that set/will never change it out. Again, the key for utility for me is the eq-ing of the amp/pedal setup around the instrument. I can find *awesome* tones (bear in mind i'm a total hack with no taste in music... No setup fixes that ) for live playing or studio recording with my PRS-style guitars, but i've never been able to switch between a LP, Strat, Explorer, etc and my PRS's without re-eq-ing. The construction of the guitar is kind of "in-between" those two, which makes it easier on my back but more of an application-specific instrument/i get the best results when i think about the sound ahead of time... And *that* to me has made chasing pickups for a PRS challenging. So my Dimarzio/PRS gives me enough tonal options to dial in something really specific, and my SD/Dillion gives me enough "oomph-meets-articulation" to back off the volume and cover the "basic" clean/jazzy to heavy range when i'm riffing or woodshedding.

Regarding PRS's in general, there's that great exaggeration about "les pauls are so fat that it's like painting a portrait with a roller. Use a tele or a strat when you want details," and while that's an extreme i think it's no mistake that there isn an equivalent statement for PRS's. i kinda think about PRS 24's like a Swiss army knife... They have amazing tones but they're precision-oriented... It's not my first choice when i need a saw or a scalpel, but when i need something in-between it allows me to access a million gradients in-between... And that can be pretty maddening if i want to nail someone *else's* tone with that guitar. So choosing PRS pickups either means committing the signal chain to an existing tone or diving in to something new/unknown for it to be enjoyable (instead of maddening).

That said, when i think of robben and jimmy, i think of Fender products and i don't mean that flippantly like "so donate that PRS to the forum!" but more like "awesome taste, but i think part of that creamy sound is in the plank + maple meets single coil prior to pedal chain." Just messing around after reading your post, i get closest with splitting and a very subtle sd pu booster pedal and sustainer post-eq on my wiring beast. But my antiquities-laden telecaster copy can do a pretty fair imitation out of the gate. If you've got the chops to keep up w/those cats you'll probably sound miles better than the rest of us even with First Act pickups . If you're dead-set on a swap, Creamery '59s or Cream T '59sshould get you there... And there's nothing more "24-ish" than an Abraxas set. Mule neck from bkp is also pretty creamy.

As always/when in doubt - depending on your budget there are two answers that will not fail: Call MJ, or p/m Zhangbucker

[daenius]

Re: Which aftermarket pickups worked for you in a PRS CU24

As Mincer said, those players achieved those tones with PAF types (which are typically somewhat scoopy), so they certainly used the tone knob and the amp settings a lot to smooth out and darken up the sound.

I would highly recommend playing with your amp settings before trying another pickup that may disappoint you.

Now if you do want to swap a pickup, you should probably get something that's richer in the mids and bass, and attenuate the treble to give you the thick and creamy jazzier tone you described. That said, you can look into the naturally darker sounded medium to high output options because the higher winding really brings down the resonance peak, and thus attenuating the treble for you. The Custom Custom sounds like a good idea.

You can probably also look into these:

Dimarzio: Tone Zone, Air Zone, AT-1
Duncan: 59/Custom Hybrid, Custom Custom
Suhr: DSH, Aldrich

[sd4ever]

Re: Which aftermarket pickups worked for you in a PRS CU24

As above. Tried PAFs and JBs and they just don't work for me these days.

In a PRS Custom24 most PAFs get too bright and plinky, the upper mid thing is too much. I've tried 59s, A2P, WLH, SSV. Same with JB, and it can get pretty muddy with gain.

I'm looking towards a more jazzier creamier tone, a la Robben Ford/Jimmy Herring etc.

Custom 24 is a bright guitar. You can try Gibson 57 classic for the neck pup and classic + for the bridge. They sound full but not bassy. I have the classic + and SD59 in my gibson lp standard.

[Sensates]

Re: Which aftermarket pickups worked for you in a PRS CU24

As Mincer said, those players achieved those tones with PAF types (which are typically somewhat scoopy), so they certainly used the tone knob and the amp settings a lot to smooth out and darken up the sound.

I would highly recommend playing with your amp settings before trying another pickup that may disappoint you.

Now if you do want to swap a pickup, you should probably get something that's richer in the mids and bass, and attenuate the treble to give you the thick and creamy jazzier tone you described. That said, you can look into the naturally darker sounded medium to high output options because the higher winding really brings down the resonance peak, and thus attenuating the treble for you. The Custom Custom sounds like a good idea.

You can probably also look into these:

Dimarzio: Tone Zone, Air Zone, AT-1
Duncan: 59/Custom Hybrid, Custom Custom
Suhr: DSH, Aldrich

i actually have come to the same conclusion as you do.

Trouble is finding the right pickup within that EQ curve. There seems to be not many options other than Dimarzios which I tried to avoid (don't like their compression and attack). I was thinking about trying the 59/C hybrid and CC again, had it but didn't like it enough to keep it.

I rather not change the amp settings as it worked well for all my other guitars.

[daenius]

Re: Which aftermarket pickups worked for you in a PRS CU24

i actually have come to the same conclusion as you do.

Trouble is finding the right pickup within that EQ curve. There seems to be not many options other than Dimarzios which I tried to avoid (don't like their compression and attack). I was thinking about trying the 59/C hybrid and CC again, had it but didn't like it enough to keep it.

I rather not change the amp settings as it worked well for all my other guitars.

Not all Dimarzios have the same compression and attack, especially their Duncan knock off pickups like the AT-1 xD But I do tend to find Dimarzios to never be too trebly, which is why I thought they might suit your needs the best.

You know what I'd do though? I'd have some tape or some way of marking the "regular" amp settings, and just mess with the amp for this guitar, and then go back to the original setting for the other guitars.

[mwalluk]

Re: Which aftermarket pickups worked for you in a PRS CU24

what about a simple eq pedal? allowing you to dial in more frequencies without messing with the settings for other guitars?

[Mincer]

Re: Which aftermarket pickups worked for you in a PRS CU24

You can also talk to the Custom Shop, explain what issues you are having and which pickups you tried (and why they didn't work for you) and see if they can build something for you.

[Wolfshead]

Re: Which aftermarket pickups worked for you in a PRS CU24

I had DiMarzio Super D/ PAF in mine and they sounded fantastic.

[Glorioso]

Re: Which aftermarket pickups worked for you in a PRS CU24

I just ordered a '59 neck with A4 and a JB bridge with a RC UOA5, both antiquities. We will see but they will undoubtedly sound awesome.