bridge recommendation for PRS SE

[sungod]

i have a '90 PRS custom 24 with a JB in the bridge that nails my tone perfectly. however, that guitar is way to heavy for me to gig with. my main gigging axe is a PRS santana SE, which has a mahogany body without the maple cap. i bought the SE used with a JB already in the bridge. with the JB in the bridge, the SE does not come close to having the complex overtones and midrange of the C24. the SE sounds a lot more "forced" in the midrange, with a rolled off top end and does not hit my preamp as hard. however, the dynamics are excellent, just as they are in my C24.

i'm looking for a pickup with a little more sizzle on top, although i would like to keep the upper-midrange hump of the JB. i tend to prefer the dynamics of alnico 5 pickups, since i do notice most ceramics have more compression. i am considering the Full Shred, but am worried that it's too brite and thin in the midrange. i am also considering the Dimebucker, since the eq chart is close to the JB, but i am worried that it won't have good dynamics. the custom in my les paul is a little too compressed for me. i've tried the paf voiced pickups in my les paul also, and i think they will be a little too scooped for the sound i want from my SE. i want to stay with a high output pickup in this guitar.

sorry for the long post, but i want to give as much info as i can up front....

 

[BluesGuyJ]

Re: bridge recommendation for PRS SE

Welcome to the forum!

That's a hard one to answer. The JB already has a lot of top end sizzle and mid-range and high output. I'd assume the less top end through the Santana SE is due to not having a maple cap where your CU does. A bucker that can make up for that missing maple cap to add brightness...

Perhaps the Duncan Distortion would work well?

But I've heard the Dimebucker does have a good amount of highs, so that may be your best bet.

 

[jughead]

Re: bridge recommendation for PRS SE

I use Duncan Distortion in my PRS Tremonti SE. Lots of top end, and thick mids. I often use an EQ pedal if I really need to cut through the mix, because the SE is somewhat dark sounding. I've never tried the JB, so unfortunately I can't tell you how they compare.

 

[Dills]

Re: bridge recommendation for PRS SE

At the moment i am using a Custom in the bridge of my mahogany PRS SE, it sounds like it has a decent amount of mids, and certainly has some cutting top end (brighter), than the stock pickups. IT is fantastic for a hard rock sound, u could try a custom first since its not a lespaul your putting it in, then if you don't like it (which i have grown to do cos of the hi end) Im going to swap the magnets for a custom custom or custom 5 and try all three the cc has more mids not as agressive as the custom sounds more like me.

 

[bigheadood]

Re: bridge recommendation for PRS SE

I'd try the 500t from your gibson in that SE, first, if you still have it.
if not, I'd go with a distortion.

 

[sungod]

Re: bridge recommendation for PRS SE

thanks for the replies....

yeah.. unfortunately i got rid of that 500t about 10 years ago.....

regarding the DD and custom p'ups in the SE, did you compare the dynamics with an al5 pickup? i know it's bad to stereotype the magnet types, but pretty much all the ceramic pickups i've tried have less dynamics than the al5's. i also need to get a decent clean sound in the bridge position 'cause i do run thru a wide variety of patches with my midi setup....

i didn't consider the DD... how are it's dynamics compared to what say a custom, jb or dimebucker?

 

[Dills]

Re: bridge recommendation for PRS SE

Hi again I just swapped magnets in my custom about an hour ago, I didnt know what kind of magnet it was (was an old tele neck humbucker) after installing it i plugged the guitar in and it sounds awesome, lots of mids (very black sabbath), nice thick lead tones and awesome smooth overdrive i really like it. I think the magnet was alnico 2? cos alnico 5 apparently has scooped mids. But it definetly sounds good. Sounds more thicker to my ears than the custom and the hi end is a bit more smooth.

 

[BluesGuyJ]

Re: bridge recommendation for PRS SE

I have heard that the DD is similar to thatof the JB. Check out the HC pickup reviews. Very helpful there.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: bridge recommendation for PRS SE

The difference between the JB and DD is that the DD has bigger, tighter lows, a bit more high end representation, and the mids are a bit more even, which makes the jB's high mid hump less apparent.

What pot values do you have in the SE? Are they all metering out at 500k? I would check all the pots first and see what happens. An option to look at would be 500k in the volume and a 1 meg tone pot.

 

[bigheadood]

Re: bridge recommendation for PRS SE

I recently got rid of a santana se.
It sounded best to me with the 496r and 500t from my gibson, with a push/pull pot on the tone, to completely remove the tone pot from the circuit.
You might try that with your JB. It will add quite a bit of high end.

I finally got rid of that guitar in favor of a Dean Hardtail select.
I put a C5 and a2p in that guitar, and I've never had better sound, even from my gibson.