Good medium/high gain pickups for PRS McCarty?

[nikosteph]

Hi everyone,

I recently decided to get a used PRS McCarty (thanks to advice from the helpful folks on the SD forums!), and will almost certainly want to change the pickups once it arrives. From what I understand, not many people dig the stock pups, and their specs are in the vintage range. If they're anything like the Dimarzio 36th anniversary PAFs I had in a previous Les Paul (output-wise), I definitely want something more powerful.

That being said, what pickups (SD or otherwise) go really well in a McCarty? I play mostly blues, classic rock, and hard rock, with some metal. Stuff like Zeppelin, AC/DC, Guns N Roses, Skynyrd, and a bit of Metallica. So the pickups have to cover that sonic territory, and overall I want something that has power, but also richness/fullness of sound, and with really singing solo tones.

My thoughts were:

Bridge:

- Custom family, either the C8 or the C5, as I found the ceramic version a little harsh. I *loved* the C8 in a LP, will that hold up in the McCarty? Also, I've read that the C5 is naturally scooped (I've never tried it myself); will this be a problem in this guitar? I guess I can always get a C5 and then if it's not quite right swap out the magnet for an alnico 8...

- The JB. I've only played one of these for an hour or so in a shredder-type guitar at a store, but it was pretty cool. Loved the lead tone! But I've read on these forums that it's very "picky" about what woods it goes into as well and can sound awful in the wrong guitar. But if people have had good experiences with it in the McCarty, I'm down to try it.

Other options (from SD at least) include: the 59/Custom hybrid. I found this not quite "cutting" enough for my tastes in the LP, but that may be because the guitar itself was thick-sounding. In a slightly thinner sounding PRS, maybe it'd be better. I've also been intrigued by the Brobucker (at least its description and a couple sound clips), but have no experience with it.

Neck:

- The 59. I have one of these in a different guitar, and it's definitely nice. A little "boomy" as I've heard it described, but that could just be the guitar (it's in a Westbury Standard). But again, maybe it sits better in a PRS.
- The Jazz. Never played one of these, but obviously it's hugely popular. I want a pickup that can have good articulation for blues runs, and stays clear yet sweet with gain. Is this a good fit? How does it sound in a McCarty?

Since the McCarty has a push-pull pot, pickups that split well would be nice, especially for the neck (I don't plan on using the split bridge much).

Any other suggestions for this guitar? I'm open to trying other manufacturers as well, though I didn't particularly love the two Dimarzios I tried (the Evo2 and the Breed bridge). Maybe Bare Knuckle pickups? Other manufacturers?

Thanks so much! The guitar arrives in a few days and I'm looking forward to tinkering with it right away!

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Good medium/high gain pickups for PRS McCarty?

To the best of my recollection, PRS McCarty Treble and Bass model humbuckers are in the Pearly Gates ballpark. A8 in the bridge/Treble position might do the trick.

Humbucker-sized P90s should really scorch and sing.

 

[d1dsj]

Re: Good medium/high gain pickups for PRS McCarty?

Congrats of the new guitar, what model am did you get? WLH set should do the trick although it may need a little kick for heavier tones via a pedal. I love the JB in Ash, hate it in mahogany/ maple.

 

[Zhaggy]

Re: Good medium/high gain pickups for PRS McCarty?

I think you'll be spoled for choice here. Here are some that I've used and liked (not necessarily in a LP/McCarthy type of guitar but anyway) or have heard good things about.

Dimarzio

ToneZone/AirZone in the bridge, AirZone is the vintage-ish little brother of ToneZone but still has enough power to rock hard. ToneZone will get you easily into the Metallica sound.
PafPro/AirNorton in the neck, PafPro will get you a more traditional hot paf sound, AirNorton is very warm, juicy and liquid sounding, has some good harmonics too. Very good for single note shredding.
Norton is, according to Dimarzio, their most versatile bridge humbucker and goes well with LP type guitars.
Fred in the neck to get more honk and harmonics than, say, PafPro.

EMG 57/66 set. I know active pickups are a whole different story but these are the only pickups I've been really impressed with lately. They are more vintage sounding but still have that power and consistency that actives have.

Bare Knuckles I have not played my self but heard only good things. Nailbombs, Rebel Yells, Holydivers or something like the Abraxas should give you enough power and versatility to play both blues and more metal stuff.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Good medium/high gain pickups for PRS McCarty?

Why not evaluate the guitar first? If i can i prefer the guitar tell me what pickups it needs not the other way around.

 

[nikosteph]

Re: Good medium/high gain pickups for PRS McCarty?

d1dsj: the guitar is a 2004 McCarty in sunburst, no fancy special model (not the 58, or the II, or anything like that). I thought about the WLH set as well, thanks for pointing that out. And from what I understand the JB can be very hit-or-miss in mahogany (some love it, some hate it), so I'm wary to try it out here...

Zhaggy: thanks for the suggestions! I am not nearly as familiar with Dimarzios as SD pickups, so it's good to have some solid suggestions to investigate. I think it may be time for me to learn how to solder pickups so I can swap many of them in and out myself !

Edgecrusher: you're right, I'm definitely going to try the guitar out for a couple weeks with the stock pickups, but given that in the past more vintage-output pickups haven't really worked for me, and I want to make this guitar as versatile as possible to cover a wide sonic territory, I thought I'd get a jump on listing possibilities for pickups.

Also, what exactly do you mean when you say "i prefer the guitar tell me what pickups it needs"? I'm genuinely curious; do you mean that you can tell what pickups would sound good in a given guitar after playing it a bit? I guess I haven't tried enough pickups in enough guitars to have developed that sense, so I wanted to get the expert opinion of the people here who *have* that experience .

Overall, I definitely know I went out on a limb buying a guitar without trying it first, but based on the stellar review of the McCarty, the fact that many people attest to PRS consistency in quality, and the sound clips I heard online (combined with my firsthand experience with other guitars they were often comparing), I decided to take the leap. And given that it's a bit of a hassle to swap out many pickups (I tried like 5-6 different ones in my LP over the course of the year I had it, a real pain, and expensive!) I want to narrow the field as much as possible beforehand...

 

[swissmountain]

Re: Good medium/high gain pickups for PRS McCarty?

PRS guitars tend to be on the middy side acoustically so the JB would not be my first choice. I think the 59/Custom hybrid would be great in the bridge unless you want a huge step up in power from the stock McCarty Treble pickup. For the neck pickup I am not sure - 59 neck could be quite similar to the McCarty Bass. Here I would second the recommendation to play the guitar a while as is and then determine whether you need more clarity or more warmth (or more of ...).

 

[bloughlin16]

Re: Good medium/high gain pickups for PRS McCarty?

I'm about to invest in the SD Alpha/Omega set. Much more pricey than I'd like them to be, but they have what might be the best metal tone I've ever heard, and, according to Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow, who designed them, they're VERY versatile. Mark also has them in his signature PRS, so I'm sure they'd work well.

 

[nikosteph]

Re: Good medium/high gain pickups for PRS McCarty?

Okay, the guitar arrived, and it's awesome! Definitely love the look, the feel, and the general sound. But I do want more output in the bridge, so I'm leaning towards the 59/Custom hybrid, I'm worried that going all the way to the C8 or C5 would compromise some of the vintage sweetness that I do like.

For the neck, it's a tad too thick, so I'm thinking something with a bit more clarity or bite would be nice. Would the Jazz fit the bill?

 

[dominus]

Re: Good medium/high gain pickups for PRS McCarty?

Okay, the guitar arrived, and it's awesome! Definitely love the look, the feel, and the general sound. But I do want more output in the bridge, so I'm leaning towards the 59/Custom hybrid, I'm worried that going all the way to the C8 or C5 would compromise some of the vintage sweetness that I do like.

For the neck, it's a tad too thick, so I'm thinking something with a bit more clarity or bite would be nice. Would the Jazz fit the bill?

Yes, and yes.

 

[iamthesuck]

Re: Good medium/high gain pickups for PRS McCarty?

Jazz's tend to be brighter pickups from what I understand. I know Dimarzio has the humbucker from hell and the bluesbucker, those also fit that description. That would be a good direction to go. Any of the custom series will give you a "PAF on steroids" tone as the description reads. The A2 magnet is a little darker and looser in the low end, the A5 magnet will scoop out some mids, and I'm not sure about the A8. Worth a shot because if you don't like the model you end up with you can switch the magnets

 

[nikosteph]

Re: Good medium/high gain pickups for PRS McCarty?

Cool, thanks! I think I'm gonna try the 59/C hybrid first, and then if that's still not powerful enough go with a C5 and tweak the magnet if it's not quite right. Lots of fun to be had .

For the neck, I'll take a look at those Dimarzios you suggested, it'd be fun to mix Dimarzios and Duncans (I had a LP Studio where I did that, and it sounded great...maybe we can all get along!). But it's good to know the Jazz will work too...

 

[Demanic]

Re: Good medium/high gain pickups for PRS McCarty?

If you know that you want the 59/C in the bridge, why not wait for the Custom shop to come out with the neck companion for it?

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

 

[dominus]

Re: Good medium/high gain pickups for PRS McCarty?

If you know that you want the 59/C in the bridge, why not wait for the Custom shop to come out with the neck companion for it?

While it might be a good match for the bridge as far as tone goes, it might not have the brightness/cut that he's looking for. (Won't know until it's made. )

 

[brianloco]

Re: Good medium/high gain pickups for PRS McCarty?

Check out the creamery pickups I just ordered and installed their baby 71 wide range pickups in a guitar I built and they sound great


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Demanic]

Re: Good medium/high gain pickups for PRS McCarty?

Well, exactly, but we won't know that it won't either. And if it doesn't, there's always the 21 day return.

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[VHTJay]

Re: Good medium/high gain pickups for PRS McCarty?

I have had two McCarty models. One with a rosewood neck, the other with Mahogany. I miss them both; really awesome guitars!

The models I loved in my regular McCarty were the Custom5, S-Deco and Screamin Demon. Never got in with the stock pickups in either guitar.

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: Good medium/high gain pickups for PRS McCarty?

The Jazz is (IMO) the best neck humbucker available. It is articulate, sounds great clean but can handle as much gain as you can throw at it. It has enough warmth to know it is still a humbucker but the clarity is amazing. I highly suggest you check it out for the neck position.

 

[htwheelz67]

Re: Good medium/high gain pickups for PRS McCarty?

I have a PRS Johnny Hiland, which I believe has similar type stock pups but slightly different, when I first got it I thought they were kinda weak but great sounding I played with pickup heights and got it to sound way better. I was on a quest to find some double cream pickups for a charcoal mahagany strat I have and I rediscovered the Dimarzio virtual PAF and virtual hot PAF, they have been long discontinued but I have found some new ones floating around the internet.

I'm not a major Dimarzio guy but they are hands down one of the best sounding PAF's I have ever heard, clear as a bell almost strat like in a way but big bottom and bright highs, the VHPAF's I bought measure around 9.2-9.5k reg and around 10.3 for the f spaced, even though my PRS pups are perfectly fine now I'm going to try them in mine once I find another double cream VPAF. I think they will be a great match just a little more ooomph and still vintage pafish. There are still a couple VHPAFs in black on Ebay, I've been able to get 5 VH pafs and 3 Vpafs in the last month.

 

[nikosteph]

Re: Good medium/high gain pickups for PRS McCarty?

Thanks for the recommendations everyone! I decided to go with the Jazz neck and the 59/C hybrid in the bridge (and then work my way up to higher-output pups if that's not enough). I will report back with my impressions once I get them installed, and I'll definitely keep all these suggestions in mind if they aren't what I need...