magnet swaps for USA PRS #6 bridge & neck pickups?
- Thread starter Burnin_UP
- Start date
treyhaislip
New member
Re: magnet swaps for USA PRS #6 bridge & neck pickups?
Is this just for practice or are you trying to fix/improve the tone?
No experience with them but I would assume this as well.
Is this just for practice or are you trying to fix/improve the tone?
No experience with them but I would assume this as well.
Burnin_UP
New member
Re: magnet swaps for USA PRS #6 bridge & neck pickups?
The stock G&B pickups are a bit muddy. The guitar sounds great acoustically, with great articulation and sustain. The stock pickups sound like it's muffled a bit. Since they're chinese pickups I didn't want to mess with them much, I just figured these PRS pickups I have on hand might be a good modding platform since they weren't that great in the single cut trem they came in.
I also have a duncan 59BL with a UOA5 magnet in it, and a gibson 496T which is stock. Out of this pile I'd like to save money and get something happening to replace the G&B. I'd even be open to trying to swap slugs.
The stock G&B pickups are a bit muddy. The guitar sounds great acoustically, with great articulation and sustain. The stock pickups sound like it's muffled a bit. Since they're chinese pickups I didn't want to mess with them much, I just figured these PRS pickups I have on hand might be a good modding platform since they weren't that great in the single cut trem they came in.
I also have a duncan 59BL with a UOA5 magnet in it, and a gibson 496T which is stock. Out of this pile I'd like to save money and get something happening to replace the G&B. I'd even be open to trying to swap slugs.
eclecticsynergy
New member
Re: magnet swaps for USA PRS #6 bridge & neck pickups?
I assume they're swappable and ought to respond like any other humbucker to various mags. I think the silence is due to the fact that most folks either keep their #6s or replace them outright. It may simply be that nobody here has tried it yet. I know that sounds pretty unlikely on this forum, but there aren't as many sets of #6s out there as a lot of pickups.
My PRS spec sheets don't list the #6 so I can't even say which mags they come with. They might be similar to the 245 pickups- have you taken DCR readings? How do they sound now and what do you want to change?
Also, what's the tonal character of the Yamaha like? I assume it's Les Paul-ish but that's a pretty big ball park.
I assume they're swappable and ought to respond like any other humbucker to various mags. I think the silence is due to the fact that most folks either keep their #6s or replace them outright. It may simply be that nobody here has tried it yet. I know that sounds pretty unlikely on this forum, but there aren't as many sets of #6s out there as a lot of pickups.
My PRS spec sheets don't list the #6 so I can't even say which mags they come with. They might be similar to the 245 pickups- have you taken DCR readings? How do they sound now and what do you want to change?
Also, what's the tonal character of the Yamaha like? I assume it's Les Paul-ish but that's a pretty big ball park.
Burnin_UP
New member
Re: magnet swaps for USA PRS #6 bridge & neck pickups?
8.49K bridge and 7.45K neck, or close to that. I guess I should just stick them in stock and see how they sound. I have a pile of magnets so I was looking for some advice before I load them in - so I am not trying to swap magnets while they are in the guitar. They have coil taps, btw. I was hoping to use those still, in place of the dry switch gizmo, I plan to just use the taps.
It sounds more like a mccarty than a les paul - it doesn't have that huge bottom end chunk. Or maybe to say it's somewhere in between the two - as the stock mccarty has a more compressed tone all around.
8.49K bridge and 7.45K neck, or close to that. I guess I should just stick them in stock and see how they sound. I have a pile of magnets so I was looking for some advice before I load them in - so I am not trying to swap magnets while they are in the guitar. They have coil taps, btw. I was hoping to use those still, in place of the dry switch gizmo, I plan to just use the taps.
It sounds more like a mccarty than a les paul - it doesn't have that huge bottom end chunk. Or maybe to say it's somewhere in between the two - as the stock mccarty has a more compressed tone all around.
Last edited:
VinceT
New member
Re: magnet swaps for USA PRS #6 bridge & neck pickups?
What pots are in there? Before ripping into the pickups might be worth switching out pots, caps, etc.
I just did this with one of my Reverend guitars and it's got a whole new lease on life. It's a very dark guitar, so I ended up with 1M volume pot and no-load tone pot wired 50s style - basically making sure that the max amount of treble is going to the amp. Sounds fantastic.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
What pots are in there? Before ripping into the pickups might be worth switching out pots, caps, etc.
I just did this with one of my Reverend guitars and it's got a whole new lease on life. It's a very dark guitar, so I ended up with 1M volume pot and no-load tone pot wired 50s style - basically making sure that the max amount of treble is going to the amp. Sounds fantastic.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Burnin_UP
New member
Re: magnet swaps for USA PRS #6 bridge & neck pickups?
So... a PRS guitar tech just told me that PRS #6 pickups are really just PRS #7 pickups minus the covers and with coil taps added; they are in all other regards the same pickup. He also said they sound terrible in the SCT because of the tremolo versus the fixed bridge in the singlecut.
Taking it all with a grain of salt, but I kinda remember reading something that said they tweaked the PRS 7 pickup to make the PRS 6 for the SCT. Could the tweak simply be no covers and coil taps? How cheesy. I know for a fact burstbuckers sound horrible in fender HSS strats, probably due to the bridge.
Looking for that now....
From the PRS website " This is similar in sound to our PRS #7 but without the cover and is again a result of our tweaking"
Hmm... i dunno.
I think I'll just load them up and see how they sound.
So... a PRS guitar tech just told me that PRS #6 pickups are really just PRS #7 pickups minus the covers and with coil taps added; they are in all other regards the same pickup. He also said they sound terrible in the SCT because of the tremolo versus the fixed bridge in the singlecut.
Taking it all with a grain of salt, but I kinda remember reading something that said they tweaked the PRS 7 pickup to make the PRS 6 for the SCT. Could the tweak simply be no covers and coil taps? How cheesy. I know for a fact burstbuckers sound horrible in fender HSS strats, probably due to the bridge.
Looking for that now....
From the PRS website " This is similar in sound to our PRS #7 but without the cover and is again a result of our tweaking"
Hmm... i dunno.
I think I'll just load them up and see how they sound.
Burnin_UP
New member
Re: magnet swaps for USA PRS #6 bridge & neck pickups?
Great idea, I haven't really tried to decipher their weird wiring. 50s wiring always sounds better to me too - I'll definitely see what's up in there. Thanks!
Great idea, I haven't really tried to decipher their weird wiring. 50s wiring always sounds better to me too - I'll definitely see what's up in there. Thanks!
eclecticsynergy
New member
Re: magnet swaps for USA PRS #6 bridge & neck pickups?
New pots & wiring is a good idea, especially for an axe made in China. I think you're sensible to try the pickups as they are- they'll likely be an improvement over the G&Bs and they just might turn out to be perfect. My specs for #7s don't list mag type, just "alnico." But it's likely an A5 in the bridge, possibly A2 in the neck. If the guitar still lacks chunk after you've played it for a while, it wouldn't be difficult to try beefing up the bridge with an A8 (& maybe an A4 in the neck?).
New pots & wiring is a good idea, especially for an axe made in China. I think you're sensible to try the pickups as they are- they'll likely be an improvement over the G&Bs and they just might turn out to be perfect. My specs for #7s don't list mag type, just "alnico." But it's likely an A5 in the bridge, possibly A2 in the neck. If the guitar still lacks chunk after you've played it for a while, it wouldn't be difficult to try beefing up the bridge with an A8 (& maybe an A4 in the neck?).
Lewguitar
New member
Re: magnet swaps for USA PRS #6 bridge & neck pickups?
So you're talking about Korean made G&B pickups from a SE Singlecut? Not an old USA made PRS Singlecut?
If so, I've done some magnet swapping in SE Singlecut pickups.
What I found in the '07 PRS SE Singlecut I just spent a bunch of time tweaking were SHORT alnico magnets similar to what you'd find in an old Gibson T-Top. They were polished and about 2 9/32" long.
I started by replacing the magnets in both with AddictionFX UOA5. Big improvement. Louder and smoother and much more touch sensitive. Made the biggest improvement in the bridge pickup but removed a certain sharp or brittle tone quality from both pickups.
Found that the neck pickup still had just a touch more bass than I wanted.
So I put AddictionFX Alnico 2's in both.
Liked the neck pickup even better but thought I'd lost something I liked about the bridge pickup.
So I left the A2 in the neck pickup and put the UOA5 back in the bridge bridge pickup.
That was good enough for me and I left the set alone after that.
So A2 in the neck and UOA5 in the bridge did the trick for me.
However, I still prefer the A2 PG's I put in my other SE Singlecut. Stronger output from both, clearer neck pickup tone, more touch sensitive tone from the bridge pickup.
So swapping magnets in the G&B pickups improved the tone a lot but still didn't bring them up to the quality of the Duncan PG's.
I didn't bother changing pots or the 3 way switch in any of my SE Singlecuts. I will if they go bad but they sound fine to me "as is"....and I'm pretty fussy.
So you're talking about Korean made G&B pickups from a SE Singlecut? Not an old USA made PRS Singlecut?
If so, I've done some magnet swapping in SE Singlecut pickups.
What I found in the '07 PRS SE Singlecut I just spent a bunch of time tweaking were SHORT alnico magnets similar to what you'd find in an old Gibson T-Top. They were polished and about 2 9/32" long.
I started by replacing the magnets in both with AddictionFX UOA5. Big improvement. Louder and smoother and much more touch sensitive. Made the biggest improvement in the bridge pickup but removed a certain sharp or brittle tone quality from both pickups.
Found that the neck pickup still had just a touch more bass than I wanted.
So I put AddictionFX Alnico 2's in both.
Liked the neck pickup even better but thought I'd lost something I liked about the bridge pickup.
So I left the A2 in the neck pickup and put the UOA5 back in the bridge bridge pickup.
That was good enough for me and I left the set alone after that.
So A2 in the neck and UOA5 in the bridge did the trick for me.
However, I still prefer the A2 PG's I put in my other SE Singlecut. Stronger output from both, clearer neck pickup tone, more touch sensitive tone from the bridge pickup.
So swapping magnets in the G&B pickups improved the tone a lot but still didn't bring them up to the quality of the Duncan PG's.
I didn't bother changing pots or the 3 way switch in any of my SE Singlecuts. I will if they go bad but they sound fine to me "as is"....and I'm pretty fussy.
Last edited:
Burnin_UP
New member
Re: magnet swaps for USA PRS #6 bridge & neck pickups?
No.
The yamaha revstar has G&B VH5 pickups.
I have a pair of Made in the USA PRS #6 pickups, that came stock in a Single Cut Trem (SCT).
I wanted to put the Made in USA PRS #6 pickups in the Yamaha, and take out the G&B. I was looking for any magnet advice before swapping them.
I finally decided to just load them up. Shocker of shockers, the PRS #6 > G&B VH5 stock pickups.
I am going to just leave it all alone for now, as my ears need some time to settle in, and much can be done with amp settings, etc. When I finally am confident what I am looking for, I will come back to this thread, and ask more advice.
Thanks for all your help.
(and being the singlecut SE was supposed to have pickups designed after the USA model, I think I will try your magnet swaps first, the A2 and UOA5 - I'll let you know if I go there).
No.
The yamaha revstar has G&B VH5 pickups.
I have a pair of Made in the USA PRS #6 pickups, that came stock in a Single Cut Trem (SCT).
I wanted to put the Made in USA PRS #6 pickups in the Yamaha, and take out the G&B. I was looking for any magnet advice before swapping them.
I finally decided to just load them up. Shocker of shockers, the PRS #6 > G&B VH5 stock pickups.
I am going to just leave it all alone for now, as my ears need some time to settle in, and much can be done with amp settings, etc. When I finally am confident what I am looking for, I will come back to this thread, and ask more advice.
Thanks for all your help.
(and being the singlecut SE was supposed to have pickups designed after the USA model, I think I will try your magnet swaps first, the A2 and UOA5 - I'll let you know if I go there).
Last edited: