new PRS SE singlecut- Pickups/Suggestions

7turns

7turns

New member
Just got a good deal ($400) on a new prs SE single cut. Nice neck and pretty good acoustic sound so I thought I'd try it for a project.
I've got two 57 classics and a hybrid 59 (A2) I made a few years ago.
I can put in the the 57s as a pair. Or just the 59 in the bridge for now. I'm going to probably replace the pots and switch. The Bridge is a little thin for my tastes. It clearly needs a setup as well.
Anyway, just wondering what some others have done to this model and what your results were?

I'm going for a more old school ABB/classic rock sound. Some Gov't Mule sounds would be good too, but I can't pony up for a SLO100 yet...

thanks,
matt
 
Re: new PRS SE singlecut- Pickups/Suggestions

If you can't afford the SLO, check out Jet City. Cheap, authorized amp designs by Mike Soldano (and other amp design gurus).

I'm very interested in the JCA22H (2 channel Soldano preamp in a low output head? Fun!).

I don't have any experience with PRS guitar pickup swaps, and they have different needs...

For pickups, PATB-3 is great if you want a beefier '59. Extremely dynamic, back off the tone a bit, play gently and with it's slow attack it can almost feel like A2, only with tighter bass. Very sculptable dynamics. Dig in and it punches harder.

Pearly Gates does sound like another good option. Bridge model has more growl than the '57 or A2pro, and it sounds like you may need that. Seems to be well liked by PRS players.
 
Re: new PRS SE singlecut- Pickups/Suggestions

Is this model all-mahogany - like the SE Soapbar models - or does it have a thin maple cap?

My experience with the all-mahogany SE models is that they are the perfect hosts for American-made P90s. On models with HB-sized routs, consider Phat Cats or P-Rails. If you wish to retain the conventional humbuckers appearance, try DiMarzio Bluesbuckers.
 
Re: new PRS SE singlecut- Pickups/Suggestions

You've got a pair of '57's so go ahead and try them and see how they sound in your SE. You might even try your '59 in and see how that sounds. Then if you decide that you need to continue your search, you'll have something more to go on and finding the right setup for you should be pretty easy.

Use what you've got first, and use your own ears to decide what you do or don't like about it, and we'll be able to help you nail down what you're looking for.

By the way...what is your '59 hybridded with?
 
Re: new PRS SE singlecut- Pickups/Suggestions

I had a dead 59 neck double black p/u I got off ebay and realized I wasn't going to get my money back. So I got on the board here and found someone with another coil from 59. It turned out to be from a 59b and white. So this pickup has 59N/59B coils. Then I traded somebody for a A2 mag with the A5 that was in the pickup . It reads about 8.0k. So maybe calling it a hybrid isn't actually correct. I was just trying to salvage the dead p/u. It's been so long since I've had it in anything I can't really recall much about it.

This and the 2 gibson 57 classics are about 7.9 to 8.1k so no real good mix of pickups per modern stronger bridge/ lower output neck p/u approach.
If I measured correctly, the prs se has a 9.5k neck and 10.0k bridge. For the money not bad pickups. Especially the neck bucker. Way better than the stuff in an epi sg that I had once. This singlecut is a mahagony body with the maple cap. The middle position with both p/u's make for a really nice lead tone. The neck p/u may end up in the bridge.
I did just get a burstbucker pro off ebay to try as well for $51. It's a 8.7k, I think, so I was going to try it in the bridge and maybe the 59 in the neck since they're both zebras.
I 'm pretty sure the tone pot is linear and I don't care for the taper. It sounds fine, just not much adjustment till you get down to 4.
 
Re: new PRS SE singlecut- Pickups/Suggestions

You know I could just switch out the A2 in 59 and A5 in BBP and get more of what I"m looking for from each position . Less cut in the bridge and good clean neck tone. Hmmmm....
 
Re: new PRS SE singlecut- Pickups/Suggestions

Apparently, Warren Haynes also has some sort of buffering circuit built into his signature LP to preserve the tone when the volume is rolled down via the guitar controls.
 
Re: new PRS SE singlecut- Pickups/Suggestions

Most definitely check out Jet City amps, with a tube upgrade you will be very happy. My 20 wt doesn't have the SLO circuit but I think the 2 channel version does, the 100wt is a killer.

As for pickups to get you towards Warren's sound I would think a Custom Custom bridge and a Pearly Gates neck would be a great set for that guitar. Tame some of the inherent brightness and snap it has but still give you the clarity and the output you want. 500k CTS pots with a treble bleed would be the wiring ticket IMO.
 
Re: new PRS SE singlecut- Pickups/Suggestions

I have a PRS SE Singlecut and I am loving the JB/Jazz combo, with slight mods... But they sounded good stock too.

I had a P-Rails set that didn't suit the guitar, so I wouldn't recommend that.
 
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