New PU's for early PRS Custom 24

[Robert Miller]

I have an early.. 1985 PRS Custom 24. It has the "Sweet Switch", no other tone control, and a 5 position rotary PU selector.
I love the guitar, the neck and body fit me very well... and it's beautiful.

But I find the pick-ups way too thin sounding and a little harsh. (They are the original HFS PU's Paul First had made.)

Finally getting around to changing them. I would appreciate any recommendations on PU replacement models (and how best to wire them).

I play classic rock and blues.
Looking for rich clean sound with clarity across the chord.
Lead tone ala David Gilmore, Santana, Mark Knopfler, BB King, Clapton, etc. ... Thick, warm, sweet, long singing sustain, with little to no break-up. (eg: The soaring lead part of "Comfortably Numb")

On the 5 position rotary... 5 would be neck PU only, 10 would be bridge PU only. One of the others would be both PU's. That leaves two positions for some sort of "in-between" sounds. Also, could the sweet switch be wired up as a coil splitter somehow... say 1/2 of each humbucker?

I appreciate any and all recommendations or thoughts.

Robert Miller

 

[Bones]

Re: New PU's for early PRS Custom 24

Your looking for clarity? The Jazz neck is as clean as it gets. I would think a 59 bridge would be nice, but wait til others reply.

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: New PU's for early PRS Custom 24

If you want rich, clean, smooth, even response in the neck position, there is no better neck pickup IMO than the APH II. You are describing it almost to a "T". I have it in the neck of every humbucking guitar I own. It can do anything from pristine warm cleans to soaring leads with the utmost of clarity.

As for the bridge you didn't get as specific on the tone you're looking for. The CC is a great match to the APH, and has a nice smooth tone as well. The APH II bridge pup is annother nice choice, but it's lower output than the CC. You will still get nice split tones out of the CC since it reads about 14K, where I think the APH II is too low output to split really well. A Seth Lover in the bridge might be annother option, but again, not really hot enough to split well.

I have an APH II neck demo in my soundclips listed in my signature, just scroll down a little bit.

 

[papersoul]

Re: New PU's for early PRS Custom 24

I have an early.. 1985 PRS Custom 24. It has the "Sweet Switch", no other tone control, and a 5 position rotary PU selector.
I love the guitar, the neck and body fit me very well... and it's beautiful.

But I find the pick-ups way too thin sounding and a little harsh. (They are the original HFS PU's Paul First had made.)

Finally getting around to changing them. I would appreciate any recommendations on PU replacement models (and how best to wire them).

I play classic rock and blues.
Looking for rich clean sound with clarity across the chord.
Lead tone ala David Gilmore, Santana, Mark Knopfler, BB King, Clapton, etc. ... Thick, warm, sweet, long singing sustain, with little to no break-up. (eg: The soaring lead part of "Comfortably Numb")

On the 5 position rotary... 5 would be neck PU only, 10 would be bridge PU only. One of the others would be both PU's. That leaves two positions for some sort of "in-between" sounds. Also, could the sweet switch be wired up as a coil splitter somehow... say 1/2 of each humbucker?

I appreciate any and all recommendations or thoughts.

Robert Miller

With that guitar you could also stay with PRS pickups. I really like the McCarty pickups or the Dragon IIs. The McCarty sounds right up your alley.

 

[Robert Miller]

Re: New PU's for early PRS Custom 24

"There is no better neck pickup IMO than the APH II."

In looking through the product list... I could not find this PU. Did you mean the APH 1 with Alnico II magnets? Or am I missing something?

Thank you.

Robert

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: New PU's for early PRS Custom 24

"There is no better neck pickup IMO than the APH II."

In looking through the product list... I could not find this PU. Did you mean the APH 1 with Alnico II magnets? Or am I missing something?

Thank you.

Robert

Yes, its the Alnico 2 Pro HB - the model no. is APH-1. I always abbreviate a combination of the 2....probably not a good idea, just lazy on my part.

 

[doctadre]

Re: New PU's for early PRS Custom 24

Hey, i personally love the alnico pro 2 humbuckers, the neck pup is sooooo smooth. Also, check into getting a pair of duncan black backs, from ed roman guitars, i have them in a custom guitar from him and they are very nice.

 

[Robert Miller]

Re: New PU's for early PRS Custom 24

OK.. I'm here ... and stuck for final deccision.
All comments welcome.

I've decided on the SH14 Alnico 5 for the bridge position.

And I've got it down to two for the neck:
a '59 with 4 wire leads .. vs. a APH 1 Alnico 2

Any thoughts?
Any disadvantage in having Alnico magnets in both neck and bridge?
Is the '59 the better match for the SH14 Alnico 5?

Which gets me closer to that long long thick sweet singing sustain that will make-you-cry sound?

Thank you all for your help.

Robert

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: New PU's for early PRS Custom 24

Personally I would go with the Pearly Gates in the neck. It is just perfect in the neck of my Cu22.

 

[papersoul]

Re: New PU's for early PRS Custom 24

Funny thing is that thiose HFS pickups are supposed to be fat and thick. I still say the Rio Grande BBQ is your pickup.

 

[MattPete]

Re: New PU's for early PRS Custom 24

OK.. I'm here ... and stuck for final deccision.
All comments welcome.

I've decided on the SH14 Alnico 5 for the bridge position.t

I'm not a big fan of the Custom 5 (SH14). It accentuates the highs and the lows...and given that you have a mahogany guitar with a maple cap that already accentuates the highs and lows, it might make your guitar sound boomy-yet-ice picky.

I wonder if these wouldn't be better choices for the bridge (going from thickest to thinest):

Custom Custom (SH11?)
Seth Lover
'59

And I've got it down to two for the neck:
a '59 with 4 wire leads .. vs. a APH 1 Alnico 2

Any thoughts?
Any disadvantage in having Alnico magnets in both neck and bridge?
Is the '59 the better match for the SH14 Alnico 5?

Which gets me closer to that long long thick sweet singing sustain that will make-you-cry sound?

I haven't tried a 59n (I did try a 59b in the neck), but I do have experience with the APH1, and it's a great pickup (Slash uses it, and I can hear some of that in my guitar, even though it's a Strat and not an LP). Others to consider are the Jazz and Seth.

Have you listened to the sound clips on the Seymour Duncan web site yet?

 

[Evan Skopp]

Re: New PU's for early PRS Custom 24

I have a similar guitar -- a '90 CU24 with the Sweet Switch. I have a Custom Custom in the bridge and a Pearly Gates neck model in the neck. I wired it up with the flipped magnet, as it's explained here, and it gives me everything I want: from fluid, high-output, leads, to snarky rhythms.

Generally, a pickup set doesn't stay in any of my guitars for longer than a year. This one has been in my CU24 since the late-'90s, and I have no intention of changing it.

Good luck with the guitar.

 

[Robert Miller]

Re: New PU's for early PRS Custom 24

I have a similar guitar -- a '90 CU24 with the Sweet Switch. I have a Custom Custom in the bridge and a Pearly Gates neck model in the neck. I wired it up with the flipped magnet, as it's explained here, and it gives me everything I want: from fluid, high-output, leads, to snarky rhythms.

Generally, a pickup set doesn't stay in any of my guitars for longer than a year. This one has been in my CU24 since the late-'90s, and I have no intention of changing it.

Good luck with the guitar.

Dear Evan and To all:

Thanks for the replies, and good advice!

Of course (just as I should have predicted), people have different opinions, because people have different tastes. So, I'm probably no closer to knowing which PU's I would like best. I wish I could afford to try each of the PU's and combinations suggested by all the good folks who responded here or emailed. Just gonna have to go for it, I guess. (Go for what???...sigh...)

Evan: you have basically the same guitar, and you are happy with the sound you are getting. Thanks for your reply. May I ask a question or two?

1. This is the first I'm hearing of the need for a "flipped magnet" in the bridge PU. (I did study the link to the wiring diagram). Why is that necessary? Is it the case with all replacement PU's for the Custom 24 5-way switch?

2. Paul changed the value of the capacitor in the tone circuit somewhere along the line. What is the value of the one in yours? (If this info is easily available to you without much trouble.)

3. How do you have your sweet switch wired into the scheme shown in the wiring diagram?

4. The wiring diagram does not show a position for both coils of both PU's... Do you not think this would be aa useful sound?

Thanks again for all your help with this.

Robert

 

[Evan Skopp]

Re: New PU's for early PRS Custom 24

Robert:

The flipped magnet mod is necessary to preserve all the original switching combinations. I have the original caps. And the Sweet Switch is not affected by the pickup change -- it functions normally (which, in my case, I never use it).

I hope that helps.

- Evan

 

[Kent S.]

Re: New PU's for early PRS Custom 24

Dear Evan and To all:

Thanks for the replies, and good advice!

Of course (just as I should have predicted), people have different opinions, because people have different tastes. So, I'm probably no closer to knowing which PU's I would like best. I wish I could afford to try each of the PU's and combinations suggested by all the good folks who responded here or emailed. Just gonna have to go for it, I guess. (Go for what???...sigh...)

Evan: you have basically the same guitar, and you are happy with the sound you are getting. Thanks for your reply. May I ask a question or two?

1. This is the first I'm hearing of the need for a "flipped magnet" in the bridge PU. (I did study the link to the wiring diagram). Why is that necessary? Is it the case with all replacement PU's for the Custom 24 5-way switch?

2. Paul changed the value of the capacitor in the tone circuit somewhere along the line. What is the value of the one in yours? (If this info is easily available to you without much trouble.)

3. How do you have your sweet switch wired into the scheme shown in the wiring diagram?

4. The wiring diagram does not show a position for both coils of both PU's... Do you not think this would be aa useful sound?

Thanks again for all your help with this.

Robert

I'd like to add something to this ... I have a CU24 from like 83 or so (it has the power out of phase set up) it has the original PRS standard neck and bridge pups ... they were later changed to the HFS Bridge (treble) and Vintage Neck (bass) pups. there are about three maybe four variations from the original wirings. The PRS pups have the magnet reversed on the bridge pup, you can reverse either one as it doesn't matter and the wiring is adjusted accordingly for that pup. The reason fot the flip of the magnet is so that the combined positions will be hum-cancelling.
The sweetness component is wired signal in, signal out of the lugs marked G goes to ground (there are two, but most have one clipped off at the factory), the switch just bypasses it. there is a 180pF cap across the wiper and CW lug of a 500k volume pot, and there is a 1,000pF cap hooked on the rotary switch in one position to make the parallel strat sound a bit more stratty. Depends on which wiring scheme you have ... mine is the early that was ever used in production.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: New PU's for early PRS Custom 24

I'd like to add something too. I had one of these PRS 24 fret guitars for a while. Loved the guitar...didn't care for either original pickup but the neck pickup was the one that really bugged me. Turns out it's 1" closer to the bridge than in a Les Paul and THAT'S the biggest reason it sounded "wrong" to me. The poles are not under the second octave harmonics like they would be in a Les Paul, because that's where the 24th fret is.

I never could get it to sound as deep as the neck pickup in my Les Paul...

Lew

 

[Kent S.]

Re: New PU's for early PRS Custom 24

I'd like to add something too. I had one of these PRS 24 fret guitars for a while. Loved the guitar...didn't care for either original pickup but the neck pickup was the one that really bugged me. Turns out it's 1" closer to the bridge than in a Les Paul and THAT'S the biggest reason it sounded "wrong" to me. The poles are not under the second octave harmonics like they would be in a Les Paul, because that's where the 24th fret is.

I never could get it to sound as deep as the neck pickup in my Les Paul...

Lew

Very true, also probably explains why most people prefer the 22 tone wise, take what you just said and put the standard pups into the equation (real bright) and you see why the sweetness switch was needed ... never did figure out why they didn't put tone controls on them at first? Weird ...

 

[dr.barlo]

Re: New PU's for early PRS Custom 24

I'd like to add something too. I had one of these PRS 24 fret guitars for a while. Loved the guitar...didn't care for either original pickup but the neck pickup was the one that really bugged me. Turns out it's 1" closer to the bridge than in a Les Paul and THAT'S the biggest reason it sounded "wrong" to me. The poles are not under the second octave harmonics like they would be in a Les Paul, because that's where the 24th fret is.

I never could get it to sound as deep as the neck pickup in my Les Paul...

Lew

That's exactly what happened with my hand made mah/maple-cap ebony board tele-gib.

I got it in 1991, and well in those days I was into more gain and drive. The guitar sounds so beautiful in the bridge (even tho as you would see the bridge HB pickup is futher away from the bridge in comparison to LPs, btw it has LP neck scale, 60's neck), The bridge you see is my 8.70K a5 modded ant.

I never was happy in the neck. It sounded like a strat middle position no matter what HB I used in there. And believe me I went through a bunch of them. Pearly Gates (necks and bridges), 59s a2p's gibson 490R 496R BB1 BB2 what not... Still did not solve my problem.

Like a year ago I contacted Tim White regarding this neck HB I dreamed of. I told him that I wanted the regular LP neck tones from my guitar with 24 frets. We talked over a week about what I wanted. He did not have a 24fret guitar to test his creation. But I trusted the guy, and got that custom neck HB he wound for me.

HE DID IT. Yes, that's the best one I have ever used in there. Of course it is not exactly a LP neck sound, but very very close, especially when I roll the tone back to 7 or 6. Then it sounds like a paul neck.

Unless you can wait, I am not suggesting to contact him for that (to my knowledge there has been another guy who was lookig into that custom for his SG, but whether or not he got it, well that I dunno). Because he has a very long waiting list now. But I am sure the good people at SD custom shop can do that as well.

B

 

[captain cavman]

Re: New PU's for early PRS Custom 24

I second Lew about the 24 frets thing, I never get the tone with the neck PU !
BTW concerning PU combo for this axe I would suggest a Seth Lover for the bridge and a '59 or an AIIP for the neck (depending on how clean you want it !)
About the wiring , I would drop the 5 way rotary and go for a 3 way toggle and Mc Carty switching. The 5 way is a jazz while playing live !

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: New PU's for early PRS Custom 24

I second Lew about the 24 frets thing, I never get the tone with the neck PU !
BTW concerning PU combo for this axe I would suggest a Seth Lover for the bridge and a '59 or an AIIP for the neck (depending on how clean you want it !)
About the wiring , I would drop the 5 way rotary and go for a 3 way toggle and Mc Carty switching. The 5 way is a jazz while playing live !

I didn't try a 59N in my PRS but the 59N and Jazz are both worth considering, IMO. They are both alnico V pickups with bright, bouncy, twangy highs and stronger bass than most alnico II HBs and that would have to be a plus in a 24 fret guitar where the neck pickup is not going to be able to pick up as much deep bass from the strings as it would in a 22 fret guitar. Lew