Pickup replacement for PRS Custom 24

jones

jones

New member
Hey guys, got an interesting question for you. I recently had the pleasure to try out a veeeeeeeery early PRS. Now, I have always been interested in PRS guitars, but the tone on all the new ones I have played seemed to be not quite amazing to me. Sterile comes to mind, I don't mean to offend any fans out there, it just wasn't what I hoped to hear. Not my personal tone, and the new pickups are just too hot in my opinion.

Now I played this early PRS this week, I'm talking pre production folks, hand wound pickups. Guess what, amazing, now I see what all the fuss was about at the beginning.

I have a friend who loves his Custom 24, but he has the same gripe about the pups, it's the only thing he doesn't like about the guitar. To damn hot, and a bit on the sterile side. He plays semi-pro and can afford to spend that kind of money on a guitar even if it isn't 100% what he is looking for, 95% is fine for him. But I was wondering if anyone here had a recommendation on some replacements that might be a good upgrade over the stock pickups. Which after market pickups are going to get you close to early PRS pickups?
 
Re: Pickup replacement for PRS Custom 24

I've been playing PRS since they started, I lived near the factory in the early 80's. I don't think their new pickups are necessarily better or worse, just different, like blackface and silverface fender amps. Also, IMHO "Hand-wound" doesn't necessarily mean better, it usually just means inconsistent (and they were machine wound by hand, not hand wound, which would have been a disaster). So it really comes down to the same question that it always comes down to, what kind of sound does your friend want? "Like the old ones" is a very subtle goal.

For what it's worth, I thought the original 24's had a bit of an upper mids peakiness to them (accentuated by the fact that I was a boogie user...). A lot of others felt that way as well, which had a lot to do with the fact that the 25" scale was new to everyones ears. The HFS pickup currently at the bridge of the custom 24 is an evolution of the original 24 bridge PUP, and the evolution was in part to get more creaminess but also to keep up with "modern" tastes. As with the blackface/silverface fenders, the sound changed and there are those who swear by the old sound but to me it's just different. I'm sure the tech guys at PRS could describe what the differences are and you could go from there if the idea is to clone that sound, but you are dealing with a newer guitar with different woods, they didn't have wide/thin necks in the early 80's, the tuners are different, etc. etc. I do know that the HFS is a fairly hot ceramic pickup... something alnico with a little less winding is a thought.

To start from scratch, you are dealing with a guitar that has a 25" scale (read: snappier than a gibson) and a thinner body than a LP (again, brighter). You have to ask where you want to go. If you want a vintage kind of sound a good baseline is start with a pickup you'd like in a les paul, and from there move towards something a little fuller in the lower mids and bottom. Also remember the neck pickup in a 24 is shifted towards the bridge, so it won't get as woofy as many neck pickups (a good thing if you like to solo with the neck pickup, which is something I love about a 24).

All PRS's can be persnickety about pickups (I guess all guitars can) but there is much info here on what swapouts sound like.
 
Re: Pickup replacement for PRS Custom 24

Thanks for the thoughts Taxi! I'll have to ask my friend what he would like in a different pickup. Do you know if the original 24's had alnico magnets? I'm thinking the guitar I played is basically what the 24 was based on, but I am by no means a PRS expert, not even close. And, I am going on the word of the owner as to how and where he got it, although I have no reason to doubt the story behind the axe, and I know the story is entirely possible based on his job in the industry. I would post a photo, but I don't have permission to post one on a fully public site like this.

I honestly have a feeling my friend may not want to change the pickups, it is an expensive guitar you know. But he has complained a bit about them. Just trying to find any info because I am curious myself! I would pass it along to him if he wanted to go on it.

I would contact PRS to find out more about the original pups, but honestly, I don't think I would trust them. It's a very big company, and Paul is not as involved as he used to be from what I understand. They are trying to build to please as many customers as possible, and obviously the old designs were changed because enough people wanted them to, and they could sell more guitars if they changed 'em.

I played the guitar through a soldano, and it just was amazing. I really want to know what current production pickups are as close as possible to the original PRS ones!
 
Re: Pickup replacement for PRS Custom 24

It sounds like you might have played a pre-production prototype. I almost bought one (for $600....argh). They generally had a slightly larger and rounder body, sort of like the Santana models. I honestly don't know if he made his own pidkups then. But I spoke to a tech guy at PRS the other day about pickups, he was very cool and spent some time with me. I think they would help you out. The prototype bodies were quite different from what he ended up with so that's another variable.

PRS make quite a few pickups and they do have some knowledge about what sounds like what in their guitars, it wouldn't hurt to call.

Personally I play all of my guitars, I don't have much patience for the museum-piece thing. If your friend uses the guitar live he should love his tone. Who cares what anyone else thinks if he changes pickups! And he can always keep the originals.
 
Re: Pickup replacement for PRS Custom 24

I haven't heard a 24 fret guitar (espescially one that has a scale shorter than 25.5 inches) that doesn't have at least a somewhat sterile sounding neck pickup, it's just in the design.

That being said, I have heard that complaint about PRS pickups before, and in most cases a swap solves the problem just fine...
 
Re: Pickup replacement for PRS Custom 24

Neck pickup on a 24 isn't as lush as on a 22-fret guitar because it's shifted, but it's tighter for leads. I used to do a lot of soloing on that pickup. I haven't had a 24 for awhile and this discussion is giving me GAS. Dammit.
 
Re: Pickup replacement for PRS Custom 24

Sorry about the GAS taxi! I will find out some way what those early pickups are about. Maybe I'll call PRS, but, I don't even own one! I'll let my friend know if he is interested. I may get one of those 24's someday, but not until I know what pup to put in there.
 
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