pickups for PRS SE EG and SE Custom Semi Hollow

[PRSfan nym 1985]

Hi all,

My name is Nate and I've been a long time lurker around here and finally decided to sign up and since I didn't really get anything I was looking for when searching I figured it was time to join the fun and I'm glad to be a member here.

Currently I just own a PRS Santana SE in the electric realm but I'm searching for a couple more electrics and am trying to get ideas for new pickups when I acquire them.

To give some background my current PRS is all mahogany and has a dark green stain. I changed the stock nut for an unbleached vintage bone and I switched the black speed knobs for gold. It's a 2001 Santana SE and it kicks some arse after the mods I've done, btw for those interested it's a hard tail.

Stock pickups and pots were changed out and I put in a set of cream P-Rails hot and then I did a push-pull volume/tone setup to get all 4 pickup possibilities.

I have had a lot of electrics but thinned out the herd to fund moving and other expenses.

I have my eye on finding a couple of PRS guitars since I love the 25" scale and wide-fat neck on my Santana SE I figured since it's worked better than any of the other guitars I've owned and have tried that I'd keep getting what works for me.

I'm trying to ideally hunt down a tobacco sunburst SE Custom Semi-Hollow and a metallic red SE EG (which is like a strat).

I had a couple of ideas for pickups but wanted to get other opinions.

for the Semi-Hollow I was thinking of the following combo:
Neck: Alnico Pro II
Bridge: Pearly Gates

I play a lot of blues, classic rock, a little jazz, a little motown, a little funk, so I'm looking for something that has nice smooth cleans and is warm but won't mind being overdriven to moderate levels. I'm really not an uber gain guy. I figured the AlNiCo Pro II would give me the perfect neck sound for the warmer jazzy stuff, slide stuff, blues leads, etc and that the Pearly Gates would be great because it has a nice vintage voicing and can also rock when it needs to depending on how the tone control is set.

I also wanted a HB set that would be a little bit of a contrast to my P Rails, which I love but I would like a lower output bridge pickup than the P Rail hot so I can get some thick cleans. The SE Custom Semi Hollows I've played tend to be balanced but a brighter voiced guitar compared to my pretty warm but balanced Santana SE.

Now for the PRS SE EG I'm looking for more of an old school stratty sound.
When I think of the stratty stuff I play think of guys like Dick Dale, and old school surf stuff really, Robin Trower, Jimi Hendrix, a lil SRV, etc. So basically surf, rockabilly, classic rock (from 50's 60's and beyond), heavy blues, etc.

I know that in the neck I definitely want something 50's sounding and I'd likely copy that in the middle.

Now I've got a couple different options for pickups (or any you guys might think would work better for me).

But for most of the blues and rock stuff I do on a strat I'm on neck-middle and any rockabilly/surf/50's rock I'm on the bridge.

I could have Lindy Fralin make me a set of pickups I was considering having a set of Real 54's made and that I'd likely have them slightly overwound maybe by like 2% to give me a cross between Vintage Hots and Blues Specials but give me the unique sonic edge of AlNiCo III magnets.

Now I got a thought of doing Antiquities
Texas Hot neck
Texas Hot RW/RP middle
Surfer bridge (with extra output)

I figured this would give me the nice smoky/woody tone in the neck and middle positions but give me the muscle and vintage vibe I like for playing surf and brighter stuff in the bridge. I also figured this type of setup would again be a nice contrast to the other electrics in my collection.

Obviously I'm aware of the obvious things that I probably need the exact guitars to get a feel for how each specific piece of wood sounds and feels and all that but I've played the guitars I'm looking at and have a good frame of reference for their approximate tonality. But like any instrument I'm aware that not all are built the same yada yada.

So if any of you have either of the two I'm considering and have swapped pups any advice you have on what has worked or hasn't for you is greatly appreciated. Obviously if you think what I'm doing won't get me what I'm after is also appreciated.

I'm currently ampless but I'm likely picking up either a Roland Cube 80 XL or Vox Valvetronix VT80+.

Thanks for all who help in my quest and again I'm very excited to join this community.

Oh and if it helps anyone I use DR pure blues in 11-50 or 12-52 gauge on electrics and I use .60mm Ultex pics.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: pickups for PRS SE EG and SE Custom Semi Hollow

Welcome to the forum.

I feel that to properly pick a set of pickups for a guitar, one must first play the guitar in stock form for a while and then decide what's lacking as well as taking into account the guitar's unplugged tone.

With that said, my knee-jerk response to your question would be an APHn for the neck slot of a PRS semi hollow paired with a Screamin' Demon in the bridge. It might seem like a weird combo, but they get along very well in a short scale, double cut mahogany axe (I had them in my Hamer). You'll get thick tones with good definition and sparkle from the neck while the bridge will be tight, muscular, and detailed. It's also got good chime and sparkle. This, combined with the guitar's acoustic qualities should give you rich, detailed cleans and defined, detailed dirty tones.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: pickups for PRS SE EG and SE Custom Semi Hollow

As far as the EG, I'd probably use a set of SSL-1's in the neck and mid and a Custom Flat in the bridge (preferable with a tap). The alnico V mags will give you a bit more chime and sparkle, which will get you closer to a traditional strat tone. The Texas Hotss are good, but, combined with the EG's short scale, mahogany set-neck constuction would probably be too dark for the tones you want out of that guitar.

 

[PRSfan nym 1985]

Re: pickups for PRS SE EG and SE Custom Semi Hollow

Yeah that was my fear that I might go too far on the dark side with the EG pickups wahahaha.

But yeah obviously when I find the exact guitars a lot could change but like I said I have ballpark frame of references.

Perhaps I should consider the Surfer set of Antiquities all around for the EG since those are brighter or something with more of a bright late 60's vibe to it. Obviously with a 25" scale, set mahogany neck, and a mahogany body it's going to sound warmer than "most" traditional strat type instruments (I say "most" open ended as I'm aware that any two pieces of wood even of the same species can have two very distinct and different timbres). Basically I want a nice vintage sounding set of strat single coils which is what led me to the Antiquities and Fralins in the first place. Really I'm sure just about any half decent set of "upgrade" pickups will be an enormous improvement over the stock single coils on the EG, they are like ceramic magnets or something. I don't know guitar had a cool vibe just like my Santana I just wanted a different voiced pickup.

I've also heard nothing but great things about the SSL-1's so those are always a possibility.

I don't have much experience with the Screamin Demon and with a name like that it probably would've been the last thing I'd consider for a semi hollow but I'm always open to new ideas so I appreciate the advice.

I guess the EG doesn't have to sound exactly like a Strat I know it's a different guitar I just wanted something with a more realistic strat sound than the rail coils on my P-Rails set.

Basically my favorite settings on my P-Rails are Neck in series or parallel, both pickups combined just rails, and the Bridge in P90 mode.

I guess I'm just really diggin the SE line of PRS guitars, I mean for my modest budget they work great. I totally prefer fit, finish, and feel to the other big brands as well as to some smaller companies. I mean when you can get a used one in the $250-$400 range and a new one under $750 it's hard to complain.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: pickups for PRS SE EG and SE Custom Semi Hollow

I do have a PRS SE EG and the best p'ups ever for that guitar were custom made for me by our own Zhangliqun, aka David Plummer, maker of Zhangbucker p'ups.

They were wound with three different polepiece spacing to match the three different string spacing found over the three different p'ups. 49mm, 50mm and 52mm match the string spacing to perfection. I've found the D'Addarios .011-049 brings the best tone in this particular guitar.

The neck p'ups tone is SVR all the way, the middle sound great to all kinds of arpeggio work and takes OD pedals beautifully, and the bridge being a A5/A2 mix, has the best of both worlds. And the QUACK found in positions 2 and 4 is just to die for!

All of this without breaking the bank or waiting an eternity and a half for them.

To fully enjoy the next set of p'ups, get good CTS 300K pots and a Vitamin Q .022 600V cap.

Tell David Pepe sent ya. *** http://www.zhangbucker.com ***

 

[PRSfan nym 1985]

Re: pickups for PRS SE EG and SE Custom Semi Hollow

that helps a lot I didn't even think about the nut width and different string spacing they'd have vs a traditional strat keep the ideas coming

But the Zhangbuckers definitely seem really cool

 

[LtKojak]

Re: pickups for PRS SE EG and SE Custom Semi Hollow

that helps a lot I didn't even think about the nut width and different string spacing they'd have vs a traditional strat keep the ideas coming

But the Zhangbuckers definitely seem really cool

Believe me, they certainly are. Mine are vintage-y voiced, but just ask David to voice'em just the way you want'em to be, and I can vouch that he'll DELIVER.

No other boutique winder can deliver such a good product at that price. Plus, he's the nicest guy to deal with, and he'll follow you through the whole process.

Forget to tell ya; wire the guitar the '50 way. I have in mine and it's REALLY great.

HTH,

 

[PRSfan nym 1985]

Re: pickups for PRS SE EG and SE Custom Semi Hollow

Believe me, they certainly are. Mine are vintage-y voiced, but just ask David to voice'em just the way you want'em to be, and I can vouch that he'll DELIVER.

No other boutique winder can deliver such a good product at that price. Plus, he's the nicest guy to deal with, and he'll follow you through the whole process.

Forget to tell ya; wire the guitar the '50 way. I have in mine and it's REALLY great.

HTH,

I have read some great stuff on wiring the 50's way so I definitely will give that a try. Since I had a tech setup my P-Rails I'm not sure exactly how they wired it. I told them to just wire it up the way Duncan described in the literature that came with the p'ups so I'd have all 4 p'up tonal options without needed to add a bunch of stuff that'll ruin the beauty of my guitar (aka I didn't want to add more holes and switches so I just replaced the stock pots with push-pulls).

But my instincts again without the guitar in hand would tell me I'd probably be best off getting more of a mid-late 60's voiced strat p'up since the combination of the scale, materials used, and warmth of the body (again these are all still variables without the specific instrument).

It'll work for all the music I play on a strat and will probably still get a 50's-ish strat tone since the instrument itself will lend a dark character.

Mainly I just want to see what all of my options are before I get the guitar that way when I know what I'm working with I don't have to waste my time researching pickups and stuff then.