PRS custom 24 se pickups swap

[EmiAba]

Hi
I got rid of an old ephipone sg lately. From. It I took out the pickups: a late 70s super distortion and an early 80s dp103. I don't want them remaining in the drawer and so I'd like to put them in my prs custom 24 se. The guitar is inherently bright and maybe a custom custom /Alnico 2 pro combo is a safe bet but in your opinion the tonal character of the guitar will be heavily impacted? Both pickups have only two conductors so I'll loose the chance to split them. Not a problem so far. For sure the double cream will match with the quilted maple top :18:

 

[Masta' C]

If you're asking if a swap from the stock SE pickups to the Custom Custom/A2Pro set will make an audible difference, then YES to your question. Assuming your Custom 24 has the 85/15 "S" series pickups in it, the Duncans should be a bit warmer and fuller sounding.

 

[Mincer]

The Custom Custom/A2P set is a great idea in a bright guitar, but you won't find them in double cream. I guess we'll see what wins out, looks or tone.

 

[Synapsys]

When I had mine I went with a TB-5 Custom / PGn combo. Party in the front, business in the back.

 

[jeremy]

so you wanna put the sd and paf in the prs? DO EEETT!

i think that would sound really good. those old dimarzio paf pups dont sound like a real paf to me, but they sound great and a super distortion is a meaty pup that will be bright but still should be pretty thick sounding. im a duncan guy and have been for decades, but you have those pups, they are great pups, and you should try em out before you go buy something else. a cc/aph1 is a safe bet and a great set, but we dont always need to be safe

 

[zizyphus]

Give a whirl! It could turn out great!

And, because Gods of Guitar Modding are infinitely generous, and the Gods of GAS are infinitely greedy, you can always tinker more if you don't dig it

I have an SE Custom 24 with an Air Norton A2 in the bridge, and a 490R A3 in the neck. Its cool - its very different than the other guitars I have, and sounds great. For a long time, I tried to make it sound like my go-to axes - my Les Pauls and Teles - but I just couldn't, and was always disappointed. However, that was my problem, not the guitar's – the Custom 24 is its own thing, and sounds different. As soon as I came to terms with that, I got it sounding great, with its own voice, different from my other axes. I'm sure you will too!__PRESENT

 

[EmiAba]

If you're asking if a swap from the stock SE pickups to the Custom Custom/A2Pro set will make an audible difference, then YES to your question. Assuming your Custom 24 has the 85/15 "S" series pickups in it, the Duncans should be a bit warmer and fuller sounding.

Yes my prs has the first release of 85/15 "S" pickups. And I admit that they are pretty good. No real need to replace them but I'd would like to ear something different from the guitar. I changed my preferences over the years, as everyone else I guess, and after more than three years ( I bought that guitar in mid 2019) I am still happy with the body shape and the neck a bit less with the sound expecially the one coming from the bridge

 

[EmiAba]

When I had mine I went with a TB-5 Custom / PGn combo. Party in the front, business in the back.

I think this guitar give its best response tone wise with a an A2 in the neck and A5 in the bridge. The custom is one of my favorite pickups, there is always at least one guitar in my arsenal with a custom installed. The C8 is my favorite by far. But in this case I d prefer the custom custom incarnation to tame a bit the brightness of the woods. Did you install them with 4 conductors routing?

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Super D sounds great in anything and pretty much always sounds like itself, so you know exactly what you're getting.
DiMarzio PAFs are a tad midrangey but I bet one would do fine at the neck in a 24 fret guitar.
I'd say yes, give them a try.

Unless the guitar's natural voice is especially mid-heavy - some individual SEs are quite honky.
I had one like that, and a Custom 5 fixed it right up.
That's the true beauty of the Custom wind - you're getting a spectrum of tones since you can tweak it to taste with mag swaps.
With a Custom and a Jazz neck you wouldn't have to give up the splits either.

But if I were you, I'd try those DiMarzios first. Might as well put them to good use.
The Super D is a guaranteed winner tonewise, despite not having a 4-wire lead.

 

[EmiAba]

so you wanna put the sd and paf in the prs? DO EEETT!

i think that would sound really good. those old dimarzio paf pups dont sound like a real paf to me, but they sound great and a super distortion is a meaty pup that will be bright but still should be pretty thick sounding. im a duncan guy and have been for decades, but you have those pups, they are great pups, and you should try em out before you go buy something else. a cc/aph1 is a safe bet and a great set, but we dont always need to be safe

Seymour Duncan is my favorite pick up brand so far. To my ears they are perfect. The texture, the dynamic response, that strange feeling you can always rely on them, whichever is the model. I "seymourized" every guitar I owned but this custom 24. If you ask me to choose one pick up, 9 times out of ten I choose seymour duncan. Because all the other brands seem synthetic to my ears. The remaining slot is for the super distortion. Yes the super distortion. I'd prefer to put it in a les paul but the temptation to see what happens in the prs is great.
The couple cc/aph1 is a safe bet mainly for two reasons: firstly because I am used to that sound in a mahogany body and then because I can easily swap magnets to adjust and fine tune them with plenty of options (I have all magnets as spare).

 

[EmiAba]

Give a whirl! It could turn out great!

And, because Gods of Guitar Modding are infinitely generous, and the Gods of GAS are infinitely greedy, you can always tinker more if you don't dig it

I have an SE Custom 24 with an Air Norton A2 in the bridge, and a 490R A3 in the neck. Its cool - its very different than the other guitars I have, and sounds great. For a long time, I tried to make it sound like my go-to axes - my Les Pauls and Teles - but I just couldn't, and was always disappointed. However, that was my problem, not the guitar's – the Custom 24 is its own thing, and sounds different. As soon as I came to terms with that, I got it sounding great, with its own voice, different from my other axes. I'm sure you will too!__PRESENT

Yes you are right, the prs sounds none like any other guitar I own. It took me a little while to get used to the wider fingerboard, but it has almost replaced my main les paul.

 

[SweetClyde99]

I have a PRS SE Custom 24 with a Super Distortion in the bridge and a Humbucker from Hell in the neck. I really like the Super Distortion in it and thought the guitar sounded too thin with the stock 85/15 pickups. it is a Super Distortion, so it’s not the perfect pickup for every situation, but if you know you like that sound, I think this guitar is a great fit for it (assuming yours sounds like mine). I find the Super Distortion to be too dark and thick for the Les Pauls I’ve tried them in, personally. I do have one in a Les Paul Special, though, and it sounds great in that guitar.

 

[soulforger]

I have an SE Custom 24 with a Floyd, the 85/15s are good pups, but I wish they had kept the HFS/Vintage Bass for the 24, even if it was just for the Floyd. The US Floyd comes with the Metal set so it would kinda jeep that vibe. The HFS is the classic Custom 24 sound to me. No need to spring for USA ones either as the SE versions sound fantastic to me! Super D would be great in there though, with that PAF it honestly wouldn't be poles apart from the HFS/Vintage...or for that matter, the Custom/Jazz set.

 

[Synapsys]

I think this guitar give its best response tone wise with a an A2 in the neck and A5 in the bridge. The custom is one of my favorite pickups, there is always at least one guitar in my arsenal with a custom installed. The C8 is my favorite by far. But in this case I d prefer the custom custom incarnation to tame a bit the brightness of the woods. Did you install them with 4 conductors routing?

They were 4-conductor versions, and I used push-pull volume and tone pots, so that each did series/parallel wiring.