PRS pick-up ideas
- Thread starter Matzanias
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Re: PRS pick-up ideas
That's a great guitar. Resonates better unplugged than the r9 when I did a comparison. How is your experience with PAF pickups? Do you need them to be potted? Which LES PAUL artists/sounds are you going for?
Here's a PRS forum member who went all PAF on his SC58
http://youtu.be/ktpfD62maW8
That's a great guitar. Resonates better unplugged than the r9 when I did a comparison. How is your experience with PAF pickups? Do you need them to be potted? Which LES PAUL artists/sounds are you going for?
Here's a PRS forum member who went all PAF on his SC58
http://youtu.be/ktpfD62maW8
Gearjoneser
Gear Ho
Re: PRS pick-up ideas
Seth Lover set.
Seth Lover set.
Re: PRS pick-up ideas
I think the single cuts still have the "smooth" PRS voicing going on, even the ones that have the 24.75 scale so trying to make it into a Les Paul maybe isn't the best approach.
Tried Sheptones, Wolfetones Dr Vintage and Antiquities, I liked the Duncan Custom A4 + Jazz A3 the best when I had my Satin Single cut. Didn't totally sound vintage and classy but at least it had its' own distinct personality when played next to a Gibson. PRS' to me just sound more modern and bulbous, no point in trying to mask it up with vintage spec pickups.
You need pickups with a harder attack to give it a distinct enough personality, think 42awg spec
I think the single cuts still have the "smooth" PRS voicing going on, even the ones that have the 24.75 scale so trying to make it into a Les Paul maybe isn't the best approach.
Tried Sheptones, Wolfetones Dr Vintage and Antiquities, I liked the Duncan Custom A4 + Jazz A3 the best when I had my Satin Single cut. Didn't totally sound vintage and classy but at least it had its' own distinct personality when played next to a Gibson. PRS' to me just sound more modern and bulbous, no point in trying to mask it up with vintage spec pickups.
You need pickups with a harder attack to give it a distinct enough personality, think 42awg spec
Re: PRS pick-up ideas
Did yours have a stoptail or a 2 piece bridge? Also, the scale length is 24.5 or 25, not 24.75 on prs single cults.
Did yours have a stoptail or a 2 piece bridge? Also, the scale length is 24.5 or 25, not 24.75 on prs single cults.
Re: PRS pick-up ideas
My Single cut had a stoptail bridge, my CE24 had a trem.
Out of the stock pickups, the HFS in the CE24 sounded the best in a mix, the Single cut came with #7s.
None of the boutique brands I tried out with vintage voicing were real 'improvements' over the stock pickups, save for maybe the #7 neck in the singlecut. I first sold the CE once I had tried out the Custom4/Jazz3 combo, then they went into the single cut after all of the boutique tryouts.
They just felt too "lame" with the vintage voiced pups and anytime I played at a gig with Gibsons in the mix I would just get slayed. Only after the somewhat homely Duncan s went in did I stand a chance of standing out but I was already over the PRS phase at that point. I like lower output pups in Gibson guitars - that's my favorite preference after having chased tone around. I just find them better to do the vintage thing better.
I never got into other brands like Bare Knuckle or Motor City which offer arguably more competitive choices in higher output pickups, but as far as Seymour Duncan pups go I found those to be my favorite in a PRS.
Forgive my slight jaded-ness towards the PRS, have not played the 24.5 extensively (thank you for the correction), but it didn't sound all that distinguishable to me than what I've heard through typical PRS offerings.
YMMV.
My Single cut had a stoptail bridge, my CE24 had a trem.
Out of the stock pickups, the HFS in the CE24 sounded the best in a mix, the Single cut came with #7s.
None of the boutique brands I tried out with vintage voicing were real 'improvements' over the stock pickups, save for maybe the #7 neck in the singlecut. I first sold the CE once I had tried out the Custom4/Jazz3 combo, then they went into the single cut after all of the boutique tryouts.
They just felt too "lame" with the vintage voiced pups and anytime I played at a gig with Gibsons in the mix I would just get slayed. Only after the somewhat homely Duncan s went in did I stand a chance of standing out but I was already over the PRS phase at that point. I like lower output pups in Gibson guitars - that's my favorite preference after having chased tone around. I just find them better to do the vintage thing better.
I never got into other brands like Bare Knuckle or Motor City which offer arguably more competitive choices in higher output pickups, but as far as Seymour Duncan pups go I found those to be my favorite in a PRS.
Forgive my slight jaded-ness towards the PRS, have not played the 24.5 extensively (thank you for the correction), but it didn't sound all that distinguishable to me than what I've heard through typical PRS offerings.
YMMV.
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Re: PRS pick-up ideas
Agreed, experimenting and finding what your personal favorite is is what we are endeavoring to do here. I'm a pretty big fan of PRS quality and fairly formally trained in gear from luthiers, EVH's Guitar Tech and the like. I'm of the philosophy that pickups are the biggest component of sound, then woods and construction. On woods and construction, you can make a similar guitar sound like the original. For example: Grosh makes a different shape strat. It sounds like a strat but some of the parts are different. The design practices in terms of woods, bridge design, scale length, constructions etc are mostly the same. And it sounds like a strat. A great Gibson example would be the Collings I-35 compared to the Gibson ES-335. Again, mostly similar and players are more than happy with the aftermarket design.
The PRS SC58 is a direct shot at the les paul and sounds substantially different than the traditional 25 inch stoptail singlecuts. It's more like the Collings where it does have slight deviations but on the whole, it's built pretty much the same. A long scale neck with a thinner slab and the 1-piece stoptail will have drastically different attack with less snap and less low-mids. The SC58 voice rectifies that.
Again, you can here it clearly in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktpfD62maW8
What I'm ultimately saying is that while you have valid recommendations based on your experience, you experienced a fairly different instrument than OP while it may be analogous, it's not direct.
Agreed, experimenting and finding what your personal favorite is is what we are endeavoring to do here. I'm a pretty big fan of PRS quality and fairly formally trained in gear from luthiers, EVH's Guitar Tech and the like. I'm of the philosophy that pickups are the biggest component of sound, then woods and construction. On woods and construction, you can make a similar guitar sound like the original. For example: Grosh makes a different shape strat. It sounds like a strat but some of the parts are different. The design practices in terms of woods, bridge design, scale length, constructions etc are mostly the same. And it sounds like a strat. A great Gibson example would be the Collings I-35 compared to the Gibson ES-335. Again, mostly similar and players are more than happy with the aftermarket design.
The PRS SC58 is a direct shot at the les paul and sounds substantially different than the traditional 25 inch stoptail singlecuts. It's more like the Collings where it does have slight deviations but on the whole, it's built pretty much the same. A long scale neck with a thinner slab and the 1-piece stoptail will have drastically different attack with less snap and less low-mids. The SC58 voice rectifies that.
Again, you can here it clearly in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktpfD62maW8
What I'm ultimately saying is that while you have valid recommendations based on your experience, you experienced a fairly different instrument than OP while it may be analogous, it's not direct.
Borderline11
New member
Re: PRS pick-up ideas
I have the Slash set in my PRS SE 245 and love them. That combo kills the Bustbuckers 1/2, which to me sounded like the 57/08s in my SC-58. I'm going to move my Slash Set over and try it out. I also have a PG bridge in my Lonestar Strat, it's a great pickup. You won't be disappointed with either of these.
I have the Slash set in my PRS SE 245 and love them. That combo kills the Bustbuckers 1/2, which to me sounded like the 57/08s in my SC-58. I'm going to move my Slash Set over and try it out. I also have a PG bridge in my Lonestar Strat, it's a great pickup. You won't be disappointed with either of these.
stevie_bees
Cat In The Hatministrator
Re: PRS pick-up ideas
I have the WLHs in my 05 McCarty, and they sound superb both full and split. There's a sweetness to the neck tone that I love and just enough grunt from the bridge to keep things nice when I wind up the gain.
I have the WLHs in my 05 McCarty, and they sound superb both full and split. There's a sweetness to the neck tone that I love and just enough grunt from the bridge to keep things nice when I wind up the gain.