PRS pickups

Re: PRS pickups

I just got a DGT and it has so much vintage vibe and character with a but of sizzle that it's ridiculous.

I love the 5708 and 5909 pickups that they're doing. Very clear, big and articulate low output PAF style design. Wound on a Leesona 102 and what not.

The 408s have amazing clarity and split very well but don't have enough vibe for me.

The older pickups like the Dragons, HFS etc do indeed seem to be designed for 80s racks. The new pickups are fantastic.

I was on their forum the other day and it sounds like the guy who designs pickups for them was teasing a new, more modern, gain oriented PUP design.
 
Re: PRS pickups

Zombie thread!!

The pickups are,generally, like Gibson pups and have an innate graininess that I don't care for. It seems that his pups sound beat with a lot of gain.

i think its crazy thy he refuses to acknowledge he cant make pickups that are all things to all people. I also believe that the reason there are no more McSoapies is that it KILLED Paul to use SDs and when he decided he couldn't replicate the pickup he killed the model. The ultimate manifestation of his god-complex is his release of oddball sized pickups.

This coming from a PRS owner....
 
Re: PRS pickups

Luke Duke said:
Zombie thread!!

The pickups are,generally, like Gibson pups and have an innate graininess that I don't care for. It seems that his pups sound beat with a lot of gain.

i think its crazy thy he refuses to acknowledge he cant make pickups that are all things to all people. I also believe that the reason there are no more McSoapies is that it KILLED Paul to use SDs and when he decided he couldn't replicate the pickup he killed the model. The ultimate manifestation of his god-complex is his release of oddball sized pickups.

This coming from a PRS owner....
Click to expand...


god complex? Seems a little over the top. Why wouldn't we want these builders to innovate like Paul does with pickups and guitars? He is in a unique position to do so because he also builds the guitars. SD and Dimarzio could not use a different shape to get a tone because there would be no guitars to put them in. Paul can design the guitar from the ground up to support his concepts. Like them or hate them I don't think its a god complex to want to innovate.

Honestly I like the HFS/VB on my Std 24. I also like the Dragon I's. The D2's not so much. I had to replace those but the McCarty humbuckers and some of the current vintage wind 'buckers are pretty nice as well.
 
Re: PRS pickups

I like some PRS pickups. The the 59/09, 57/08, 53/10, 408's and Dragon1 are all pretty cool. The HFS, which was absolutely designed to be hot and very bright for use with processing I don't like at all and I really didn't like the McCarty pickups either.

That said, I am a huge PRS guy and all of them have Seymour Duncan's in them save one....which is loaded with some BKP's. I like the fact that through 'Duncans core line, magnet swaps or the Custom shop I can really fine tune all of my guitars.
 
Re: PRS pickups

Another thing I don't like is the price of their aftermarket pickups. That new "metal" humbucker retails for $200 on the PRS site! Tough sell when I can get MJ to custom wind me whatever the heck I want pretty much for less; and be 99.99% sure I will love the result!
 
Re: PRS pickups

VHTJay said:
I like some PRS pickups. The the 59/09, 57/08, 53/10, 408's and Dragon1 are all pretty cool. The HFS, which was absolutely designed to be hot and very bright for use with processing I don't like at all and I really didn't like the McCarty pickups either.

That said, I am a huge PRS guy and all of them have Seymour Duncan's in them save one....which is loaded with some BKP's. I like the fact that through 'Duncans core line, magnet swaps or the Custom shop I can really fine tune all of my guitars.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you may have some information that I could benefit from........I have a really nice PRS P24 with the LR Baggs piezo's, but I am not that crazy about the pickups.....And for some reason I don't get as much sustain as I would like.
My guess is you may have some real world suggestions for new pickups.
My guitar has a Korina body and neck with PRS P22 TM (57/08's) for both bass and treble pickups.

Any suggestions you may have would be appreciated.

Thanks.
 
Re: PRS pickups

I know this is a zombie thread but I'll post anyway.

The Dragon II set is excellent, and I like the Dragon I set too.

The neck pickup in both is the same 8k pickup only it's an uncovered Alnico 4 in the Dragon I set and nickel covered Alnico 5 in the Dragon II. Both are excellent, vintage style pickups.

But the bridge pickup in the Dragon I is a 19k ceramic pickup and too hot for me.

I prefer the 12k Alnico 5 in the Dragon I.

Anyway, they're terrific pickups...both sets.

The Dragon II's fit my style better and I have them in both of my Custom 22's.
 
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Re: PRS pickups

I had a PRS SC245. I swapped out the pickups a few times (force of habit I guess), but I always ended up putting the original pickups back in.
They suited the guitar perfectly in my opinion and while I though I could improve on it or even change the vibe of the guitar (putting in hotter more aggressive pickups) I never found a set that suited the guitar better than the originals.

In no example would I say the pickups in high end PRS guitars are bad. They are all extremely well made pickups. It's simply a question of whether or not they suit your style.
 
Re: PRS pickups

There's no way I'd consider switching the pickups in my S2 Vela - they are exactly what I want in that guitar.

A while back, I had an HSH Swamp Ash Special and never bonded with it - it's the only guitar I ever sold - but it was before I started modding my guitars, so I don't know whether a pickup swap would have made a difference (I suspect not, as there was a 'dead zone' at around the 12th fret that just killed sustain - amplified or unamplified - either way, it doesn't matter, I waved that guitar goodbye quite happily)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Re: PRS pickups

The Duncan Pearly Gates nickel covered set turned my PRS SE Singlecut into my favorite electric guitar.

It's unbelievable. Highly recommended.

But when I did some pickup swapping in my '94 PRS Custom 22 I wound up going back to the original Dragon II set.

They sounded best in that guitar. Even better than the Holmes PAF's I had in it for a few years.
 
Re: PRS pickups

I thought the HFS in my Custom was OK. Never bonded with the Vintage Bass though - I always thought that thing had more bass than vintage but I think that many neck humbuckers have too much bass.
I liked the McCarty bridge I once bought used. Still have it but it's in the box at the moment. Also liked the neck model when I had a chance to play a McCarty.
Found the #7 bridge OK but hated the #7 neck.
And finally the Dragon IIs - could never bond with them. Tried them in different guitars but they did not seem to be at home anywhere. Sold them for a fair price - new owner loved them so it's all good. Funnily when I played some PRSi in a store some years ago, my favorite was a Custom 22 Trem. That guitar sounded absolutely awesome - and it had ... a set of Dragon IIs in it.
 
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Re: PRS pickups

swissmountain said:
I thought the HFS in my Custom was OK. Never bonded with the Vintage Bass though - I always thought that thing had more bass than vintage but I think that many neck humbuckers have too much bass.
I liked the McCarty bridge I once bought used. Still have it but it's in the box at the moment. Also liked the neck model when I had a chance to play a McCarty.
Found the #7 bridge OK but hated the #7 neck.
And finally the Dragon IIs - could never bond with them. Tried them in different guitars but they did not seem to be at home anywhere. Sold them for a fair price - new owner loved them so it's all good. Funnily when I played some PRSi in a store some years ago, my favorite was a Custom 22 Trem. That guitar sounded absolutely awesome - and it had ... a set of Dragon IIs in it.
Click to expand...

IMO, the Dragon II's really do sound awesome in a CU-22.

Perfect fit.

Like they were designed to perfectly compliment that particular guitar.

Bring out the CU-22 strengths, and strengthen its weakness.
 
Re: PRS pickups

A friend of mine has a 30th anniversary Custom 24. He brought it round for a jam a few weeks ago. It sounded amazing through my favourite lead patch. Amazing. I played the guitar and they also felt amazing, that's an important distinction IMO
 
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Re: PRS pickups

I have a Custom 22 I bought new almost 10 years ago. I swapped in a DGT bridge pickup, but the rest is stock. I can't tell you how many guitars I've bought and sold in those 10 years (couple dozen?), nor how many pickup swaps I've done to those various guitars... I simply cannot find a better sounding guitar. There have been a few that have come close - those are the keepers.
 
Re: PRS pickups

I can't comment on the older pick ups. The new ones are great. I have used 57/08, 59/09s and Tremonti's all in different applications. I play mostly hard rock and metal, and LOVE the Tremonti for this application. (I pair it with the 59/09 neck) The 57/08 may be one of the sweetest, most wonderfully expressive pick ups I've ever heard. All that said, I tried a PRS \m/ (Metal) and didn't like it at all. Too dry and tight.
 
Re: PRS pickups

Lewguitar said:
The Duncan Pearly Gates nickel covered set turned my PRS SE Singlecut into my favorite electric guitar.

It's unbelievable. Highly recommended.

But when I did some pickup swapping in my '94 PRS Custom 22 I wound up going back to the original Dragon II set.

They sounded best in that guitar. Even better than the Holmes PAF's I had in it for a few years.
Click to expand...

Same Pearly Gates on SE Singlecut here. Same opinion! That combo sounds REALLY awesome.

The "problem" about liking or not the PRSi pickups is that PRS very often plays better, stays in tune better and tons of other things they does better than gibsons and fenders that attract buyers from others brands, who starts thinking they should SOUND LIKE a gibson or a fender... as already said here, they dont, nor are trying to.
PRS is a PRS, plays like a PRS, sounds like a PRS.
 
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