Tighter, More articulate pick up for PRS Zach Myers

T

TNTales

New member
I like my PRS Zach Myers and the output level of the pickups. But I'd like something that is more articulate with distortion. I quite like the Burstbucker Pros in My LP Faded and want something similar but not so expensive.

Any suggestions? I've looked at a Pearly Gates set, Seth Lover and the JB/Jazz set.
 
i dont know anything about the stock pups in that guitar. are they vintage output like the bb pros in the lp?
 
No personal experience here with 245s. Just judging by "the numbers", they look like hot vintage. 9.60k for the bridge, 8.96k for the neck. Both with "alnico" magnet. This according to a PRS Pickup Data spreadsheet.
 
A lot of the tight sound under high gain comes from technique. So regardless of pickups... turn the gain down on your amp and hit your amp with a hotter signal. Pull the bass down. Use a thick pick. And practice lots of single string maneuvers.
 
More articulation for distortion? Maybe try to cut a bit of bass from the guitar into the front of the amp, that helps a lot imho, even more than cutting bass in the amp's eq which is usually post-distortion. I would try that before changing pickups.
 
What I meant by articulation is being able to play complex chords and hear all the notes under significant distortion. By tighter I mean less wash or flub under palm mutes. I play with my volume knob a lot and the stock pups get muddy fast when rolling off volume. I considered a treble bleed for that.

I'm able to get that sound with other guitars I have modern and vintage output. And I already shave off significant bass. I think the pickups just aren't the best for me. I decided to try that pegasus/sentient set. We'll see if it's too hot.
 
TNTales said:
What I meant by articulation is being able to play complex chords and hear all the notes under significant distortion. By tighter I mean less wash or flub under palm mutes. I play with my volume knob a lot and the stock pups get muddy fast when rolling off volume. I considered a treble bleed for that.

I'm able to get that sound with other guitars I have modern and vintage output. And I already shave off significant bass. I think the pickups just aren't the best for me. I decided to try that pegasus/sentient set. We'll see if it's too hot.
Click to expand...

That's a great set. I think it will do what you are looking for. Come back and let us know how this turns out.
 
IMENATOR said:
More articulation for distortion? Maybe try to cut a bit of bass from the guitar into the front of the amp, that helps a lot imho, even more than cutting bass in the amp's eq which is usually post-distortion. I would try that before changing pickups.
Click to expand...
That's true. I'm also using a graphic EQ pedal in the loop for tone adjustments, working with the amp tone dials and the EQ seems to help much more than swapping the pickups and gives me the flexibility to adapt for different volume levels and environments, while at the same time still maintaining the basic tone.
Playing technique aside (the single most important aspect of achieving "tightness"), I've recently noticed significant improvement after swapping the combo & cab speakers. So yeah, there's few ways to skin a cat.
 
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IMENATOR said:
Ain't the Customer a lot of bass?
Click to expand...
Not for me. I've got 2 Floyd Rose guitars with Custom in the bridge, one with an Alnico 8 mag, they're both tight as...
The Pegasus idea sounds very interesting, I've discovered that in my case the medium / medium-high output pickups are easier to control, since I'm getting the gain from OD+amp. This is why, even though I still have a Black Winter that sounds fantastic in all 3 guitars I've tested it in, I'm getting great results at the moment from 2 JBs and 2 Customs. One of each has an A8 magnet installed. I'd expect the Pegasus to sound very good here.
 
I run an ampless set up and I use an EQ pedal in the chain. I've just not quite gotten the sound out of the pickups in the guitar that I want. Could it be the pots causing such drastic treble roll off? The pickups go from nice and open (at 10) to muddy (8-5) to really really quiet (under 5). And that's with the tone pots at 10.
 
TNTales said:
I run an ampless set up and I use an EQ pedal in the chain. I've just not quite gotten the sound out of the pickups in the guitar that I want. Could it be the pots causing such drastic treble roll off? The pickups go from nice and open (at 10) to muddy (8-5) to really really quiet (under 5). And that's with the tone pots at 10.
Click to expand...
It sounds like you could possibly benefit from 50's wiring or a Treble Bleed, presuming the guitar in question has neither.
 
Higher output pickups like most of the ones suggested will probably require different amp settings than your Les Paul.
If you're switching guitars during a set, you might want to stick with vintage output. Otherwise you may need to redial for each guitar.

59 set was a good suggestion IMO. For vintage-output and clear you should also consider the Jazz set.
(Not the JB/Jazz, the actual SH-2 bridge & neck.) They're not just for jazz.

Pearly Gates are beautifully crisp with a great lead voice, but IMO might be a tad loose for high gain palm muting.
 
So I installed the set and the are tighter and don't have to worry about the roll off. They are useable across the pot sweeps. They are a bit more compressed compared to the 245s. I loved how open and balanced they were but they were out that way on 10.

So they are overall an improvement though I'm still messing with my eq. There's a real honk there. But they are more articulate especially under significant distortion while still being able to clean up though it's a stretch sometimes.

May post some clips later of the new ones
 
Good to hear. You might try slightly lowering them a bit to help with the compression.
 
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