PRS pickups

[blong]

PRS pickups are fantastic. Leave 'em in!

I know we all have our own tastes, but I happen to think PRS pups are fantastic. I love the HFS/VB set, Dragon II's, the SD soapies in mine, and a McCarty pups. They are as good as any of my other guitars, and I got a lot of 'em. I also repair guitars and have for about 39 years now. I have heard dozens and dozens and dozend of pups. I like PRS pups.

Bob

 

[ProfRhino]

PRS pickups are fantastic. Leave 'em in!

I know we all have our own tastes, but I happen to think PRS pups are fantastic. I love the HFS/VB set, Dragon II's, the SD soapies in mine, and a McCarty pups. They are as good as any of my other guitars, and I got a lot of 'em. I also repair guitars and have for about 39 years now. I have heard dozens and dozens and dozend of pups. I like PRS pups.

Bob

... which is perfectly fine, I guess.
same here ...
not all of them though, some suit me a lot better than others.
so for those less liked PRS PUs, I substitute others I prefer, just like I have put a nice set of early 57/08s in my MIJ Sheraton - go figure !
whatever works - it's all about the particular guitar, amp(s) and musical style in the end anyway.

ymmv,
Rhino

 

[Mr Fingers]

there’s enough hate on the internet to go around for every manufacturer’s stock pickups.

Epic truth here. Honestly, I don't think there any mass understanding of PRS' pickup offerings, or Gibson's for that matter. Outside of these forums, nobody knows or cares. Brand orientation and marketing are so strong that I think mosat people would never even consider dropping a PRs PU into a Gibson, or vice-versa. The mindset is to stay with the builder's brand or go to the pickup-builders' marketplace (Duncan and hundreds of others), not to another guitar-maker brand.

 

[JasonE]

I own a good number of PRS guitars. I have only swapped the pickups out of three of them. I changed the pickups in my CU22. It had Dragon IIs in it. They were too hot for me. I changed them out for 57/08s and love the sound of it now.

I changed out the pickups in my SAS. I also put 57/08s in that guitar. They sound great. It has been so long since I heard the SAS pickups that I don't remember why I changed them other than I love the 57/08 pickups. I may some day put the stock SAS pickups back in since I don't remember hating them.

I changed the pickups in my 594. The only reason I changed those is because there was too much of a volume drop when switching guitars at gigs. You can probably guess what pickups I put in it, yep, 57/08s.

I have left all of the other models I have alone and love the sound of them the way they are. I don't typically swap pickups out of guitars, unless there is something I just can't fix with an adjustment.

 

[bigbang]

I'm in the don't like them camp, but I've only had ample time with the HFS, Dragon II, SC245, and 57/08's. There's haters of all pup manufacturers. I don't think PRS more so than others.

I own/owned may PRS guitars. Only 1 has PRS pups (an SC245). And it doesn't get gigged.

 

[Johnny21]

PRS are my least favorite pick up I've ever had on a stock guitar.

 

[ProfRhino]

I changed out the pickups in my SAS. I also put 57/08s in that guitar. They sound great. It has been so long since I heard the SAS pickups that I don't remember why I changed them other than I love the 57/08 pickups. I may some day put the stock SAS pickups back in since I don't remember hating them.

they are basically non- RW/RP McCartys.
good PUs, not a world of difference, but ime the 57/08s do everything just a little bit better.
personally, I would not bother to switch them back, but keep those SAS for emergencies, e.g. when selling a guitar.

ymmv,
Rhino

 

[JasonE]

they are basically non- RW/RP McCartys.
good PUs, not a world of difference, but ime the 57/08s do everything just a little bit better.
personally, I would not bother to switch them back, but keep those SAS for emergencies, e.g. when selling a guitar.

ymmv,
Rhino

The 57/08s that I put in my SAS came out of a special run guitar. They seem to be slightly hotter than my other 57/08 guitars. I really like them. The 57/08 pickups are by far my favorite PRS pickups.

 

[zygoat]

I definitely think there's an unjustified stigma with PRS pickups. I swapped them out for other things with 2 different Custom 22s (Duncan JB, Lollar Imperials) and both times reverted back to stock pickups. I suppose that I thought I needed to upgrade by reading the usual TGP conversations. I think PRS pickups are voiced perfectly for the rest of the guitar.

 

[Betos]

I own a good number of PRS guitars. I have only swapped the pickups out of three of them. I changed the pickups in my CU22. It had Dragon IIs in it. They were too hot for me. I changed them out for 57/08s and love the sound of it now.

I changed out the pickups in my SAS. I also put 57/08s in that guitar. They sound great. It has been so long since I heard the SAS pickups that I don't remember why I changed them other than I love the 57/08 pickups. I may some day put the stock SAS pickups back in since I don't remember hating them.

I changed the pickups in my 594. The only reason I changed those is because there was too much of a volume drop when switching guitars at gigs. You can probably guess what pickups I put in it, yep, 57/08s.

I have left all of the other models I have alone and love the sound of them the way they are. I don't typically swap pickups out of guitars, unless there is something I just can't fix with an adjustment.

There's nothing wrong with the SAS pickups. I like to tweak my guitars and fully expected to swap out the pickups in that one, but 20 years later i still haven't. That guitar covers so much ground as is.

I have an Archtop Spruce, same thing. The 'Archtop' pickups, which are just underwound McCartys were fine. But, i was looking for something specific from that guitar so i put in Lollartrons, and very pleased with the results.

McCarty Soapbar Std - had the SD soap bars which were again fine, but a bit on the aggressive side. I was able to compare side by side with the same model but that one had Lollar P90s. The Lollars were more hifi, and not as aggressive, and put me on a search to find something else for that guitar as well. I tried several replacements, and fortunately ended up with a pair of Thorn GT90s which are spectacular and dynamic.

Finally an 86 with the original T&B's. Love that guitar and as is and won't change a thing. It even turned me around on the 5-way which previously was a deal breaker.

 

[Boosh]

I didn’t like the stock pickups in my older orange model of the PRS SE Santana. Could be that they were actually thin or that they needed to be raised higher, but I didn’t like them and replaced them. Guitar kicked ass tho.

 

[ProfRhino]

I didn’t like the stock pickups in my older orange model of the PRS SE Santana. Could be that they were actually thin or that they needed to be raised higher, but I didn’t like them and replaced them. Guitar kicked ass tho.

I think the SE PUs sound pretty great in their price range.
as expected, a well chosen quality replacement will easily beat them - but it'll cost you extra.

ymmv,
Rhino

 

[Marshall Man]

I have a core Tremonti and I love the stock pups!

 

[olgluefoot]

I can only speak from personal experience and I’ve only played one PRS longer than 5 minutes.

I kind of hated the Dragon I set that was in my ‘98 CE22 - And the wiring. Absolutely love the guitar otherwise. The pickups were too brash for my taste. They felt like when everyone was putting a Duncan invaders in their pop-punk palm mute machines. No one needs that much pickup. They make nice paperweights on my bookshelf.

I have since switched to a Dimarzio PAF set and McCarty wiring harness. I couldn't be happier with the sound.

 

[Aahzz]

I like PRS, and I generally leave them stock. I agree that 57/08 are my favorite humbucker set from them. Stock Vela pickups may be made elsewhere, but they sound great. My S2 CU22 does have replacements in there, but they were there when I bought the guitar...not sure about the stock S2 7s pickups that were in there, but I love the Whole Lotta Humbuckers that are currently in there and I'm not switching back - that guitar is a rock machine.

I did briefly have an S2 CU24, and did NOT care for the S version of the HFS/VB that were in there. I would have swapped those, but that guitar also came in worse condition than described and made me cranky, so I traded it.

 

[rickcard71]

It was the early pups with numbers as names. Ever since 2008 when they came out with the 57/08 their pup game changed.

 

[natmiss]

The 58/15 pickups are great! They split better than any humbucker I've ever used. Very competitive with the Suhr Thornbuckers I have in another guitar.

 

[david(j)]

I’ve got 58/15S pickups in my S2 Standard 22. I’m pretty damn impressed with them and I think they’re staying put. Clean, OD, high gain, and all sound excellent. They split really well, and clean up great with the volume knob.

I was prepared to be disappointed, but that was certainly not the case. It‘s a great sounding instrument.

 

[ProfRhino]

The 58/15 pickups are great! They split better than any humbucker I've ever used. Very competitive with the Suhr Thornbuckers I have in another guitar.

as I wrote above, I have really warmed up to those 58/15 LTs.

however, the reason why they split so well has nothing to do with the PU itself.
it's the "DGT wiring", inserting one little resistor in each split wire (2.2k B, 1.1k N) - this doesn't nuke the 2nd coil completely, but it still keeps "some" of it in the circuit when split.
bingo - stronger splits, less hum !
the same trick works with most other +/- PAF style HBs as well, I have converted a few successfully ...

just saying,
Rhino

 

[Anklelocker]

I just bought an SC245 with 245 pickups and I love them. I have a CE22 that has Dragon II’s and I like them too. The Fiore I have has great pickups also. I used to have an older CE24 that had the HFS/VB combo and I hated them.

Reading through this thread really highlights how everyone’s ear hears something a little different.