Is it stupid to use tci tuned pickups on a non prs guitar?

[László]

Mr. Smith could sell snowballs to Eskimos.

Welcome to the Arctic.

 

[Greywolf]

For those without an Electronics background , this may prove enlightening. TCI tuning is balancing two fundamental elements of electron flow : https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-physics/chapter/23-11-reactance-inductive-and-capacitive/

Upgrading any part on an instrument boils down to : A) Will it allow me to keep this for the long term happiness B) Does it harm the market value? There are pickup and tone circuit upgrades that can "improve " your sound from $300-2000+ if you have your #1 there is merit to treating her like royalty....

 

[Simon Says]

I honestly giving up trying to understand what TCI is. I had a theory I shared here before where I believed it has more to do with how the splits are done: the coils in the split being matched closely to make the ooh quack stronger. I bought a new, well-calibrated LCR meter, got both TCI-equipped guitars measured, and now I know I was wrong. What I know, though, is the TCI'd pickups in both of my guitars are lush, full of harmonic content and presence I never witnessed with non-TCI'd pickups.

Whatever it is, it doesn't suck

 

[ViperDoc]

Look up Paul’s explanation videos about TCI technology. TCI is used to EQ each set of pickups to be consistent. It was also originally designed to relate to the SC594 neck joint and how it affects the guitar’s tone.

 

[Simon Says]

Look up Paul’s explanation videos about TCI technology. TCI is used to EQ each set of pickups to be consistent. It was also originally designed to relate to the SC594 neck joint and how it affects the guitar’s tone.

I get the aim, but understanding how it is done is where I gave up

 

[ViperDoc]

I get the aim, but understanding how it is done is where I gave up

Copy. I don't understand the process either, but I recall him discussing how the TCI process accounts for the inconsistencies found between even "same batch" magnets, the sections of wire used, the phase of the moon, that type of sh!t...all in the interest of aligning each pickup's "whistle note". Explaining how it works is over my head.

 

[LunarRock]

Apologies if this has been posted before, but found this comparison video, pretty good respresentation of the difference

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Non PRS guitars are stupid, so… duh.

 

[darkbluemurder]

If you like the tone, it is not stupid. It is all personal preference.

 

[aphantomvaper]

Non PRS guitars are stupid, so… duh.

Mama always said "Stupid is as stupid does" Mr. DeBlanc...

Mama PRS that is!

 

[Glide-bpm]

Mama always said "Stupid is as stupid does" Mr. DeBlanc...

Mama PRS that is!

Mother do ya think she'll try to break..... my balls.......

 

[Rod/]

It's not so much about the guitar, it's a process to make the pickups "match" better. Sure, they're designed and built by PRS, but that doesn't mean they can't go into other guitars. 58/15LT TCI can go into more than the 594, which is where they started (the LTs, not TCI, that was the Silver Sky). It's all about pickup consistency.

What @bodia said

 

[Caffiend]

As with many guitar industry 'innovations' and particularly PRS, it would be nice to magically be able to go back and observe the process to market behind the idea. Once the marketing team have got loose, everything starts to sound like snake oil.

That said, designing pickups for a certain application is a thing even if most people are just trying to clone PAFs and a couple of flavours of Strat. But, it doesn't matter. If you like the pickups in the guitar you installed them in, that's great - you win! Would you like them better in a different guitar? There's really only one way to answer that for sure, and it's expensive

 

[Mike Duncan]

I remember when Leo was talking TCI pickups in the 50s.

I'm kidding.