TroyBaer
Really knows where his towel is.
Did the #7 specs change at some point? I have a 2001 Singlecut, and while it nominally has #7s, its bridge pickup is very hot, more like what's listed above as an SC250 treble PU.
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List of PRS Pickup Specs
- Thread starter CantankerousCarl
- Start date
Did the #7 specs change at some point? I have a 2001 Singlecut, and while it nominally has #7s, its bridge pickup is very hot, more like what's listed above as an SC250 treble PU.
TroyBaer
Really knows where his towel is.
diegoambrosio
New Member
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2015
- Messages
- 2
[Comparison between magnets - with sounds]
Guys, I've found this site with an interesting comparison between:
* Alnico II;
* Alnico V;
* Alnico VIII;
* Ceramic.
I don't know if PRS will allow me to paste the address here, but I'll try. Perhaps, alnico II is the choice for the most vintage-like PRS pickups.
http://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/the-tone-garage/differences-in-guitar-pickup-magnets/
Guys, I've found this site with an interesting comparison between:
* Alnico II;
* Alnico V;
* Alnico VIII;
* Ceramic.
I don't know if PRS will allow me to paste the address here, but I'll try. Perhaps, alnico II is the choice for the most vintage-like PRS pickups.
http://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/the-tone-garage/differences-in-guitar-pickup-magnets/
DHW
New Member
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2014
- Messages
- 705
I will say this, my new hand made pickups have alnico IV in them and they sound incredible... That's one that doesn't get a lot of love by the big builders.
Will never happen. The whole reason people pay $400 for a set of 50 series pickups is because they DON'T know whats inside. Its psychological marketing. We'll be top secret about it and therefore you will think the magic fairies came and made the pickups with super duper special magnets. Remember all the talk of the super special machines they dusted off from 1958 or something like that?
TroyBaer
Really knows where his towel is.
Duncan always seems to ignore Alnico III and IV, and I'm not sure why. Maybe they can't get it in sufficient volumes or consistency for the size of their production runs. Smaller winders such as Lindy Fralin and Bare Knuckle really seem to like Alnico IV for vintage style humbuckers.
We do know from the 1995 winding chart linked earlier in this thread that at that time, there were 4 PRS pickups with ceramic magnets, 6 with Alnico II magnets, 5 with Alnico IV magnets, and 4 with Alnico V magnets. Of those, 4 were still in production in 2009: HFS (ceramic), Vintage Bass (Alnico II), McCarty Treble (Alnico IV), and McCarty Bass (Alnico IV). We also know that PRS regularly calls the same wind different things based on differences in splitability and the presence/absence of covers. For instance, it would not surprise me if the McCarty Bass and the SC250 Bass were basically the same pickup.
TroyBaer
Really knows where his towel is.
The thing is, Lindy Fralin, Bare Knuckles, and other smaller winders charge comparable prices to PRS (if not more in some cases) but are much more forthcoming about their magnet types. The bigger winders like Duncan and Dimarzio also give those details. AFAICT, PRS is one of the few winders in the industry who tries to keep this information quiet, which I suspect is what chafes John Beef and I so much about it.
John Beef
Opaque
+1. Exactly. I just want to know the details so I can make informed decisions when I feel something isn't working and want to make a change. I don't just want to hone in on what works, I want to know why it's working. Is that so much to ask?
For example: I recently removed the DGT bass pickup from my CU22 and put in a Dragon 2 I found individually, second hand at a good price. I heard a recording I did with the Dragon 2s back in 2007 or so and said, I need to get that tone back. Sure enough, after the swap, there's that awesome neck pickup tone I wanted. Why is that? What changed, really? I thought a 7.3k DGT neck pickup should have been brighter, but the Dragon 2 is, and significantly so. It's got to be the magnet. The thing is, I like the lesser output of the DGT bass. I want the Dragon 2 tone with the DGT output. I think a magnet swap in the DGT bass might be good for this. If I knew what was in each pickup, I might be able to figure out the combo that works best for me.
I know PRSh fusses over all these details! We want to fuss too!
In the absence of the specific knowledge of what PRS puts into their pickups, I have found myself evaluating the different pickups according to 1.) how I think they sound based on as many tone demos I can find, and 2.) the mass appeal factor (how popular is a particular pickup).
My recently acquired 2005 CU22 came from the factory with Dragon II's, which I decided that I didn't like the way they sounded, and it seems to me that a lot of people didn't like them either.
I told my wife that the 57/08 pickups were made of unobtainium. Those pickups had come up in conversation previously because she sometimes helps me think through the guitar buying process and I make sure that fact gets added favorably to the "pros & cons" argument if I'm considering the purchase of a guitar with 57/08's in it. Recently I discovered that I could get 57/08's installed into my guitar as long as the factory performd the installation (ie the PTC). I already knew that I liked the one 57/08 that I have in my Studio model, that they were difficult to find and that they were very popular among the masses. They are not cheap (as in "if you have to ask, you can't afford them" style) so to sell the wife on the idea, I reminded her that the 57/08's are made of unobtainium, everybody likes them, the work is guaranteed to be done right and I won't have to buy a whole new guitar in order to have one guitar with two 57/08's installed in it.
I got the guitar back and this is now one bad ass Custom 22! I love it!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153201506175907&l=53d4c067a3
My recently acquired 2005 CU22 came from the factory with Dragon II's, which I decided that I didn't like the way they sounded, and it seems to me that a lot of people didn't like them either.
I told my wife that the 57/08 pickups were made of unobtainium. Those pickups had come up in conversation previously because she sometimes helps me think through the guitar buying process and I make sure that fact gets added favorably to the "pros & cons" argument if I'm considering the purchase of a guitar with 57/08's in it. Recently I discovered that I could get 57/08's installed into my guitar as long as the factory performd the installation (ie the PTC). I already knew that I liked the one 57/08 that I have in my Studio model, that they were difficult to find and that they were very popular among the masses. They are not cheap (as in "if you have to ask, you can't afford them" style) so to sell the wife on the idea, I reminded her that the 57/08's are made of unobtainium, everybody likes them, the work is guaranteed to be done right and I won't have to buy a whole new guitar in order to have one guitar with two 57/08's installed in it.
I got the guitar back and this is now one bad ass Custom 22! I love it!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153201506175907&l=53d4c067a3
goat-n-gitter
Dismembered
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2014
- Messages
- 2,921
Prior to getting my P-22 with 57/08s, my favorite PAF style humbucker was the Ibanez Super 58 from the early '80s (the new S58 customs are not the same). They use Alnico III magnets, and sound very close to 57/08s. They are also supposedly the same wind/magnets as the legendary Greco "Dry Z" pickups, both are made by Maxon. I have super 58s in a 1983 Ibanez Artist and a 1982 Ibanez Musician. I wouldn't be surprised if a set in a P-22 would be basically indistinguishable from 57/08's (we'll never know, I aint swapping pickups). Similarly, the mid-late 70s Ibanez Super 70 pickups used alnico 8 magnets in an otherwise PAF style wind, and get a slightly stronger brighter tone for the magnet change (Van Halen I was an Ibanez Destroyer with Super 70's for everything that doesn't feature a whammy bar).
Ironically, in the sound samples posted above, I don't hear much difference in the Alnico V and VIII, probably too much gain or the low tuning masking some of the subtlety.
Now the 85/15s are a horse of a different color, I haven't seen any specs on them, but they manage to sound both cleaner and more "Fendery" in single coil mode, and gainier and having a wider frequency response in double coil mode - this is in my 30th CU24. I think they must be "unobtainium".:biggrin:
Tom
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Oh yea, I agree. I have a 30th CU24 with 85/15s and I really like those too. It's okay to like more than one kind of pickup, right?
The 85/15s might be my new favourite of the 'year' series of stuff.
Starlas still hold the number one place in my heart and aural estimation, but I think now the ranking might go 85/15 (and by proxy, 58/15), then 53/10 then 57/08. Who would've thought 57/08 would now be my fourth favourite? Shows you how far this company has come in the pickup department in 30 years.
Starlas still hold the number one place in my heart and aural estimation, but I think now the ranking might go 85/15 (and by proxy, 58/15), then 53/10 then 57/08. Who would've thought 57/08 would now be my fourth favourite? Shows you how far this company has come in the pickup department in 30 years.
John Beef
Opaque
I just want to say in relation to my previous post in this thread, I lowered the D2 neck as far down as it would go, and raised the DGT just a smidgen, and I was able to get the outputs of the two pickups to be about equal when switching between them. The dragon 2 neck pickup is exactly what this guitar needed. I really couldn't be happier with this guitar.
Rockula
New Member
Does anyone have specs, or barring that, just thoughts, on how the SE pickups compare to their core counterparts? My SE Santanas are certainly close in terms of total resistance to the core Santana specs.
Brad737
This space for rent...
The DC resistance (i.e. how high the k number) has very little to tell you how hot a pickup sounds. It's all about the number of winds, of what type of wire, and the strength of the magnet.
Dusty Chalk
alberngruppenführer
Bumping this thread...
I'm not interested in proprietary information. But because the sound that I'm after is different than most everyone else ("high fi"), I'd very much appreciate at least a three-or-so band tonal character plots (don't even need units, just a vague "is warm in the mids" "is bright in the upper frequencies" "is bass heavy because MORE METAL") but more importantly a comparison of output levels (the metal pickups are obviously high output, that's about all I've learned as of yet).
I'm mostly interested in the 513 pickups -- anyone know how those are? I specifically ask because they only just started on my guitar this week, and if they're high output, I would want to ask them to possibly upgrade the electronics to maintain high overhead so that there's no distortion at the switches or knobs or the circuitboard and whatnot.
Plus, there's freakin' 5 of the buggers, and there's a whole lot of electronics-in' going on in there.
I'm not interested in proprietary information. But because the sound that I'm after is different than most everyone else ("high fi"), I'd very much appreciate at least a three-or-so band tonal character plots (don't even need units, just a vague "is warm in the mids" "is bright in the upper frequencies" "is bass heavy because MORE METAL") but more importantly a comparison of output levels (the metal pickups are obviously high output, that's about all I've learned as of yet).
I'm mostly interested in the 513 pickups -- anyone know how those are? I specifically ask because they only just started on my guitar this week, and if they're high output, I would want to ask them to possibly upgrade the electronics to maintain high overhead so that there's no distortion at the switches or knobs or the circuitboard and whatnot.
Plus, there's freakin' 5 of the buggers, and there's a whole lot of electronics-in' going on in there.
The Fight
Long Hair Demigod
I really like the HFS pickup, as an amateur it's my favorite pickup. Mostly compared to other brands. I do wonder, since I have an extra set just sitting around. What if I change out the magnet for a alnico v and see what it does. Mby I'll like it and mby it'll round out the sound a bit. Oh mby I'll get some Angus Young tone!
The Fight
Long Hair Demigod
Oops I mean alnico ll.
Hollis Prince
New Member
I hate to ask a "what pickup do you suggest" question, but...
My '04 Custom 22 has a huge low end. My favorite amp, the Mesa/Boogie Electra Dyne, gives you back exactly what you put into it. As in, with a guitar with a lot of bass, the amp puts out a ton of bass.
I'm pretty happy with the Dragon II treble pickup, but the bass pickup is almost unusable. In my Deluxe Reverb it's okay, but still I'd much rather have a bass pickup with less bass and more detail and clarity.
I play in a cover band and I need a very versatile guitar. Right now I have to use my strat for any tunes that require clean or low gain tones.
Which PRS pickups would give me the most detail and clarity?
My '04 Custom 22 has a huge low end. My favorite amp, the Mesa/Boogie Electra Dyne, gives you back exactly what you put into it. As in, with a guitar with a lot of bass, the amp puts out a ton of bass.
I'm pretty happy with the Dragon II treble pickup, but the bass pickup is almost unusable. In my Deluxe Reverb it's okay, but still I'd much rather have a bass pickup with less bass and more detail and clarity.
I play in a cover band and I need a very versatile guitar. Right now I have to use my strat for any tunes that require clean or low gain tones.
Which PRS pickups would give me the most detail and clarity?
ViperDoc
Plugged In.
I've heard as much being said about the new 85/15 pickups. Supposed to be clear and clean. Never played one myself.
