dogrocketp
I drank the PRS kool aid, and it was tasty!
If you put a chicken head knob on the 5 way, you can instantly tell what position its in.
New 20yo guitar day.
- Thread starter Screamingdaisy
- Start date
Screamingdaisy
(O)))m
I Googled pictures of guitars with similar looking build codes and they all either had ST or WT in that position, so I'm thinking the ST means standard neck.
What I don't know is if ST literally means "standard" neck profile, or if it means WF.
CVS
Not so new member
Don't you love it when a plan comes together. This is why I try to stay out of guitar stores...
Screamingdaisy
(O)))m
Don't you love it when a plan comes together. This is why I try to stay out of guitar stores...
The plus side is after trying a ton of different basses I couldn't find anything I liked better than a Jazz, which I already own two of. That's a GAS killer right there, and frees up more money for guitars.
iounothing
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2012
- Messages
- 57
HUGE score! Congrats.
Screamingdaisy
(O)))m
So, it's been about a week, I've played with it a lot and I'm getting a better feel for it now. My first impression were that the Dragons are pretty cool. My second impression is that they're cool but I'm not so sure if we'll get along. Not so much the output but the compression. It feels like I'm hitting a limiter and I can't seem to get enough edge on my attack. I don't know if this makes sense, but I can't feel the pick hitting the strings through the amplifier, which has me instinctively looking down at my pick to see if it still has a tip on it because it feels like I'm not getting any bite out of it.
IMO, the best lead tones happen when you're on the verge of being too muddy, and these pickups have me sitting right on that threshold. If I were a pure lead player they'd be a wet dream come true. They occupy a lot of space and there's a density to single notes that makes my other guitars sound kind of weak in comparison. The wah tone is incredible. But, all the things that make them great for lead I find a compromise for rhythm... thick mids are a little bloated and I can't get the dynamics and articulation I want due to the compression and lack of attack.
I'm not ready to give up on them just yet.... but I dunno how long they'll last. I'm fiddling with the volume and tone constantly trying to figure out if there's some magic combination that'll give me the response I'm looking for, but reducing the output doesn't change the compression inherent in the design.
tl;dr, I feel the Dragons are geared towards Santana type leads and I'm no Santana. Although I'm not read to give up on them just yet, I may need to find pickups that better suit my playing style.
IMO, the best lead tones happen when you're on the verge of being too muddy, and these pickups have me sitting right on that threshold. If I were a pure lead player they'd be a wet dream come true. They occupy a lot of space and there's a density to single notes that makes my other guitars sound kind of weak in comparison. The wah tone is incredible. But, all the things that make them great for lead I find a compromise for rhythm... thick mids are a little bloated and I can't get the dynamics and articulation I want due to the compression and lack of attack.
I'm not ready to give up on them just yet.... but I dunno how long they'll last. I'm fiddling with the volume and tone constantly trying to figure out if there's some magic combination that'll give me the response I'm looking for, but reducing the output doesn't change the compression inherent in the design.
tl;dr, I feel the Dragons are geared towards Santana type leads and I'm no Santana. Although I'm not read to give up on them just yet, I may need to find pickups that better suit my playing style.
Turn it up...LOUDER!
No seriously, I think Dragon 1's are very dynamic. Where do you have the tone knob and switch? I wonder if someone has played with the cap or some of the wiring?
Screamingdaisy
(O)))m
Tone I've run from off to full and everything in between. I don't typically run my tone on 10, and today I seemed to settle into the 5-7 range on the tone knob as it brought the bridge more into focus than running it wide open.
Both pickups were significantly lower than spec and the screws in the bridge pickup screw coil were sunk in a bit. I raised both up to spec and reset the screws to where I'd typically see them and that seemed to help by adding more high end but wasn't really producing more attack. By this point my ears were getting burnt out so I decided to give it a rest until tomorrow, at which point I plan on messing around with the pickup height some more.
Screamingdaisy
(O)))m
It's been about a week and I think I'm starting to get the feel for these Dragons. Once I mentally shifted gears and started focusing on what these pickups could do instead of what they couldn't do I started to get better results out of them.
The solution to the lack of attack was switching picks. It was rather counter-intuitive... the brighter and more aggressive the pick the less attack it had, whereas a thicker, warmer pick put more edge on each note. Best I can figure out it's because the Dragons aren't allowing much top end through, so a thinner/brighter pick attack is being muted by the pickup to the point it feels like I'm picking with a blunt instrument. I also backed the bridge off a bit and raised the coil screws slightly, which IMO helped balance out the low end.
Played clean the bridge pickup is a pretty thick sounding pickup without a lot of top end, and the neck pickup is kind of glassy and a little devoid of character. IMO, they don't really hit their stride until the amp is screaming loud and clamping down hard on the speakers. At that point the pickups start producing a thick grind with a unique harmonic thing going on that vaguely reminds me of the Super Distortion I last used 15 years ago and I don't recall very well. While the lack of top end make these pickups sound kind of dull and lacking bite at low volumes, at high volumes I'm getting zero fizz and a cutting midrange. Once the volume and gain went up and I felt this thick/chewy tone I found myself playing Sabbath, and as an example of what these pickups do well the 12th fret slide in Warpigs just screamed with a clarity that PAFs could never accomplish. And once again, the howl through a wah pedal is insane.
TL;DR - these pickups sound great with gain and volume and are probably not the best choice for slow blues in a bedroom setting.
I think I'm going to keep these pickups in place. My goal was to have a fire breather of a guitar that sounded unique, and that's what I have.
Which is fortunate as I want to name this guitar The Dragon... which would've felt a little silly if I removed the Dragons from it.
The solution to the lack of attack was switching picks. It was rather counter-intuitive... the brighter and more aggressive the pick the less attack it had, whereas a thicker, warmer pick put more edge on each note. Best I can figure out it's because the Dragons aren't allowing much top end through, so a thinner/brighter pick attack is being muted by the pickup to the point it feels like I'm picking with a blunt instrument. I also backed the bridge off a bit and raised the coil screws slightly, which IMO helped balance out the low end.
Played clean the bridge pickup is a pretty thick sounding pickup without a lot of top end, and the neck pickup is kind of glassy and a little devoid of character. IMO, they don't really hit their stride until the amp is screaming loud and clamping down hard on the speakers. At that point the pickups start producing a thick grind with a unique harmonic thing going on that vaguely reminds me of the Super Distortion I last used 15 years ago and I don't recall very well. While the lack of top end make these pickups sound kind of dull and lacking bite at low volumes, at high volumes I'm getting zero fizz and a cutting midrange. Once the volume and gain went up and I felt this thick/chewy tone I found myself playing Sabbath, and as an example of what these pickups do well the 12th fret slide in Warpigs just screamed with a clarity that PAFs could never accomplish. And once again, the howl through a wah pedal is insane.
TL;DR - these pickups sound great with gain and volume and are probably not the best choice for slow blues in a bedroom setting.
I think I'm going to keep these pickups in place. My goal was to have a fire breather of a guitar that sounded unique, and that's what I have.
Which is fortunate as I want to name this guitar The Dragon... which would've felt a little silly if I removed the Dragons from it.
veinbuster
Zombie Three, DFZ
Glad to hear you found the way to use the dragons. I like them.
Try it with a completely different amp. That's what I got with the HFS on my Boogie in ch3 and it did not respond well with changes in the guitar volume. In ch 1 and 2, it was a different story. And on my other lower gain amps, no problem. But the compression was big with hot pickups or boost pedal hitting that input so hard.
That probably won't fix your problem, but you'll know if the Dragon I's will mesh with your rig, or not.
Screamingdaisy
(O)))m
Never thought of that.
Been doing all of this with my Rectifier since it's my main amp. The pickups are a real trade off... kind of dull and lifeless at low volume, but as the volume increases there's lots of detail with zero fizz. IMO, the top end on PAFs tends to obscure midrange detail the second you start adding dirt, and these pickups are pretty much the exact opposite as they roll off so much top end the midrange is super detailed. I'm curious to hear how they'll sound in a mix.
I always wondered how/why shredders used such hot pickups at gain settings that were a total mess for me, but these pickups stay really clear and the muted pick attack keeps the pick scrape from dominating the actual note. Again, it's a trade off. I want more attack to put a point on my rhythm playing, but I appreciate being able to shred without the sizzly mess or the doink-doink-doink sound of the pick hitting the strings.
I have the HFS in a Standard 24 and I think it may be a better pickup for my tastes (more aggressive attack). But, at the moment my mindset is that this guitar is unique and I don't really want a bunch of guitars that sound more or less the same.
Screamingdaisy
(O)))m
It sounds thick... with an extra dose of thick.
The band I play bass in one of the guitarists uses my Electra Dyne... typically with a Martin acoustic plugged into it, but today I loaned him The Dragon after the acoustic broke a string.
Back story: We've had issues using two electrics in the past because the two guitarists couldn't sort out their EQ and clashed a lot. Our solution was an acoustic, which we initially DI'd but were sick of the lack of midrange, so we started putting it through my Electra Dyne and mic'ing the cab.
The Dragon into the ED should've been a match made in hell; ED's are notoriously dark and bass heavy and this is a guitar that already borders on muddy.... but the PRS/ED sonically slid right underneath the other guitarist's Tele/Orange TH30/Orange 2x12 and above my bass. They both sat in completely different frequency bands and you could hear each clearly, and it gave the band some much needed thickness that I've felt we lacked since we started. Granted, the PRS/Mesa didn't cut very well, which was cool because he could layer these dark solos/fills underneath the other guitarist without interfering at all, and vice versa with the other guitarist going over top.
The cool thing is this guy is heavily influenced by a little old band from Texas, and I never realized to what degree until he had this electric in his hands and all this crazy sh*t started leaping off the fretboard while a big stupid grin grew across his face.
Irritatingly (to me, since I wanted to convert it to 3 way) the 5 way worked out really well. There's a couple songs where the PRS was too thick and punchy and the acoustic would've been more appropriate... but a quick twist of the knob to one of the out of phase positions thinned the guitar out and gave it enough of a plinky acoustic vibe to get the job done without needing to switch guitars.
Marshall guys would've hated it.... big wall of mud... yet somehow this wall of mud has detail and fills a huge sonic gap in our band.
Screamingdaisy
(O)))m
Interesting...
A couple days ago I ran out of d'Addarios and installed Ernie Balls. Better mids, attack/articulation and a clearer overall sound. Went from 80% chance I'm replacing these pickups to 80% chance I'm going to keep them.
Repeated the test today with my Standard 24 (HFS/VB). Same results... better mids, articulation and clearer overall sound. The HFS did a better job of revealing how scooped the d'Addarios sounded compared to EB.
FWIW/YMMV.
A couple days ago I ran out of d'Addarios and installed Ernie Balls. Better mids, attack/articulation and a clearer overall sound. Went from 80% chance I'm replacing these pickups to 80% chance I'm going to keep them.
Repeated the test today with my Standard 24 (HFS/VB). Same results... better mids, articulation and clearer overall sound. The HFS did a better job of revealing how scooped the d'Addarios sounded compared to EB.
FWIW/YMMV.
dogrocketp
I drank the PRS kool aid, and it was tasty!
I never cease to be amazed at how different PRSi can sound just by working with the pickups, and then the tone and volume knobs,. By the time you get to the amp,fuggedaboudit. It`s all in there when you have the right one ( or 10) and figure it out.
Screamingdaisy
(O)))m
Closet queen broke it's cherry.
D
Deleted member 5962
Guest
Great find! Congrats. Top shows really well in the stage photos.
