New pickup suggestions...

HarrySound

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so the PRS is the perfect guitar but I’ve had trouble jelling with it because of the pickups mainly so I’m thinking of swapping them out.
I have a Charvel which is so close to tonal perfection but the neck is a horrible D shape I find it uncomfortable to play.My Charvel has Seymour Duncan JB and 59 pickups.
What are people’s opinions of the JB and 59 in a custom 24?
Any other combos that work really well?
My style is pretty varied sounndwise. Think Metallica/Tremonti rhythm tones with Dire straits/john Mayer cleans with Jimi Hendrix/John Frusciante breakups with Slash/Buckethead leads.
All these tones are more than possible with a Charvel and the JB 59 combo with maybe the exception of the Metallica/Tremonti tones.
How about a Tremonti and a 59 in the neck?
 
If you like the SD 59's you'll probably like the PRS 57/08 pickups.
 
I don't think I do. I tried a PRS with 08s the day before i bought mine and i didn't like it at all.
I find the neck pickups (85/15) to be pretty dull sounding. almost like the tone knob has been rolled off.
 
What have you got in the custom 24 at the moment?

I'm sure all the tones that you list are perfectly possible. Maybe not quite the extremes of both ends with the same pickup though. Maybe a 58/15 with a booster pedal/overdrive for the heavier stuff
 
I don't think I do. I tried a PRS with 08s the day before i bought mine and i didn't like it at all.
I find the neck pickups (85/15) to be pretty dull sounding. almost like the tone knob has been rolled off.

What amp(s) are you using to evaluate these pickups?
 
I don't find the 85/15's dull at all - lots of clarity in them and they rock.

PU's are difficult because the tones you want and hear are likely to be quite individual. I would suggest putting in the PU's from your Charvel if that's what you like or maybe just changing the EQ on your amp (or EQ Pedal) a bit to sculpt the sound a bit more to your preference. If the Seymour Duncan has a bit more 'treble' for example, turn that up when play the PRS for example. I always start at 12'oclock so I can either add or take-away a bit to sculpt the sound on my amps for different guitars/PU's. I also don't have the tone/volume turned all the way up so I can go from clean/crunch to distortion lead with just turning the volume up.

I certainly have't tried every PU on the market and I would think the most 'obvious' answer would be to put the PU's in from the Charvel. I don't think you will get the 'exact' tones though because the construction is probably different but you again have the option to EQ it - if the Charvel has less mid-tones, turn them down a bit to match for example.
 
The 57/08 is very different from the 85/15. I have an uncovered 57/08 in the neck of my P22 and it is my brightest neck humbucker, It cuts through better than the 85/15 neck in my CU24 (maybe that's upper mids cutting through?). I have a covered JB in the bridge position of my 594 right now, and it really woke that guitar up, just what it needed for hard rock. I have a Jazz in the neck of my LP, and have had it in a couple other guitars, and have always liked it. If I was unhappy with any of my PRS neck pickups, I wouldn't hesitate to try a Duncan Jazz.
Any of the Duncan or PRS pickups will be easy enough to re-sell if you decide you don't like them.
 
What amp(s) are you using to evaluate these pickups?
I have an Axe FX. so i'm using tone from a 5153,JM45,Two Rock,Friedman,Fender etc etc.

In response to the high end of the 85/15 pickups, yes the bridge pickup is very clear and I really like that but it's a very classic rock kind of clear. there's always this 3k bump too which I remember hearing on the youtube demos of the guitar when it first came out. When you get on the B string for example it can have a hint of raspiness.
I still think the neck 85/15 is dull and for me almost uselss.
One thing I think these guitar do not do well out of the box with these pickups is plexiglass tones. they just don't have that spank.
 
Tone is subjective and what you are looking for or hearing is obviously different to me because I think the 85/15's are excellent for rock/metal. The neck is alive on my guitar and, if you cut through the chat in this review, you can hear how great they are.


As I said, you can use an EQ pedal to adjust the tones too or why not just stick the same combination in as the Charvel?

We obviously are going to have to agree to disagree on the 85/15's so you may as well just go Seymour Duncans
 
there's always this 3k bump too

I kind of (maybe wrongly) associate this with the 'treble bleed' cap on the volume. I always hear this spike in the treble frequencies, a metallic sound, with the PRSs fitted with the volume filter cap. Certainly disappeared when I un-soldered the leg of the cap on mine.
 
I really like the sound of my SD Alnico II Pro in the neck. I have a JB in the bridge, and I swapped it out for a tremonti bridge (which sounds awesome in my tremonti SE) but I like the JB more in my CE 24. im not 100% happy with the JB, but its almost what I want it to be.
 
I really like the sound of my SD Alnico II Pro in the neck. I have a JB in the bridge, and I swapped it out for a tremonti bridge (which sounds awesome in my tremonti SE) but I like the JB more in my CE 24. im not 100% happy with the JB, but its almost what I want it to be.

So you have a JB in your custom 24 now?
This is an odd ask but I don't suppose you could record a couple of minutes of dry signal and email it to me ?
I could then pass it through my axe fx and see what it sounds like
 
Have you tried PRS 59/09s? A bit hotter than 57/08 and more brightness, especially on the neck. Can be a little shrill at times. I love them in my SCT ME I.

Another variant would be Lollar high wind imperials.

Haussel just came out with a hotter 59 style pickup as well (I’m trying them in a new Orca Build, due later this year).
 
I cannot fathom the thought of the 85/15 neck pickup sounding dull. I got nothing.

The only thing helpful I can add is to make sure you try adjusting pole piece and overall pickup height. Experiment with the tone controls on the Axe-Fx. Also try skipping the Axe-Fx and plug into a real amp and see what you think.
 
So you have a JB in your custom 24 now?
This is an odd ask but I don't suppose you could record a couple of minutes of dry signal and email it to me ?
I could then pass it through my axe fx and see what it sounds like

I dont have any recording equipment unfortunately also, it is in a CE24 which would probably be a bit brighter sounding than the Custom 24. I felt like the Tremonti Treble was a bit too bright for the CE, the JB has a little bit lower peak in the mids that worked better for me.
 
The classic VB/HFS in your CU24 would cover all the bases you mentioned IMHO
Also the Suhr Aldridge set sound wonderful in a CU24 and others ( Heard them in SCT , KL-33 , CU24 , P24 )
I have also heard 57/08s in a CU24 and it is a Killer setup
Good luck in your hunt
 
Have you tried PRS 59/09s? A bit hotter than 57/08 and more brightness, especially on the neck. Can be a little shrill at times. I love them in my SCT ME I.

Another variant would be Lollar high wind imperials.

Haussel just came out with a hotter 59 style pickup as well (I’m trying them in a new Orca Build, due later this year).
Yeah, I think the 59/09 is what the OP is looking for.
 
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