Pickup Recommendations for a guitar without pickups

guitarajax

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May 19, 2014
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I have a 2013 Custom 24 SE that I got dirt cheap off a friend but it has no pickups. Any recommendations for what to drop in? What I'm looking for is a classic rock /blues rock/hard rock style like AC/DC, Slash, Black Keys, Jack White & Jimmy Page. I was thinking Dimarzio 36th anniversary PAF'S...has anyone tried them in a Custom 24 or recommend anything else? Thanks in advance!
 
i have not tried any dimarzio pickups but i did put a set of prs vintage bass and hfs in a SE cuts 24 and it was killer!!!
 
Given the styles you listed, I think you have the correct pickups picked out already. I have not tried them but the reviews are consistently good. They are about the right price point for that guitar, IMHO.

HFS will be too hot/aggressive for you.
 
I have a CU22 with a 36 anv in the neck it is a very nice pickup also splits very well the same guitar came with a Tone Zone in the bridge whack I also like really well
 
The metal covered Gibson '57 Classic and Classic Plus set would be super nice in that guitar. It is hard to beat the Gibson '57 Classics for classic rock tone. There is a reason that they cost more than most of the aftermarket pickups.

I haven't tried the USA PRS pickups but they would be definitely something worth trying in that guitar.

Seymour Duncan and Dimarzio, etc., also make some great pickups; such as the Seymour Duncan JB bridge - '59 neck combination, the Dimarzio SuperDistortion, and others.

There are those that claim the Dimarzio 36th anniv's don't stack up against the Gibson relatively comparable "57 Classic/Classic Plus set.

Supposedly the Dimarzio SuperDistortion pickups were the first successfully marketed aftermarket humbuckers, and they get super good reviews from those that use or have used them.

On budget, the stock pickups that come in the SE Custom 24 are very decent humbuckers, as well as the SE 245 pickups.
 
Thanks for the recommendations so far.

Searching online I found a guy locally selling a 59/hybrid bridge for a great price. Anyone have experience with this pickup in a prs guitar? Sound like an interesting pickup.
 
I bought a ~2011 PRS SE Santana without stock pickups. It's since been a test bed for several Seymour Duncan (SD) and Gibson humbuckers.

I've ended up with a Duncan 59/Custom hybrid at the bridge. This was the only conventional SD alnico humbucker that had enough mids to provide some body on this...body. It sounds a little snarly, but it's nicely full and nicely bright. To tame the snarl a bit, I've rotated it backwards -- placing the stronger Custom coil toward the guitar's tail.

A Pearly Gates (bridge & neck), and a George Lynch Screamin' Demon, all sounded too scooped and thin. (And note that my Santana has an inherently darker-sounding body than your SE Cu 24 -- because mahogany neck, shorter scale, and fewer frets.) I concluded that all those pickups were voiced specifically for Les Pauls. Whereas on your typical PRS, with a thinner mahogany back, they just sound too fragile. The Screamin' Demon has ended up as the neck pup on my Telecaster, where it sings beautifully.

Gibson's '57 Classic family sounds heavenly on Les Pauls -- better than any other stock Gibson pickup I've heard -- and would probably work wonderfully on a PRS with a thick mahogany back (like an SE 245, SC 245, Tremonti, Bernie Marsden, etc.) I like '57's uncovered. But on my SE Santana, a '57 Classic neck pup presented the same problem as the LP-voiced vintage Duncan pups: It just sounded too thin and fragile. (Not as thin or scooped as the Duncan's, but still too thin.)

So I've just swapped an uncovered Gibson Super '57 (bridge) pup into my Santana's neck position. I think this unauthorized mod is a keeper -- this pup sounds nice and full. It's a little hot, so I've mounted it low, plus I'm keeping the volume pot below 10. The SD 59/Custom hybrid at the bridge is itself hotter than vintage, so the two balance well.

The Super '57 is a newer Gibson pup than the Classic Plus, and I think it will be the Classic Plus' de-facto replacement. There's general agreement that the Super '57 sounds fuller -- where the Classic Plus could thin out -- yet it's still nice and bright. (Using the Super '57 as an LP's bridge pup, with a little distortion, you get a classic Neil Young tone.)

I'll defer to others in recommending PRS aftermarket pickups. I just tried my first 59/09's -- on a 2013 Singlecut Trem reissue, where they sounded just a bit dark, so they might work splendidly on an SE Cu 24 (which has a thinner body and more maple). I always thought #6's sounded superb on first-run Singlecut Trems. 408's sound bright enough on a "Paul's Guitar" that I think they'd lack oomph on an SE Cu 24. I'm very pleased with the Starla Treble pup i've installed on my other, all-mahogany early SE, but Starla's would sound far too wispy with any Cu 24's maple. And stock SE 245's offer good value in basic, all-around humbuckers. (People upgrading SE Tremonti's to U.S. pups sell their SE 245 pups on eBay. I've bought a couple of those sets to upgrade sub-PRS guitars, with good results.)

So good luck modding your Cu 24. My expensive lesson was that higher-output alnico pickups can graft a nice LP-style richness onto thinner-backed PRS's, without the harshness of ceramic pups. But LP-voiced "vintage" pups just sound too wimpy on a lighter body.
 
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The gibson classic 57s all the way. Got em in my LP and they cover the gambit of classic/southern rock and are hot enough to get some serious hard rock out out.
 
I ordered a set of vintage style pafs from jonesyblues.com for the same price as the dimarzios. They are being wound by Tom Brantley on vintage correct hardware. Tom worked for fralin for almost 20 years and then designed pickups for mojotones before starting his own rewinding business. He is also making a hot set that is wax potted and such.
 
I put a pair of USA Mira pickups in a Tremonti SE, with 550 volume pots from RS Guitarworks. It's a wonderful sound to my ears. They're mounted very low, and have a very full rich sound.
 
Dimarzio 36ths or PAF Masters are just stupid good for the price....and pretty darn good regardless of price!
 
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