594 Owners, your thoughts on the 58/15 LTs?

Kiwi

Kiwi

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What are the hive mind's impressions of the 58/15 LTs in a 594 compared to the other recent PRS pickups?

Reason I ask: I'm getting acquainted with the new-to-me 594 semi hollow with the 58/15 LTs.

I'm doing playing comparisons against 1) Smokeburst McCarty 2009 with 57/08s; MEQ with 53/10s; HB-II with 57/08s.

The 594 with 58/15 LTs seem clearer, brighter and thinner than the others. The McCarty is deep and smoky and rich; the HB sings with big mids and low bottom; the MEQ has a full-range and strong sound and attack.

I generally prefer the darker neck tones from these guitars when I play clean to clean-ish, so I accept the 58/15s as a different flavor.

It got really interesting when a friend came over and played all these guitars. He's more of a rocker, so we dialed up the volume (Germino Club 40) for crunch. I mean, up up. Non-MV old-school Marshall up. Like, loud up.

The clarity and sparkle of the 594 with 58/15 LTs was apparent. Less low-end wool. I'm thinking that would get heard in a band context.

What are you folks hearing from the 58/15 LTs, compared to your other PRS guitars and pickups?

=K
 
I didn’t have them in a 594, but an SCtrem and I thought they were great. I didn’t get a thin sound out of the neck at all. Sometimes it was a bit overwhelming and I had to have it super low.
 
Perfect for what I want them for... I have a very early 70s SG with T-Tops that are lower output, like the early Les Pauls. Because of this, even driven a bit harder on the amp side, I can still use all pickup settings and not get bogged in the mud with the neck pickups. The 594 is just like that... no crazy high output making midrange mud when in a crunchy rhythm/lead setting. They are full and even toned, and sound beautiful in my opinion.

Disclaimer: I don’t play metal, and I think they might sound a bit weak in that genre without a pedal in front of the amp. Not sure, but that’s been my experience with the SG. Hard rock, grinding blues... perfect. Massive gain dropped stuff, probably not the best.

I’m a big fan of the 58/15LT.
 
They are wonderfully clear, low output pickups. They sound great whole or tapped. They don't have innately high gain levels. I put some uncovered BKP Mules in one of my 594s and they are sensational as well, just a bit more overall gain but still clear.
 
I think it’s one of the things they got the “most right” with the 594. As far as playing goes I like sweet over obnoxious, mostly blues and classic/prog rock. I bought my 594 because it’s ideally suited for that kind of stuff, if I were a shredder I’d have bought a different guitar ideally suited for that. For what the guitar was designed for, I think the 58/15LT is a perfect fit.

I don’t find them thin at all, but rather fuller and warmer than hotter pickups would be. To me they just sound cleaner and sweeter and it’s much easier to dial into that sweet spot than with higher output pickups. They’re pretty close to the Custom Buckers in my LP, but for whatever reason my LP has a bit more attitude. I can make them sound exactly alike but it’s not what I’m after.

In any case if you don’t like them they go for a pretty penny on the used market because a lot of people really like them and PRS doesn’t sell them separately :)
 
I love my 594 with the 58/15LTs. They've actually made me reconsider my whole "I need hot pickups" mindset. I often play it through my Boogie TC-50 and that makes some pretty glorious high gain tones. I do run a slight boost in front and when I get my pedal board finished (I'll probably need to actually do some work on it to accomplish that) and I run a slight amount of chorus in the loop, man...it's pretty metal to my ears.
 
I'm in with every one else, so far. I find them well suited for cleans, blues, rock, hard rock, classic rock. All of it. They are wonderfully clear and articulate, and split very well. I will say, I like the TCI version in my 2020 594 better. I was without a 594 for a year, but had 4 or 5 between 2016 and 2019. At that time, I preferred the WL from Brian's with a 59/09 in the neck. I don't feel that need on the new one. Not sure if it's the TCI mojo, the impact of the nitro finish, or both. I suppose it could be that my ears have matured?????
 
ViperDoc said:
They are wonderfully clear, low output pickups. They sound great whole or tapped. They don't have innately high gain levels. I put some uncovered BKP Mules in one of my 594s and they are sensational as well, just a bit more overall gain but still clear.
Click to expand...

This is a good review imo. I’d prefer them a bit hotter, though.
 
I've been doing PRS pickup comparisons in my studio for the last 4 or 5 days since we're under a "shelter in place" order. Here's what I've been comparing:

  • 2016 HBII with 5708s
  • 2019 2408 with TCI 8515s
  • 2020 594 DC with TCI 5815LTs
I've been keeping my amp settings basically static so I can get a feel for each guitar's (and pickup's) voice. The amp is:
  • Mesa Boogie Mark V:25
  • No pedals, straight into the front of the amp.
  • For cleans, I'm running the Fat channel
  • For dirty I'm running on the IIC+ channel
The Mesa is endlessly tweakable which is both a blessing and a curse. To keep myself from getting too involved in amp tweaking, the EQ settings are static. I DO use the 5 band graphic EQ on the dirty channel only in the classic Mesa "V" setting (mids somewhat scooped with the low and high frequencies bumped). This is not necessarily how I would set the the amp for each guitar if I was recording for a final take, but it's a pretty standard place to start to make voicing comparisons.

Both channels are set to 25 watts (each channel can be switched to lower wattage).

Because I DO want to get the full preamp AND poweramp break-up out of the amp I'm going silent from my amp into a UAD OX reactive load box. The main out from each channel is about 9.5 out of 10. I've been listening to 2 main cabinets: a 2x12 equipped with blue back alnicos and a 4x12 "punch". This is how these cabinets are described in the OX. I've been using a dual mic setup of an SM58 and a Royer 121 with a U67 room mic all mixed together in the OX.

Okay, all of that out of the way.........

Cleans:

Neck pickups:
  • The HBII does not split, so it is humbucker only. The 5708 has a very open sound as you would expect from a hollowbody. It's the darkest sounding of the three, but still quite clear. If you dig in, it will begin slightly breaking up, and these pickups sound AMAZING at the edge of break up. It's a very juicy tone that's somewhat dark. It's not ideal for everything, but in settings where you're looking for a juicy neck tone, it's a fantastic tone.
  • The 2408 (obviously) splits. In single coil mode, the 8515 has a bell like tone, but is not "chimey". It doesn't have as much high-end presence as a true Fender single coil BUT it also has NONE of the "ice pick" that you can get from some Fenders (even the neck pickup). My 2408 has a solid rosewood neck which REALLY influences this guitar's tone. This is a very bright instrument. So, the bright tone with bell like clarity sounds wonderful. I mean, REALLY wonderful. But, it's still pretty hot; even when tapped in single coil mode. This setting will breakup when played even a little but aggressively. In fact, I think the 8515 in single coil mode breaks up just as easily as the 5708 in humbucker mode.
  • The 2408 in humbucker mode is a delight when looking for a juicy, neck pickup driven tone. It's dark without being wooly. It drives the front of the amp pretty hard, and if I was tweaking my amp settings, I'd be pulling back the gain. However, it cleans up VERY nicely with the volume knob at about 6. In fact, what I'm finding with the 8515s is that they REALLY need input from the volume and tone knobs. If you're used to keeping your volume and tone "dimed" on your guitar, you're going to need to adjust your mindset for the 8515s. They respond to subtle movements of the volume and tone and open up a whole panorama of tone from guitar settings. I THOUGHT, the 2408 with the 8515s provided the best singe coil / double coil split sounds I had ever experienced....
  • UNTIL I played the 594. The split sounds of the neck pickup on the 594 is simply in another solar system from the 8515. I wouldn't necessarily say one is better than the other. But they are REALLY different. If you're a more vintage tone type player, the 5815LTs in the 594 are going to really appeal to you. The 5815LTs are NOWHERE near as hot as the 8515s and even a little less so than the 5708s. I found that I could keep the volume on my 594 at 10 and adjust tonality with my attack. The single coil sound of the neck pickup on the clean channel of the Mesa is nothing short of "REALLY? HOW?!?". It sounds like a true to life single coil. It has quite a bit of mid scoop, with beautiful lows and highs. This pickup has a lot of presence without any of the offensive "ice picky" tones you sometimes get with single coils. It's so convincing, I played the 594 with the split neck pickup back-to-back-to-back with my Strat and my Vela (both true single coils in the neck). The single coil tone from the 594 is VERY similar to both. The 5815LT in single coil mode and the D-style in the Vela are AMAZINGLY close to each other. Anyone who knows me knows how much I LOVE the single coil tone in the Vela. The 594 neck in single coil mode is a real revelation.
  • The 5815LT neck in humbucker mode sounds just like the classic rock sounds I grew up listening to. It's thick, it's juicy, it's full of overtones. It's not right for every style of music. In some settings this pickup can get lost in the mix (more on that later). By itself it sounds fantastic; BUT the real star of the show to me is the single coil sound. The 5815LT single coil sound is magical.
Bridge Pickups

  • The bridge pickup in the HBII (5708) sounds bright and airy. On the clean setting of the amp it breaks things up a bit. On the dirty channel it's bright without being thin. These pickups are super clean and clear. But, given the music I'm playing when making this comparison, the HBII is at a real disadvantage. It's not really a rock guitar. I mean, it can be a rock guitar and it provides all sorts of tonal opportunities. But for this genre, the amp settings REALLY need tweaking. This is a somewhat specialized guitar being compared to a somewhat generic tonal comparison. I am specifically NOT changing amp settings to make this comparison. Every time I played the HBII in this setting I found myself thinking, "Okay, that's close to the tone I want, but it needs some EQ changes."
  • The 594 5815LT bridge in humbucker mode IS the best Les Paul sound I've ever played. Period. End of story for me. I've played quite a few Les Pauls and owned a really nice one for about 4 years. Obviously, we've all heard countless Les Pauls in songs throughout the years. This is the first time I went "Oh!! There is THAT sound." It's all there. Every Les Paul tone you've tried to copy throughout your life but fell short is now within your grasp. In a modern setting, this pickup is thin. It's low output. In a few settings I found myself wishing for a boost pedal in front of the amp. I found myself "cheating" and twisting up the gain knob on the Mesa. I found myself saying, "Oh, just a bit more bottom end." Its NOT a modern sounding pickup at all. I mean NOT AT ALL. This is as vintage as vintage gets. You want rock sounds from the 70s? You want Alex Lifeson? You want Slash? You want Tom Scholz? You want this guitar.
  • The 2408 with the 8515s is so modern. If you've ever wondered about the whole vintage versus modern tone comparison, simply play these two guitars back-to-back into a driven amp with the bridge pickups and you will immediately go "Oh. Now I get it." While the 594 with the 5815LTs sounds AMAZING, in a mix setting I was constantly wanting to tweak the EQ and the slider settings for the backing tracks. The 594 sounded lovely, but it also sounded a little washed out. Obviously, this is something that gets changed when a song is mixed. However, just tracking the song made me want to really adjust my headphone mix to get the 594 to "pop". As soon as I plugged in the 2408 and played exactly the same solo over exactly the same backing track I went "YES!!!!! THAT"S WHAT I WANT." The 8515 bridge pickup in humbucker mode cuts through the mix. It sounds like it is sailing over the top of the backing tracks instead of getting caught in the wake of the backing tracks. It's present and soars with all sorts of low end resonance. It has NO boominess, NO "ice pick". Just tons of delicious overtones.....and the touch sensitivity. Oh my. A better hand than mine could elicit SO MANY different sounds.
So, in my mind the 5815s in the 594 are amazing....particularly with the neck pickup in singe coil mode. Everything else about that guitar is fantastic. It simply is a vintage Les Paul with modern playability and the added trick of the best single coil sound I've ever heard from a humbucker.

The 8515s in the 2408 are modern, modern, modern. They break up easily. They drive the front of the amp quite a bit. They are very responsive to guitar based volume and tone controls. They require quite a bit of touch adjustment to elicit the tone you want. These pickups will make you a better player, because they demand more from you in terms of attack. For laying down rhythm tracks and playing fingerstyle licks on the electric (which is my style) the 594 is REALLY hard to beat. But when it's time to lay down that solo.......OH MY GOD the 8515s in the 2408 are everything I want and then some.

I'm an older guy who freaks out when my son plays his EMG equipped Ibanez. My son thinks the 8515s are a little "soft". So obviously, everything you hear and experience is based on your own frame of reference. If your frame of reference is 70s era rock up to modern day pop/rock then hopefully this comparison will help.

The best part is I get to do even MORE of this comparison stuff since I'm essentially stuck at home.
 
dcm_guitar said:
I've been doing PRS pickup comparisons in my studio for the last 4 or 5 days since we're under a "shelter in place" order. Here's what I've been comparing:

  • 2016 HBII with 5708s
  • 2019 2408 with TCI 8515s
  • 2020 594 DC with TCI 5815LTs
I've been keeping my amp settings basically static so I can get a feel for each guitar's (and pickup's) voice. The amp is:
  • Mesa Boogie Mark V:25
  • No pedals, straight into the front of the amp.
  • For cleans, I'm running the Fat channel
  • For dirty I'm running on the IIC+ channel
The Mesa is endlessly tweakable which is both a blessing and a curse. To keep myself from getting too involved in amp tweaking, the EQ settings are static. I DO use the 5 band graphic EQ on the dirty channel only in the classic Mesa "V" setting (mids somewhat scooped with the low and high frequencies bumped). This is not necessarily how I would set the the amp for each guitar if I was recording for a final take, but it's a pretty standard place to start to make voicing comparisons.

Both channels are set to 25 watts (each channel can be switched to lower wattage).

Because I DO want to get the full preamp AND poweramp break-up out of the amp I'm going silent from my amp into a UAD OX reactive load box. The main out from each channel is about 9.5 out of 10. I've been listening to 2 main cabinets: a 2x12 equipped with blue back alnicos and a 4x12 "punch". This is how these cabinets are described in the OX. I've been using a dual mic setup of an SM58 and a Royer 121 with a U67 room mic all mixed together in the OX.

Okay, all of that out of the way.........

Cleans:

Neck pickups:
  • The HBII does not split, so it is humbucker only. The 5708 has a very open sound as you would expect from a hollowbody. It's the darkest sounding of the three, but still quite clear. If you dig in, it will begin slightly breaking up, and these pickups sound AMAZING at the edge of break up. It's a very juicy tone that's somewhat dark. It's not ideal for everything, but in settings where you're looking for a juicy neck tone, it's a fantastic tone.
  • The 2408 (obviously) splits. In single coil mode, the 8515 has a bell like tone, but is not "chimey". It doesn't have as much high-end presence as a true Fender single coil BUT it also has NONE of the "ice pick" that you can get from some Fenders (even the neck pickup). My 2408 has a solid rosewood neck which REALLY influences this guitar's tone. This is a very bright instrument. So, the bright tone with bell like clarity sounds wonderful. I mean, REALLY wonderful. But, it's still pretty hot; even when tapped in single coil mode. This setting will breakup when played even a little but aggressively. In fact, I think the 8515 in single coil mode breaks up just as easily as the 5708 in humbucker mode.
  • The 2408 in humbucker mode is a delight when looking for a juicy, neck pickup driven tone. It's dark without being wooly. It drives the front of the amp pretty hard, and if I was tweaking my amp settings, I'd be pulling back the gain. However, it cleans up VERY nicely with the volume knob at about 6. In fact, what I'm finding with the 8515s is that they REALLY need input from the volume and tone knobs. If you're used to keeping your volume and tone "dimed" on your guitar, you're going to need to adjust your mindset for the 8515s. They respond to subtle movements of the volume and tone and open up a whole panorama of tone from guitar settings. I THOUGHT, the 2408 with the 8515s provided the best singe coil / double coil split sounds I had ever experienced....
  • UNTIL I played the 594. The split sounds of the neck pickup on the 594 is simply in another solar system from the 8515. I wouldn't necessarily say one is better than the other. But they are REALLY different. If you're a more vintage tone type player, the 5815LTs in the 594 are going to really appeal to you. The 5815LTs are NOWHERE near as hot as the 8515s and even a little less so than the 5708s. I found that I could keep the volume on my 594 at 10 and adjust tonality with my attack. The single coil sound of the neck pickup on the clean channel of the Mesa is nothing short of "REALLY? HOW?!?". It sounds like a true to life single coil. It has quite a bit of mid scoop, with beautiful lows and highs. This pickup has a lot of presence without any of the offensive "ice picky" tones you sometimes get with single coils. It's so convincing, I played the 594 with the split neck pickup back-to-back-to-back with my Strat and my Vela (both true single coils in the neck). The single coil tone from the 594 is VERY similar to both. The 5815LT in single coil mode and the D-style in the Vela are AMAZINGLY close to each other. Anyone who knows me knows how much I LOVE the single coil tone in the Vela. The 594 neck in single coil mode is a real revelation.
  • The 5815LT neck in humbucker mode sounds just like the classic rock sounds I grew up listening to. It's thick, it's juicy, it's full of overtones. It's not right for every style of music. In some settings this pickup can get lost in the mix (more on that later). By itself it sounds fantastic; BUT the real star of the show to me is the single coil sound. The 5815LT single coil sound is magical.
Bridge Pickups

  • The bridge pickup in the HBII (5708) sounds bright and airy. On the clean setting of the amp it breaks things up a bit. On the dirty channel it's bright without being thin. These pickups are super clean and clear. But, given the music I'm playing when making this comparison, the HBII is at a real disadvantage. It's not really a rock guitar. I mean, it can be a rock guitar and it provides all sorts of tonal opportunities. But for this genre, the amp settings REALLY need tweaking. This is a somewhat specialized guitar being compared to a somewhat generic tonal comparison. I am specifically NOT changing amp settings to make this comparison. Every time I played the HBII in this setting I found myself thinking, "Okay, that's close to the tone I want, but it needs some EQ changes."
  • The 594 5815LT bridge in humbucker mode IS the best Les Paul sound I've ever played. Period. End of story for me. I've played quite a few Les Pauls and owned a really nice one for about 4 years. Obviously, we've all heard countless Les Pauls in songs throughout the years. This is the first time I went "Oh!! There is THAT sound." It's all there. Every Les Paul tone you've tried to copy throughout your life but fell short is now within your grasp. In a modern setting, this pickup is thin. It's low output. In a few settings I found myself wishing for a boost pedal in front of the amp. I found myself "cheating" and twisting up the gain knob on the Mesa. I found myself saying, "Oh, just a bit more bottom end." Its NOT a modern sounding pickup at all. I mean NOT AT ALL. This is as vintage as vintage gets. You want rock sounds from the 70s? You want Alex Lifeson? You want Slash? You want Tom Scholz? You want this guitar.
  • The 2408 with the 8515s is so modern. If you've ever wondered about the whole vintage versus modern tone comparison, simply play these two guitars back-to-back into a driven amp with the bridge pickups and you will immediately go "Oh. Now I get it." While the 594 with the 5815LTs sounds AMAZING, in a mix setting I was constantly wanting to tweak the EQ and the slider settings for the backing tracks. The 594 sounded lovely, but it also sounded a little washed out. Obviously, this is something that gets changed when a song is mixed. However, just tracking the song made me want to really adjust my headphone mix to get the 594 to "pop". As soon as I plugged in the 2408 and played exactly the same solo over exactly the same backing track I went "YES!!!!! THAT"S WHAT I WANT." The 8515 bridge pickup in humbucker mode cuts through the mix. It sounds like it is sailing over the top of the backing tracks instead of getting caught in the wake of the backing tracks. It's present and soars with all sorts of low end resonance. It has NO boominess, NO "ice pick". Just tons of delicious overtones.....and the touch sensitivity. Oh my. A better hand than mine could elicit SO MANY different sounds.
So, in my mind the 5815s in the 594 are amazing....particularly with the neck pickup in singe coil mode. Everything else about that guitar is fantastic. It simply is a vintage Les Paul with modern playability and the added trick of the best single coil sound I've ever heard from a humbucker.

The 8515s in the 2408 are modern, modern, modern. They break up easily. They drive the front of the amp quite a bit. They are very responsive to guitar based volume and tone controls. They require quite a bit of touch adjustment to elicit the tone you want. These pickups will make you a better player, because they demand more from you in terms of attack. For laying down rhythm tracks and playing fingerstyle licks on the electric (which is my style) the 594 is REALLY hard to beat. But when it's time to lay down that solo.......OH MY GOD the 8515s in the 2408 are everything I want and then some.

I'm an older guy who freaks out when my son plays his EMG equipped Ibanez. My son thinks the 8515s are a little "soft". So obviously, everything you hear and experience is based on your own frame of reference. If your frame of reference is 70s era rock up to modern day pop/rock then hopefully this comparison will help.

The best part is I get to do even MORE of this comparison stuff since I'm essentially stuck at home.
Click to expand...
GREAT write up! Thanks for taking the time to do it.
 
I don’t have a 594, but I do have a 2020 Wood Library (Korina and Ebony instead of Mahogany and Rosewood) Hollowbody II that has the 58/15 LTs. They are the perfect humbuckers in my opinion. They are very well balanced and with the right amp (kemper) they can achieve almost any humbucker tone you could ever wish for. The neck is just gorgeous, full and warm yet still clear. The bridge is snappy but not thin or harsh. It takes anything up almost heavy metal gain very very well down to country clean twang. Overall both pickups are balanced with no over powering frequencies and they complement each other very well. Obviously the wood combination and Hollowness of the guitar may change the Tone of the pickups and how they might sound in another guitar. I played a single cut McCarty that I assume had the LTs, and I wasn’t too impressed to be honest, though that guitar did have a rosewood neck which I’m not a fan of personally. Overall though I’d say PRS is consistent across lines and I couldn’t see myself using any other pickups in my Hollowbody.
 
The reason I bought my McCarty 594 was it had the 58/15LT pickups.
These pickups blew me away.
Sweet, articulate,vintage vibe, beautiful harmonics.
I like that I really can hear the wood of this guitar.
The split coil tones are waayyy better than they have a right to be.
I'm using combinations of both pickups split and full coil and finding great tone everywhere!
The bridge full volume, the neck split with the neck volume rolled off to 8...8.5....oh yes!
I don't have one critical thing to say about these amazing pickups.
IMO....A McCarty 594 with these pickups is a Grand Slam home run for PRS.
 
Short response - I love the 58-15LT's that are in my 594. They sometimes get a bit too hot for me when using dirt. I think they sound great when volume is set to about 7.5 for soloing if you use any OD at all. I have never ever found them to be thin sounding in any position - even when using the single coil settings. I also have an HB II with 57-08's - a different beast all together - but like the 57-08's just as much.
 
11top said:
This is a good review imo. I’d prefer them a bit hotter, though.
Click to expand...

I agree. Many people love them. If you mainly play hard rock and metal, hotter pickups would be better. Love the 59/09s and 57/08s. Regular 58/15 or 85/15 are good, too. The Metal pickups are surprisingly versatile and give excellent clean tones and split tones. Plus they are fairly dynamic when rolling off the volume. As a vintage-themed instrument, the 58/15 LTs suit the 594 very well.
 
I found that screwing them down (increasing the distance from the top of the PU to the strings) really helped them come to life (long-time Fender player here). Simple, free experiment. Try it.
 
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