85/15 Bridge Vs. HFS

[YetAnotherRushFan]

Not so much a question as an observation.

I have two Cu 24s, one with 85/15 and one with HFS/Vintage.

I also have a '16 Gibson LP Studio (498T in the bridge).

Comparing tone, I find the 85/15 guitar sounds more balanced and "modern," with bassy tone. The LP Studio and the HFS PRS, OTOH, sound uncannily similar - brighter, more raw ("scooped mids" may be the term).

There is actually a question: Is this what others would expect?

The other thing is that the HFS guitar is an S2 while the 85/15 is a Core. So I wonder if the brighter/more "unrefined" tone of the HFS guitar is actually the guitar and not the pup.

It's just weird how it sounds so much like the LP.

(I'm a newb still learning about these things who has more guitars than knowledge or skill.)

 

[gush]

I do not care for the HFS pickup but I would not place that guitar and the studio LP in the same category. That's not what I hear anyway..

8515 pickup is going to be a lot different than the HFS by a large amount. That is a fact.

This is only my opinion but you should try prs guitars with other 8xxx pickup options because you've only scratched the surface.

 

[Mozzi]

Not so much a question as an observation.

I have two Cu 24s, one with 85/15 and one with HFS/Vintage.

I also have a '16 Gibson LP Studio (498T in the bridge).

Comparing tone, I find the 85/15 guitar sounds more balanced and "modern," with bassy tone. The LP Studio and the HFS PRS, OTOH, sound uncannily similar - brighter, more raw ("scooped mids" may be the term).

There is actually a question: Is this what others would expect?

The other thing is that the HFS guitar is an S2 while the 85/15 is a Core. So I wonder if the brighter/more "unrefined" tone of the HFS guitar is actually the guitar and not the pup.

It's just weird how it sounds so much like the LP.

(I'm a newb still learning about these things who has more guitars than knowledge or skill.)

There are a lot of differences between a LP and Custom 24 - not all the differences are related to the Pick-ups.

In recent years, PRS have named their Pick-ups after the year they are referencing and the year of release. This means that the 85/15's are designed to be a 1985 sounding pick-up and released in 2015. Paul himself has said that the 85/15 Pick-ups are the pick-ups he wished he had to launch the company and their first guitars back in 1985.

I personally think the 85/15's are great and well suited to the Custom 24 - at least in my opinion. They do sound modern but I would say modern Classic because they are not stupidly Hot and 85 is now 'classic' - on the edge between Classic and Vintage now but compared to the more vintage 58/15 LT's, they are more modern.

No doubt PRS have learned a lot about Pick-ups and making them to fit the design and the 'era' that best fits that model. With the Custom 24 and 22 for that matter, both 'modern' instruments compared to the LP and the more vintage McCarty models, it makes sense that they come with the 85/15's. The HFS PU's were developed a long time ago now so its no surprise that they are different (I don't want to say 'worse' as tone etc is subjective).

I personally feel that of you understand the instrument, the 'era' it fits in, then the Pick-ups fit perfectly to those PRS models. That doesn't mean that some may want a more modern sounding 594 or more vintage sounding Custom 24 but I think the Pick-ups match the models perfectly. At the very least, you should now understand PRS's Pick-up naming now as well. The 58/15's for example are a 1958 style HB and released in 2015...