85/15S pickups - did you keep them?

[Feefop]

I just got a PRS custom 24 SE with these pickups. 1st thoughts after about an hour of playing - different than Dimarzio/Seymour pickups I've tried (a lot). A bit on the hot side, but not too bad. I actually like them a little better when they are split.

How many of you kept them in the guitar after giving it a good tryout? Do they excel in any specific amps? I've only tried them through a blues Jr and so far it's cool enough....but I'm not 100% sold yet. Maybe I will be. Maybe not.

Just looking for some feedback and experience..

Thanks

 

[Mozzi]

Personally, I don't change pick-ups but that's because I don't buy guitars that I don't like the sound they offer. I have the Custom 24 (not the SE) with the 85/15's and I believe the 'S' pick-ups are also 'good enough' for PRS to use the 85/15 'S' Pick-ups on their S2 line.

I don't think an hour is considered a 'good' try out, not with using it and adjusting the settings on pedals and amps for that guitar. I don't know what you may have been running your SE through or what sounds you are expecting. The 85/15's are a bit more 'modern' sounding, at least in my Custom 24' than some 'classic' or 'vintage' sounding Pick-ups and think that the 'S' versions sound great. Obviously they are not the same sound as the Core but that may not be down to 'just' the pick-ups but for the price, they compete very well with the core equivalent.

The Custom 24 (which ever tier from SE to Core) all sound great with either the 85/15 'S' or 85/15 US made Pick-ups. PRS wouldn't put them in their guitars if they weren't happy with their 'newer' Pick-ups. The naming of PRS pick-ups is very easy to understand the sound and 'year' they were launched. In the case of these, the 85 is the year they are representing and Paul has said that these are the Pick-ups he wished he had for the launch of PRS and the Custom 24's. The 15 part tells you that the pick-ups were created in 2015. They maybe a bit hotter than the 58/15's but that's to be expected for the more modern Custom 24.

If you were hoping that a Custom 24 could be a Les Paul type replacement but with 24frets and a trem, then I am sorry, you will never be happy. The reason is that the 24fret PRS moves the Pick-ups closer together to add the extra 2 frets whilst still keeping the same 25" scale length. As the neckis that little bit longer, the bridge and bridge PU is pulled closer to the neck PU. As the Bridge PU is still the same distance from the Bridge, it still gives a more traditional sound but as the neck is now closer, its a bit brighter. That changes 4 out of the 5 tones (and 2 of the ones a Les Paul will give) which is also why its the most 'PRS' sounding guitar. The reason I am saying this is because some people (not necessarily you) think that because it has 2 Humbuckers, they can buy a Custom 24 and have a 24 fret Les Paul with better neck access and a trem. Then be a bit perplexed because they can't get the Cu24 to sound like the Les Paul does.

If this is you however, swapping the PU's won't help because of the Cu24's design. Its no point swapping out for after-market PU's unless you are sure that its the Pick-ups that is not helping you 'bond' with your guitar. You could go out and buy several after-market PU sets when the issue is that the spacing between the PU's because of the design of the Custom 24.

 

[NBW]

I changed mine out. But I had some Stormy Mondays, which I had installed in my older SE standard. I thought the 85/15s were better than the original pickups in my standard, but I liked the Stormy Mondays more vintage sound better than the 85/15s.

 

[Ovibos]

Anecdotally, I'm not seeing a ton of them for sale on the secondary market so people must like them?

 

[Tim S]

Keep them? Yes,and then bought more on Reverb. Their loss, my gain.

 

[Feefop]

Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike them, but as you know if you have been playing forever, you either bond with pickups or you don't - plenty of great pickups out there I've tried that I just moved on from, for whatever reasons. Not really trying to emulate a Les Paul or any specific sound, just taking what I got and seeing if its something I want to keep....

One hour is just my 1st impressions, and I will soon run it through a Marshall JVM410hjs, a mesa tremoverb, and then a Vox AC30. There might be an amp in there that really works with it. I'm going to give it a month or so of heavy playing to see...

FWIW, some folks can't stand these pickups - probably not guys on THIS forum

 

[John Beef]

I kept mine.

 

[11top]

The only PRS pickups (which I've experienced) I truly couldn't live with were the RPs. I swapped out every single one.

 

[Windymiller]

Kept mine too, I thought they were terrific!!

 

[László]

The only PRS pickups (which I've experienced) I truly couldn't live with were the RPs. I swapped out every single one.

I had that experience with some of my pre-57/08 pickups. Some were pretty good - I liked the McCarty pickups a lot - some just not my thing.

I remember not being crazy about the ones in my Artist II and ‘91 CU24. Maybe a couple of others. Hard to remember.

 

[bodia]

The only PRS pickups (which I've experienced) I truly couldn't live with were the RPs. I swapped out every single one.

I didn't care for them either. Stupidly, I sold the guitar (an MEII that used to be Howard's) during my purge. instead of swapping pickups. Should have hung on to that one.

 

[Rixstar]

I really like the bridge split, the neck I see myself changing to some seymour duncan jazz pickups eventually.

I still very much like them tho, improvement on anything I current own. Mine sound quite nice through some light distortion or overdrive

 

[88prs]

I put in SD Alnico II pros and all vintage wiring and switch, pots etc.... Sounds great but doesn't seem to have the typical PRS mojo with the sweet singing mid voice. Might put them back in but keep all the vintage wiring.

 

[dogrocketp]

I usually change out the pickups. I did not on my S2 custom 24. More than any other brand of pickups, I think the PRS respond to changes in height and pole piece adjustments.

 

[Feefop]

I wish the 85/15S pickups were a bit less output. Yeah you can lower the pickup height but I think that having the pickup closer to the strings gives you that sensitivity/immediacy that's more satisfying.

Bottom line is that in comparison to an RG655 and an ESP Horizon, the PRS is a different sound which I like. For the money I paid, no complaints.

I will sleep with the pickups for another month or so, and by then I'll know if its marriage or I'm dumping her

 

[sergiodeblanc]

The only PRS pickups (which I've experienced) I truly couldn't live with were the RPs. I swapped out every single one.

If you have ‘em in a drawer somewhere, I’d gladly buy them.

I didn't care for them either. Stupidly, I sold the guitar (an MEII that used to be Howard's) during my purge. instead of swapping pickups. Should have hung on to that one.

And I thought that guitar had one of the top three neck pickup tones I’ve ever heard from a PRS....

 

[11top]

If you have ‘em in a drawer somewhere, I’d gladly buy them.



And I thought that guitar had one of the top three neck pickup tones I’ve ever heard from a PRS....

I still have a bunch, but they are in the case pockets of the original guitars. I don't really want to separate them when the big sale begins (and it could be sooner than you think).

They sound OK through a Kemper. Les told me a Kemper can make anything sound good.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

I still have a bunch, but they are in the case pockets of the original guitars. I don't really want to separate them when the big sale begins (and it could be sooner than you think).

That’s understandable, but if any happen to fall out... lemme know.

What is it you don’t like about them, the fact that they’re not all that “hot”, the tonality or ‘em, or just everything?

 

[sergiodeblanc]

They sound OK through a Kemper. Les told me a Kemper can make anything sound good.

Shots fired!!!

 

[11top]

That’s understandable, but if any happen to fall out... lemme know.

What is it you don’t like about them, the fact that they’re not all that “hot”, the tonality or ‘em, or just everything?

I thought they sounded lifeless. And, you're probably on to something; for my genre they probably aren't hot enough.