85/15s to Seymour Duncan

[Steven Lafferty]

I've been thinking about changing the 85/15s in my SE Custom 24 to Seymour Duncan Hot Rods. Has anyone done this and what was the result? Any opinions or thoughts are greatly welcomed. Thanks so much.

 

[markd21]

Go for it. I had an SE CU24 that I pulled the SE versions of the HFS/VB (this was an older model, obviously) and installed the SD Hot Rodded set. It made the guitar more "familiar" to me. That Duncan set is OEM on SOOOOOOO many guitars it is almost an industry standard.

 

[Steven Lafferty]

Go for it. I had an SE CU24 that I pulled the SE versions of the HFS/VB (this was an older model, obviously) and installed the SD Hot Rodded set. It made the guitar more "familiar" to me. That Duncan set is OEM on SOOOOOOO many guitars it is almost an industry standard.

thanks

 

[Eddie kim]

I have both the hot rodded set and pearly gates ready to do in guitar. Not sure which guitar a should put them in?

 

[Steven Lafferty]

I have both the hot rodded set and pearly gates ready to do in guitar. Not sure which guitar a should put them in?

Well, from what I understand the hot rods are a little deaper. But then, what are your choices?

 

[shimmilou]

I've been thinking about changing the 85/15s in my SE Custom 24 to Seymour Duncan Hot Rods. Has anyone done this and what was the result? Any opinions or thoughts are greatly welcomed. Thanks so much.

The first SE Cu 24 that I had, I didn't care for the sound of the 85/15 S pups, so I swapped them for this same SD set, and put covers on the new pups. It was an improvement, especially the JB in the bridge, which was much hotter than the 85/15 S. The Jazz in the neck was just a little different, maybe a slight improvement. Although I liked the hot rodded set better as individual pups, I couldn't quite get the middle position to sound like I really wanted, and I sold that guitar.

My second SE Cu 24 with the 85/15 S pups sounds awesome as-is, and I have no plans to change these pups. There was just something about that first guitar that wasn't quite what I wanted, even with the SD pups, but the second one is wonderful as it is, with the 85/15 S pups.

 

[Steven Lafferty]

The first SE Cu 24 that I had, I didn't care for the sound of the 85/15 S pups, so I swapped them for this same SD set, and put covers on the new pups. It was an improvement, especially the JB in the bridge, which was much hotter than the 85/15 S. The Jazz in the neck was just a little different, maybe a slight improvement. Although I liked the hot rodded set better as individual pups, I couldn't quite get the middle position to sound like I really wanted, and I sold that guitar.

My second SE Cu 24 with the 85/15 S pups sounds awesome as-is, and I have no plans to change these pups. There was just something about that first guitar that wasn't quite what I wanted, even with the SD pups, but the second one is wonderful as it is, with the 85/15 S pups.

That is amazing that you mention this now. I have been thinking all night about "what if" I change them out and I don't like it. I can always change them back right? But, it's not because I don't like the sound of these PU's that are in there. It's just I had a brainstorm of "what if I could make it a little bit better". Thanks you may have just helped me not make a mistake. Sometimes things are better left alone, ya know?

 

[Mozzi]

That is amazing that you mention this now. I have been thinking all night about "what if" I change them out and I don't like it. I can always change them back right? But, it's not because I don't like the sound of these PU's that are in there. It's just I had a brainstorm of "what if I could make it a little bit better". Thanks you may have just helped me not make a mistake. Sometimes things are better left alone, ya know?

Whilst I have not got a Custom 24 SE and therefore can't help regarding swapping PU's out, my attitude is I only buy guitars that not only look, feel and play right but also sound right. I don't buy guitars I am not happy with just the way they are and as such, don't mess with something that isn't broken. I am not worrying about whether spending more money on an instrument will improve it and improve it enough to make the cost and effort of changing worth it. Maybe if I had a couple of guitars that were all the same, I may have one as an experiment, something I can change to make it 'different' from the others - not necessarily better as tone is subjective and I would own that guitar because I liked it anyway so it would be just about making it different. I can see certain changes - like the nut or tuners on an SE to improve tuning stability and string changing but the PU's would only make sense to me to change if I had several guitars that were all the same and therefore changing to make it 'different' from the others.

 

[MichaelS]

I've been thinking about changing the 85/15s in my SE Custom 24 to Seymour Duncan Hot Rods. Has anyone done this and what was the result? Any opinions or thoughts are greatly welcomed. Thanks so much.

Yes, do it. Saw an interview with one of the guys from PRS (spray booth I think) and his remark on SE was something to the tune of, great value, "perfect neck every time, and you can just switch out the pickups for some Duncans or whatever and have an amazing guitar" paraphrasing from memory, but yea, I changed the S on my SE to US, but have Duncans on other 3 other guitars and can't seem to go wrong with SD.

 

[Dirty_Boogie]

That is amazing that you mention this now. I have been thinking all night about "what if" I change them out and I don't like it. I can always change them back right? But, it's not because I don't like the sound of these PU's that are in there. It's just I had a brainstorm of "what if I could make it a little bit better". Thanks you may have just helped me not make a mistake. Sometimes things are better left alone, ya know?

As I wrote in a different thread, when I first bought my 2017 SE CU22, I did not love the 85/15S pups. Thought they were too bright and hot. Switched to a Duncan hot-rodded set, which put the guitar firmly in classic-rock territory. I then decided to put the original pups back in, and after making a few tweaks in my setup, I now really love them for what they are - a more modern, hotter pickup - that guitar is now my go-to for hard rock and metal.

The nice thing about pup-swapouts is that it's a non-invasive, reversible mod.

 

[Steven Lafferty]

As I wrote in a different thread, when I first bought my 2017 SE CU22, I did not love the 85/15S pups. Thought they were too bright and hot. Switched to a Duncan hot-rodded set, which put the guitar firmly in classic-rock territory. I then decided to put the original pups back in, and after making a few tweaks in my setup, I now really love them for what they are - a more modern, hotter pickup - that guitar is now my go-to for hard rock and metal.

The nice thing about pup-swapouts is that it's a non-invasive, reversible mod.

Right