Advice on dream PRS modification

[P90s]

All-time favorite PRS is the Custom22 Soapbar. But I never use the bridge pick-up. Love P90s for the neck, but favor the snarl of a HB on the bridge. First question: could a good luthier (or PRS) re-route the P90 cavity to install a HB in that bridge position....and if they did, WHICH HB pickup would you pick? I love the burstbuckers on my LP R9, but really like the DGT's as well. What you do for YOUR dream combination?

 

[John Beef]

I also am a fan of Humbucker bridge/P-90 neck. It is relatively easy to take a P-90 rout and turn it into a humbucker rout. However, it is a permanent modification to the guitar and it is not very easy to go back without some body filler or epoxy.

I also love DGT bridge pickups. Maybe my dream PRS would be a goldtop or blacktop MCCarty trem with a DGT bridge pickup and a yet to be named P-90 in the neck (likely Fralin Noiseless). However, I'm not a P-90 purist and really dig Fralin P-92s in the neck position, and it is far easier to buy a dual humbucker guitar and replace the neck pickup with a humbucker sized P-90.

Custom 22 soapbars also have maple necks, right? That could be part of the tone equation you're hearing that you like. Maybe you could pick up a used CE-22 and install a P-92/duncan fat cat, etc. in the neck.

 

[jimistephen]

Just to throw this out there...Dimarzio has P90 sized humbuckers so you could run one in a P90 route.

Bareknuckle has Humbucker Sized P90 so you could run one in a Humbucker neck route...

 

[swede71]

I still like the Dimarzio super distortion.Sounds supercool in this guitar together with the p-90http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8K-UXAknM8

 

[alantig]

Narrow 408 treble???

 

[garrett]

Vintage Vibe Guitars also does a P-90 sized bucker.

 

[zebraprs]

Yes, I had my friend put HBs in my McCarty Narrowfield.. check it out.

 

[Brad737]

IMHO, there's simply NO good reason to rout a nice guitar. There are a LOT of great options now for P90-sized humbuckers. Ron Thorn and Lindy Fralin are the two I've tried and they both sound great. Another thing you can consider is an old Gibson mini humbucker. They use the same routes as soapbars.

 

[swede71]

I really like the pickups in the CU22 soapbar.I understand many dont like the bridge pickup in that guitar,say it sounds harsh.I have to say its on of the best singlecoil pickups ive heard for distorted sounds.Cleans up great too.I use my CU22 soapbar mostly as a "single pickup" guitar for distorted sounds and the middle position and bass pickup with vol turned down to 7-8 for cleaner kinda SVRish sounds.For really clean sounds i use middle position only.I dont care that much about the in-between sounds really.The middle position is to me the big thing with this guitar and without that ceramic bridge pickup something would be missing .Before you put in a humbucker try to work only with the bridge pickup for a while and see how much you can get out from it using the vol and toneknobs,especially with a distorted sound.