Been doing a lot of pickup swapping this year!

[Lewguitar]

The PRS Dragon 1 set and 57/08 set are still my all time favorites. And I'm a long time fan of the Duncan Antiquitys.

But I'd never heard Bare Knuckle pickups before. Nor Wolfetone Marshallheads or Chubtone Single Coils.

• Bare Knuckle Abraxas in '00 CE22. These have alnico 4 magnets. I didn't try 57/08's in this guitar, but the Abraxas sound better to me than any other set I did try in it. A little hotter and more modern than a 57/08 set but I can use these Abraxas pickups to play any style I’m comfortable with playing. A little more chime from the neck pickup than the 57/08's but the bridge pickup get’s a nice vocal tone with overdrive and gets killer Jeff Beck style whammy bar sounds.

  https://imgur.com/jn3jpZW

• Bare Knuckle Nantucket P90's. I have these in my PRS SE Soapbar. They're not humcancelling but they're very quiet for a single coil and they get a great sound. An old Gibson P90 gets a little sassier snarl, but the BKP's don't get muddy when I turn the volume down and the old Gibsons do. The Nantuckets are ballsy with a deep twang, and they're great for slide and blues.

  https://imgur.com/f9IM7g9

• Duncan Antiquity in Bernie Marsden. Antiquitys are a lower wind PAF than 57/08’s. There's more space or breath in the note and they're a nice change of pace when you want a different PAF sound that’s more open and a little brighter and clearer than the 57/08. MEDIA=imgur]rhjJgJm[/MEDIA]
• Wolfetone Marshallheads in Bernie Marsden. I prefer the alnico 2 Marshallheads but Wolfe prefers alnico 5 and that's what he shipped me. I put them in a PRS Bernie Marsden but the treble was too sizzley and I wasn't hearing the thick honk in the mids that I like. So I replaced the polished A5 magnets with roughcast alnico 2 and WHAT a transformation! Strong, thick PAF tone with crunch on top. These are not a heavy metal pickup. They're a strong PAF like the 57/08's and in terms of tone they're between the Antiquitys more open and airy voice and the deeper, thicker, denser midrange voice of the 57/08's. The treble is more textured and a little grainy with the Marshallheads, but in a crunchy Marshall sort of way. They make me want to put on the Eric Clapton/John Mayall Beano CD and jam with the Bluesbreakers. MEDIA=imgur]0Hpxfiw[/MEDIA]
• Chubtone '61 and El Gordo in my SE Silver Skys. The stock pickups in the SE Silver Sky are very good, but I like the pickups in the Core Silver Sky better. Duncan Antiquity Surfers got me very close but the SE SS has a flatter fingerboard radius than the Surfers raised polepieces. Then I discovered Chubtone pickups. I put a set of the 61's and a set of the El Gordos in my two SE Silver Skys and they're great for everything: Mark Knopfler tones, Hendrix tones, SRV tones...The Chubtone 61's have three identical pickups like the Silver Sky so the bridge pickup is the same pickup as the neck pickup. The El Gordos are slightly overwound compared to the 61's and have a hotter bridge pickup.

  https://imgur.com/GUE2f22

 

[Revelation]

I don't think I could remember how the old pickups sounded like unless I could A/B them quickly against each other. Perhaps record one sample and then the other. Even when I compare my Silver Sky to my Fender Strat, for me personally, without A/B them, it's too hard for me to hear the differences and understand what is similar and different

 

[BrianC]

I have not, much to my dismay, found a PRS pup that speaks to me.

Loved the HFS and when the 5708 came out I thought that might be THE ONE. Love the clarity but it was not hot enough for me.

The Suhr Aldrich pups give me the best of both. Heat and clarity. They are rated high on DCR but it is deceiving. They do clean and edge of break up very well. Priced friendly as well.

I got some 5815's recently. They are pretty close, but much more like a hot PAF. This sounds great on paper but they just lack the mids needed.

 

[AZGiant]

Thought I'd share some keepers.

My favorites overall remain PRS pickups: the 57/08's and the Dragon 1's.

But the BKP Abraxas humbuckers, BKP Nantucket P90's, and the Alnico 2 Wolfetone Marshallheads impressed me too!

• PRS 57/08 in Bernie Marsden. My favorite PAF pickup for full, thick 1957 PAF tones. Most of my 57/08's remind me of a slightly higher output version of Duane’s Allman Brothers tone. But some 57/08's are slightly lower in output, as were some old Gibson PAF's. Keepers!
• 
  
• PRS Dragon 1’s in my '97 CE22. Still my favorite Hard Rock pickup set. The neck Dragon 1 sounds like a ’59 PAF and the bridge pickup is hot, thick and full. Perfect for soaring, overdriven guitar hero solos. Keepers!
• 
  
• Brass Knuckle Abraxas in '00 CE22. These have alnico 4 magnets. I didn't try 57/08's in this guitar, but the Abraxas sound better to me than any other set I did try in it. A little hotter and more modern than a 57/08 set but I can use these Abraxas pickups to play any style I’m comfortable with playing. Get’s thick overdriven sounds that maintain note separation, and nice Jeff Beck whammy bar sounds. To split them, I use the "partial split" method (1.1K and 2.2K resistors) and the bridge pickup gets a beefy single coil sound while the neck sounds more like a Strat when split. Keepers!
• Brass Knuckle Nantucket P90's. I have these in my PRS SE Soapbar. They're not humcancelling but they're very quiet for a single coil and they get a great sound. Not quite as much of that sassy howl or growl as an old Gibson P90 but they don't get muddy when I turn the volume down and the old Gibsons do. The Nantuckets are ballsy with a nice twang, and yes, they'll do Mississippi Queen. Keepers!
• 
  
• Duncan Antiquity in Bernie Marsden. Lower wind than 57/08’s. Cleaner. More air. Nice change of pace when you want a different PAF sound that’s more open and jazzier than the 57/08. Not as hot as the 57/08's but they're Keepers!
• 
  
• Wolfetone Marshallheads in Bernie Marsden. At first I wasn't sure about these. I wanted the alnico 2 version but Wolfe prefers alnico 5 and that's what he shipped me. I put them in a SE Singlecut while waiting for Bernie Marsden #4 to arrive and they didn't sound great with in that thin body SE Singlecut. Too gritty, grainy, sizzley...so I put roughcast alnico 2 magnets in them and waited for Bernie #4 to show up. The Marshallheads sound very different pickup in the thick bodied Bernie Marsden! A little more raw and aggressive compared to the 57/08's but a really good British Blues and Rock tone. The alnico 2 version is a little looser, thicker and more touch sensitive compared to the alnico 5 version of the Marshallheads that Wolfe prefers. I get terrific pinch harmonics through a Hot Cake pedal. These are a nice alternative to the 57/08's, especially if you want something a little more raw and aggressive for that hot humbuckers through an overdriven Marshall tone. Keepers!
• 
  
• Chubtone '61 and El Gordo in my SE Silver Skys. The stock pickups are really good in the SE Silver Sky but I wanted the sound of the Core Silver Sky, of my brother's '62 Strat and of my own '63 Strat. Duncan Antiquity Surfers got me very close to the '62 sound but then I discovered Chubtone pickups and put the '61 set and slightly hotter El Gordo set in my two SE Silver Skys. The Chubtones have a fuller and smoother tone than usual. My favorite early 60's pickups have a warmish but glassy chime to the treble, and a slight bark to the mids, and I look for that in a replacement pickup. The El Gordos have a stronger bridge pickup. The Chubtone 61's have three identical pickups like the Silver Sky so the bridge pickup is the same pickup as the neck pickup. Just like they were made in the 50's and 60's. Keepers! So are the Surfers.

The one thing I always think about is I purchased my Bernie because of the work done at PRS to build the thing, and make it have that sound. Changing pickups would defeat that, no? I have thought about it but just do not want to pull the trigger on Bernie as it was built to "mimic" the beast

 

[Lewguitar]

The one thing I always think about is I purchased my Bernie because of the work done at PRS to build the thing, and make it have that sound. Changing pickups would defeat that, no? I have thought about it but just do not want to pull the trigger on Bernie as it was built to "mimic" the beast

I don't think the Korean made 245 pickups were made to mimic the pickups in the Beast. They don't sound like a real PAF. That's where the Bernie Marsden falls short, IMO.

But PRS 57/08's really will make your Bernie Marsden sound like a 50's LP.

They're my favorite PAF style pickup.

 

[László]

Seems to me that pickups can't be evaluated in a vacuum. There's a gestalt happening with guitar, player, amp and pickup. A great pickup for one guitar isn't necessarily a great pickup for another. The match between all of these elements has to be right.

Here's an example: I had a 594 humbucker model, and really dug the 58/15 LTs in it. They sounded perfect in that context.

But I felt it was a little too close to my McCarty Singlecut in tone, so I got a WL McCarty with 58/15 LTs instead, thinking that oughta make things different enough.

It did make things different! But I didn't like the result as much.

My favorite pickup of all time is the 57/08. But I like having different tones in each guitar, so the McCarty Singlecut is the only one I have with them.

 

[Lewguitar]

Seems to me that pickups can't be evaluated in a vacuum. There's a gestalt happening with guitar, player, amp and pickup. A great pickup for one guitar isn't necessarily a great pickup for another. The match between all of these elements has to be right.

Here's an example: I had a 594 humbucker model, and really dug the 58/15 LTs in it. They sounded perfect in that context.

But I felt it was a little too close to my McCarty Singlecut in tone, so I got a WL McCarty with 58/15 LTs instead, thinking that oughta make things different enough.

It did make things different! But I didn't like the result as much.

My favorite pickup of all time is the 57/08. But I like having different tones in each guitar, so the McCarty Singlecut is the only one I have with them.

For me, the Bernies are the perfect LP style guitar. I love the weight, the round neck shape, the frets and the scale. I might degloss the finish on the neck of one someday.

I upgraded the wrap around tailpieces and added locking tuners. Brass bridge saddles on all. Definitely improves the tone a little bit.

Two have PRS 57/08's. One has Duncan Antiquitys. One has Wolfetone Alnico 2 Marshallheads.

All similar alnico 2 pickups with similar specs but of course all four pickup sets and all four guitars sound different.

Like owning four 50's LP's.

 

[Prina]

I might degloss the finish on the neck of one someday.

One of my SE245's (same neck as the Bernies except for the fretboard binding) came that way. The finish is more comfortable than the still glossy '11 Stripped 58 and even a little better than the worn nitro on a half century old LP.

Knowing how you like to tweak, it may be hard to stop.

 

[Going Modal]

Nice report, Lew! That reminds me, I've just ordered and will soon try some Seymour Duncan '59 Model & Duncan Custom in an early (2001) PRS Santana SE guitar that I recently "acquired." Will have to chime in with my findings there.

 

[László]

Like owning four 50's LP's.

That'd be three too many '50s LPs for me!

 

[Alan Jurgens]

How do you think 57/08’s would sound in a westie

 

[Lewguitar]

T

How do you think 57/08’s would sound in a westie

With a vibrato? I don't know. I don't know how the vibrato and its springs would affect the tone.

I'd like to try a set of 57/08's in my '00 CE22 but I'm very happy with the Bare Knuckle Abraxas pickups it has now and don't want to change it.

I have only had the 57/08's in my Stripped 58 and Bernie Marsdens.

Haven't heard them in a guitar with a vibrato.

 

[Jbyrd78]

The Suhr Aldrich pups give me the best of both. Heat and clarity. They are rated high on DCR but it is deceiving. They do clean and edge of break up very well. Priced friendly as well

I'm really loving my 85/15's I have in my 2018 & 2023 Custom 24's and my \m/ Metal pickups in my Singlecut's.

Have you tried Suhr Thornbucker's in any PRS's? I have a set sitting on the shelf that I'm contemplating trying out in my 1998 Custom 24.

 

[helmi]

Do you mean BARE knuckles pickups?

 

[SinSir]

How do you think 57/08’s would sound in a westie

Killer. 5708 are just fine with a trem..

 

[Longneck Tenon]

I have not, much to my dismay, found a PRS pup that speaks to me.

Loved the HFS and when the 5708 came out I thought that might be THE ONE. Love the clarity but it was not hot enough for me.

The Suhr Aldrich pups give me the best of both. Heat and clarity. They are rated high on DCR but it is deceiving. They do clean and edge of break up very well. Priced friendly as well.

I got some 5815's recently. They are pretty close, but much more like a hot PAF. This sounds great on paper but they just lack the mids needed.

I have the 58/15S pickups in my McCarty 594SE. Compared to the Burstbuckers in my Les Paul they seem pretty tame! They actually remind me more of a P90, which I kind of like. Has PRS ever made an unpotted Humbucker pickup?

 

[László]

With a vibrato? I don't know.

I had them in a limited run CU22 Semi Hollow around 2011. The guitar had a trem, It sounded great.

Being a semi-hollow, it doesn't necessarily speak to how it'd sound with a solid body/trem combination. I'd bet on the 57/08s sounding quite good, though.

 

[Lewguitar]

Nice report, Lew! That reminds me, I've just ordered and will soon try some Seymour Duncan '59 Model & Duncan Custom in an early (2001) PRS Santana SE guitar that I recently "acquired." Will have to chime in with my findings there.

Thanks.

You can also use a 59B as a neck pickup and it'll sound fine if you're using a HOT bridge humbucker like a JB or Duncan Custom.

Sometimes using a 59B as a neck pickup balances better with the volume of the bridge pickup.