Bridge studs replacement and new pickups for Custom 22 2007

Popolloh

Popolloh

New Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2013
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Hi everyone, this is my first post to the forum. I recently bought a Custom 22 2007. It feels like a dream but the pickus are not of my particular liking. they are the dragon II and seem very dark and not chimey. I play through a Vox AC30 HW with greenbacks. Anyone uses Vox amps with their PRS? I am thinking of throwing some Burstbuckers in the 22 to get more chime that the lower output pickups have. Also I think they are brighter and possibly a better fit for my taste. Apart from that, the previous owner of the 22 dented the studs of the bridge horribly. I am looking for a replacement of the studs only since i LOVE! the bridge and all though many people say it throws intonation off if you change to heavier gauges, I have it set with .11s and it plays very well and stays intonated. The stud change is only a cosmetic thing. I am also wondering what is a good product to get the nickel hardware back to its original shine since it has faded in certain spots due to use.
Thanks,
Edgar
 
Thanks for the reply! They only offer the whole bridge system. Not the studs by themselves if I am not mistaken.
 
Has anyone changed the Dragon II pickups for something brighter? I'm looking for a little more bight on the treble and high mids.
 
FWIW ;)
I have a P22 with the 53/10's playing thru a Mesa TA-30 - the voicing I use the most is "Top Boost" - their version of an AC30. I like the 53/10's, they are pretty bright with that amp but I wouldn't say they have a lot of "bite". They are smooth and warm with a "clean" amp. If I want more bite, I kick on my OCD and dig in a little more with the right hand.
 
Thanks for the reply. Have you compared the 53/10's to any of the Gibson pups? I am new to PRS but I have been playing Gibson LP's for some time now and I noticed how the Custom 22 was a lot warmer with my AC30HW. The overdrive seems to have a lot less clarity. The Dragons work great for Hi gain I noticed but for the AC30 they seem to be super modern and sterile. So i am deffinetly looking for a brighter set of pups. Thanks
 
Popolloh said:
Thanks for the reply. Have you compared the 53/10's to any of the Gibson pups? I am new to PRS but I have been playing Gibson LP's for some time now and I noticed how the Custom 22 was a lot warmer with my AC30HW. The overdrive seems to have a lot less clarity. The Dragons work great for Hi gain I noticed but for the AC30 they seem to be super modern and sterile. So i am deffinetly looking for a brighter set of pups. Thanks
Click to expand...

I have 3 LP's. I'd say all three bridge pu's are "hotter" but don't have the note definition of the 53/10's. That said, the stock PU's in my R9 are pretty dang nice...

I'm not looking to swap out the 53/10's - I think they cover anything for smooth jazz type tones to Rock/Blues tones pretty well and go nice with the Piezo. I can always get "dirty" with a pedal. Harder to clean up if the PU is too hot.

It's so much how you hear them... hard to say if you would like them "better" than what you have...

You might find something you like from Chris's Demo's?:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
HFS sounds like a good idea. But after watching this video I think I might try a distortion box with the my 22 Before I try swapping anything. Rango, I noticed that the CU22 is a lot more cleaner than my lp which I thought was a bad thing (for my crunch tones) but now rethinking about it and considering your comment and watching the video I think maybe I could use that cleaner and boost it. I ordered my new bridge stubs so I'm going to wait until they get here and try some boxes before I change pickups. Thanks a lot guys!
 
You might try 59/09s or 57/08s, to get a bit closer to your LP tones. I've been a PRS player for about 22 years, and to my ear the 5x/0x series of pickups are much more my taste than their earlier pickups.

Also -- you're probably already doing this, but I'll say it just for grins -- with a PRS it's a good idea to set the amp up a little differently than you may be used to. Because the volume and tone controls are among the better ones out there, set the amp to taste with the volume and tone controls rolled back a little. I usually do it at around 6 on the knobs, but it's a personal thing. Anyway, this allows you to get more gain and brightness when you need it just from the guitar's knobs, and it's a good idea to be able to vary that brightness and gain while you're playing.

A lot of players set an amp up with the guitar's controls all the way up, and that's OK, but you're missing out on what a PRS can do.
 
This is great advice, I didn't mess much with the amp when I got my PRS. I basically left it the same and noticed it was harder to get what I wanted. I did notice however that the volume and tone knob worked A LOT better than the ones in my LPs. I will try setting the amp for more gain and maybe this "opens" the pickups more if that makes sense and use my volume knob to get cleaner. I cant crank my amp until Wednesday when I practice with the band. But I will definetly be more open about using the volume knob more and setting the amp a little hotter. Thanks for the posts everyone. I think I'm starting to understand PRS a little bit.

 
I use Meguiar's liquid cleaner/wax on the bright work on all my guitars. I also use it on the necks and bodies of my polycoated guitars. It's easy to use, and gentle enogh so that it won't scratch, or wear through platings. It's the red bottle.
 
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