Custom 24 - Feeling Uninspired

SweetSwitch

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Apr 18, 2022
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Hey everyone. Longtime reader of this forum but this is my first post.

I have a 2011 Cu24. It came with a Vintage Bass/HFS and 3-way toggle with push-pull. It has served me very well.

Things I love about it are: Bridge pickup with some gain, the trem, the playability, the neck.

Things I don't love are: all pickup positions with a clean sound and the split sounds.

I have a Silver Sky and a Les Paul that have absolutely spoiled me. All the tones from those guitars are immaculate. But I'm becoming very frustrated with my Custom since there is only 1 usable tone. It is a must that I have a humbucker and trem-equipped guitar in my arsenal, and I'd hate to give up on my Custom. I have replaced the HFS with a 59/09 (the HFS was way too hot and midrange-heavy for me) and I put in a rotary to get those Stratty 2 and 4 position tones...but it is still falling short.

Any advice to salvage the relationship with my CU24?
 
Have you played with pickup height? PRS pickups can be pretty sensitive to that.

I replaced the VB/HFS set in my CU24 with the re-released T&B set from a few years back. Gave me much of that early PRS sound I felt was lacking before.

Personally, I'm a big fan of the 57/08s, \m/s, and 85/15s. The \m/ might sound like an odd suggestion given that you considered the HFS too hot, but to my ears, it's a much clearer-sounding pickup. It cleans up very nicely and is far from a one-trick pony. The other two are more to the lower output side, but can bring some heft when pushed. All that said, I've never played any of them in a CU24, so take that for what it's worth.
 
I agree play with the height. Maybe add a 59/09 or 57/08 in the neck too? I have 59/09 in my Cu24 and wouldn't even think about swapping them.
 
I agree play with the height. Maybe add a 59/09 or 57/08 in the neck too? I have 59/09 in my Cu24 and wouldn't even think about swapping them.
The 59/09 was a huge improvement for sure. But I still don't like the split sound. And the drop in volume is crazy.
 
EQ pedal (if you don't already have one) it helped me with a couple of PRS'S that I didn't originally bond with
 
Are using a restistor for less volume drop?
I did try that...installed them per the wiring diagram and never could get it working. One leg to the middle lug of the push-pull and the other grounded, right?

Even with these in place, when I split the 59/09 I was getting around 4.5k....a very weak sounding single coil.
 
EQ pedal (if you don't already have one) it helped me with a couple of PRS'S that I didn't originally bond with
Makes sense, but I don't like the thought of having to use an extra piece of gear to make this guitar palatable while I love my others as they are.
 
I did try that...installed them per the wiring diagram and never could get it working. One leg to the middle lug of the push-pull and the other grounded, right?

Even with these in place, when I split the 59/09 I was getting around 4.5k....a very weak sounding single coil.
My 59/09 sound great split from the factory. When I have my amp dialed in for a strat they surprise my how stratlike they can sound. Obviously not the same but still a good sound.
 
I don't know about retro-fitting the Core narrow-coil Pauls Guitar pickups into full-size humbucker rings, but they're completely satisfying whether humbucking or split. And obviously the SE Paul's Pickups would fit in your rings - and they're really really good. (Also easily available, whereas the Core Paul's Pickups are pretty much unobtainable.)

The 58/15s aren't far behind the PG pups in full and satisfying split tones.
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I've had guitars that required EQ pedals to sound right. I either changed the pickups or got rid of the guitars. I get mildly sculpting a guitar's native tone with some gentle EQ, but if I have to carry an EQ pedal to use a guitar, something is very wrong. Especially with an expensive guitar of the PRS reputation. If a PRS required more than the amp's and the guitar's own tone knobs to sound right, I'd wonder why I had that PRS.
 
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