Do you think PRS makes their best pickups now or in prior years?

[Simon Says]

The 85/15s in my CU24 sound great, too. They work really well with the instrument's other qualities. They're also vintage-y enough for my taste, but not so vintage that the thinner body on the CU24 works against it.

They strike a perfect balance in that guitar.

Terrific pickups, if you ask me.

Yeah, I see them as a perfect medium between vintage enough and modern. The signal sits just in the middle. The bridge pickup has that fast lows response I value in modern constructed pickups, very even tonally without favouring any specific frequencies, still harmonically solid and hearable. The neck in HB mode is a bit gummy. When Paul calls the neck pickup Bass, he means it. I like neck pickups brighter and more articulated, and this magic happens when it's in split. I don't see the split neck as a single-coil. I see it as a flavour of an HB, precisely the qualities I like in the neck pickups. Most of the time, when I play clean, I have it in a split. When I kick in gain and octafuzz; it's HB.

So not perfect, but the nearest to perfect I ever had.

 

[davesultra]

Of all the PRS pickups I’ve tried/used over the years, my favorites have been the 58/15 LT and the original Dragon pickups. The others I’ve tried didn’t move me much. However, there are still a few I’ve never tried.

 

[Rider1260]

Love the pickups I have in all my guitars at the moment.

Like every manufacture PRS had some really nice pickups and some that missed that mark for me.

I believe I have a perfect mix between new and older

These include

McCartys set in a CU22 - warm pickups in a bright guitar
Mira Set in a Single Cut Trem - Brighter pickups in a darker guitar
VB/HFS in a CU24 - Great splits and the extra gear of the HFS drives my amps crazy.
513s in "well" a 513
57/08 , 59/09 in a DC 22 ( I do wish I could find a covered 59/09 neck pickup !!!!)
DGT in a DGT
408s in a 408
JM636 from 18,19 just right for me.
Fiore - grows on me the more I part them.
58/15MT perfect in a SSH LTD
Narrowfields - a mini humbucker only better
Whatever pickups are in my Hollowbody 1 , its sound better than I remember my Hollow Body 2

Honorable mention

Dragon 2 Neck pickup

 

[László]

Yeah, I see them as a perfect medium between vintage enough and modern. The signal sits just in the middle. The bridge pickup has that fast lows response I value in modern constructed pickups, very even tonally without favouring any specific frequencies, still harmonically solid and hearable. The neck in HB mode is a bit gummy. When Paul calls the neck pickup Bass, he means it. I like neck pickups brighter and more articulated, and this magic happens when it's in split. I don't see the split neck as a single-coil. I see it as a flavour of an HB, precisely the qualities I like in the neck pickups. Most of the time, when I play clean, I have it in a split. When I kick in gain and octafuzz; it's HB.

So not perfect, but the nearest to perfect I ever had.

I bought one of the limited run 30th PS models. Instead of coil splits, the tone knob pulls up and engages a Sweet Switch. So I can't split 'em.

However, there are slightly different woods on the guitar - African ribbon mahogany on the back, and Madagascar Rosewood on the fretboard - so I suppose it might sound just a bit different, anyway.

I like the neck pickup and don't find it too bassy, BUT...

The first pedal on my board is the Pettyjohn Lift preamp (also a buffer, active EQ and boost, with each EQ switchable to be always on, or on only with the boost).

On my board, the low-cut EQ is always on. I like to cut the low end just a little so the guitars sit in the mix better, and don't interfere with the bass and kick drum tracks. The filter has a very gradual slope, so nothing's drastic. It just sounds good.

I also have their EQ pedal, the Filter, and I use that to boost highs and cut lows even more when I feel a track really needs to cut through a mix. It also helps the Lone Star feel a little more like a Fender Twin when I want that vibe.

So that's probably another reason the neck pickup works for me, though I did have the guitar for several years before I got the pedals.

I also tend to set the bass low on my amps. My carpeted room absorbs a lot of high frequency sound, so less bass is 'more'!

 

[veinbuster]

I don’t have any less than 10 years old so can’t comment on new. I haven’t gotten rid of anything because I wasn’t happy with the pickups.

 

[AP515]

That said I'd love to try some original Dragons.

If you ever make it to NC, I'll have you play a guitar with a set. You'll love it.

 

[dmatthews]

If you ever make it to NC, I'll have you play a guitar with a set. You'll love it.

Fantastic!

 

[Kiwi]

Oh. the more recent pickups are way, way better.

I've told the folks at TGP (which started life as The PRS Forum, but that never stops the PRS bashing) that PRS long ago fixed the last valid objection to PRS guitars: The pickups. I've owned a bunch of Core PRS models since the late 1990s and that was my only complaint.

Not any more. The 57/08s are wonderful. The 59/09s were a little hot for my taste but still great. The late, much-lamented 53/10s are now classics, though made of unobtainium. I totally dig the 58/15s in my 594 semi-hollow.

I never liked the 1990s/2000s stock PRS McCarty or the McCarty Archtop pickups. Doesn't matter now - PRS makes terrific pickups these days.

=K

 

[Lewguitar]

Love the pickups I have in all my guitars at the moment.

Like every manufacture PRS had some really nice pickups and some that missed that mark for me.

I believe I have a perfect mix between new and older

These include

McCartys set in a CU22 - warm pickups in a bright guitar
Mira Set in a Single Cut Trem - Brighter pickups in a darker guitar
VB/HFS in a CU24 - Great splits and the extra gear of the HFS drives my amps crazy.
513s in "well" a 513
57/08 , 59/09 in a DC 22 ( I do wish I could find a covered 59/09 neck pickup !!!!)
DGT in a DGT
408s in a 408
JM636 from 18,19 just right for me.
Fiore - grows on me the more I part them.
58/15MT perfect in a SSH LTD
Narrowfields - a mini humbucker only better
Whatever pickups are in my Hollowbody 1 , its sound better than I remember my Hollow Body 2

Honorable mention

Dragon 2 Neck pickup

Cool list.

The Dragon II neck pickup is probably the same pickup as the Dragon I neck pickup.

Putting a nickel cover on a pickup reduces the treble and bass a little according to Paul Reed Smith himself.

So the Dragon I is uncovered and the Dragon 2 is covered and the cover makes them sound like slightly different pickups.

 

[gush]

There are PRS pickups i love and hate from both eras.

My tone requirements change all the time too so it makes it hard to stay firm with my opinions on which ones I like or not.

I must add that my frustrations have increased as of late.

 

[Jimmy]

The 85/15s in my CU24 sound great, too. They work really well with the instrument's other qualities. They're also vintage-y enough for my taste, but not so vintage that the thinner body on the CU24 works against it.

They strike a perfect balance in that guitar.

Terrific pickups, if you ask me.

I love the 85/15s as well. I prefer them over the more vintage voiced 58/15s. I just don't care for the... hint of honk, or whatever that sweet coloring is that's in the 58/15s.

 

[Lewguitar]

"Do you think PRS makes their best pickups now or in prior years?"​

In general Now.

But they should bring back the Dragon I's.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Don't know much about the current pickups, but the internet had me all concerned about the Dragon IIs in the CU22 I was picking up.

Turns out the Dragon IIs are some of my favorite pickups ever




I know the pickups in my Vela aren't "real" PRS pickups and a lot of people don't like those either, but I also think they are pretty great sounding.

Moral of the story for me, is don't buy into everything you read on the internet lol

 

[JimPridx]

I never liked the 1990s/2000s stock PRS McCarty or the McCarty Archtop pickups. Doesn't matter now - PRS makes terrific pickups these days.

=K

Yeah, I sold a few perfectly good McCartys because I didn't care for the pickups. Of course, I could've swapped them out, and I've since discovered that the 57/08s sound great in those older models. But hey, all is good now!

 

[Mark Ray]

Overall, I think they are making their best at this point.

EXCEPT FOR DRAGON 1'S!!!

PAUL, PLEASE START MAKING DRAGON 1'S AGAIN!!!

 

[davesultra]

Overall, I think they are making their best at this point.

EXCEPT FOR DRAGON 1'S!!!

PAUL, PLEASE START MAKING DRAGON 1'S AGAIN!!!

I concur!!!

 

[Lewguitar]

Overall, I think they are making their best at this point.

EXCEPT FOR DRAGON 1'S!!!

PAUL, PLEASE START MAKING DRAGON 1'S AGAIN!!!

Me three!

 

[Max Headroom]

No mention of early/ mid eighties T&B pup's?
I can't be the only one who dearly loves the sound of his 85 Standard 24?

 

[gush]

No mention of early/ mid eighties T&B pup's?
I can't be the only one who dearly loves the sound of his 85 Standard 24?

Oh yes. Love stamped T and B pickups. Not sure why he went away from those?

 

[gush]

Overall, I think they are making their best at this point.

EXCEPT FOR DRAGON 1'S!!!

PAUL, PLEASE START MAKING DRAGON 1'S AGAIN!!!

I simply can't support this. It would only make the D1s that live in my parts drawer worth less...............