Have you upgraded your S2 pickups?

[SinSir]

With all the grief the 57/08's gave me getting them in phase, etc., in my Bernie Marsden, I decided to upgrade the pots since they'd been soldered and unsoldered to many times.

I tested my stash of CTS 500K pots and found a few that measured 525K.

Those are what I used to upgrade the pots in my Bernie.

And guess what? It sounds "better". Clearer. Stronger.

525K sounds "better" to me than the 500K or less that the original Alpha pots were.

I suspect there was some of that going on for me too, soldering and soldering, and more stable or accurate values with pots and cap. I didn't measure values before and after.

 

[68reissue]

Nope. Love the 85/15s pickups on both my S2s.

 

[Xtcclassic]

I replaced the pickups in both my Velas. The first one because as much as I loved the sound of the stock pickups, I needed just a bit “more” from the bridge pickup (went with a TVJ Power’Tron) and a bit more chime from the neck pickup (replaced with a K-Line Firebird). This accomplished what I was trying to do, just tweaking the guitar tone more to my liking while retaining the vibe of the guitar as it was designed. As for the other one, I had a set of Harmonic Design Z-90’s that I LOVED which had no home at the time, and I became obsessed with the idea of getting a second Vela in satin black and just murdering it out with the Z-90’s and replacement pickguard and knobs. Pretty silly reason to buy a new guitar (coulda just sold the pickups ) but I imagine most of us in this community have a tenuous grip on rationality when it comes to gear so I’m sure you’ll all understand. ‍

 

[darkbluemurder]

I replaced the 58/15S in my S2 Standard 24 with a DiMarzio Bluesbucker in the neck and a Duncan 59/Custom bridge in the bridge. The pickups are oriented so that the stronger coil is on the inside. I added another push pull pot for the volume pot. The push pull on the tone pot puts the bridge pickup in parallel. The push pull on the volume splits the neck pickup and puts the bridge pickup in sincle coil mode. That gives me the following options:

1) Blade switch treble, both pots in = bridge humbucker series, humcancelling
2) Blade switch treble, tone pot pulled = bridge humbucker parallel, humcancelling (a Gretschy tone)
3) Blade switch treble, both pots pulled = bridge pickup neckside coil
4) Blade switch middle, both pots in = both humbuckers, humcancelling
5) Blade switch middle, tone pot pulled = bridge humbucker parallel, neck humbucker, humcancelling (a bit brighter than both humbuckers), humcancelling
6) Blade switch middle, vol. pot pulled = bridge humbucker, neck humbucker bridgeside coil
7) Blade switch middle, both pots pulled = inside coils of both pickups, humcancelling (strat like in-between tone)
8) Blade switch bass, both pots in = neck humbucker series, humcancelling
9) Blade switch bass, vol. pot pulled = neck pickup bridgeside coil

Probably not the quickest to switch positions on stage but it gives me the tones that are most important to me (1, 2, 7 and 9 - I don't know of any other set up that gives me both 2 and 7).

Cheers Stephan

 

[spawnofthesith]

Nope, I love the stock pickups in my Vela. Was part of the appeal of the guitar

 

[Credible_Hulk]

I just replaced the pickups in my S2 594 with a set of Duncan Saturday Night Specials and I'm very happy with them. I have the same kind of pickups in a 2001 Santana SE also.

 

[Lewguitar]

I've been using Wolfetones for a while now and have experimented with almost all of them, including custom winds, in lots of different guitars and woods. I have nothing but praise to say about Wolfe. Probably the nicest and most knowledgeable guy to deal with, plus an excellent product and service. His pickups sound good in probably every guitar I've tried. If I've been looking for a specific sound all I have to do is drop him a line and go with his recommendation.

For the 594, I'd highly recommend the Dr V. (Dr Vintage) If you like a little more sizzle go with the MH (Marshallhead) in the bridge instead of Dr V, but absolutely keep the Dr V in the neck. One of my favorite neck pickups, especially in a singlecut.

The Alnico 2 Wolfetone Marshallheads have become a favorite pickup set for me.

Didn't try a Dr. Vintage neck pickup first because the Marshallheads have the same DCR as 57/08's and I wanted to see how close i could get to the sound of 57/08's by swapping the stock Alnico 5 magnets in the Wolfetones with roughcast Alnico 2 magnets from AddictionFX.

I much prefer the Marshallheads with Alnico 2. With Alnico 5 they're brighter, more raw, sizzley and aggressive. Not a bad thing, just not the sound I'm aft

After doing the magnet swap the Marshallheads DO have similarities to the 57/08's. But they're different. Maybe not as thick in the lower mids? Not quite as spongey/compressed in the bass.

Hard to put into words. Mostly they sound like another GREAT PAF replica pickup with a cool tone that I really enjoy using.

The Marshallheads are wound a little hotter than a typical PAF: 8.2K and 9K. That's also about what the newer 57/08's measure.

The 57/08's remain my favorites. They have my favorite sound and i have them in three guitars.

But it's great to have choices!

 

[Paladin]

I bought my used but mint 2014 S2 Custom 22 off Craigslist with already upgraded pickups.

The original owner swapped the stock #7 pups for a Seymour Duncan Hot Rodded Set - Jazz neck and JB bridge. I never heard the original #7 pickups in this guitar, but the SD Jazz and JB pups sound fantastic. Also, the coil split in the middle position is awesome for convincing single coil tones.

 

[SinSir]

The Marshallheads are wound a little hotter than a typical PAF: 8.2K and 9K. That's also about what the newer 57/08's measure.

It's funny, I used to scratch my hheada little when you'd compare the MH and 5708, but now it makes sense. You are comparing it to the current 5708, and in my head I was thinking the old version.

Here's some readings of my favorite Wolfetones:

DrV neck- 7.59
DrV bridge- 8.03
MH bridge- 9.02
Kauer bridge- 8.61

 

[dogrocketp]

One of my best friends is also my luthier, and has been a Band mate of mine at times. Phil always says to check the pots before a pickup change. Both of us believe that changing the pots can greatly influence the pickup sounds. I had an SE custom 24 that had the pots all changed to 550k with the original pickups. It was like taking a blanket off the guitar sound. Unfortunately, it was the only PRS I ever played that actually made my left hand hurt. Somebody bought it and got a really fine guitar.

 

[Sybo]

I have 5 S2s as well...changed pups in 2 of 3 Standard 22s.....jb/59 in one and bk Mules in another...one stock and Vela and Mira stock..

I bought my used but mint 2014 S2 Custom 22 off Craigslist with already upgraded pickups.

The original owner swapped the stock #7 pups for a Seymour Duncan Hot Rodded Set - Jazz neck and JB bridge. I never heard the original #7 pickups in this guitar, but the SD Jazz and JB pups sound fantastic. Also, the coil split in the middle position is awesome for convincing single coil tones.

Lovely