Hi everyone,
as apparently anybody around, I’ve been hating the HFS tone in my 2004 PRS Custom 24, too. Most of all, I found it mid-scooped, maybe too “modern”sounding, with too much bass and a hint of harshness in the treble I couldn’t get rid of by simply setting the pickup and polepieces height.
A few years ago I bought a couple Alnico magnets (2 and 5) and did some experiments: the Alnico 2 was too weak, and dark in a 15.9k pickup like my HFS; the Alnico 5 was definitely an improvement, but in the end it still was a little scooped for my tastes/style and it didn’t encourage me playing my Custom 24 over my other guitars. I then decided to buy a Dragon 2 bridge pickup, as it is a more traditional pickup, with an Alnico 4 magnet and medium output. It also was the most rational choice, as it was the stock bridge pickup in the Custom 22 model, so I was happy to keep the PRS “philosophy”. The PRS Dragon 2 revealed to be a great choice, it’s been sitting in my Custom 24 for the last 5 years and it’s not going to be replaced.
Recently, I remembered I had the unused HFS in my drawer which could deserve some little more experiment. After reading and watching some YouTube videos, I came to the conclusion that an Alnico 4 magnet could be the missing element I didn’t include in my experiments years ago: it seems to be the higher output version of the Alnico 2, with sweet and strong “classic” mids without the output weakness. So I bought one from eBay (from China…) and installed it.
I put the Alnico 4 equipped HFS in a cheap Yamaha guitar I use for testing and experimenting and… wow, the Alnico 4 magnet definitely restored the missing mids in the HFS! The output level is good and there’s no harshness nor dullness. There’s a good deal of vocal oomph the stock ceramic HFS had always missed.
I don’t want to mess with my Custom 24 again, but I must admit I’m almost tempted to try it there. I probably won’t do it just because I wouldn’t be able to do any quick A/B test, being the same guitar.
Mmm, now I have to find a good guitar where I can put it and keep it!
as apparently anybody around, I’ve been hating the HFS tone in my 2004 PRS Custom 24, too. Most of all, I found it mid-scooped, maybe too “modern”sounding, with too much bass and a hint of harshness in the treble I couldn’t get rid of by simply setting the pickup and polepieces height.
A few years ago I bought a couple Alnico magnets (2 and 5) and did some experiments: the Alnico 2 was too weak, and dark in a 15.9k pickup like my HFS; the Alnico 5 was definitely an improvement, but in the end it still was a little scooped for my tastes/style and it didn’t encourage me playing my Custom 24 over my other guitars. I then decided to buy a Dragon 2 bridge pickup, as it is a more traditional pickup, with an Alnico 4 magnet and medium output. It also was the most rational choice, as it was the stock bridge pickup in the Custom 22 model, so I was happy to keep the PRS “philosophy”. The PRS Dragon 2 revealed to be a great choice, it’s been sitting in my Custom 24 for the last 5 years and it’s not going to be replaced.
Recently, I remembered I had the unused HFS in my drawer which could deserve some little more experiment. After reading and watching some YouTube videos, I came to the conclusion that an Alnico 4 magnet could be the missing element I didn’t include in my experiments years ago: it seems to be the higher output version of the Alnico 2, with sweet and strong “classic” mids without the output weakness. So I bought one from eBay (from China…) and installed it.
I put the Alnico 4 equipped HFS in a cheap Yamaha guitar I use for testing and experimenting and… wow, the Alnico 4 magnet definitely restored the missing mids in the HFS! The output level is good and there’s no harshness nor dullness. There’s a good deal of vocal oomph the stock ceramic HFS had always missed.
I don’t want to mess with my Custom 24 again, but I must admit I’m almost tempted to try it there. I probably won’t do it just because I wouldn’t be able to do any quick A/B test, being the same guitar.
Mmm, now I have to find a good guitar where I can put it and keep it!
