Hollowbody Pickups - Archtop Voiced or 57/08?

[solacematt]

This has been bugging me a bit, and unfortunately none of the big box or smaller music stores within 3 hours of me carry a newer HB so it's tough to compare. For those who own HB's with both, which pickups sound the best for the hollowbody and have the most overall clarity to suit the instrument. For the life of me I can't understand why PRS would stop putting archtop pickups that are voiced for the HB and place 57/08 pickups instead that they use on other solidbody models :dontknow:

 

[Whitecat]

The 57/08s have a great, vintage sound to them that works really well in my HBII, and they are also a great foil for the piezo so the blended tones that are possible are more "wide range" if that makes any sense...

The Archtops were/are alright - I actually quite like them in my HB12 - but I feel like the 57/08 is a better pickup overall full stop.

 

[GTRMAV]

For my ears, the combination of 57/08s and the Ebony fretboards on the HBII deliver amazing tones. Just an example, Crank the volume and roll the tone to 3-4 and let me know what you think.

 

[C&M Music - Lafayette]

I agree with all of the above. I have a HB12 with archtops and a HBII with 57 08's. I am partial to the archtops as I like milder pups. I prefer to color my sound with the amp or a pedal as opposed to hotter pups. That said the 57 08's are still very good as they are not that hot. I find the 57 08s in the HB II work well when I switch from piezo to mag. That little extra bite is kind of cool. But if I had my choice I would like to have the archtops. I am reminding myself of the Robert Frost poem Fire and Ice, goes somethinh like this;

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire
Some say the world will end in Ice
From what I've tasted of desire
I am with those who favor fire

Some say the world will end in fire
Some say the world will end in Ice
But if I had to perish twice
I believe Ice will suffice.

Robert Frost

 

[garrett]

I was never 100% pleased with the Archtop pickups. They're great for cleans, but they lack the bite and clarity I want with gain. Everyone seems to love the 57/08s and I guess Paul and the gang liked them in the HB, so why not?

 

[veinbuster]

57 08 on mine sound excellent. I rarely play the older one any more.

 

[Egads]

I've got 57/08s in a couple SC HBs and think they are as close to perfect as I've heard. Back off the volume a little and they are so warm, yet clear. Then, crank 'em and add some gain, and they sound fantastic. I didn't love the archtops, in an Archtop, but I also didn't spend much time tweaking them.

 

[AaeCee]

For some reason, every time I've heard Archtop pickups in HB's with spruce tops, including my Archtop Jazz, I've loved them. But I do prefer the 57/08's in the HBII's I've played with maple tops, and I have played an HBII with the Archtop set extensively.

 

[Felipe]

I haven't been able to bond with the AT pickups. Just too low output, bright, not enough response and dynamics. Haven't tried the 57/08 yet, but once I used a pair of the crappy Classic 57 from Gibson, which are decent on semi-hollow guitars, and they worked much better on a HBI than the original AT.

 

[kingsleyd]

Gibson put those PAF pickups in everything from Super 400CESs and L-5CESs to Explorers & Flying Vs to Les Pauls (regular & SG-shape). They work well in all those guitars. No reason 57/08s, which are IMO (and I speak as the owner of a couple of vintage Gibsons with real PAFs in 'em) the most comparable-to-a-PAF pickups that PRS has ever wound, shouldn't work the same way.

Specific to the OP, I've owned several hollowbody & archtop PRSi and, for me, the one thing that always detracted from them was those Archtop pickups. I agree with Felipe: too low output, too bright, not enough juice. I now own a PS single-cut hollowbody spruce with 57/08s and man, those pickups are just beautiful in that guitar. That PS easily hangs with my vintage Gibsons, sound-wise, which its predecessors couldn't do at all. Note: one of my previous hollowbodies, which is the one of that bunch of guitars that stuck around longest, was a spruce version as well, and even with that guitar I thought the AT pickups did it no favors at all.

 

[CVS]

I have a HB I with Archtops and I have been wondering whether it makes sense to buy a HB II given the different 57/08 pick ups. Can anyone who has both guitars post a comparison video?

 

[Tag]

Easily 57/08s for me. Great for big box jazz sounds on the neck pup on any guitar.

 

[Sam]

I now own a PS single-cut hollowbody spruce with 57/08s...

And lordy what a job you did speccing that one. Tasteful and well thought out - incredible.

 

[jeffgoobs]

For my ears, the combination of 57/08s and the Ebony fretboards on the HBII deliver amazing tones. Just an example, Crank the volume and roll the tone to 3-4 and let me know what you think.

The Hollowbody line has always had rosewood fingerboards. Where are you reading that the fingerboard is ebony?

 

[Whitecat]

The Hollowbody line has always had rosewood fingerboards. Where are you reading that the fingerboard is ebony?

Artist Pack editions could have ebony boards.

 

[jeffgoobs]

Wow, I didn't know that. I would've gotten mine with an ebony board had that option existed at the time.

 

[solacematt]

I guess I never revisited this post, but others have brought it back out. I eventually got to AB guitars with the McCarty Archtop pickups (which are actually voiced for the guitar), and the 57/08's (which the company puts in a few guitars and are not voiced for a hollowbody) and the winner goes to the McCarty Archtop pickups. Thing is, the guitar SHOULD sound like a hollowbody. I Also AB'ed the HBII with 57/08's with a CU24...I'm sorry, the hollowbody should have a hollowbody sound both clean and distorted. With the 57/08 you really didn't get any distinction between the HBII and the CU24. That's whey I (eventually when it came to my attention) ended up getting an AP McCarty Hollowbody, because it had the two features I saw an an upgrade from my first hollowbody (birds and a piezo) and the pickups that were voiced for the guitar, McCarty Archtop pickups.

 

[django49]

My original HBII (one of the first made with piezo) never quite worked for me. Had it for well over a decade and barely played it. Then I played a friend's newer one side by side. Three apparent upgrades on "stock".....Thinner finish, better piezo and 57/08s. For my uses, the new one was much better. The price to send to PTC to upgrade all three was cost-prohibitive. I upgraded the pickups alone and, with some tweaking, was much happier with it. Just my 2 cents.

I DO still have the original pair of Archtop pups if anyone is seeking a set. Would love to hear how they sound in a spruce top guitar rather than the double maple.

 

[Dancing Frog]

I have HB1's with achtops and 5708's which all started out as HB1's with archtops. I found the 5708's rolled back to be remarkably like archtops in the guitar that I changed them in. Rolled up they added more warmth and fullness to the tone. However, I don't think either of the pick ups replicate the hollowbody sound. PRS does its own thing. If I were after a sound closer to a 335, I probably would change them to DGT's, because the DGT pick up was based on an old 335 pick up.

 

[pattste]

I have a 2008 Singlecut Hollowbody Artist package. The pickups are supposed to be "245 with Hollowbody electronics", I believe this information came from Customer Service. The MODCAT returns:

Treble Pickup: Mira or 245
Middle Pickup: none
Bass Pickup: Mira or 245
Electronics: JA-15 or HB 12 String or Archtop or HB or SC-J

What is the difference between 245 pickups with Hollowbody electronics and Hollowbody pickups?