Hot pickup for a PRS doublecut?

[boardn10]

Any of you guys have some favorite pickup sets for doublecuts?

I want to switch up at least the dragon bridge in my '94 CE22. I love the Tremonti set in my Singlecut. I love the thickness and I even find my Tremonti treble pickup to be creamy at times. I love the neck pickup too. I like thinner neck pickups that almost remind me of a single coil pickup and it blends perfectly with the bridge pickup. It made me a believer in using matched sets. It's also why I ended up going with a matched Suhr Aldrich set in my other Singlecut.

So for my CE22 I want to either install a Tremonti treble and use it with my Dragon bass pickup since the Tremonti and Dragon neck pickups are so similar.

Not sure if I'll keep the 5-way rotary, or switch to a toggle configuration. It would be easier to switch to the neck Pickup mid song, but I'd lose the lovely rotary position 2, 3 and 4 sounds for some songs it's cool using thos parallel/series tones for the entire song, so no need to switch mid song. Beautiful tones.

But I'm no longer as crazy about the Dragon Bridge pickup on its own.

I'm also not apposed to installing a Suhr Aldrich set and 3-way toggle. I love that pickup set but I think the CE22 could benefit from the authoritative low end push of the Tremonti Bridge pickup.

 

[John]

As far as thick pickups go, the BKP Holydiver is pretty good. Dimarzio Super 3 if on a budget.
BKP HD sample clip:

But my favorite pickups among my double cutaway PRS include the BKP Painkiller set for dropped tunings, as well as a combination of the ceramic Nailbomb and Coldssweat as an all-around set.
Painkiller set sample clip:

 

[Birdsofprey]

Duncan Pearly Gates, have them in the bridge on both my CU22’s They balance really good with the stock neck (Dragon 1/2’s). my fav Duncan pickup otherwise PRS 59/09’s ( my fav PRS pickup). I will caution and say I’ve not put a 59/09 into a CU22 bridge only my CU & CE-24’s.

 

[Lewguitar]

Any of you guys have some favorite pickup sets for doublecuts?

I want to switch up at least the dragon bridge in my '94 CE22. I love the Tremonti set in my Singlecut. I love the thickness and I even find my Tremonti treble pickup to be creamy at times. I love the neck pickup too. I like thinner neck pickups that almost remind me of a single coil pickup and it blends perfectly with the bridge pickup. It made me a believer in using matched sets. It's also why I ended up going with a matched Suhr Aldrich set in my other Singlecut.

So for my CE22 I want to either install a Tremonti treble and use it with my Dragon bass pickup since the Tremonti and Dragon neck pickups are so similar.

Not sure if I'll keep the 5-way rotary, or switch to a toggle configuration. It would be easier to switch to the neck Pickup mid song, but I'd lose the lovely rotary position 2, 3 and 4 sounds for some songs it's cool using thos parallel/series tones for the entire song, so no need to switch mid song. Beautiful tones.

But I'm no longer as crazy about the Dragon Bridge pickup on its own.

I'm also not apposed to installing a Suhr Aldrich set and 3-way toggle. I love that pickup set but I think the CE22 could benefit from the authoritative low end push of the Tremonti Bridge pickup.

Finding a pickup hotter than a Dragon might be a challenge, but it sounds like hotter is not what you want as much as something different and thicker. Have you considered magnet swapping? The Dragon has a ceramic magnet. A roughcast alnico 8 magnet might give you what you’re after. Addiction FX has them.

 

[boardn10]

As far as thick pickups go, the BKP Holydiver is pretty good. Dimarzio Super 3 if on a budget.
BKP HD sample clip:

But my favorite pickups among my double cutaway PRS include the BKP Painkiller set for dropped tunings, as well as a combination of the ceramic Nailbomb and Coldssweat as an all-around set.
Painkiller set sample clip:

Problem I've had with BKP, while they sound great, I struggle to play the ones I've tried. They have crazy good clarity and response. I have a nervous system disorder that impact my playing and I find the more responsive and articulate, the worse I can sound, especially if I'm having a flare up. It probably why I go for things that offer some support, chew and thickness so that I can mask anything that isn't working for my hands that day.

I find the Tremonti is plenty clear but to my fingers has a chew to it that works with my playing. Hard to explain.

Thanks for the input!

 

[boardn10]

Finding a pickup hotter than a Dragon might be a challenge, but it sounds like hotter is not what you want as much as something different and thicker. Have you considered magnet swapping? The Dragon has a ceramic magnet. A roughcast alnico 8 magnet might give you what you’re after. Addiction FX has them.

No, I don't want hotter!
Luckily I love the Aldrich and Tremonti and the Dragon feels hotter. But it's hard to know since PRS doesn't list spcs for the Dragon other than resistance which doesn't give the full picture or how hot a pickup is.
Thanks Lew on the magnet tip!

 

[Lewguitar]

No, I don't want hotter!
Luckily I love the Aldrich and Tremonti and the Dragon feels hotter. But it's hard to know since PRS doesn't list spcs for the Dragon other than resistance which doesn't give the full picture or how hot a pickup is.
Thanks Lew on the magnet tip!

You're welcome! Swapping magnets is cheap and easy and can give your pickup more or less of that chewy quality you're describing.

Seymour Duncan has the Duncan Custom which has a ceramic magnet.

Then guys on the Duncan Forum put an alnico 2 magnet in it and started talking up the chewy quality it now had. Duncan came out with the Custom Custom: same pickup as the Custom but with an alnico 2 magnet.

Then guys on the forum put an alnico 5 magnet in the Custom and what do you know? Soon Duncan offered the Custom 5.

So three different sounding pickups with the only difference being different magnets.

Carlos Santana wanted a pickup with more output and texture than the JB he was using so he asked Seymour to replace the alnico 5 magnet in the JB with a ceramic magnet. That pickup became the Duncan Distortion.

You might want to purchase an assortment of A2, A3, A4, A5 and A8 magnets and find out what your Dragon sounds like with other magnets.

I would suggest roughcast magnets rather than polished.

You might find just the tone you're looking for from the pickup you already have.

 

[AP515]

59/09's...as a set.

I put them in a CU24 stoptail and they ROCK.

 

[boardn10]

Yes sir, I'm very familiar with those Duncan pickups. I've used most of them in my years, ha. Hard to remember though.
That said, I'm in love with the Trem nti and Aldrich sets so I'm tempted to go that route. I'm just tired of pickup swaps, etc. Done it for so long, lol.

Interesting on texture with the duncan Distortion. I actually find a lot of ceramic based bangers have serious texture. The Tremonti sure does.

 

[boardn10]

59/09's...as a set.

I put them in a CU24 stoptail and they ROCK.

Alnico II?

 

[boardn10]

If I vibed better with BKP, I would go for the Warpig.

 

[]-[@n$0Ma☩!©]

Deep Dish 2


If you can find one.

 

[Lewguitar]

Alnico II?

Alnico 2 tends to give a pickup softer, squishier bass, smoother treble and more midrange.

Generally, it gives a pickup warmer highs and more compression.

I like it in a humbucker and in a Tele bridge pickup.

Don't like it as much in a Strat pickup because it takes away from that glassy chime I like to hear in a Strat when I'm playing clean. But it's good in a Strat too, especially if you want a warmer, thicker, "chewier" tone.

 

[boardn10]

Smooth treble, more midrange and more compression is good with me, but I always worry about the bass being too soft for hard rock and metal. But, I tend to like more chunky than super tight in thr low end. Think more 90s hard rock and grunge with some metal thrown in.

 

[Lewguitar]

Smooth treble, more midrange and more compression is good with me, but I always worry about the bass being too soft for hard rock and metal. But, I tend to like more chunky than super tight in thr low end. Think more 90s hard rock and grunge with some metal thrown in.

Do you like Van Halen? His EVH Wolfgang pickups are pretty killer. They split well too.

I have them in a PRS SE Singlecut.

The bridge pickup is an alnico 2 magnet, 14K DCR pickup in that set.

You can hear them in this video.

 

[MWebster]

Check these out. I don't usually buy small builder pickups because I always feel like it'll be too different sounding. But I'm honestly very intrigued by the sounds of these and the Superclutch set they offer. Solid reviews, nice guy. From what you've been saying, these might be the ticket. Cheers!

Private Stock (Humbucker)

Pegcity Private Stock are hand built, hand wound humbuckers designed to delivery thick warm tone with glassy high end and great harmonics. If you are looking for a humbucker that can truly do it all, look no further.

pegcitypickups.com

SuperClutch

In collaboration with a really kickass client and awesome guitar player Rob Bergman, we bring you the SuperClutch humbucker set. Rob set out to achieve a real versatile, dynamic and all around tone monster! No matter how you drive this pickup it preforms beautifully all the time! The bridge is...

pegcitypickups.com

 

[Alnus Rubra]

 

[boardn10]

Do you like Van Halen? His EVH Wolfgang pickups are pretty killer. They split well too.

I have them in a PRS SE Singlecut.

The bridge pickup is an alnico 2 magnet, 14K DCR pickup in that set.

You can hear them in this video.

The Wolfgang pickup in the Peavey Wolfgang? I had a Wolfgang Standard. I didn't find it beefy enough like my other guitars so I never revisited. Hmm...

I was looking at the Wolfetone Fenris and Duncan Diablo too. I like a big powerful low end too.

 

[WEDGE]

I dig the Wolfetone Marshallhead, reminds me of a 59/09.

 

[Lewguitar]

Enjoyed that. Although to be honest I found the pickup tones a little bit annoying after a while.

Paul said that he wanted to get away from that Eeeeee sound and get more of the Owwww sound.

I hear some Owwww but eventually a lot of that Eeeeee sound in those demos.

But this is 1990. That's why I said I like the sound of the PRS pickups PRS is making now, in 2023, a lot better than what they were making 30 years ago.

I'm sure Paul does too.

The humbuckers made now get more of that Owwww sound, and less of that Eeeeee sound I hear in those 1990 demos.

But I still enjoyed it! Very impressive.