How are the \M/ Metal pickups? And why don't they get anymore love on here?

I am intrigued by these pickups. I just got a 59/09 covered on Reverb for my McCarty Korina but thought twice about the \m/ especially from this awesome review on Sweetwater (go there to read the whole thing, it's a very in depth review comparing all kinds of pickups including ones you mentioned - it's the 2nd review).

"I would describe it as a 57/08 and 59/09 having a baby that is an out of control fire breathing godly monster. It has all the clarity of a 57/08. slightly more scooped like the 59/09 and output and depth that trumps the Dragon I. The output is strong enough for metal heads but not so strong to where they are too much for people like me who prefered medium output humbuckers for metal. This has that modern sound that we strive for, power and clarity. They are clearer than my 59/09s which is what they replaced. I liked everything about the 59/09 and prefered over all the pickups I have tried, I am keen on versatility. I hate a pickup that can only to one thing. The \M/ pickup took my love for the 59/09 nd made my guitar easy to play with it's amazing clarity, extra output, and amazing harmonics.

VERDICT
This pickup covers all music, the name does not do it justice. I place light rock to over the top metal, thsi is the greatest pickup I have every played, It makes playing easier!"

Yea I read that review a few days ago, it was really helpful. I've basically combed the entire internet and YouTube at this point for any info on the Metal pickups and I still don't have a solid idea of what they may sound like. They definitely have a nice clean chiminess to them especially under gain, but that's all PRS pickups IMO. I've also looked at vids of the Custom 24 Floyd since they come stock in those and that's given me a little bit of an idea of how they sound.

I am still kind of torn though. I'm sort of leaning a little towards Dimarzio Super Distortions at this point since I know they've been used on so many great albums, but would really like to give the \M/ bridge a go. And after re-watching some of the vids below, I can see their \M/ pickups versatility and how they actually match a lot of those Dimarzio sounds.

These are some of the videos I've found of them in action. This first video may actually be the best representation of them I've found on the internet in terms of more 80s rock/metal sounds. In the second vid around 8:30 he refers to them as medium output pickups and they have really good cleans on them.






 
I think that you should just go for the \m/. It is only $170 and worst case you pull it out and put it up on Reverb for $150. If I don't like this 59/09 I will get an \m/ next.
 
I'll be odd man out here and put in a vote for the JB. I was underwhelmed with the bridge pickup in my 594 and switched it out for a covered SD JB. I've been very pleased with how well it pairs with the 58/15lt in the neck position, including the split options. I've had JB's before in a couple other guitars, so I pretty well knew what to expect of it by itself. I've not tried \M/ pickups, but I've played a few HFS, but I didn't particularly care for them, and I don't think they compare to the JB. If I wanted to stay PRS, I would probably have tried a 59/09, but I wanted to keep the covered pickup look, and covered 59/09s were hard to find when I was looking.
 
yeah I was about to go for the \m/ but a rare covered 59/09 came up on Reverb so I jumped on it. it took weeks and weeks for one to come up.
 
I think that you should just go for the \m/. It is only $170 and worst case you pull it out and put it up on Reverb for $150. If I don't like this 59/09 I will get an \m/ next.

59/09 are my favorite pickups I've owned but so is the guitar they are in. Chicken or the egg on that one but if pressed I'd say sound is number #1 reason why.
 
That's interesting, everything I've seen so far on the HFS is that they're very hit or miss with a lot of people. Id figure if they were similar to a JB or Distortion, they'd have a lot more fans out there.

Haven't heard much on the Dragon 1s either or see that they're even still sold. I do see the Dragons 2s listed on PRS website though. How are those in comparison? Kind of still leaning towards the \M/ pickups due to the reviews so far and how they seem more versatile.

Dragon 1s are pretty spectacular pickups but the ONLY comparison i could make between dragon 1s and M pickups is they are both high output but don't act like you would expect a high output pickup to act.

They both do things differently from each other but both are great pickups in their own way.

I had a cu22 with dragon2s I liked them. I see a lot of comments about them being muddy but I NEVER got that from mine. In fact, there were times I thought they had a 57 classic vibe, kind of.
 
I had the \m/ pickups in a Custom 22 with Stoptail bridge. I played mainly through a Rectifier. The pickups are really hot, but that doesn't mean they don't have dynamic range to play almost anything you want. What I loved about the pickups is that in a live situation the guitar cut through the mix with no problem at all
 
I had the \m/ pickups in a Custom 22 with Stoptail bridge. I played mainly through a Rectifier. The pickups are really hot, but that doesn't mean they don't have dynamic range to play almost anything you want. What I loved about the pickups is that in a live situation the guitar cut through the mix with no problem at all

Great, that gives me some more frame of reference! Is there a particular reason why you took them out of your Custom 22? Is there another pickup out there you would say they closely resemble?

I also email PRS to get their opinion and also if they could provide me with their PRS pickup comparison sheet.
 
I think that you should just go for the \m/. It is only $170 and worst case you pull it out and put it up on Reverb for $150. If I don't like this 59/09 I will get an \m/ next.

Does PRS have a return policy on pickups? I figured if I didn't like them, I could just return them within a certain amount of time?
 
Does PRS have a return policy on pickups? I figured if I didn't like them, I could just return them within a certain amount of time?

sweetwater does and so does guitar center but GC doesnt show the metal pups.
 
Great, that gives me some more frame of reference! Is there a particular reason why you took them out of your Custom 22? Is there another pickup out there you would say they closely resemble?

I also email PRS to get their opinion and also if they could provide me with their PRS pickup comparison sheet.
Well, actually I sold that guitar, but just for reference the guitar came stock with 57/08s, that are also great but not for the kind of music I was playing at the time. The \m/ were more defined with high gain and the whole guitar tuned in D.

Just in case it helps, at the time my backup was another Custom 22 with HFS/VB combo. Those handled high gain as well, but IMO lack the refinement of the \m/
 
sweetwater does and so does guitar center but GC doesnt show the metal pups.

Yea, apparently PRS doesn't allow pickups to be returned, so Sweetwater it is.

Well, actually I sold that guitar, but just for reference the guitar came stock with 57/08s, that are also great but not for the kind of music I was playing at the time. The \m/ were more defined with high gain and the whole guitar tuned in D.

Just in case it helps, at the time my backup was another Custom 22 with HFS/VB combo. Those handled high gain as well, but IMO lack the refinement of the \m/

Yea that definitely helps. I don't think the 57/08s would be enough for me since they seem to sit around the 85/15 realm. And the 59/09s have good reviews, but the Metal pickups are supposed to be a more refined version of those. So at this point I'll probably just order some and see how they are. I'll try to post up some videos of them too. I really like the 58/15 LT TCI sweet/smoothness, so I'm hoping the \M/ Metal pickup retains some of that signature PRS tone smoothness.
 
I think this video says it all about these pickups. This is probably the best representation of them, and they sound absolutely nasty. Can't wait to hear what they sound like in person. They do remind me of those PAFs known throughout the 80s, just with more "balls" and a tiny bit more modern.

 

\m/ doesn’t get more love because of the name and there’s less people on this forum that it probably appeals to. I’ve been saying since they came out that they are fantastic pickups. They are pretty smooth sounding IMO. They’re also super dynamic to the volume knob and picking dynamics. I won’t say they sound like a Super Distortion, but if you feel comfortable on that pickup, you’ll probably feel comfortable on the \m/. I think the \m/ has better dynamics than a Super Distortion by a long shot.
 

\m/ doesn’t get more love because of the name and there’s less people on this forum that it probably appeals to. I’ve been saying since they came out that they are fantastic pickups. They are pretty smooth sounding IMO. They’re also super dynamic to the volume knob and picking dynamics. I won’t say they sound like a Super Distortion, but if you feel comfortable on that pickup, you’ll probably feel comfortable on the \m/. I think the \m/ has better dynamics than a Super Distortion by a long shot.

What do you mean by dynamics? Harmomics, low end, or clarity?

Man it sounds like they have a lot of bottom to them. Thats a good audio representation of them too. Im hoping they'll have a nice low end in the SC594 which is a heavier body guitar.

I have the feeling PRS is going to eventually rename them to get the word out there or discontinue them and come up with an updated version with a more mainstream name. "Modern" would probably have been a better name than \M/.
 
Hope this reply isn't too late.

I've had \m/ in bridge position on my Modern Eagle. The video below is my MEQ equipped with \m/ bridge pup being played through a Mesa Mk V 25 head and a Mesa cab, and faithfully recorded with cell phone camera so no post processing at all. Skip to 01:40 for high gain tone.

The \m/ bridge has tons of mid/highs punch with excellent articulation and of course lots of output which makes it a very cut-through the mix. However, IMHO it still lacks some lows frequencies even though being equipped on a rosewood-necked guitar. Also I think PRS has smoothened out some highs off this pup. My problem is I prefer to have very bright, treble-ish pup to compensate the dark tone of rosewood neck so I switched for BKP Aftermath instead. But I think for general guitars with either mahogany or maple neck, the \m/ set is a decent choice for rock players.

 
What do you mean by dynamics? Harmomics, low end, or clarity?

Man it sounds like they have a lot of bottom to them. Thats a good audio representation of them too. Im hoping they'll have a nice low end in the SC594 which is a heavier body guitar.

I have the feeling PRS is going to eventually rename them to get the word out there or discontinue them and come up with an updated version with a more mainstream name. "Modern" would probably have been a better name than \M/.
By dynamics I mean that they are responsive to how hard you pick changing how they sound. Also that the sweep of the volume knob does more. Volume knob of guitar at 4 with light picking hand yields cleaner, clearer tone and digging in with your picking hand harder results in more gain/compression. Touch sensitivity.
 
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