How much do you like/dislike HFS pickups?

[sergiodeblanc]

We are lucky to have those indeed. And i did the swap in 2013 I think, after owning the guitar for about 4 yrs. However I was not much more knowledgeable at the time than SD and DiMarzio as far as PUs go. Ah well. Times have changed ;-).

TBH, I still kinda don’t.

 

[Guithartic]

It was an improvement (for me), but they weren't as "PAF sounding" as I'd hoped. I should have gone with Duncans, but I wasn't used to pickup changes and didn't know quite what would work at the time. So I figured the Gibson pickups would be a safe bet.

This was long before the plethora of pickups builders who are now popular were offering more authentic vintage sounding sets.

Which Gibson pickups did you have put in?
It's interesting that builders other than Gibson are better at making a pickup that sounds like an old Gibson pickup.

 

[László]

Which Gibson pickups did you have put in?
It's interesting that builders other than Gibson are better at making a pickup that sounds like an old Gibson pickup.

It was whatever Gibson was selling as their vintage PAF style pickup in 1991. That's all I remember. It's been 33 years.

I'm sure I just said to my dealer, can we make this sound more like a vintage PAF, and he said, sure, have the tech install these. It's not like you could pull up a YouTube video and do comparisons in those days.

Apparently the plastic box had already been invented, because that's what they came in.

 

[Felipe]

Very versatile pickups if you know how to use the volume knob. No one makes more usable volume/tone controls than PRS.

 

[vchizzle]

They are very, very good with high gain. I had one in the bridge position of a McCarty standard in drop C for a decade. I think they are particularly good with all mahogany guitars like the VR you got coming.

 

[Black Plaid]

My first PRS came with them in 91, put a lot of great playing and recording on them, so maybe it's nostalgia, but I think they are great.

 

[Johnny Rigs]

I have the VB/HFS set in an older CE-22. The HFS has a healthy output and is ok. But it’s got too much low mids and bass. I actually had the PTC install a bass-cut switch when the guitar was in for a Floyd conversion. I like the set in the splits modes for clean sounds. But use the switch for high gain rhythm. If the HFS was just a bit tighter with a little more clarity, it’d be great.

 

[Bowtiefanatc]

Hilarious to see that I’m still the only person who voted “hate ‘em”

 

[Johnny Rigs]

Hilarious to see that I’m still the only person who voted “hate ‘em”

Hate is a strong word. Still, I doubt you’re the only one..

 

[Bowtiefanatc]

Hate is a strong word. Still, I doubt you’re the only one..

If you look for my previous response, I wanted to know if there was an option more aggressive than “hate’em”

I can’t rip them out fast enough if they are in a guitar.

 

[Bogner]

Not A Fan Of Them Overall But Could Make Do With Them If I Had To. I Am Glad I Don't Have To Make Do And Can Get Several Better Options From Any Number Of Pickup Manufacturers. That Being The Case, I Remove Them As Fast As I Can Acquire The Guitar They May Be In.

 

[gush]

I voted "ok" because while I normally dislike hfs a lot, I found them acceptable in lower tunings and other people seem to know how to make em sound good.....

 

[jkornel]

I have one in my ‘92 cu24 and I put one into my ‘08 core Mira bridge. I play in a working rock/pop/classic cover band so nothing super high gain but I just like the tone of that pick up. It’s fat and full sounding through my rig (mesa/Marshall) with medium gain settings.

Pickups are so subjective. One persons love is another’s dislike. I just play what I like.

 

[Steve's addiction]

I used to only play the HFS when I first bought it in 89 but now I mostly play the VB or one of the two settings that combine the single coils on both pickups

 

[NickG]

For hot pickups, playing high gain rock/metal, how much do you like or dislike what the HFS pickups do?
Just curious how others find them. I'm getting a Vernon Reid signature in the mail soon, and they have two HFSs.

I purchased my first PRS SE recently, a 2010 25th Anniversary royal blue quilt top Custom 24 with tremolo. Having owned and played Gibsons and Fenders for the last 45 years, I was turned off by the heel joint tenon of the first PRS's back in 85 when they first came out and never really gave them a try. Long story short, I admittedly LOVE this guitar and am kicking myself for being so stubborn over trifle prejudices.

This 2010 model came with two wire HFS trem/VIN bass pickups. I have been winding and fixing pickups for the last 5 years and I wasn't too impressed with this pickup combo when compared to a bunch of guitars with the HH combos I've played. These pickups have their place in the realm of market where they are focused on. Looking at the Resistance and inductance values these pickups were putting out, I had an AHA moment. Instead of swapping out the pickups, why not simply modify them to get what I'm after at little to no cost.

Taking them apart and reading the values of the individual bobbins, I found that the screw bobbins were at a higher resistance value than the slugs. Just north of 8k ohms. Also, I discovered that the HFS trem pickup had a ceramic magnet and the VIN bass pickup had (based on reading the Gauss numbers) an Alnico5 magnet. That explains the "hotness" of the HFS compared to VIN. The base plates of these pickups are Brass, without going down a deeper rabbit hole about materials, I prefer the Nickel Silver baseplates so I swapped them out and I replaced the ceramic magnet with an Alnico5. Swapping the slug bobbins around and combining them with the opposing Screw bobbins, changing out The one magnet and replacing both baseplates, I got two bright, loud and clear (IMO) humbuckers. This yeilded a new Bridge pickup of 11.9K, 6.2 Henries and Neck pickup 11.66K, 6.28 Henries. Very balanced and still pretty hot yet clear. Since these pickups didn't have a cover, I didn't have to worry about that issue.

The added bonus was that now I could split the bobbins with a new 4 wire harness and the values of the screw side bobbins was very adequate. The 2010 Custom didn't come with split capabilty but now I could change out the Tone pot for a push pull one. No need for resitors to boost the output of the split pickups, they were Bridge/8.72k and Neck/8.14k. So if your handy with a soldering iron and have some patience and humbucker knowledge, you might want to try it out.

 

[dogrocketp]

If I was a high gain player, and used a Mesa, Marshall, Bogner, ad nauseum I’d be all about the HFS. I’m not. I simply don’t like clean sounds with ceramic magnet pickups. I sold a perfect 509 for that reason, and had a custom pick guard made for my DC3 to put in different single coils. I couldn’t’t get the HFS out of a couple of guitars fast enough.

 

[Anachronism]

So...I changed my vote. I had an CU24 with a HFS and just didn't like it. However, I recently got a Westie and for whatever reason I am loving the bridge HFS it has. Maybe my playing has changed, maybe it just works better in this guitar...

 

[Alessandro]

I put an HFS in my Silver Sky SE that I modded to HSS and it actually splits well enough to combine pretty nicely with the middle pickup in position 2. Not a fan of single coil bridge sounds but love me some middle bridge quack.

HFS has made one of the most satisfying superstrat bridge pickups I’ve ever used.

 

[Bowtiefanatc]

Holding strong as the sole “Hate ‘Em” vote

 

[mrk691]

They are very high output with a lot of mid bark and fast attack.. perhaps the closest aftermarket pickup IMO is the dimarzio steve morse model or duncan SH5 custom
I have a HFS/VB set in my Cu22 and they are really versatile really, volume and tone set at 70% the HFS sound like a fat warm PAF