I Need To Talk About My DGT.

Changing pickups in a DGT sorta defeats the purpose. Those pups are a defining element of this model. I love my DGT dearly but I love my other PRS’s just as much. Never use any of the coil splits though. Those always sound a bit off to me. But there’s a used 2023 Paul’s Guitar incoming so who knows, I might love the single coil sounds of that one (and I sure hope I do, it’s an itch I need to scratch).
Being the owner of two signature guitars, I totally get the sentiment of your post.
Luckily, they both do what I want. If they didn't - I'd have no problem making changes. Why wouldn't you? :)
 
Why wouldn't you? :)
That would be like buying a Aston Martin and then ripping out its engine because you fancy a Ferrari block. Like an Aston Martin, a guitar like the Core DGT is a concept, a coherent design, a vision. I don’t believe in messing with that. I do believe in moving on if a guitar like that doesn’t suit me - just sell it and move on. A second reason is cost - a new Core DGT in Europe is around the 5k€ mark and for that kind of money I’d insist that an instrument is _exactly_ what I want it to be. With an SE, I might consider it.
 
That would be like buying an Aston Martin and then ripping out its engine because you fancy a Ferrari block. Like an Aston Martin, a guitar like the Core DGT is a concept, a coherent design, a vision. I don’t believe in messing with that. I do believe in moving on if a guitar like that doesn’t suit me - just sell it and move on. A second reason is cost - a new Core DGT in Europe is around the 5k€ mark and for that kind of money I’d insist that an instrument is _exactly_ what I want it to be. With an SE, I might consider it.
Throw out the perfect suit because the tie doesn’t match.
We see it very differently.:p:D
 
Changing pickups in a DGT sorta defeats the purpose. Those pups are a defining element of this model. I love my DGT dearly but I love my other PRS’s just as much. Never use any of the coil splits though. Those always sound a bit off to me. But there’s a used 2023 Paul’s Guitar incoming so who knows, I might love the single coil sounds of that one (and I sure hope I do, it’s an itch I need to scratch).
Assuming you bought the guitar because you care who David Grissom is.

Otherwise, if a two volume CU22 is what you want, and the split coil sounds are a little bit off to you… a pickup change might be an okay thing.
 
I definitely hear the tele thing out of my DGT’s bridge.

But i’m disappointed in the neck pickup. Grissom says he rarely plays the neck pickup and it shows on my DGT. It’s too dark. When split it reminds of a Strat that is too dark.

Any suggestions on a neck pickup that is a little brighter and a little hotter that will still split well?
This probably won't work for you, my advice rarely works for others.

On the other hand, it's always interesting to see how other players work with their guitars, amps and effects, so there's nothing to lose sharing my techniques. For whatever reason, I don't find the DGT neck pickup dark. That may be taste, or it may be the stuff I do setting up the gear, or some combination of the two.

Here's how I use my DGT (and other guitars):

My TV ad guitar work is done in my studio, where everything's set up, miked and ready to go when I have a session.

I switch between four amps with a Swiss-made KHE amp and cab switcher. It'll handle 8 amps and 4 cabs. The I/O and grounding are completely isolated for each amp, there aren't any ground loops.

I set all of the amps up to work with whatever guitar I'm playing. If I switch to a different guitar, the amps get re-set to work with that guitar.

I always have a high quality buffer on my pedalboard, either a Pettyjohn Lift, or a Suhr buffer, both of which keep the high frequencies alive once the signal hits the pedalboard. I find this especially helpful with neck pickups, and these buffers don't screw up the audio like the buffers on a Boss or other typical pedal.

I use very low capacitance cables, either the PRS/VanDamme (26pF per foot) or the Sommer LLX (16pF per foot) to preserve high frequencies. I use 15 foot cables from guitar to the buffer input to keep high frequency loss from capacitance very low.

Most cables, even the Mogami or Canare stuff, check in at around 45 pF per foot or higher, and you lose high frequencies even with shorter cable runs with that kind of capacitance. I can do 36 foot runs with the cables I use without audible high frequency loss, when combined with the buffers I mentioned. It matters!

Though the Mogami is what I've wired all of my studio line-level gear with and used since the early '90s, I can't live with its capacitance for a guitar-to-pedalboard cable. So there's that.

I set the amps up for my clean sound with the guitar volumes on around '5' or so for each pickup, and the guitar tone control around 6. When I want more gain, I roll the guitar volume up, on either or both pickups. So if I want more or less treble I usually dial it in at the guitar. And of course, increasing the volume also tends to brighten the signal. So this way I have good flexibility.

This usually does the trick.

But:

If I want still more volume and treble, I use a Pettyjohn Filter EQ pedal to tilt the high frequencies up a little, and increase the output volume on the pedal. Pettyjohn's stuff is truly studio grade - the internal components are like what's on studio rack gear - and it sounds wonderful.

To me, this means if I like the pickups that came with my guitars (I'm sure I wouldn't buy the guitar if I didn't), all I need to do to reach the desired brightness is a few knob turns, and I'm in business.

Fortunately, my rig is dead quiet, even with all the amps on, so I can goose the tone or volume without straining the amp or experiencing hums or buzzes.

I realize none of this helps if you have your heart set on a pickup swap. But this is what works for me, and has for years.

I also realize most people would prefer to set the amp's tone controls at noon, and turn the guitars up all the way, and not have to think about this stuff, and I get it. Whatever anyone does that works for them is great!

I simply do it this way. There isn't a 'best' solution, of course. Any solution that works for the individual is great. So this isn't a criticism of the way other folks do things! :)
 
Assuming you bought the guitar because you care who David Grissom is.

Otherwise, if a two volume CU22 is what you want, and the split coil sounds are a little bit off to you… a pickup change might be an okay thing.
This is also true.

There is nothing wrong with installing a pickup that works for the guitar's owner!
 
I definitely hear the tele thing out of my DGT’s bridge.

But i’m disappointed in the neck pickup. Grissom says he rarely plays the neck pickup and it shows on my DGT. It’s too dark. When split it reminds of a Strat that is too dark.

Any suggestions on a neck pickup that is a little brighter and a little hotter that will still split well?
My favorite neck pickups are the Duncan Jazz (hotter and more defined high end than the dark/weak DGT neck pickups)
Or a Dimarzio PAF Master.. both pickups split well and sound just great in my PRS’s. Big improvement
 
Before you do anything as drastic as swapping out a pickup, you really should give the de-mud mod I mentioned above a try. Dirt cheap, and easy to do (and to reverse).

This is the neck tone I wanted when I did it (note it's clean; I am not and have never been a fan of neck Humbuckers under gain; I LOVE single coil neck pickups under gain). It's clear, not too bass heavy, but still rich-sounding.

If the issue is setting your amp for a bridge tone you love, then the neck is too muddy at those settings, this is a problem I have lived with my entire life... especially with neck humbuckers. The de-mud mod won't fix that. I'm going through the same thing now with my EBMM Luke III. But the de-mud mod will make for a beautiful sounding neck PAF, in and of itself.

As for humbuckers that are single-coil sounding, you've got:
Dimarzio EJ Custom
Dimarzio Humbucker From Hell
Fralin Twang Master
Fralin Big Single
...I'm sure there are some from smaller winders out there as well.

I've never played a Jazz, it does seem to solve the issue for some people, I don't think it has any less bass, it just has alot more treble. IMHO too much bass is the problem, more treble doesn't fix it.
 
I called Lindy Fralin yesterday; told him about the "muddy neck Humbucker thing", and he recommended, if one wanted to stay humbucking (traditional PAF) in the neck, to try his Pure PAF model. He wasn't sure if the Big Single or Twang Master pickups would be able to compete with a bridge PAF.
 
I've had Lindy wind 2 custom sets for me and they are spectacular. He's a top notch guy to work with .
I'm all for making an axe your own.

I will say that on my PRS 's I won't swap pickups , despite not being a huge fan of the 58/15 LT's .
Being a collector, I accept the instruments as Paul and /or the Artists intended knowing that is where their greatest value is.

Being a audio crazed soundman I just adjust all the toys so I can get my tone out of pretty much anything.

If I want something specific , I just build one from scratch that fits whatever sonic dream I'm enchanted with .
 
@László

Did your DGT make the cut (or avoid the cut, more precisely)? Do you still have it?
It made the cut (or avoided it, I guess). I also kept the McCarty Singlecut PS.

I have a serious emotional attachment to the McSC, but I'd be just fine with only the DGT.

How many dual-humbucker guitars with coil splits does anyone really need to get the work done, anyway? I make a living at this stuff and only need one.

Not that there's anything wrong with having more, of course. It's all personal choice.
 
Being a collector, I accept the instruments as Paul and /or the Artists intended knowing that is where their greatest value is.
I figured out the difference between myself and a collector:

A collector looks at his stash of guitars and says, "What can I add?"

I look at mine and ask, "What can I get rid of?"

Yes, I realize I'm weird. 🤣
 
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I figured out the difference between myself and a collector:

A collector looks at his stash of guitars and says, "What can I add?"

I look at mine and ask, "What can I get rid of?"

Yes, I realize I'm weird. 🤣

Right there with you. I actually long for a day when I have just 2 electrics and 1 acoustic, 1 amp would be great but it'll likely be 2. But it's not as simple as just selling everything off (as you know)... you have to live with the stuff awhile, years, until time really separates the wheat from the chaff. Until your gut tells you which ones must stay and which ones could go.

I would feel differently if I were a professional musician, but I'm just a musician at home and in a cover band. I'd like to have a few GREAT, "forever" instruments and stop being distracted by the gear chase (altho it's been fun all these years).
 
Right there with you. I actually long for a day when I have just 2 electrics and 1 acoustic, 1 amp would be great but it'll likely be 2.
You nailed how I feel.

I had one electric guitar and one amp from 1967-91, and never felt the need to have more until an ad client told me he didn't care for the tone of my SG Special. That's when I got my first PRS and upped the ante with a new amp, and it kind of snowballed from there.

For now I'm comfortable with two electrics. I've never owned more than one acoustic at a time. On the other hand, I'm not really an instrumentalist, I'm a composer who happens to play.

But it's not as simple as just selling everything off (as you know)... you have to live with the stuff awhile, years, until time really separates the wheat from the chaff. Until your gut tells you which ones must stay and which ones could go.
True. It takes a long time for me to figure this stuff out, too.

Plus I only had wheat, there wasn't chaff. The ones I let go were every bit as great as what I kept, so decisions were difficult.

I just didn't want to have so many, and have plans for my orchestral hybrid work that will be expensive.
 
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I am firmly in the DGT Camp
It is my favorite guitar of all the PRS guitars I have played
I play it almost daily

I still have my buddy's DGT
He has bought so many new ones since I am hoping he forgets it

So many pretty DGTs I will add this one to the mix

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I figured out the difference between myself and a collector:

A collector looks at his stash of guitars and says, "What can I add?"

I look at mine and ask, "What can I get rid of?"

Yes, I realize I'm weird. 🤣
That's interesting, because as a collector-in-denial, I look at your guitars and also think: "What can he get rid of (and sell to me)?" 😅
 
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