Last questions about Pickups for my S2 McCarty Thinline.

[Jerrydpi]

As per my research, the S2 McCarty 594 Thinline is the PRS version of the Gibson SG.

So:
1) Which PRS Pickups would be the closest to the pu's in the Gibson SG?
2) What other brand pu's (Seymour Duncan/Gibson/Fralin/Bare Knuckle/etc.) would be the closest to the pu's in the Gibson SG?

 

[Birdsofprey]

Humbuckers (insert your fav brand here). SG’s didn’t use any specific or special humbuckers just what G had in the drawer at the time of production. Now the rabbit whole of PAF style pickups is never ending. I’d probably start on YouTube and only give a listen to clean amp demos, my .02

 

[Eseffinga]

I am not an expert in vintage PAFs, but it is my understanding that the early 60s SGs started to get short A5 magnets, and the pickups got a bit hotter, as they were a bit more powerful than the long A2s and A4s.

Ultimately any PAF voiced pickup should get you in the vintage SG ballpark. Beyond that, you can always do magnet swops, or there are aftermarket PAF flavors aplenty if you care to try them.

Nothing says YOUR S2 has to sound like an SG type guitar. It’s not an SG anyway. I always say do whatever strikes your fancy.

-e.

 

[dogrocketp]

It’s a McCarty, not an SG, so no matter what you do it won’t sound like an SG. And remember, pickup sounds are subjective and dependent on the amp.

 

[JasonE]

Guessing you mean the S2 McCarty 594 Thinline Standard since that looks to be all mahogany. It will have that all mahogany grunt to it like the SG. I wouldn't expect it to sound just like an SG. My SG is a 2016. I would have to measure the pickups but I don't remember them being PAF style. I remember them being a little hotter. It really depends on what parts of the SG you are trying to achieve. I have a core Starla from 09 that definitely gets into the SG territory. It has that all mahogany guitar grunt to it. However, it is more versatile to my ears than my SG is. That grunt is really all about where the resonant peak is in the midrange. You can tailor that with different types of pickups. I would get the guitar and play it for a month or two then reassess it and see if you think it needs more in a certain area of the midrange. That will help you find the right pickups for you.

As a side note; once you spend time with the guitar and determine what it needs more of or less of for your tastes, you can call Lindy Fralin and have a conversation with him and tell him what the guitar is and what you want more and less of from what it has now and he can wind you a set of pickups that will get you there. He will also let you send them back for a rewind if they are not quite there at just the cost of shipping them back. I have done this with him a couple of times and he hit it out of the park both times on the first shot.