ME1 makeover

[MykeWright]

Well I finally got to try my new pickups today. I'd never been completely happy with the RPs and the problem only got worse after putting 57/08s in my McCarty so.........I started with the 53/10s (TM) which did sound spectacular, but I think they'll be a better fit for my SCHB Std. The spare 57/08 (TM) bridge was a definite step in the right direction. Changing the neck pickup to the 59/09 (non TM) really seemed to suit the guitar and sounded great split. The final change to the 59/09 (non TM) bridge convinced me that this is the combination this guitar has been waiting for. The tapped sounds with both pickups on was quite sublime and were all the mixed and neck only settings for clean sounds. The bridge pickup is simply a great rock tone and really comes to life with a little dirt. Overall the 59/09 set balance each other out very nicely. The only regret is that during the testing I tried one full HB and one tapped (both ways round) and really liked those settings too, but I can't get them without drilling holes - which I won't do to the ME but probably will do to the SCHB.

I should also mention that I added two resistors to the coil-tap circuits but played with the values a bit, settling on 2.7k for the bridge and 2.2k for the neck. Either way the final tapped sounds are really very useful. Here's a couple of new pics.....

 

[Shawn@PRS]

I have a set of covered 59/09's in my 7 year employee guitar and I love them.

 

[cwhenke]

great choice on pups...even if you didn't go with the Dragons!

 

[MykeWright]

I have a set of covered 59/09's in my 7 year employee guitar and I love them.

With all the 5x/xx series pickups I've heard, there's some real magic in them that just brings out the musicality of the guitar. It's almost like you're listening to the inside of the note and not just the outside of it.

 

[WEDGE]

I have a set of covered 59/09s waiting to go into my ME, glad to hear your happy with them.

 

[vchizzle]

Nice. I love me some 59-oh-nizzles.

 

[WEDGE]

I have a set of covered 59/09s waiting to go into my ME, glad to hear your happy with them.

I just soldered mine in, same non 'TM' 59/09s, and holy hell are these awesome! Can't believe how much better these are than stock. Only downside is they sound much better than my 408s.........

 

[Buildermike]

Congrats on finding the right pickup. Defiantly like the covered 59's over the new uncovered squabblin version.

 

[vim fuego]

Does any one know the difference between covered and uncovered 59/09's? Would uncovered 59/09's give similar results in an me??

I've got a pair floating around and I'm wondering what would be a good match.. I'm pretty happy with rp's and originally bought them for my sc..

 

[Aeetus]

It's cool that you're happy with the end result. Can you tell me what you (and others please) don't like about the original pick ups, and what does TM and non TM mean? Cheers.

 

[WEDGE]

Trade mark.....TM never heard definitively but that is my guess.

 

[MykeWright]

Does any one know the difference between covered and uncovered 59/09's? Would uncovered 59/09's give similar results in an me??

I've got a pair floating around and I'm wondering what would be a good match.. I'm pretty happy with rp's and originally bought them for my sc..

They might be a tiny bit brighter and louder, but should be pretty much the same - However, much like the original PAFs, there seems to be a lot of variance between seemingly identical pickups, although with much more tightly controlled extremes of variation in PRS' case. All the 5x/xx pickups I tried in mine were a huge improvement over the RPs IMHO - of course YMMV.

 

[MykeWright]

It's cool that you're happy with the end result. Can you tell me what you (and others please) don't like about the original pick ups, and what does TM and non TM mean? Cheers.

I believe WEDGE is correct - it stands for Trade Mark.

The RPs, (much like many earlier PRS pickups) always sounded hard and one-dimensional to me. Even over-driven there was always an unpleasant spikiness present in the sound. They were pretty good clean but compared to the 57/08s in my McCarty, lacked airiness and texture. I originally had a Boogie MK2c when I first got the ME and it seemed to suit it well, but that was replaced by a Bogner Duende a few years back which allows the character of the guitar to come through much more. This seemed to lift a veil off the sound and highlight the difference between good or OK pickups and great ones. Now that I've heard what great pickups in a great guitar sound like, nothing else will satisfy me. Hope that helps.

 

[Aeetus]

Thanks for that clarification guys. Yeah I know what you mean about a kind of spiky or harshness that comes when I start to play a little harder, and I cannot replicate it with any of my guitars with S.D in. It's better than it was, I've lowered the pick up a little, lowered the poles a tad too but it's still there. To be fair the neck pick up isn't too bad. I'm in no rush but I guess I'll be changing mine out too soon.

Sorry for the thread de-rail, thanks for the info.

 

[docbennett]

It's funny about those RP's....I have never had a problem with them in any of the ME-1's I've owned, sold or traded. Always sounded OK to my ears. I wouldn't think of swapping them out of either of the ME-1's I currently own.

But...the love/hate relationship must be strong with these pickups. There is a PRS employee model currently on Ebay that was built for "RP" himself. The guitar features employee specs including the prototype RP pickups that would later become the stock pickups for the ME-1. Anyway, long story short, the guitar has sat on eBay for several auctions and has not sold. It's a real nice guitar, so I am assuming that the "aura of the RP's" is one of the reasons for its failure to sell (It was reasonably priced for an employee guitar as well).

 

[south89]

I've been curious about some covered 59/09 pups myself . Would love to try them in my Quatro

 

[themike]

Beautiful!

 

[WEDGE]

I've been curious about some covered 59/09 pups myself . Would love to try them in my Quatro

I had a gorgeous MEQ that I sold off because I didn't like the sound of the 53/10s, too vintage and warm, if I had dropped in 59/09s I likely would still be playing it.........

 

[Jester]

Very nice top on that one

 

[crgtr]

I think the 59/09's are the best pup PRS has made. Just my opinion. A set now lives in Riza & she's never sounded better. The TGS Wood Library has them & they are wonderful there too.