Modern Eagle V

Renan Santos

New Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2020
Messages
6
Hello everyone, I`m the owner of a beautiful MEV from 2024:

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love how it plays and how it looks but I am having issues with the sound... it is very dark and lacking bite, for my taste of course.

So my ask to you guys, what should I do to increase that bite and give it a bit more of a rock tone? lower pick ups for more clarity maybe, specific set of strings, maybe change the tone capacitor? ideas?I`m a bit lost and this being by far my most expensive guitar, I`m a bit reluctant on making any aggressive changes.
 
I don’t know those pu’s in particular but try to increase the pickup height at first. Should give more presence and signal strength. Hog neck+body will give you a darker more earthy sound anyway, that’s why I‘m not into this combination. Try to tweak your amp settings also in regard of you specific guitar tone. One setting might not work for every guitar.
 
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I hope you find a sound that works for you without any modifications. I have one and I would describe the tone the opposite of what you are hearing. Mine is bright and very aggressive. I typically use it in single coil mode with the volume backed off a little. My neck pickup height has the center of the pickup about even with the top of the pickup ring. I don’t know how far off the strings that puts it, but it is lower than I expected it to be. I just adjusted both humbuckers to be in balance with the single coil pickup while in single coil mode. I bought mine used, so I have no idea how it came from the factory.
 
As already mentioned by @Mentalo87 & @Stephen J. , try adjusting your pickup heights and/or adjusting your amp settings. Work with small changes, check results. Repeat if necessary.

Just curious, what amp are you using, and effects if any?


J
 
Smokin! As suggested, play with the pickup heights. Makes all the difference in the world. You could adjust pole height but that's a little more advanced in shaping sound. Try the pickup heights first. Amp settings too. My experience with a MEV is the opposite of what you describe.
 
There is a cap on some 408 style guitars runs between the Vol and Tone pots that tames the high end that some have removed and I read it was also removed on the Brett mason sig for more treble.
Lets see a pic of the wiring
 
There is a cap on some 408 style guitars runs between the Vol and Tone pots that tames the high end that some have removed and I read it was also removed on the Brett mason sig for more treble.
Lets see a pic of the wiring
I was just thinking about the cap. That would be my next step after pup adjustment, followed by lighter strings. As a matter of fact, I did experiment with different caps on my SE until I found one I liked. I also experimented with resisters on the ground leg of the coil split, and ended up preferring no resister to ground. Regarding strings, I went heavier, to 10s for a bit more beef to the sound and the feel.
 
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As already mentioned by @Mentalo87 & @Stephen J. , try adjusting your pickup heights and/or adjusting your amp settings. Work with small changes, check results. Repeat if necessary.

Just curious, what amp are you using, and effects if any?


J
the amp is a Victory V50 and/or a Dr.Z remedy.

I`ve been playing with adjusting the pickup height and also the pole heights and I`ve got to better results already but not quite there yet. There is an underlying bass tone in it that is very beautiful for single note lines but playing chords, unless I pretty much remove all bass from the amps, are not clear and defined.

not many pedals on the signal chain, my pedalboard is massive but I use a switcher so everything out of the way unless I want it in. normally, just the amps and a touch of delay from a ARDX20.
 
In these situations I'm partial to actually sinking the pickup pole pieces down into the pickup starting at the low E then raising the A and D pieces kinda with the radius, then more aggressively raising the high B E pole pieces all the while trying to keep both bass and treble sides of the pickup close to the strings as possible.

Also note, using different picks of varying material and thickness can noticeably change the tone.

It may be a guitar that requires more amp tweakage out of your V50 than your other guitars. Cutting bass, maxing treble and mids, increasing the amp volume vs the gain, maxing out presence if the amp has a presence knob.

Either way, I love charcoal and that looks like a lovely guitar. Congratulations! I hope you can put some time in and bond with the guitar. It may be worth an EQ pedal?
 
There is an underlying bass tone in it that is very beautiful for single note lines but playing chords, unless I pretty much remove all bass from the amps, are not clear and defined.
Is this an MEV with Mahogany neck, or Rosewood neck?

If rosewood, that may explain the darker tone you are getting.

Also, try adjusting the pickups so that the bass side (E, A strings) is lower than the treble side (B, e strings) - that might help in your overall apparent EQ response.
 
I have a mahogany neck MEV, had it for not quite a year. After getting past the honeymoon period and playing my other guitars more, I've noticed it has kind of a congested lower mid emphasis compared to other guitars. In particular I noticed that was very pronounced compared to my SE Soapbar (thanks to the forum for reminding me to pull that out!). I had that soapbar sounding really good with a Carol Ann Triptik Classic model in my Axe FX. Played that and enjoyed it for a while, then swapped in the MEV and that lower midrange just jumped right out at me, and not in a enjoyable way. I've never thought the MEV sounded bad, and has enough top end, but I need to compare it to more of my other guitars to see if I'm hearing what I think I'm hearing.
 
I would try 9-42 NYXL’s. Heavier strings will provide more bass emphasis. These are my favorite bright strings on my PRS. Sometimes they’re actually too bright. Any nickel or nickel coated string will be darker.
 
Dark and lacking bite compared to what? My MEV is one of my brighter sounding guitars, the brightest sounding humbucker guitar by far (not played acoustically but through an amp). It has plenty of bite and definition and ”dark” is one of the last words I would use to describe what it sounds like. Are you sure there isn’t an issue with the wiring of the guitar? Is the guitar cable ok? Amp or amp settings?
 
I just picked up one too last weekend! Mine is also the opposite of what’s described here. I haven’t had a ton of time to play it yet but it sounds fantastic and like that there probably aren’t many that look like mine. It has a swamp ash back and ziricote fretboard with the stained flame maple in yellow tiger. The dealer told me likely this was a wood library 10 top and they probably messed up the original paint job so now it’s gold! I wonder if I could call PRS to ask them what the original top was going to be just cause I am curious.

 
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