New S2 PRS 594 Owner somewhat dismayed-PICKUPS?

Try the DC and see if it's more alive. It won't mean you get that one, just take the test drive (if it's still there).

Nah, I wanted and have the form factor I want. But to be clear, I bought the guitar thru Reverb from a store in NJ. I live in Florida, so? Perhaps if it was near me I would try it just to see. Thanks
EDIT: I will say I do regret one thing. Not wanting to wait. Nobody had them, trust me I searched. I'm very good with searching the web. Couple people on Reverb had them but only this New Jersey music store had the SC in the finish\color I wanted.
I wish I could have gone into a store and played a bunch of them, but...none to play.
There is a store around the corner from me that has mainly PRS and Heritage guitars. But they still do not have the S2 McCarty.....................
 
PRS makes some wonderful pickups, but I have to say I have zero qualms with my BKP Mules. Excellent pickups with incredible clarity, excellent clean AND rock tones, very dynamic.
 
I've got one on backorder right now. I saw Phillip McKnight's videos on these and it seems like pickup and pot upgrades are the way to go. Since he's near to me geographically, perhaps I'll ask him to "sharpen my axe" if I'm dissatisfied with the tone when it arrives.
 
I've got one on backorder right now. I saw Phillip McKnight's videos on these and it seems like pickup and pot upgrades are the way to go. Since he's near to me geographically, perhaps I'll ask him to "sharpen my axe" if I'm dissatisfied with the tone when it arrives.

Cool. Sure wish I was near enough to him. Where I live good techs are far and in between......................
 
Well, I have nothing much to add regarding other pickup options - there are a ton of possibilities.

But I will say that maybe you just need to play a different guitar for a day or two, then come back to the S2 594. Sometimes something gets stuck in your head and you can't get past it. But if you forget about it and listen with "new ears" it might never be there again.

And it might not be that the pickups are lifeless, but that there is just such a difference from what you are used to. You said:

"Especially since all my experience with Humbucker's is 2nd hand knowledge. "

So have you owned only single-coil guitars your whole life, and only played "borrowed" HB-equipped guitars? That might be the "root cause" of your impressions, SCs are very different from HBs, and you can get a wider range of tones with SCs, IMHO - but it is the meatiness of HBs that can never be found in SCs that make them so different.

Also, maybe try a different amp, or different settings on your amp - if you played your friends' HB guitars through their amps, maybe they had already "dialed in" the tone, and you are trying to use your amp, which you've dialed in for SCs, without tweaking. It might not take much. What are you playing into?
 
Well, I have nothing much to add regarding other pickup options - there are a ton of possibilities.

But I will say that maybe you just need to play a different guitar for a day or two, then come back to the S2 594. Sometimes something gets stuck in your head and you can't get past it. But if you forget about it and listen with "new ears" it might never be there again.

And it might not be that the pickups are lifeless, but that there is just such a difference from what you are used to. You said:

"Especially since all my experience with Humbucker's is 2nd hand knowledge. "

So have you owned only single-coil guitars your whole life, and only played "borrowed" HB-equipped guitars? That might be the "root cause" of your impressions, SCs are very different from HBs, and you can get a wider range of tones with SCs, IMHO - but it is the meatiness of HBs that can never be found in SCs that make them so different.

Also, maybe try a different amp, or different settings on your amp - if you played your friends' HB guitars through their amps, maybe they had already "dialed in" the tone, and you are trying to use your amp, which you've dialed in for SCs, without tweaking. It might not take much. What are you playing into?
Fractal Audio FM3. Also have an old champ amp. A super Champ x2. The FM3 is the one I use. I have played thru fractal products since 2009..........pretty experienced. Yes, I did say above somewhere that I am looking at the 57/08's and the BKP Abraxas, but I followed that up by saying I am going to give the guitar more time for me to settle in.

So I am doing what you mention Thanks
 
Sorry but what does MAP mean? in the theme of this conversation I mean.

MAP means Minimum Advertised Price - so the suggestion is that, if you call the dealers, you may be able to get a better price than they list on the website.
 
Another guitar ? I thought PRS were historically not as variable when it comes to individual examples? In the end I don't think that is the cheaper option..

It isn't hard to switch the pickups and go back if you cut/ de solder at the right spot.

I just got the first ding on my S2 594 so that just puts me that much closer to changing mine. If anything, just for fun really :)
 
MAP means Minimum Advertised Price - so the suggestion is that, if you call the dealers, you may be able to get a better price than they list on the website.

MAP is what I use to make my guitar sound LODUER!!!
 
One other thing........I have an S2 studio that was pretty dead sounding when I got it. It’s really beautiful (and blue) so I decided to keep it and use it as a back up. I started playing it more and more, and then the sound opened up a lot. It’s now one of my best sounding guitars. There may be a break in period for your guitar. I say give it about 30 days before you do anything.
 
I watched that same video and I can understand how it makes you question the pups, everyone did in the comment section. One thing people seem to forget when watching these tone comparisons is YT compresses the crap out of ALL audio. It’s actually pretty bad on a decent sound system, on the order of medium low mp3 quality. People are hearing what they want to hear based on expectations.

We can’t hear what’s actually there because 2/3 of it has been removed by lossy compression. The compression algorithm isn’t specifically designed for guitars and pickups so it can and does act with more bias toward certain frequencies. That means it’ll butcher some guitars more than others depending on individual frequency spectrum.

All that being said... are they really that bad in person?
 
Railhammers are also a nice choice if you change - a friend of mine just put up a demo of his S2 Standard 22 with Railhammers in it

 
I was wondering if there is much difference between the US made Starla pickups and the Korean variety?
 

I have a Starla on my Vela which can split.. what changes might the USA version give me? The pickup is quite ‘HiFi’ and sounds great, is the USA version similar/improved/worse ? Obviously the answer is subjective but that’s fine by me
 
I have a Starla on my Vela which can split.. what changes might the USA version give me? The pickup is quite ‘HiFi’ and sounds great, is the USA version similar/improved/worse ? Obviously the answer is subjective but that’s fine by me

People have described the S2 as more PAF-like vs. the Gretsch-like tone of the Core ones.
 
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