NGD and Pickup Question!

J

Joseph Martinez

JMart
Joined
Apr 28, 2019
Messages
8
So I'm ecstatic to own my first PRS! A Custom 24 Wood Library with a Faded Blue Jean top and Cocobolo neck. I LOVE it! Definitely the most beautiful guitar I've ever owned, as well as the best playing. However, the sound is something I haven't bonded with.

I really enjoy playing rock music, and the 58 / 15 LT pickups in it are not bonding with me. Well, I should say, the neck pickup is pretty good. Damn good actually, I really enjoy playing on that pickup. But the bridge... It just feels "off". Doesn't have that low end growl that I wish it did. What would y'all recommend that could take the place of the bridge pickup to give the bridge pickup more "oomph" in the drive channel while still meshing well with the neck pickup?

(PS I'm not really sure how to attach a pic... Lol)
 
Hi, J, welcome to the forum! Image posting is allowed after you've accumulated more than 10 posts, though you could post a URL link to a third-party webhosting site (Imgur is one) and copy/paste the link in one of your posts.

Gonna go out on a limb and say the Tremonti bridge might one of the hottest wound PRS pickups, but others may suggest something else.

Have you tried raising or lowering the bridge pickup first with a few slight turns of the pickup mount screws? Try raising the pickup just a little with a small-head screwdriver, and then check back with us. You may save yourself a bundle of cash this way....
 
CandidPicker said:
Hi, J, welcome to the forum! Image posting is allowed after you've accumulated more than 10 posts, though you could post a URL link to a third-party webhosting site (Imgur is one) and copy/paste the link in one of your posts.

Gonna go out on a limb and say the Tremonti bridge might one of the hottest wound PRS pickups, but others may suggest something else.

Have you tried raising or lowering the bridge pickup first with a few slight turns of the pickup mount screws? Try raising the pickup just a little with a small-head screwdriver, and then check back with us. You may save yourself a bundle of cash this way....
Click to expand...

Got it, thank you!!

Yes, I've tried raising the bridge. It definitely helped, but it still just sounds thin to me.
 
Joseph Martinez said:
Got it, thank you!!

Yes, I've tried raising the bridge. It definitely helped, but it still just sounds thin to me.
Click to expand...

Next step would be adjusting your amp volume and EQ.

TBH, my S2 Singlecut #7 pickups sounded slightly thin as well, but a pickup height and adjustment of my effects' and amp's EQ solved all that without spending extra money on new pickups...

I'd add a bit more bass and mids, and dial back on the treble a little...you'll need to do this with some trial and error, but I'd prefer to save you some cash than you spend money on pickups you may not need...
 
The 58/15lt are low turn low output pickups, so I can see why even with adjusting the pickup height you'd still run out of a bit of oomph. Perfect for a vintage inspired 594 model, maybe a bit lacking for a custom 24.
A standard 58/15 might be the solution, as well as a 57/08 or hotter 59/09.

Many wood library guitars used to mix a 57/08 neck with a 59/09 bridge. That still sound like an ideal combination to me.
 
Oh, one other mention, does your wood library custom 24 have a treble bleed capacitor on the volume pot? I believe the 58/15LTs in the 594 don't have a treble bleed for the vintage sound and feel. I've noticed that on some setups a treble bleed can give the impression of thinness, almost like a Tele. It could be that disconnecting one leg of the cap if it's fitted will warm up the sound and remove the impression of thinness
 
Over the last little while I’ve swapped the low output pickups out of two different guitars with Duncan JBs. My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner.

I’m thinking about installing a Duncan Distortion into my Custom 24, but haven’t gotten around to it yet.

From what I’m told, the Duncan Custom isn’t all that far removed from the old PRS HFS.
 
Tone-y said:
Oh, one other mention, does your wood library custom 24 have a treble bleed capacitor on the volume pot? I believe the 58/15LTs in the 594 don't have a treble bleed for the vintage sound and feel. I've noticed that on some setups a treble bleed can give the impression of thinness, almost like a Tele. It could be that disconnecting one leg of the cap if it's fitted will warm up the sound and remove the impression of thinness
Click to expand...

Or a slightly different value cap might help. If the cap is .022 microfarads, the OP could try .047 microfarads, same voltage handling (IIRC, 400V). That would shift the guitar's EQ slightly downwards towards mid/lower-mid rather than mid/upper-mid by shifting the low-pass (?) range of the cap. (Correct me if low-pass isn't the correct phrase, please...)
 
Not that I'm saying everyone needs to do this, but here's what I do to set up my amps with a PRS, being kind of an old-school, "control the amp with the guitar volume" kinda person...

I set the amp up for a light crunch with the guitar volume at about 5. Turning up the guitar volume then drives the amp progressively harder, and turning it down makes it progressively cleaner. I like the infinite tones that gives me, and there's plenty of oomph even with the LTs (of which I have two versions).

But if that's not your cuppa tea, the 85/15s are great, and so are the 59/09s.
 
Welcome aboard!

I'm confused, I thought they were called 85/15?

Irrelevant


I played them through a Kemper and they rocked my face off but, my style is basically what you would get if Zakk Wylde fronted an AC/DC tribute band (like Zakk Sabbath except it would be ZakkC/DC)


I digress.

I would recommend to first try adjusting your picking style. Get heavy. Next, try adjusting your amp.


If that doesn't work, I love my Mark Tremonti USA signature pickups

Dimebag Darrell (GOD rest his soul) played Bill Lawrence 500XL pickups.

Seymour Duncan (SD) makes the Dimebucker

I believe the SD Custom Custom is still the hottest passive bucker they make

PRS makes the \m/etal pickup

SD makes a Slash set.

I'm sure DiMarzio makes good buckers but, I'm just not a DiM guy.

If you want to sound like everybody else, EMG makes the 81/85 set. Along with numerous signature 81/85 sets


I think that's all I got
 
Black Plaid said:
Dang, coulda sworn someone said three. Am tempted to sign up with a test account just to see. :D
Click to expand...

Good luck with that. I think your IP allows only one account, but you could waste an entire day trying to set up a test account with the same IP.

Am now heading to bed. Cold snap the past 3 days threw my sinuses out of whack and I need to work back towards feeling better.
 
.

Raise the bridge pickup and lower the neck pickup.
Clip a fixed resistor across the volume pot for the pickup you want 'darker', like around 500k to start
tone cap changes
Pickup swaps are the last thing I change any more.

Look up the 'Joe Walsh Gibsonuk setup' videos 5 and 6 on youtube for how to adjust pickups.

.
 
I think the point is that this is a wood library guitar, and therefore has some non-standard features - such as the type of pickups. I think the CU24 would normally have 85/15 pickups, which are more modern flavored. This wood library has the 58/15LTs from the 594, which are the low turn version of the more vintage voiced 58/15.
Wilcutt seems to have some wood library CU24s in at the moment fitted with 58/15LTs. It does seem a bit of an odd choice to put on a CU24, but hey, I'm sure they're cool on that too. I have the lower output 53/10s on a CU22 platform and that works good for me.

...A bit more vintage SG rather than vintage LP, if you know what I mean
 
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