Tone-y
New Member
Only one 'master' volume pot on CU24 though.
NGD and Pickup Question!
- Thread starter Joseph Martinez
- Start date
Mozzi
https://imgur.com/user/BAMozzy/posts
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- Jun 2, 2018
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I do agree that the 58/15 LT's in a Custom 24 does seem an odd choice. The 58/15 LT's are a fantastic Pick Up and offer a lot of clarity but are quite 'vintage' with the low turns/low output. It really does suit the McCarty's inc the 594 and Hollowbody's. Maybe who ever did the Wood Library order wanted that vibe - Vintage meets 'New'.
Personally, I am not a big fan of the high output hot pick-ups - I am sure these would suit a Custom 24 perfectly well but I would rather add to the output with pedals to get the 'metal' scream if I wanted. Hot Pickups tend to break up cleans and not so easy to roll back the volume to go from cleans to break-up to crunch. I do like my 85/15's in my Custom 24 and these do have a bit more 'punch', a bit more 'modern' sound. They aren't exceptionally 'hot' but they do suit the Custom 24 well - at least for me.
I think the 58/15 LT's would have a bit of mismatch feel to me in a Custom 24 between the sound and the look - A 24 fret modern guitar with a more vintage sound. You can of course use some pedals to give it a bit more oomph, a bit more bark and growl. I have the 58/15 LT's in both my 594 and HBii and find them perfectly suited to these instruments. I wouldn't consider swapping them out. I think could cope with them in a Cu24 as well but I do think the 85/15's are better suited to that instrument.
In fairness though, I have not heard or played a Cu24 with 58/15 LT's and my thoughts about them are based on my experience with my instruments and the way they sound. Picking up my Custom 24, with its thinner neck and 24 frets, to me at least, I think 'modern' - even if its not ultra modern with really hot pick-ups, but I get that 'vibe' from it. I guess the 80's is now 'vintage' of course but its not 'classic 50's/60's' vintage, modern-vintage?
Anyway, that's my take on it. I guess if I picked up a Custom 24 with 58/15 LT's, I could get used to it, make it work for me. If I felt something wasn't quite right, wasn't what I expected or was looking for, I probably would look elsewhere, try a regular 85/15 Custom 24 and see if that had the right vibe. At least I would know whether its the guitar or the PU's that were not right for me.
Unlike a lot of people (it seems), I like to buy guitars on how they sound, not buy in the hope that I can find the right Pick-ups to have a guitar I liked the look of and hope to get the sound the way I want later. As such, I haven't swapped out Pick-ups - I bought the guitar because it sounded the way I wanted/expected it to sound so don't mess with something that ain't broke. I know that a LOT may not have the same approach as me. It certainly seems like its part of US culture to buy something and then constantly change/mod everything - whether that's a car or a guitar. Not a criticism at all, just an observation. Whether its because I am British that I expect things to be 'perfect' when I buy and not have to spend money to 'fix' things or not, I don't know but I wouldn't buy a guitar if it doesn't look, feel and sound right so require no after-market parts to correct things - like 'sound' (so no need to change PU's), tuning stability and/or ease of changing strings (no need to change tuners, nuts etc). The only thing I expect to change are things that wear through natural usage.
Whilst that isn't exactly relevant to the topic, I thought it was worth mentioning so you may understand my viewpoint. I would rather try adjusting everything at my disposal rather than switch PU's but I probably wouldn't have bought a guitar if I thought it didn't sound or feel right in the first place. At my disposal, I have a multitude of different options that I can adjust - assuming the guitar is set-up properly - PU's at the right height. I can either work back from the Amp or forward along the signal chain from the guitar. Depending on your pedal board and/or the pedals you own, the amount of 'tweaking' is limitless. Sometimes it seems that people would rather switch PU's than to make adjustments to their Amps EQ, change the gain, change Pedal settings and/or order. Maybe all that is needed is a 'boost' that you didn't need with a different guitar or an EQ adjustment somewhere in the chain.
I have watched Video's of people A/B'ing 2 different guitars and complaining that one has too much 'mids' compared to the other, that they like a 'mid' scoop sound - yet their Amp is set everything at noon. What that says to me is that the other guitar has 'little/no mids' so if you prefer a more balanced sound across the EQ, you can't add 'mids' on the one guitar but, if you prefer a 'mid' scoop, you can take the mids out with the EQ - much easier and better to shape your tone. In my opinion, its better to have and not need/want, than not have but want/need.
Anyway, the TL/DR is that I like both the 58/15 LT's and 85/15's in the Guitars that these are generally fitted. I don't buy guitars that don't sound right so have no experience (or desire) to swap PU's and would rather adjust settings along the signal path and even pedals and their order rather than switch PU's. In other words, I would change EQ's, add in a boost or more gain somewhere if I wanted a bit more oomph rather than swap PU's to get a hotter set. However, I also know that my culture, my opinion may well be different to others and wish the OP good luck in sorting out their concerns in whatever way suits them best...
Personally, I am not a big fan of the high output hot pick-ups - I am sure these would suit a Custom 24 perfectly well but I would rather add to the output with pedals to get the 'metal' scream if I wanted. Hot Pickups tend to break up cleans and not so easy to roll back the volume to go from cleans to break-up to crunch. I do like my 85/15's in my Custom 24 and these do have a bit more 'punch', a bit more 'modern' sound. They aren't exceptionally 'hot' but they do suit the Custom 24 well - at least for me.
I think the 58/15 LT's would have a bit of mismatch feel to me in a Custom 24 between the sound and the look - A 24 fret modern guitar with a more vintage sound. You can of course use some pedals to give it a bit more oomph, a bit more bark and growl. I have the 58/15 LT's in both my 594 and HBii and find them perfectly suited to these instruments. I wouldn't consider swapping them out. I think could cope with them in a Cu24 as well but I do think the 85/15's are better suited to that instrument.
In fairness though, I have not heard or played a Cu24 with 58/15 LT's and my thoughts about them are based on my experience with my instruments and the way they sound. Picking up my Custom 24, with its thinner neck and 24 frets, to me at least, I think 'modern' - even if its not ultra modern with really hot pick-ups, but I get that 'vibe' from it. I guess the 80's is now 'vintage' of course but its not 'classic 50's/60's' vintage, modern-vintage?
Anyway, that's my take on it. I guess if I picked up a Custom 24 with 58/15 LT's, I could get used to it, make it work for me. If I felt something wasn't quite right, wasn't what I expected or was looking for, I probably would look elsewhere, try a regular 85/15 Custom 24 and see if that had the right vibe. At least I would know whether its the guitar or the PU's that were not right for me.
Unlike a lot of people (it seems), I like to buy guitars on how they sound, not buy in the hope that I can find the right Pick-ups to have a guitar I liked the look of and hope to get the sound the way I want later. As such, I haven't swapped out Pick-ups - I bought the guitar because it sounded the way I wanted/expected it to sound so don't mess with something that ain't broke. I know that a LOT may not have the same approach as me. It certainly seems like its part of US culture to buy something and then constantly change/mod everything - whether that's a car or a guitar. Not a criticism at all, just an observation. Whether its because I am British that I expect things to be 'perfect' when I buy and not have to spend money to 'fix' things or not, I don't know but I wouldn't buy a guitar if it doesn't look, feel and sound right so require no after-market parts to correct things - like 'sound' (so no need to change PU's), tuning stability and/or ease of changing strings (no need to change tuners, nuts etc). The only thing I expect to change are things that wear through natural usage.
Whilst that isn't exactly relevant to the topic, I thought it was worth mentioning so you may understand my viewpoint. I would rather try adjusting everything at my disposal rather than switch PU's but I probably wouldn't have bought a guitar if I thought it didn't sound or feel right in the first place. At my disposal, I have a multitude of different options that I can adjust - assuming the guitar is set-up properly - PU's at the right height. I can either work back from the Amp or forward along the signal chain from the guitar. Depending on your pedal board and/or the pedals you own, the amount of 'tweaking' is limitless. Sometimes it seems that people would rather switch PU's than to make adjustments to their Amps EQ, change the gain, change Pedal settings and/or order. Maybe all that is needed is a 'boost' that you didn't need with a different guitar or an EQ adjustment somewhere in the chain.
I have watched Video's of people A/B'ing 2 different guitars and complaining that one has too much 'mids' compared to the other, that they like a 'mid' scoop sound - yet their Amp is set everything at noon. What that says to me is that the other guitar has 'little/no mids' so if you prefer a more balanced sound across the EQ, you can't add 'mids' on the one guitar but, if you prefer a 'mid' scoop, you can take the mids out with the EQ - much easier and better to shape your tone. In my opinion, its better to have and not need/want, than not have but want/need.
Anyway, the TL/DR is that I like both the 58/15 LT's and 85/15's in the Guitars that these are generally fitted. I don't buy guitars that don't sound right so have no experience (or desire) to swap PU's and would rather adjust settings along the signal path and even pedals and their order rather than switch PU's. In other words, I would change EQ's, add in a boost or more gain somewhere if I wanted a bit more oomph rather than swap PU's to get a hotter set. However, I also know that my culture, my opinion may well be different to others and wish the OP good luck in sorting out their concerns in whatever way suits them best...
gush
Where is that speedo pic
I have a 2000 McCarty and I could not bond with the Mc bridge pickup although the neck was great. I've had several different pickup sets in it over the years.
Now I had a set of 5909s in it and those sounded incredible. What I ended up with was a pair of 8515s. The very second I played the neck pickup I was in love, the bridge pickup just wasn't in the same class as the neck pickup so I swapped it out with the 5909 bridge.
I absolutely love the 5909 bridge pickup and I absolutely love the 8515 neck pickup. My only complaint would be that if you run a lot of low end in your tone the 8515 neck can be overpowering. I've lowered it probably as low as I can and it works but just remember the low end can be a problem.
I also find that pics of guitars with the 8515/5815 pickups tend to have the bridge pickup set pretty high. I can
t recall what the output of these bridge pickups but I would guess and only guess that the frequencies it does or doesn't produce is the reason.
My McCarty is my avatar pic. It has become my favorite to play for the past few months. I sent it to PRS for some fret work and had them install push pull on vol pot. Now I can split each pickup on its own. IT ABSOLUTELY ROCKS!!!!!!!
The 8515 is my fav neck pickup with 5708 being close 2nd. The cleaner you play the 8515 neck the better it sounds AND it sounds fantastic with tone rolled down a bit.
I had been a "leave tone on 10" kind of guy but not anymore.
Good luck.
Now I had a set of 5909s in it and those sounded incredible. What I ended up with was a pair of 8515s. The very second I played the neck pickup I was in love, the bridge pickup just wasn't in the same class as the neck pickup so I swapped it out with the 5909 bridge.
I absolutely love the 5909 bridge pickup and I absolutely love the 8515 neck pickup. My only complaint would be that if you run a lot of low end in your tone the 8515 neck can be overpowering. I've lowered it probably as low as I can and it works but just remember the low end can be a problem.
I also find that pics of guitars with the 8515/5815 pickups tend to have the bridge pickup set pretty high. I can
t recall what the output of these bridge pickups but I would guess and only guess that the frequencies it does or doesn't produce is the reason.
My McCarty is my avatar pic. It has become my favorite to play for the past few months. I sent it to PRS for some fret work and had them install push pull on vol pot. Now I can split each pickup on its own. IT ABSOLUTELY ROCKS!!!!!!!
The 8515 is my fav neck pickup with 5708 being close 2nd. The cleaner you play the 8515 neck the better it sounds AND it sounds fantastic with tone rolled down a bit.
I had been a "leave tone on 10" kind of guy but not anymore.
Good luck.
Joseph Martinez
JMart
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2019
- Messages
- 8
Wow, I haven't been keeping up with the post like I should have, but thank you all for the advice and the welcomes! Have a lot to look at here. Honestly, I'm not very experienced in working with guitar internals... But it's something I can definitely look into. I've been playing around with eq settings, playing through my different amps, using two different booster pedals (both in front and in the loop) and, while I can definitely approach the area I want to be in, it's still not quite there.
P.S., here are some pics of the guitar!
https://m.imgur.com/gallery/nCv2FZh
P.S., here are some pics of the guitar!
https://m.imgur.com/gallery/nCv2FZh
Alnus Rubra
Loving nature’s wonders
You have an amazing guitar. Go make wonderful music!
Congratulations
Congratulations
Joseph Martinez
JMart
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2019
- Messages
- 8
One thing worth mentioning as well, is that I can definitely see where you're coming from Mozzi (as far as not choosing an instrument that you are happy with totally) but this was a graduation present to me for completing my engineering degree and well... Beggars can't be choosers!
I absolutely adore the way it plays. I've played a few PRS before, but this one in particular... The neck is just the finest neck I've ever felt on an electric guitar. I can't exactly pinpoint what it is about it, the thing just feels so great!! So I'm satisfied enough with the feel (and the look) to justify modification to achieve different sound.
I'll be diving more in depth and exploring a few other options before doing a pup swap as others have recommended.
I absolutely adore the way it plays. I've played a few PRS before, but this one in particular... The neck is just the finest neck I've ever felt on an electric guitar. I can't exactly pinpoint what it is about it, the thing just feels so great!! So I'm satisfied enough with the feel (and the look) to justify modification to achieve different sound.
I'll be diving more in depth and exploring a few other options before doing a pup swap as others have recommended.
Tone-y
New Member
Wow, I don't remember getting anything when graduating from my engineering degree. I demand a PRS and 19 years of interest
Tone-y
New Member
Wow, I've just seen the pictures! That's lovely. I'd honestly leave that one totally stock (bar tweaking setups) and just learn how best to use it as is. It's a gift after all, and actually I think it could offer some cool takes on a CU24.
What you need to do if you really do need a bridge pickup with a bit more oomph is.... Buy another guitar!
What you need to do if you really do need a bridge pickup with a bit more oomph is.... Buy another guitar!
Alnus Rubra
Loving nature’s wonders
Wow, I don't remember getting anything when graduating from my engineering degree. I demand a PRS and 19 years of interest
Says the guy with one of the hottest (nude) guitars on here!
Tone-y
New Member
Thanks Alnus. That was kind of a gift I suppose. From me to myself as a last chance before parenthood sucked my bank account dry!Says the guy with one of the hottest (nude) guitars on here!
Alnus Rubra
Loving nature’s wonders
It has to be done!
Mozzi
https://imgur.com/user/BAMozzy/posts
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2018
- Messages
- 4,155
Of coarse its a completely different situation if you are given a guitar - even one as superb as a Wood Library PRS. So much else can go 'wrong' with having a guitar bought for you - the neck shape not being right, the playability, the look etc. If all you have to worry about is tweaking the tone, then that's not too bad a deal.
I cannot really advise on what you may need to get the sound in your head out of the guitar. Maybe its finding the right boost, or maybe the right drive. maybe it is PU's, or maybe its just the Guitar - expecting a Les Paul tone from a Cu24 isn't going to end well. It may get close in one selection but seem off in another. It maybe that you need to change, need to get used to its voice and make that work for you instead of trying to get it to sound like something else. Any of these could be the answer. If its the guitar, changing PU's may not be the answer either - something could still be 'off' to you but now its screaming about it instead. Maybe you should go to a music shop and try another Cu24 with 85/15's and see if its the PU positioning that seems 'off' in your head. At the very least, you can hear what a 'standard' Cu24 sounds like which may help you with yours. You may find it is the PU's, you may find its the guitar itself, which would mean you need to get used to the way yours sounds and not try to make is sound like a 22fret guitar for example.
Before you go changing PU's though, you want to be sure its those that are the issue and, what PU's may help you best. None of us can hear the guitar and hear what you expect it to sound like so none of us can say for certain what you may need to do to get the sound of your guitar to match the sound you expect to hear. If you are expecting something like sounding more like a Les Paul or other 22 fret guitar in every position, chances are a Custom 24 isn't for you - unless you are willing to change. The Pick-up separation (distance between the two) and the relative neck position compared to other 22fret guitars has an impact on the voice of the Custom 24 so you need to be sure its not 'that' that sounds 'off' in your head because swapping PU's may not be the answer to your issue.
bodia
Authorities said.....best leave it.....unsolved
Dude, that's hot!
Joseph Martinez
JMart
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2019
- Messages
- 8
Just to update everyone on the pickup situation (and should anyone find this thread in the future) I swapped the bridge out for a Seymour Pearly Gates. That thing rocks, it really does, and it sits very well with the stock neck pup. There's a very detailed thread I remember reading from a member who went through 5 different pups before settling on a Pearly Gates, that was my inspiration for the switch.
GADonis
Beautifully Broken
My normal suggestion is to try a boost pedal in front of the amp to see if that gets you where you want to be. But I see that you tried that. I play my 594 into a Boogie TC-50 and with a boost pedal that combination is absolute high gain heaven to my ears. I put a very light amount of chorus in the loop and it really sings. You can't actually hear any chorusing effect but you can hear a difference with it off or on.
A WL PRS for a graduation present is pretty cool. I got a Charvel Model 6 as a combination high school and college graduation present.
A WL PRS for a graduation present is pretty cool. I got a Charvel Model 6 as a combination high school and college graduation present.
