Not loving my Archtop bridge pickup.

[parek]

Hi,

my PRS has Archtop pickups and I love the neck pup, but even if the neck pup is lowered and the bridge pup raised close to strings the bridge pup sounds too wimpy compared to neck. The pups are not in balance IMO. I have even cut some bass from the neck pup with .03uf cap but still...

Any idea what pickup would give me more meat to the bridge and pair well with Archtop neck pickup?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Is it possible you have them swapped ? Would it be possible to try swapping them?

 

[parek]

Is it possible you have them swapped ? Would it be possible to try swapping them?

No, they are not swapped. I tried something and it helped: I swapped the .033 cap to .02 to cut even more bass from the neck pickup and I adjusted the pole pieces from both pickups. Now the sound is a little bit more balanced and the pickup height is still OK. I wouldn't still mind having some more meat in the bridge pickup. Maybe I will try swapping them at some point.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Yeah, no worries, sometimes we forget to check the obvious things, just making sure. Yeah, if you're not happy with the bridge, then swap it, an archtop pickup is definitely never going to satisfy, they're intended more for those old-timey jazz tones. I like the Benedetto B-7 on my solidbody 7-string, haven't tried the B-6 yet, but I've tried the A-6 and the PAF, and both are verah nahs, with a lot more meat to them.

Cheers.

 

[Huggy Love]

I am a strong proponent of the arch top pups and I do agree that the neck PU for jazz & blues tones are standout but the bridge PU is a little bit lacking. To be honest, I use the neck pup 80% of the time when I play my HB and when I need a better bridge/lead tone I use my solidbody. The one dilemma you have is that swapping out the bridge pup to one that has more mid & low output on solid body guitars might not match well with a hollow body or semi hollow, presuming that's what you have. (You mention arch top pups and they usually come on hollowbodies)

I'd talk with a good guitar tech or the PTC to get some tips on a direction to go before swapping out pups.

Good luck with it.

 

[parek]

The one dilemma you have is that swapping out the bridge pup to one that has more mid & low output on solid body guitars might not match well with a hollow body or semi hollow, presuming that's what you have. (You mention arch top pups and they usually come on hollowbodies).

Good point, thanks. Yes, the guitar is HB2. Aren't these Archtop pickups very low output and relatively bright? I am quite noob on humbuckers, but I love the low output on these. A lot quieter than McCarty (2003) pickups were. If I swap the bridge pickup, I would like it to be only a little bit meatier, that's all. To my knowledge these pickups are quite different compared to other humbuckers in terms of output and I have no idea what pickups to try. I was thinking some of the meatier version of DiMarzio "vintage output" series pickups.

 

[jimfisher]

A suggestion - call Jim Wagner and discuss options with him. I've had a set of his Goodwoods in my HB Spruce for many years and they are superb pickups.

http://jimwagnerpickups.com/

Jim

 

[garrett]

I was the other way around and thought the neck pickup was too muddy sounding in my HBII, like the tone knob was always rolled back a bit. I ended up solving that by swapping the baseplate to nickel silver and the magnet to A5 on the neck pickup. The difference was always tonal to me, and not output. I find they balance perfectly now.

The neck pickup should measure mid 6k and the bridge low 7k, to give a reference point. That is very low for humbuckers. Maybe look for a regular McCarty neck pickup, or something in the mid 7k range with an A2 magnet?

 

[Huggy Love]

Good point, thanks. Yes, the guitar is HB2. Aren't these Archtop pickups very low output and relatively bright? I am quite noob on humbuckers, but I love the low output on these. A lot quieter than McCarty (2003) pickups were. If I swap the bridge pickup, I would like it to be only a little bit meatier, that's all. To my knowledge these pickups are quite different compared to other humbuckers in terms of output and I have no idea what pickups to try. I was thinking some of the meatier version of DiMarzio "vintage output" series pickups.

Low output doesn't always equate out to "bright", there are a lot of other factors in pickup design that dictate tone, and Dimarzio, Duncan, & a gazillion other manufacturers make replacements but you're still guessing at this point what will point the tone to the desired place. You will get a lot of opinions here, so I still suggest you contact PRS PTC or/and a respected guitar tech for some pro advice.

 

[studiotan]

Not helpful for OP as they would be impossible to source, but just noticed that the HBII's now ship with the 58/15LT vs the 58/15. Would love to hear a demo of that combination.

 

[parek]

Update.

Still not loving the bridge pickup. The neck overpowers other two positions too much. Though, I love the neck pickup sound. I have tried all the tricks and there's no way around it: I need a bit more meat to the bridge pickup. A little bit more bass and mids, not treble.

What pickup to choose?

 

[Dusty Chalk]

There's a list of specs (including DC resistance) floating around here somewhere, I would start with that. I don't think too many people around here have swapped out just the bridge, they usually either swap out them both with a matched pair, or nothing, AFAIK.

 

[garrett]

Update.

Still not loving the bridge pickup. The neck overpowers other two positions too much. Though, I love the neck pickup sound. I have tried all the tricks and there's no way around it: I need a bit more meat to the bridge pickup. A little bit more bass and mids, not treble.

What pickup to choose?

This sounds like a good circumstance to talk to Lindy Fralin. Maybe a Pure PAF. He could recommend the right wind based on the known specs of the PRS neck pickup (around 6.4k, 42ga wire, brass base plate, nickel cover, pretty sure A4 magnet).

 

[Huggy Love]

If you swap out pups I'd stay in the PAF realm, putting something with a much hotter signal may play hell when it comes to feedback, etc.

*Maybe it's a case of what style of music you're doing and what you're expecting from the instrument.*
As I said in my previous post, I use the neck pickup in my HB most of the time because I use it mainly for jazz, blues and R&B, and if I want to shred out on the neck pup I can do some fusion. Now if I need that strong bridge pickup lead sound or chunk out some hard rock rhythms, I'll go to my solid body PRS, kind of the "right tool for the right job" concept.

Hollow body guitars in general (at least to my ears) have a kind of jangly tone in the bridge pickup and not suited for metal or aggressive tone playing,IMHO. Maybe other players have had other experiences and results but that's how it worked out for me.

 

[solacematt]

Hi,

my PRS has Archtop pickups and I love the neck pup, but even if the neck pup is lowered and the bridge pup raised close to strings the bridge pup sounds too wimpy compared to neck. The pups are not in balance IMO. I have even cut some bass from the neck pup with .03uf cap but still...

Any idea what pickup would give me more meat to the bridge and pair well with Archtop neck pickup?

Thanks in advance.

I have to say this as I'm a huge fan of the HB models, especially the McCarty models. I noticed that you mentioned that you are playing a HB2. I'm pretty sure if you check the specs you will find that they are regular pickups and they are not voiced archtop pickups like the ones that were dropped into McCarty and early HB1 models. On that note, not sure what kind of music you play, but I've found the pickups in all three HB models I use to be great. No issues with output at all ::shrugs::

 

[Big Eric Bee]

Might I suggest a magnet swap? Like trying a A5 or even ceramic. Might give enough of a boost. Cheaper than a new pickup. Recently discovered that even changing out a magnet to a different one but same type changed the output.

 

[parek]

I noticed that you mentioned that you are playing a HB2. I'm pretty sure if you check the specs you will find that they are regular pickups and they are not voiced archtop pickups like the ones that were dropped into McCarty and early HB1 models. On that note, not sure what kind of music you play, but I've found the pickups in all three HB models I use to be great.

The modcat code says "Arcthop" pickups. I play with 5E3 Tweed Deluxe, gentle touch with fingerstyle, using mostly semi-clean sounds and sometimes moderate overdrive. Music style is blues with 5% of rock.

The neck pickup is fantastic, but when I switch to middle or bridge position, all the bass disappears and volume drops too much. Just to remind, the neck pickup has less bass than stock, because I did cut the bass response with .02 cap (in the hot lead). Without the mod, the difference was even greater. The neck pickup is adjusted very low and bridge pickup is already uncomfortably close to the strings. I also tried to adjust the height of the pole pieces (both pickups) to compensate the height issue, but no luck. Maybe the pickups are supposed to work like this? I had a normal McCarty with McCarty pickups and it did not have similar issue. I know there's nothing broken with the guitar.

I guess I will give the neck pickup info to some local pickup builder and ask their opinion on the subject. Maybe they will know what kind of pickup is needed.

 

[parek]

Might I suggest a magnet swap? Like trying a A5 or even ceramic. Might give enough of a boost. Cheaper than a new pickup. Recently discovered that even changing out a magnet to a different one but same type changed the output.

Thanks, I might try this idea.

 

[parek]

*Maybe it's a case of what style of music you're doing and what you're expecting from the instrument.*

Well, what I expect / want from my guitar is, that when I switch the pickup selector, I get different tones with about the same output level in each position. Output meaning volume and general bass and mid response. I like that the difference in sound comes from the fact that one pickup picks the sound from the neck position and second pickup close to the bridge. That natural difference what comes from the pickups physical location is enough for me. I don't like if there are big general tone differences between the pickups.

Analogy: If I listen to a music album, I like that all the tracks are mixed to about same volume and tonal levels. I don't like to adjust volume and eq levels after each song

 

[garrett]

I'm not convinced your bridge pickup is working properly. You may want to measure the resistance to be sure. For me, the neck pickup was always too bassy/wooly sounding. It did dominate the middle position, but I never found the bridge pickup lacking in output.