Paul's pickups, how do they compare?

rpoce24

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How do the pickups on Paul's guitar sound compared to other PRS pickups? What are they closest to? Which are they furthest away from?
 
The 408 pickups have a really nice, original sound. I compare them closest to hum-canceling P90s, but with a little more power and compression. They are narrower than full-sized humbuckers, so they have a tighter voice harmonically. They're also uncovered, so they have nice bite as well. They're super versatile. I put them on my first Private Stock.
 
Totally agree withthe above statement. I think of it as a humless, firey P90. I will go on record and say I MUCH prefer the originals over the TCI version. However, that is subjective. Three of my favorite guitars were my Paul's Guitars with trems (had two, both ripped) and my Brent Mason. Now I'm rocking the Modern Eagle V. After a year with, I still haven't bought another electric.
 
I have a love/hate relationship with my TCI Paul's :eek: Most of the time it's "love", but some days my ears are weird (I guess).

Given a choice, I would prefer the old Paul's/narrow 408 pickup in my MEV. I hear an slightly annoying high-end, like I have a DI signal mixed in with my tone. I can usually EQ it out, but I'd rather not have to deal with it. It might be a non issue if I was playing live. I only record these days, so it's quite noticeable.
 
It's probably guitar-dependent. I love the ones in my PS, which is a solid body model with a Narrowfield middle pickup.

I don't find mine to sound anything like my current or previous PRS' with P-90s. P-90s are often darker-sounding pickups with more midrange honk. These have plenty of upper-midrange and high frequency sparkle, and seem to me more a cross between a Fender style single coil and a traditional humbucker. They're also sparklier than a traditional humbucker, without the horn-like upper midrange of a P-90, especially at the bridge position.

They're very airy and open-sounding, not congested/compressed like most P-90s or some traditional humbuckers.

This isn't a knock on P-90s; I love my guitars with P-90s, and that's also a sound I find very useful in my work. And I love my humbucker models. But, horses for courses.

I do a lot of recording with mine, and don't have the problem mark refers to above. I think it's the most beautiful-sounding guitar I've got. I often use it where other people might use a Strat for its shimmer. It's straight-up my favorite guitar for clean tones, by a mile.

I've had a Sig Limited and 408 as well, and liked those with the wider bridge pickups quite a lot, but prefer the Paul's pickups.
 
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Les, does your 20th have the TCI version of the Paul's pickup? You're much better describing how I heard my PG trem guitars. The MEV has a weird high end, could be upper mids - I'm not the best at describing frequencies. The TCI pickup doesn't bring me misery (lol) I just know I way prefer the old version of the Paul's pickup.
 
They definitely have something special going on in the upper mids. Paul has talked about that, with the purpose being to cut through the mix of the three-guitar band he put together.

Like Les said, they're very open sounding, which is a quality I absolutely love, but they still have enough juice for the more hard rockin' tones. They're not as bright (some say "sterile") as a fully modern pickup like the 85/15. I'd call it modern output and clarity, yet with vintage warmth? I dunno. They're good. :D

If I could choose, I might like to have the TCI version in the neck for that brighter sound Mark mentions, but with the older non-TCI version in the bridge. The single coil tone on the old version is more like a Tele or clean P90, while the TCI one leans much more to the Strat side.

I think the tonal difference between humbucker and single mode is more noticeable on the TCI version. With the old version if you're playing by yourself at home, especially with gain or processing, you may struggle to hear a difference, but on a stage at performance volumes, the change is massive.
 
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