Pickup Replacement on 2004 CE-22

Tajtrivedi

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May 17, 2019
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About a year ago, I bought my first PRS. It was a 2002 CE-22 in Whale Blue. It came loaded with a Bare Knuckle Abraxas Pickup set. Maybe I'm just spoiled by the sound of my new 408, but these pickups sound lifeless, dull, and muddy to my ears. I just don't dig them. I want something that offers a similar clarity and definition of sound that I get from my 408, and something that handles coil taps well. I want to replace them with a PRS set. I was leaning either towards the original Dragon 2's or maybe a set of 85/15's. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
 
Do you want aggressive or vintage? Two top picks would be the 57/08's and the 59/09's.
 
I guess I want something with nice clarity, not necessarily gainy, but a more modern voiced pickup would be fine. Nothing too dark or muddy. I hadn't considered the Dragon 1's. I did like them in an older CU 24 I played a while back.
 
D1's are definitely gainy on the bridge pickup. I think the neck sounds incredible.

I really enjoy my 85/15 neck 59/09 bridge combo in my CU24.
 
The 85/15's are great - it would bring your guitar up to the 'modern' release spec. I think they have great clarity and love them in my Custom 24. If you are unsure, you could always try out a new CE22 or even the CE24 but be aware that if you try a new CE24, the Neck will sound a bit brighter as its bit closer to the bridge. Trying a new CE (if you can get to a shop that has them for sale) would at least give you a good idea of how these PU's could sound in your own CE. You will also get the opportunity to hear them split as well.

I find it difficult to recommend PU's to anyone. Because tone is subjective and PU's can differ in different instruments and rigs, it doesn't make it easy to recommend any PU's. At least with the new CE's and the fact they come with 85/15's, you can get an idea of whether or not these would be what you are looking for in your own CE. The 85/15's are described by Paul as the Pick-up he wished he had made in 1985 (hence 85 - with 15 being the year they were created of course) and they are the Pick-up of choice for PRS to put in the current Cu/CE22/24 models.

Again, not saying you should put 85/15's in your CE, but that it would be the PU in a new CE22 today. That also gives you a great opportunity to actually hear the PU for yourself in a very comparable guitar - not something many people get the opportunity to do when considering changing PU's. If you were swapping to SD's or DiMarzio's for example, you would struggle to find a CE22 with those PU's fitted to hear whether or not these would deliver the sound you are looking for.

I haven't got a CE myself but I haven't heard a 'bad' tone from any of the demo's and reviews of the CE's with 85/15's in. Whether or not its the tone you are looking for, I don't know but at least you have the opportunity to hear these before you commit to buying. If they aren't quite what you want, at the very least you can eliminate them from your list. It may also help you get closer to the tone you want - if its too bright or you for example, you can look for something darker, too 'modern', something more vintage, not hot enough something hotter.

Point is, you have a great opportunity to hear how these PU's could sound in your guitar before you buy and can use that experience, along with your current PU's to narrow the search down if the 85/15's aren't quite right. Whether or not PRS do have the right PU you are looking for to sell is a different matter of course. Either way, getting out to try an 85/15 loaded CE, hearing them yourself in a comparable guitar to yours, has got to be better than buying PU's and then not delivering what you hoped for in your guitar or wondering whether a different choice of PU may have been better.
 
I’m running Bare Knuckle Stormy Mondays in my standard 24. I like them. I really want to compare them to some 85/15s.

If you sell those Bare Knuckles you should be able to get a decent return. They are quite pricey new.
 
They're more than what their name implies. I'd check out the \m/ pickups. Great clarity and definition, and they do so much more than Metal.
 
About a year ago, I bought my first PRS. It was a 2002 CE-22 in Whale Blue. It came loaded with a Bare Knuckle Abraxas Pickup set. Maybe I'm just spoiled by the sound of my new 408, but these pickups sound lifeless, dull, and muddy to my ears. I just don't dig them. I want something that offers a similar clarity and definition of sound that I get from my 408, and something that handles coil taps well. I want to replace them with a PRS set. I was leaning either towards the original Dragon 2's or maybe a set of 85/15's. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I'm not important in any way nor is my opinion worth much BUT if you can find 5310s used those would be killer.

5909 bridge pickup ROCKS
8515 neck pickup ROCKS

If yours has rotary then you'll need 3 wire pickips.
 
I'll echo Bodia's recommendation of \m/ pickups, they are really good for more than just metal. Super articulate.

They are actually becoming tougher to find these days too since they are not in regular production.
 
About a year ago, I bought my first PRS. It was a 2002 CE-22 in Whale Blue. It came loaded with a Bare Knuckle Abraxas Pickup set. Maybe I'm just spoiled by the sound of my new 408, but these pickups sound lifeless, dull, and muddy to my ears. I just don't dig them. I want something that offers a similar clarity and definition of sound that I get from my 408, and something that handles coil taps well. I want to replace them with a PRS set. I was leaning either towards the original Dragon 2's or maybe a set of 85/15's. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
I wonder which pickups you finally replaced the BK's with?

I also own a early 2000's CE 22 with the original Dragon II's. Although they are okay... they are just that... nothing special or with a character I overly enjoy.

Based on some recommendations here I ordered a set of \m/'s and had to recognize the bridge pickup doesn't fit the depth of the pickup cavity (almost touching the strings in lowest possible position). I tested them on a SCT instead and ended up selling them as
I disliked their high output compared to my other guitars (although the tonal qualities were obvious). The SCT finally got a set of 59/09's which I really enjoy on that guitar.

For the CE 22 I still search for a different set. More string definition/clarity to the D2's would be good to have. Anything not to hot/aggressive nor too dark/mellow sounding. My thoughts circulate on a set of Thornbucker/TB+ (which I once had on a SE Custom and remember being nice ones) or maybe give the Fishman Fluence Classics a try. Anyone tried one of these on a CE 22 (non alder)?
 
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