Pickups Recommendations for My new & first PRS

I have an S2 Custom on order as well, looking forward to trying the #7 pickups that come stock. IMO, PRS has been knocking it out of the park with pickups lately, even in the SE guitars (the 245's are seriously good). Maybe the stock 7's will be great to start with?

Otherwise, the HFS/VB's have a nice split tone - they're hotter pickups, so they still have a bit of push when split, which gives a nice single coil sound. DGT pickups also have a great split tone, IF you can find them used.

There are probably lots of others, but that's a start.
 
I looked all over the Internet, I have not found guitar with combination - tv jones in the neck and humbucker in the bridge :iamconfused:
 
I normally might have a recommendation, but in this case, I have never tried a TV Jones pickup and do not know what would mesh with one of those tonally. You might be the first. Get a HFS or tremonti or 59/09 or \M/ or keep the #7.
 
What kind of amp are you using? (That's always my standard first question when discussing pickup evaluation.)
If the stock pickup isn't hot enough for you, perhaps the new "Metal" pickup PRS is making (which is spelled \m/ ) will work for you.
 
BadMonkey said:
I loved PRS guitars, but not their pickups and 199$ only for one is too much for me.
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The cost of pickups in general is higher than I would have thought warranted. Most of the typical SDs or DiMarzios I've been browsing through are over $100 each, usually between $250 and $300 a pair. So to pay about $400 / pr for a PRS set makes sense if that is the sound you want.

However, as I've mentioned elsewhere on this forum, I've never done a pickup swap in my life - I use whatever is stock (or present in the guitar if I buy used). I do find it hard to spend $300 or $400 for pups when sometimes I only paid $500 or $700 for the whole guitar, especially if I like the stock pups enough - the net gain in perceived performance is hard to justify.

But for my more expensive guitars, where I might feel justified spending that amount, they already have excellent (to me) pups, so I have no desire to swap them out.

What to do, what to do...

(I had been toying with swapping pups on my SE ZM...but those SE245s seem to be just fine.)
 
The stock #7 pickups are actually a pretty decent match for what you want, so I wouldn't recommend going too far down the path of replacement pickups till you've heard them.

Otherwise, two out of the three '80s artists you mention (EVH and Slash) used vintage-output Alnico-2 based pickups in their seminal recordings. *IF* the stock pickups don't fit the bill (and again, I would not rule them out before hearing them), a Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro neck/'78 bridge set might be in order.
 
I know a few people have mentioned it already, but try the stock pickups first. My Gibson Trad Pro Explorer has pickups that on paper I thought I would've hated, but they sound incredible. However, a previous post over priced the cost of Seymour Duncans. I own 24 of them and they will start at about $75 and go to $105 depending on if you want covers on them. They will get as pricey as $120 each if you buy an Antiquity Humbucker, but that's the limit unless you go Custom Shop. Expect about $180 to $215 for a pair. If you decide to buy SD or DiMarzio, check out "banjomikez" store on eBay. Good prices and good selection.

Also, for a thorough pickup info location, check out the Seymour Duncan User Group Forum. I am ExplorersRock there. If a guy named DreX counsels you, disregard his advice. He's the forum troll and doesn't know as much as he thinks he does.

Here's a link:
http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/
 
Hedonismbot said:
However, a previous post over priced the cost of Seymour Duncans. I own 24 of them and they will start at about $75 and go to $105 depending on if you want covers on them. They will get as pricey as $120 each if you buy an Antiquity Humbucker, but that's the limit unless you go Custom Shop. Expect about $180 to $215 for a pair.
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Ah yes, you're right. I saw the $75 to $100 range for some singles, then saw other prices that were much higher - didn't realize they were pairs of pups.

Hmm, a Nazgul and Sentient pair seems interesting...
 
Duffy said:
The awesome set of the Seymour Duncan nickel covered JB bridge and '59 neck graces one of my nicest guitars and I'm playing this incredible guitar right now. These are pure niceness.

Good luck in your quest.
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You recommend them because you love them in your guitar but the S2 custom (Bright guitar) they do not fit this guitar properly.
 
BadMonkey said:
You recommend them because you love them in your guitar but the S2 custom (Bright guitar) they do not fit this guitar properly.
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I don't know what guitar Duffy has the SD JB/59 combo in, but why do you say they won't "fit" the S2 CU22? Do you mean physically won't fit, or do you mean they are not appropriate because you consider the S2 CU22 to be a "bright" guitar and you want pups that enhance or balance that brightness?
 
shinksma said:
I don't know what guitar Duffy has the SD JB/59 combo in, but why do you say they won't "fit" the S2 CU22? Do you mean physically won't fit, or do you mean they are not appropriate because you consider the S2 CU22 to be a "bright" guitar and you want pups that enhance or balance that brightness?
Click to expand...

In terms of sound.
 
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