The neck pickup in my 98 McRosie could get just plain muddy. I’m not sure whether that was a result of the rosewood neck or just the way that the McCarty pups evolved after the first few years. Before PRS developed the 57/07s and subsequent models, I had Mick at Manlius pickups wind me a set of his Hot Rod 59 pickups with slightly unbalanced coils so they would split better. They were a big improvement, with a rounder sound and I have not felt the need to try any others in that guitar. From the way that others have described the 59/09s, I think they are probably similar. My SAS is a 99, so the McCarty pups in that guitar are the same vintage as the ones originally in the McRosie. In the SAS I thought they sounded more aggressive in humbucker mode and just kind of weird when split. The Duncan Vintage Rails in the middle didn’t help, I thought it was kind of lifeless, so I never was totally happy with that guitar, which is why I was originally trying to sell it. I bought a set of the 53/10s when they were getting ready to disappear, thinking I would find a use for them one day, and that’s what is going in the SAS with a Fralin Blues Special that Lindy wound to go along with them in the middle position.
