PRS CU24's Tone

[tyt921]

Hi guys,

I received my brand new Prs Custom 24 a few days ago, Been playing it since. I am a beginner and started only a month ago. I love the sound, it has a really unique character to it that I did not find present on the Epiphones which was my previous purchase but returned. So I play soft rock with some heavy distortion sometimes and i find that this guitars tone falls thin when it comes to the the distortion powerchords im striking together. I dont know how to explain this but I compared this tone wth my ESP starter pack F-10 and the ESP has a much heavier tone for when I am striking.

2 culprits I am thinking of....

1) Amp....I am still using the starter amp. But doesnt make sense because I am using this same amp with my ESP and it play well

2) Strings...On the ESP I thnk they came with gauge 10 strings. They are super hard to bendand they feel thick and hard when I press them....maybe this contributes to the difference in tone texture?

thanks!

 

[WEDGE]

Congrats on the new PRS. Does it have the 57/08 pickups, they may be less output than the ones on the ESP. Could be the amp to, a custom 24 even with 57/08's can rock hard. I have one in the bridge of my Studio and it can get real heavy.

 

[sleary]

The emg pickups are active which will give a higher output. The prs has passive however I'd look at tweaking your amp or replace with a little better amp.

 

[FennRx]

the f-10 doesn't have active EMG pickups.
http://www.guitarcenter.com/ESP-LTD-F-10-Electric-Guitar-107409849-i1797699.gc

So you went from a $189 guitar to a $2700+ guitar in only a month? That's impressive!

And you're using a "starter amp", which I am willing to bet isn't going to get a lot of great tones from it other than chuggah chuggah. Just keep at it and upgrade your amp when you can.

 

[tyt921]

the f-10 doesn't have active EMG pickups.
http://www.guitarcenter.com/ESP-LTD-F-10-Electric-Guitar-107409849-i1797699.gc

So you went from a $189 guitar to a $2700+ guitar in only a month? That's impressive!

And you're using a "starter amp", which I am willing to bet isn't going to get a lot of great tones from it other than chuggah chuggah. Just keep at it and upgrade your amp when you can.

So sorry for misleading guys i am using an SE cu 24!!!! I believe its a 2013 model!!! What kinda setting do i need for a thicker tone on my amp? I have been fiddling with it but its confusing and my ears arent as gifted as you all are. I have volume, middle, tremble and bass knobs!!! Thnks

 

[Proxmax]

get yourself a Diezel Herbert and scare your neighbors... :flute:
those make a really big tone!

 

[AP515]

I think you may be hearing that two guitars are not going to sound the same. That can be a good thing. Let each sound like they are supposed to and you will have more than one sound available to you!

That said, if you want to get a thicker sound on your SE, here are a few things to look at.

1. Put the pickup selector switch on the neck pickup.
2. Turn the tone knob down to 5 or 6. This will remove some of the high bright sounds.
3. On the amp, turn the bass up and the treble down. Put the middle knob anywhere you like.

That will bring out some of the lowere tones. Also remember that the guitar will sound very different on a bigger amp. Don't evaluate the quality of the guitar based on a 6 inch speaker. Keep both guitars and make your next upgrade be a better amp. There is a lifetime of discovery ahead. Enjoy it!

 

[tbp0701]

Ditto on the others. Basically, different guitars and different pickups, and I'll guess the ESP is designed with fairly high output pickups while the PRS has low to medium output. You can adjust the gain at the amp to compensate; well, unless you already have it very high with the hotter pickups. Of course, you'll also likely find that the lower output pickups have more clarity, particularly in higher frequencies, so they'll still sound different. You can adjust that by turning down the tone knob, as suggested above.

I like lower output pickups, as I find them more clear and versatile for any style, but that's just my personal preference. And different guitars do sound different, and it's fun to learn how each one sounds and plays and figure out how to get sounds you like from it.

 

[jbird]

If you have an Iphone or Ipad or something, you should look into some amp modeling device, some of them can replicate some great tube amps, and give you a better idea of how versatile your guitar can be!

 

[Michael_DK]

Which amp do you have?

And congrats on your new guitar and hobby!

 

[shinksma]

The thicker strings on the ESP will indeed give more signal out to your amp than 9s, and since the SE Cu24s come with 9s, that is a factor.

The SE Cu24 pickups will be different from the ESP's, and I would be very surprised if the ESP was going for "mellow" or "lower output", ifyaknowwhatimean. Not exactly the stereotype I would ever associated with ESP.

If you increase the gain going into your amp for the Cu24, and back it off for the ESP, you might be able to get similar tones - so that would indeed demonstrate that the issue is relative signal strength. Since your ESP-10 amp (I asssume that is the one) doesn't have a "gain" knob, you will need to do that externally before the signal gets to the amp. You can try a "boost" pedal or active volume pedal to help increase your gain for the Cu24, and you might find it too much for the ESP when the Cu24 sounds rawkin', so then you back it off when that ESP guitar is plugged in.

But as others have said, one of the reason I have so many guitars is that they all (mostly) sound different, due to so many factors including pickups, and that is A Good Thing. If all guitars sounded the same out of the box, we'd all be going crazy with after-market mods to get "that unique sound".

IMHO, YMMV.