PRS Metals Too Much

[Wakester]

I'm having a hard time understanding too much metal in the pickups. Most people come on here to complain they are not metal enough. And is there really such a thing as too much metal.?

like others have said, try lowering the pickups farther away from the strings, and lower the gain on your amp.

 

[shinksma]

I do not know but I love how the \m/ pickups sound in my PRS floyd. Best guitar sounding I have and cleans are great too. But again, I have been exposed to too few different pickups so perhaps I have not discovered heaven yet

I played guitar for decades not knowing/caring what pickups were in my guitar. I figured they are all pretty well the same, and the best way to change/optimize the tone was through pedals or the amp.

I am still pretty under-educated and under-experienced about pickups. My PRSi collection has a wide variety of pups: 53/10, 57/08, HFS/VB (Core and SE), 58/15, Archtop, McCarty, SD Alpha/Omega, SE 245, soapbar (old core hot ones and newer SE ones), 305 SC, Starla + Type D, who-knows-what-else. But despite that, I don't think "oh wow, this pick, because it is a blah-de-blah, is giving that umtpy-doodle sound". I just think "this guitar rocks!", typically.

Nonetheless, I would like to try \m/ pups one day...

and 58/15 LT, and the mellower current 594 soapbars, and ...

 

[Boogie]

I’ve played a /M\ pickup but it wasn’t in my guitar nor on my rig, so I didn’t pass much judgement. However, I’m not a fan of the HFS and the /M\ seems like a souped-up HFS.

 

[shallbe]

If the pickup is too compressed, and that is what really bugs you, there is not much you can do about it except change it. It is inherent in the design.

It's why I don't like the Dragon II pickups. Raising or lowering them make only output differences, but the compression and lack of dynamics is still there. Some people like the mush. I gig with a Matchless and really dislike it.

A little compression can be sweet, too much is a real problem.

 

[gush]

I’ve played a /M\ pickup but it wasn’t in my guitar nor on my rig, so I didn’t pass much judgement. However, I’m not a fan of the HFS and the /M\ seems like a souped-up HFS.

The M is certainly not a souped up HFS, not even in the same ballpark. Although I moved both sets of Ms I had they were by far the most balanced pickup I've ever played. It's kind of hard to make them sound muddy and none of the harshness of the HFS.

I had them in my Mccarty for a while when I had it tuned low. HFS had more output but the Ms were much clearer and balanced.

 

[JJJ]

If the pickup is too compressed, and that is what really bugs you, there is not much you can do about it except change it. It is inherent in the design.

It's why I don't like the Dragon II pickups. Raising or lowering them make only output differences, but the compression and lack of dynamics is still there. Some people like the mush. I gig with a Matchless and really dislike it.

A little compression can be sweet, too much is a real problem.

They do seem to cop it a bit but I really like the set of dragon IIs I have. Insofar as they don't sound or feel like PRS pickups to me, they seem like lace pickups, some of the lead-oriented models have a bit of natural compression to them which lends to nice sustain, I find the dragons when lowered enough are very crisp, and adjusting the pole pieces can give you the articulation you are after. The bridge dragon sounds like a runny butt hole clean though

 

[orionz06]

I'm having a hard time understanding too much metal in the pickups. Most people come on here to complain they are not metal enough. And is there really such a thing as too much metal.?

like others have said, try lowering the pickups farther away from the strings, and lower the gain on your amp.

Just "too much" as in output more so than too much metal. It's an unfortunate name as it makes any searching or discussion of the pickup models difficult as people trip over words. I found a bad patch cable, ANOTHER ONE, on my board so it's not all doom and gloom but they are still a touch compressed for my liking. The clarity is great though so I'm kinda mixed on which way to go. Lower output seems to be the direction and I do feel weird about wanting to maybe stick with PRS pickups for this guitar.

 

[Bowtiefanatc]

The M is certainly not a souped up HFS, not even in the same ballpark. Although I moved both sets of Ms I had they were by far the most balanced pickup I've ever played. It's kind of hard to make them sound muddy and none of the harshness of the HFS.

I had them in my Mccarty for a while when I had it tuned low. HFS had more output but the Ms were much clearer and balanced.

Agreed! I loathed my HFS and have since put a \m/ bridge in my CU24. It's very articulate and lacks that harshness of the HFS. I should add that mine is uncovered, so that may change the dynamic a little.

I read somewhere, so add a grain of salt, that the HFS was designed back when many of the people using the guitars were using highly processed effects so it played into that style of tone.

 

[cags12]

Maybe it is a bad comparison (Active vs Passive bla bla bla..) but apart from stock sub $500 guitar's pickups, I have only owned EMG's 81,89 and TW's which could be considered "premium" pickups. And while I think they sound good for certain styles (mostly metal), the PRS \m/ takes the sound to another level. Dunno if it is the old story about tonewoods on the PRS, etc; but they do sound very balanced and versatile albeit hot. Cleans are great in the split coil positions as well HB, dirties are just great to me for my style.

Ohh, I am also very into modelling guitars (Antares ATG, Boss GP-10, etc..). They include a lot of modeled pickups going from SD, Dimarzio, Fender, Gibson, MusicMan, etc. and although they sound OK, nothing compared with my PRS. Again, it is just modelling and the host guitar a use for this is not very high quality.

I also have just gotten Cycfi's XR (eXtended Range) pickups with a resonant filter and Q. This is another breed of pickups and can achieve basically any sound, these I put them on another level for the variety of sound that can be dialed in.

Note: I am not one of those that are picky or know much about tone, I can just say "The \m/ sound great".

 

[dogrocketp]

The key to being "picky" about tone is to find sounds that you like, not names of parts or guitars. I'm always a bit irritated when someone buys a guitar and then just pops XYZ parts into it to get "that tone." First, you have to exhaust what the sounds the guitar gives you. There are no magic parts, or shortcuts to "that tone". There are also no guarantees. My PRS run the gamut from bone stock to modified out the wazoo (SE- that's why I buy them). When we opine about pickups, parts etc, the thing to remember is that it is our opinion about our sound. We cannot transfer our hands, picking technique, or what we hear in our head. Boy, is it fun to search.