PRS P22 Pickup, how to tell what they are?

[Fychan]

I received a pair of what I'm told are 53/10's (uncovered squabbins) from an early P22 electric, which have P22 on the white sticker. Is there a way to tell without the guitar it came from's serial no if they are 53/10's vs 57/08's? (The seller doesn't know the serial number of the original guitar).

The Resistances are:
Treble 8.85 ohm
Bass 8.26 ohm

I've messaged PRS but the responses have been contradictory to what I've read on the forums. The final response was:
"From the photos it looks like they are the first version of P22 pickups as they have P22 on them."

From trawling through the posts in the forum my understanding is:
* Uncovered P22 pickups in early 2012 were 53/10 esque (but with polarity reversed).
* Late 2012/early 2013 they switched over to 57/08's.
* PRS can confirm what they are if you have the guitar serial number.
* 57/08's are meant to have higher resistances than 53/10's but their resistances have not been consistent over the years so it's not definitive proof.

Is there any way to tell, from the sticker? I have seen later ones which look different.

 

[Bowtiefanatc]

Those seem like 57/08’s based on the resistance ratings. I love those ones over the new covered ones.

 

[dmatthews]

You may have tripped over my thread here from back in 2015 regarding these.
Best guess from PRS (based on SN of the guitar) was 5708.
Mine's a late 2012 P22.

 

[Teddy4]

I have P22s out of an early 2012, 53/10. They're in another guitar now but I just measured (in guitar still):

Treb: 8.89
Bass: 8.30

 

[Teddy4]

 

[Fychan]

I have P22s out of an early 2012, 53/10. They're in another guitar now but I just measured (in guitar still):

Treb: 8.89
Bass: 8.30

Thanks for the info - very similar to these. Any chance you ever took pictures of the back in the past?

 

[Fychan]

Thanks for the info - very similar to these. Any chance you ever took pictures of the back in the past?

Lol, one step ahead of me. Thank you!

 

[Teddy4]

I thought I had an email from Shawn confirming 53/10 but I can't seem to find it. Might have used an old work email.

I still have there serial from the old P22 I can check on Monday just to triple confirm.

 

[Fychan]

I'm assuming the part numbers don't differ when they changed to 57/08 like pickups? I see @Muybien04 you have the same P/N 3609-N and 3610-N as what is written by hand on mine (with numbers 3558 and 3559 blacked out). In another post I have seen 3609-H and 3610-H where they think they are 53/10's and 3609-G, 3610-G which were 57/08's confirmed by PRS.

 

[Fychan]

Those seem like 57/08’s based on the resistance ratings. I love those ones over the new covered ones.

@Bowtiefanatc Interested to find out more if you'd be willing to share. I know the 57/08's are all over the show in reality but aren't they meant to be around 9.4 T and 8.5 B spec wise?

 

[Bowtiefanatc]

@Bowtiefanatc Interested to find out more if you'd be willing to share. I know the 57/08's are all over the show in reality but aren't they meant to be around 9.4 T and 8.5 B spec wise?

They vary a lot. Sometimes 57/08’s would be over 9k but that’s not the norm that I recall.

57/08 PRS Pickups – PRS Guitars West Street East Accessory Store

Inspired by the classic 1957 humbucker and introduced in 2008, the 57/08 by Paul Reed Smith are made with vintage-style wire and wound in-house. Treble Pickup Magnet: Alnico 2 DC Res: 8.9k Cover: Nickel Bass Pickup Magnet: Alnico 2 DC Res: 8.5k Cover: Nickel Compatible with: 3-way, 3-way...

us.prsaccessories.com

 

[Teddy4]

I'm assuming the part numbers don't differ when they changed to 57/08 like pickups? I see @Muybien04 you have the same P/N 3609-N and 3610-N as what is written by hand on mine (with numbers 3558 and 3559 blacked out). In another post I have seen 3609-H and 3610-H where they think they are 53/10's and 3609-G, 3610-G which were 57/08's confirmed by PRS.

I sent an email to CS, will see what they say. I swear I had the info, came out of an April 2012 build date, blah blah blah

If someone has the known 57/08s and and confirm that part number it'd be pretty helpful. I remember searching this a few years ago and basically no one at the time had any way of differentiating the two when the were just labeled as "P22 [treb/bass]"

 

[Teddy4]

They vary a lot. Sometimes 57/08’s would be over 9k but that’s not the norm that I recall.

57/08 PRS Pickups – PRS Guitars West Street East Accessory Store

Inspired by the classic 1957 humbucker and introduced in 2008, the 57/08 by Paul Reed Smith are made with vintage-style wire and wound in-house. Treble Pickup Magnet: Alnico 2 DC Res: 8.9k Cover: Nickel Bass Pickup Magnet: Alnico 2 DC Res: 8.5k Cover: Nickel Compatible with: 3-way, 3-way...

us.prsaccessories.com

Is this spec sheet reliable or not so much?

Thread 'Updated List of PRS Pickup Specs' https://forums.prsguitars.com/threads/updated-list-of-prs-pickup-specs.40489/

 

[Bowtiefanatc]

At the end of the day if you like them keep them, if not pass them along. You won’t be able to tell the difference between 8.9k and 9.1k

 

[Bowtiefanatc]

The more important thing is depending on what guitar you put them in you’ll have out of phase in the middle because of the reversed magnet in the bridge since they came out of a Piezo guitar.

 

[gush]

I'm assuming the part numbers don't differ when they changed to 57/08 like pickups? I see @Muybien04 you have the same P/N 3609-N and 3610-N as what is written by hand on mine (with numbers 3558 and 3559 blacked out). In another post I have seen 3609-H and 3610-H where they think they are 53/10's and 3609-G, 3610-G which were 57/08's confirmed by PRS.

You can not tell which pickups they are from the stickers.

Early 2012 p22s had 5310s but it is very difficult to determine which ones you have even if you know the serial number, especially if it is close to 2013.

Those reading might very well be 5310s but 5708s are very inconsistent so......I have actual 5310s in my parts drawers and I could take readings off of those but I won't be home till late sunday

 

[Teddy4]

Confirmed 53/10 by PRS CS.

So I have two serials from different guitars. The one that was just confirmed with 53/10s and another with PRS CS confirmed 57/08s.

Maybe this can be a reference point for anyone searching this later. Obviously it's not definitive and anything in-between would be unknown but for those casually browsing reverb or whatever maybe it helps them narrow it down.

12 187457 - 53/10

12 192761 - 57/08