Prs SE

[Roberto Cortés]

Hi,
Is it worth it to upgrade a PRS SE custom 24 by changing the pickups? (getting the core pickups)

 

[musicroom]

My humble opinion is the look/style of the PRS pickups is nice. I like that! Also they are very good sounding from the ones I've heard. High quality. If you have the dough, go for it and you'll be happy I'm sure. With that said, I kept the neck pickup in both of my two SE's (85/15 S) after experimenting with other pups, I did change out the bridge pu with a more affordable paf style pickup. I should mention that I changed the magnet in the PRS pickup to an Alnico 4. Sounds uniquely good.

 

[bodia]

Sure, it can be. I’d do a Core nut, and some locking tuners first. But, you can absolutely swap the pickups. Lots of us do/have.

 

[John Beef]

Roberto, it depends on what you're going for. Especially newer SE guitars, the pickups are actually pretty good at doing what they do. If you're looking for something very different, like some ultra chugga chugga or some sparkly jangle, then yeah, you'd probably want different pickups.

 

[Axis39]

Do you like the way your guitar sounds now?

Is there some specific tone thing you are chasing?

Is there something you want your guitar to do that it isn't (related to tone)?

If you are satisfied with the sound of guitar, why chase tone and spend more money?

I have an SE Santana, the pickups are decent, but not that exciting... I am also really a single coil guy and decided to replace the stock SE pickups with some humbucker sized P-90's. I have a goal in mind.... I love the guitar enough, that the expense and effort are worth it to me.

 

[dogrocketp]

Make sure you raise and lower the pickups to all available settings, and don’t forget the polepieces. Many times, tuning the pickups is the way to go. There is no automatic OMG moment guaranteed. I’ve changed a few, but I haven’t found the need to change anything made after 2015. Tuning them has gotten me where I wanted to be.