Quatro 4 Pickups

[Dirtdog85]

I got a Quatro 4 on Saturday from the original owner. When he bought it in 2013, he had the factory replace the push pull pot with a switch, and had the 53/10 pickups replaced with M pickups. My understanding is these were intended for heavier styles of music, although they sound pretty good so far. I have the original 53/10's in the case, so was wondering what differences I'll hear if I switch them back. I play mostly blues and "classic" rock - more overdrive than distortion. I can get a great sound from the M's, and my usual philosophy is to stop there, and not overthink it, but given that I've never even heard the 53/10's, I'm just wondering what I could expect - thought I'd ask others who are familiar before doing the switch. Thanks.

 

[WEDGE]

i had a Quattro and found the 53/10’s underwhelming for gain tones, your mileage may vary depending on your definition of what dirty is. A 59/09 would perfectly straddle the M and the 53/10’s For most applications.

 

[Bowtiefanatc]

\m/ pickups weren’t necessarily meant for “metal music”. They just have characteristics that tend to be found in those higher resistance pickups. They are quite nice and very versatile pickups.

53/10’s were modeled after early 50’s Tele pickups and Soapbar style pickups so they are going to be more vintage inspired for sure.

Years ago I bought a set of pickups from someone who took them out of a Private Stock. The combo was 53/10 neck with \m/ bridge

 

[Going Modal]

Regardless of what the Metal pickups are--or are not--the 53/10's will give you a very much "vintage" mid-1950s vibe. I like the ones I have quite a bit (in a "53/10 Ltd.," a very typical PRS setup with maple/mahogany body + mahogany neck); I actually find them quite similar to the Lollar Imperial [think PAF clone] pickups in my Les Paul. Those 53/10 will be rather low/moderate in output... but that's not a bad thing--they sound really sweet.

 

[gush]

I have found that the 5310s don't sound good in every guitar.

Since they were designed to work with the Quatro I'm sure they would sound good.

Through the right amp, they can produce Back in Black tones fairly well. I have a set in an all mahogany ce22 and through the old 5150 I had they had a really nice brown tone.

I have room for another set should you decide to sell them.

 

[Tone-y]

I've just been lending my 53/10 ltd to a guy who makes YouTube videos

I like the pickups and think you can do most things with them. They aren't the highest of outputs but they are also not low turn. They probably sit in the vintage PAF output zone. I do find mine can have quite a lot of transients. This means they have quite a bit of character and notes bloom, scream, squeal or sit nice and mellow depending on exactly how you play each note. They don't have a smooth uniform sound from every note like some pickups which you may or may not like. I find that stops the first from sounding boring.

Compare the demo on the above track to the one John did a day later with his SE DGT to see what I mean.

Every note is a bit more the same here