Replacing pickups in S2 Custom 24

[Reid Phillips]

I have a blue crab smokeburst S2 Custom 24 that I bought brand new in 2013. I still love playing it, but I'm considering changing out the pickups. My pickup knowledge is pretty slim so I figured I'd see what you guys think. For the neck, I'd like a pickup that's more clear and can pick up smoother tones. For the bridge, I'd like something that's more of a Warren Haynes LP warm tone that's also less twangy than the stock bridge pup I currently have.

Hopefully that all made sense! I recently got a new guitar that's becoming my new #1, and it's single coils so I'd like to transition this guitar into more of a piece that I use for my bluesy fusion stuff, along with a little slide.

Also, I don't care to use the coil tap

 

[andy474x]

Can't go wrong starting with a good PAF set.

I never cared for the import HFS/VB set that much, the bridge pickup was hot and pokey, and the neck struck me as mid scooped and not able to cut the way I wanted. And, they didn't seem to be well balanced with each other. 57/08, 59/09 on the other hand, amazing. I also put a set of Seth Lovers in my ZM, really nice but to the extreme of vintage oriented. You could also try one of the S2 #7's for the neck, in a brighter guitar like the SECU24 they hit a beautiful spot for clarity. Not a big fan of that pickup in the bridge for bright guitars though, lots of twang.

The more guitars I play and pickups I try, the more I can't escape the truth that, for me, nothing beats a good, low or mid output alnico pickup. Get into ceramic and hot pickups, and the tone starts to get holes in it here and spikes there, unless you're pushing a lot of gain and everything gets evened out by compression anyways. But honestly, there are so many modern amps and pedals that push more gain than one could possibly need, it's not like 30 years ago when you had to have a molten hot pickup to push your amp over the edge. So why compromise on the basic tone? I know this last paragraph isn't really your question... I just like to rant.

 

[Black Plaid]

I just like to rant.

Twas truly a glorious rant, well, not modelers-vs-tube-amp-in-a-gigging-band level, but nice none-the-less.

 

[bodia]

I'd say a 57/08 in the neck and a 59/09 in the bridge, if you want to stick with PRS pickups. Going outside, Suhr Doug Aldrich pickups are outstanding, and pretty cheap.

 

[Screamingdaisy]

But honestly, there are so many modern amps and pedals that push more gain than one could possibly need, it's not like 30 years ago when you had to have a molten hot pickup to push your amp over the edge. So why compromise on the basic tone? I know this last paragraph isn't really your question... I just like to rant.

For a long time I thought like this. From around 2005 to 2018 I used PAF style pickups into Dual Rectifiers, Mark III or Mark V. I thought the PAFs would give me more dynamics (which they did, in their own way) and I’d let the amp do the heavy lifting.

For 13 years I couldn’t get a decent palm mute. I blamed everything except the pickups... the amp, the guitar, the speakers, the cab. I thought my tastes might’ve changed and experimented with lower gain amps.

In the end it was the pickups. Lower output winds have more highs and lows with less midrange. This translates into bloated bass, weak pick attack, minimal midrange harmonics and more top end fizz. All the stuff that adds feel and character to a relatively boring clean tone makes them mushy for high gain.

IMO, PAF/low output has its place, but it’s not the end all, be all of humbuckers.


On topic, I’m not sure what Warren Haynes is using currently but he used to use Lollar Imperial Highwinds.

 

[Geo408]

If you like to chug, and you like clarity, try the Suhr Thornbucker set..but, staying inside the PRS universe would be my first choice. The 59/09 & 57/08 is a perfect match...just my 2cents. Good luck on your quest!

 

[littlebadboy]

For the neck, take a look at video demos of the P-Rails, Phat Cat (bucker sized P-90), or a wide range bucker.

 

[jvin248]

.

I start with pickup heights (lower as much as you can to the trim ring), raise screw pole heights (better note separation)
Then I mod the pots and caps (pots and caps have 20% and 10% normal factory variation and they matter as a tone system).
And finally mess with swapping pickups.

Often I don't need more than the first step and maybe tone cap(s) to get where I want a guitar to go.

.

 

[drdoom8793]

My current favorite pickup is the 85/15 set. I've yet to find something it can't do. Everything from crystal clear cleans to funk, blues, rock, and even metal. Coil splits are also great if you're into that sort of thing.