School me on the HFS & Tremonti bridge pickup

[Jbyrd78]

Do any of guy's have experiences with the HFS, Tremonti bridge pickup, & Dragon I pickups?
I'm just curious if all three of this pickups are identical tone-wise. I recently purchased a Tremonti pickup to install in a 2004 Custom 24 that originally had a HFS in it.
I also just watched a video on YT where they compare the HFS & Tremonti bridge pickup, and both pickups in the shootout sound nearly identical.
The main reason I purchased the Tremonti pickup is because supposedly, the Tremonti pickup is the Dragon I pickup. Can anyone shed some light on this?

 

[Bogner]

My Favorite Of The Three Is The Tremonti Pickup. My Least Favorite Is The HFS.

Nothing Is Identical Tone Wise.

 

[Jbyrd78]

My Favorite Of The Three Is The Tremonti Pickup. My Least Favorite Is The HFS.

Nothing Is Identical Tone Wise.

It's good to know, I made the right selection. Tone wise, what can I expect from the Tremonti?

 

[Bogner]

It's good to know, I made the right selection. Tone wise, what can I expect from the Tremonti?

Sharp Attack, Not Harsh Or Sterile. Tight But Not Stiff. Works Well With The Volume Knob. Hot But Not For Hot's Sale...Musical And Balanced. It Really Is A Great Pickup For All Kinds OF Things IMO. Another Wonderful Pickup Is The \M/ Pickup. Far Better And More Versatile Than It Gets Credit For.

 

[thewesdavis]

I have CE22s with both Dragon 1 and HFS in the bridge position - different animals. I typically use my HFS equipped CE for drop-D tuning and keep my Dragon 1 for standard. There are myriad other factors that affect tone...

 

[VHTStark]

Owned and have played all three.

HFS: aggressive upper mids and top end, tight bottom end. Reminds me in some ways of the Duncan Distortion/JB pickups and it was made with the same intent: drive guitar signal through all the effects/rack stuff that was popular at the time and/or hit the front end of the amp hard.

Tremonti: Bigger and thicker sounding than the HFS through the low end and midrange. Tremonti had been using the Gibson 500T pickups before he became a PRS artist and there are similarities to that pickup.

Dragon 1: Slightly looser in the bottom end than the other two and warmer. It is a high output pickup doesn't feel or play like a high output ceramic. My favorite of the three and one of PRS's best ever. IMO of course.

 

[Jbyrd78]

Another Wonderful Pickup Is The \M/ Pickup. Far Better And More Versatile Than It Gets Credit For.

OH YEAH...I know all about the \m/'s. I have a full set of metals in an OG Singlecuts that is strung with 12-62's and in drop B, and I have a metal bridge pickup in a 2016 Les Paul Standard that I have. Everyone has their own preferences, but I love me \m/ sittting in between an 1/8" to 3/16th's" away from the string. At this setting if sounds very full, clean, retains clarity, and it still sounds balls deep when you switch to the gain channel. Plus this pickup holds up really well in drop tunings.

Owned and have played all three.

HFS: aggressive upper mids and top end, tight bottom end. Reminds me in some ways of the Duncan Distortion/JB pickups and it was made with the same intent: drive guitar signal through all the effects/rack stuff that was popular at the time and/or hit the front end of the amp hard.

Tremonti: Bigger and thicker sounding than the HFS through the low end and midrange. Tremonti had been using the Gibson 500T pickups before he became a PRS artist and there are similarities to that pickup.

Dragon 1: Slightly looser in the bottom end than the other two and warmer. It is a high output pickup doesn't feel or play like a high output ceramic. My favorite of the three and one of PRS's best ever. IMO of course.

Thank's for the description on these 3 pups I was asking about.

 

[Jbyrd78]

I finally got around to installing the Tremonti bridge pickup in my 2004 & 2023 CU24's. All I have to say is WOW! The pickup sounds great and holds up really well. My CU24's are tuned in drop B & C and they now sound massive, even the cleans sound great.
On a lighter note, I really wish PRS would switch over to short leg pickup base plates. The reason I say that is b/c, I have these pickups sitting at the lowest height possible on the pickup rings, and the pickup is so close to the strings to the point I had to lower both E string pole pieces lower into the pickup, and the pickup still can't even be adjusted ...frustrating it is.

 

[JimbobSquarepants]

I finally got around to installing the Tremonti bridge pickup in my 2004 & 2023 CU24's. All I have to say is WOW! The pickup sounds great and holds up really well. My CU24's are tuned in drop B & C and they now sound massive, even the cleans sound great.
On a lighter note, I really wish PRS would switch over to short leg pickup base plates. The reason I say that is b/c, I have these pickups sitting at the lowest height possible on the pickup rings, and the pickup is so close to the strings to the point I had to lower both E string pole pieces lower into the pickup, and the pickup still can't even be adjusted ...frustrating it is.

You could try finding longer pickup screws? I had exactly the same problem when I put Tremonti's in my Tremonti SE Custom and I found some that were a few mm longer and that did the trick. If your guitar is an SE, I would recommend changing the pickup rings too as the PRS one slightly thinner than the SE's and therefore can be adjusted lower.

If it's a core, you could also try finding even thinner pickup rings as long as the mounting holes line up. The PRS ones are 4mm if that helps.