SE 245 pickup suggestions

[Gerenuk]

Hello friends!

I'm new to this forum and am the proud new owner of my first se 245 in whale blue. I'm pretty new to the electric guitar world but have played classical guitar for several years in college.

Before purchasing the se 245, I played the S2 and a rare p245 and was very impressed by the clear and sweet tone I was able to get from those two guitars' pickups.

I am aware that both of those guitars have superior pickups to the se 245, but was wondering if I could buy an affordable replacement for the stock se 245 pickups. These seem like great pickups for high gain and OD, but I'm not getting the clarity and sweetness that I think I want in the clean tone.

I searched the forum for an answer to this already, but please feel free to link me if this topic has been answered already.

Thank you!

 

[dogrocketp]

Welcome to the forum. I'd suggest that you first live with the stock pickups for a couple of weeks. I'd replace the wiring before the pickups, using USA CTL pots. Mine has that mod with a CTL 3 way, and I'm perfectly happy with the sound. I use the guitar when I play a theatre gig, because the intonation is off the hook. I would also replace the nut. By the way, In spite of what certain guitaristas say, blue guitars do sound better.

 

[Casi1]

By the way, In spite of what certain guitaristas say, blue guitars do sound better.

Uh oh!

Wait for it.

Wait for it.

Here he comes...

 

[Boogie]

Before Sergio-Zilla attacks, I’ll comment to the OP. Though this I an extremely subjective question (pickups always are) I’ll off this: forget low priced options. You already have one in the SE245 pups, which work great. My choice was the Duncan Antiquity humbucker and they are glorious! Granted, I have as much in the pups as I spent on the guitar, so there’s that.

 

[Tone-y]

There are a huge amount after market pickups out there that will do the job for you. Sounds like you want something lowish output and PAF like. If you want to save some money there's always the option getting a second hand set.

In the meantime, have you tried adjusting the pickup height on the existing set? To get more clarity and sweetness in the cleans try lowering the pickups a bit. Try turning the screws quarter/half a turn anticlockwise at a time and playing to see what effect you get. Start with the neck pickup, and then the bridge pickup is more about balancing the volume level with the neck.

 

[dogrocketp]

Uh oh!

Wait for it.

Wait for it.

Here he comes...

Thank God The gentleman in question is a good guy with a great sense of humor. And I'll admit the last PRS I got is green, because I had no choice if I wanted a Katalox fingerboard. So he can always hold that over my head.