SE custom 22 2007 -pups?
- Thread starter Amos
- Start date
dogrocketp
I drank the PRS kool aid, and it was tasty!
They should be G&B VB/HFS.
sergiodeblanc
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2012
- Messages
- 27,383
I don’t know about that.... the PRS HFS/VB pickup set is probably the most recorded guitar tone PRS has ever had, regardless of what the internet might think about them.
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I used to swap pickups until I figured out how much influence the controls have, even when dimed.
Figure out what tone problem you might be dissatisfied with, too bright, too dark, too muddy, too ice picky...
-adjust the amp
-lower pickups and raise screw poles
-swap pots and caps, remembering to measure actual kohms with a meter as pots have a 20% tolerance range.
-then swap pickups, but start back at the top top find the best matching heights, pots+caps, etc...
If you just want to swap things around out of curiosity, because forum denizens are always talking about pickup 'upgrades!', then pull pickups and controls from the guitar in as intact a condition as possible and build up all the new parts you want to mess with. That way you can easily go back to stock to recapture the original tones you were familiar with if you miss them (that has happened to me) or if you decide to sell the guitar someday. Eventually you'll stumble across a story that goes something like a guy has this old vintage guitar that he has replaced three necks that wore out and replaced two bodies that got battered up...
.
I used to swap pickups until I figured out how much influence the controls have, even when dimed.
Figure out what tone problem you might be dissatisfied with, too bright, too dark, too muddy, too ice picky...
-adjust the amp
-lower pickups and raise screw poles
-swap pots and caps, remembering to measure actual kohms with a meter as pots have a 20% tolerance range.
-then swap pickups, but start back at the top top find the best matching heights, pots+caps, etc...
If you just want to swap things around out of curiosity, because forum denizens are always talking about pickup 'upgrades!', then pull pickups and controls from the guitar in as intact a condition as possible and build up all the new parts you want to mess with. That way you can easily go back to stock to recapture the original tones you were familiar with if you miss them (that has happened to me) or if you decide to sell the guitar someday. Eventually you'll stumble across a story that goes something like a guy has this old vintage guitar that he has replaced three necks that wore out and replaced two bodies that got battered up...
.
Yes fine - but fitted to genuine US made instruments. Not to a Korean made SE that cost me less than 400GBP 11 years ago. I guess that the interaction between the US pups and the US guitar is what makes the difference.. But thanks for the reply, anyway.
jak3af3r
Jake
I have a 2007 SE custom 22. Stock pickups are the G&B Vintage Bass and HFS.
John Beef
Opaque
I'm sorry to say that you guys talking about being the VB/HFS simply aren't correct. Back in 2007 they had one set of humbuckers that they put in everything from Tremontis and Customs and every sig model. They're made by G&B. They didn't have a model name. PRS didn't give their SE guitars pickup "models" until at least 2010 or maybe later.
A Vintage Bass is alnico 2 and wound with 42 gauge wire to 8.5K whereas the G&B is 8K and I think alnico 5 if I had to guess, based on my magnet swaps.
A HFS is ceramic wound with 43 gauge wire to 15K and the G&B is around 10K (I believe 42 gauge) and also alnico, though I don't know which one. I found it to be a bit congested sounding in the midrange, nasal sounding if you will, and swapping to UOA5 turns it into something else entirely - clearer, warmer, more airy. But unless they figured out a way to make ceramic magnets shiny like alnico, it's definitely alnico of some sort.
So while the neck pickups are similar, they're as similar as any PAF style neck pickup by all the manufacturers. The bridge pickup is completely different though.
A Vintage Bass is alnico 2 and wound with 42 gauge wire to 8.5K whereas the G&B is 8K and I think alnico 5 if I had to guess, based on my magnet swaps.
A HFS is ceramic wound with 43 gauge wire to 15K and the G&B is around 10K (I believe 42 gauge) and also alnico, though I don't know which one. I found it to be a bit congested sounding in the midrange, nasal sounding if you will, and swapping to UOA5 turns it into something else entirely - clearer, warmer, more airy. But unless they figured out a way to make ceramic magnets shiny like alnico, it's definitely alnico of some sort.
So while the neck pickups are similar, they're as similar as any PAF style neck pickup by all the manufacturers. The bridge pickup is completely different though.
