SE245 pickups for metal?

[SlimPickings]

Hey there,

Been a long time admirer of PRS guotar and finally decided to get me an SE 245 to start the collection!

Question as title suggests is around replacing the pickups for playing metal. I have a Schecter which I love and noticed it has some notable differences to my PRS. One which stood out early is the sound doesnt seem to have that ring to it and seems to lack gain almost. This becomes noticeable when tapping and such as the sound drops very quickly whereas on my schecter it rings out and sounds pretty awesome.

Figured getting better pickups would help with this, any suggestions for metal? Sorry if my description isnt the best, I'm a bit of a noob. Cheers!

 

[Boogie]

Depends on the kind of metal. So subjective. For me, I look to the amp to make it work since any frequency tweaking can be done with EQ (on the amp or a pedal) without touching the guitar.

While it’s not ‘metal’, this old video I did in my dining room shows you can get plenty of gain and sustain out of a stock SE245...

 

[Tim S]

I would to point to your amp first.

For me, primarily, guitars are about feel and amps/speakers are about sound. Yes, tube amps certainly have a feel and electronic components do effect sound, but only secondarily.

Perhaps a more appropriate question is “What amp are you using that can’t get a metal sound out of a 245?” Maybe someone here can point to an amp that *can* provide a good metal sound for a 245?

 

[Boogie]

Maybe someone here can point to an amp that *can* provide a good metal sound for a 245?

I direct you to my video above...

 

[veinbuster]

Welcome to the forum Slim

 

[jvin248]

.

Measure kohms between your two guitars. Measure pickup heights between them. Adjust the SE pickup higher/closer to the strings to see if that helps. Sometimes an 1/8th inch can make a big change.

I often swap pots and caps before swapping pickups for tone, as they can push a pickup around a lot for a tenth the cost. If you are seeking more output then pickup heights or higher output pickups.

.

 

[John]

As previously stated, it depends on what style or application for metal.

ie: in my case, I like to use Bareknuckles. Nailbombs are a decent all-around pickup, but Painkillers are my main choice for tuning especially low due to its mid spike. I also used Holy Divers which have a much sweeter top end that can lend itself well to 80's stuff, I suppose. Here's a few example clips of each if they are of help.

1) Nailbomb

2) Painkiller

3) Holy Diver

You can compare those with some EMG81's that I actually used here, a long time ago:

 

[SlimPickings]

Thanks for the responses guys. I'm using either a line 6 spider 2 but mainly I run through a media interface into my pc as I do prefer it. Using pod farm 2.5