Seymour Duncan SH-15 & SH-16 and SE mods?

[Jbyrd78]

Time to start modding my SE 245 & CU24 guitars. So I thought I would ask, before I order anything to save myself a return hassle.

-Are any of you guys, or have any of you guys rocked a Seymour Duncan Alternative 8, or a 59/custom hybrid
pickup in your SE guitars or PRS's in general? I recently setup the 245 with 12-54 strings and I alternate the tuning between C & drop B. I also just installed MOJOTONE 59's w/A4 mags in my 245 and I like how they sound, but I want to tinker with something hotter in the bridge since I'm tuned so low. Is this pickup going to be a good match, or am I'm going to hit mud?

-I also came across the 59/custom hybrid pickup and thought about throwing a TB-16 and a jazz neck in my SE CU24. Any of you fellas have any experience with the SH/TB-16?

Mod wise to my SE's

-PRS SE locking turners are a direct replacement on all SE guitars?
- Will PRS ACC4210C flat pickup rings fit SE guitars?
- Will PRS US guitar nuts fit SE models?

Thanks fellas

 

[Alnus Rubra]

1) yes, apart from Paul’s Guitar, possibly Zack Myers and Bernie Marsden signature model (anything that has the vintage tuner on it, the footprint on the rear of the headstock doesn’t match)

2) don’t know.

3)Yes I have one on my SE245 (pattern regular)

 

[Drew]

Seymour Duncan has an article on their recommended pickups for down tuning and the Alt 8 is on that list. I think you are on the right track.

 

[Boogie]

The mud factor is more of an amp thing. EQ for the guitar, as a whole, and you should be golden.

 

[Drew]

The mud factor is more of an amp thing. EQ for the guitar, as a whole, and you should be golden.

Couldn't disagree more. The pickup itself, it's distance to the strings, pot values and quality, what caps you have installed, etc, all contribute greatly to the end result. The amp is only going to amplify the signal that gets to it, and there is only so much the amp can do to bandaid things with a sub-optimal input. Then you might have to dial so much that you lose some of the desirable character of the amp.

 

[Boogie]

Agree to disagree. I can take almost any guitar as is, plug in, tweak the EQ, adjust gain, and sound pretty good. Sure, optimizing a guitar to your tastes is part of the process, but experience and a good amp solve most issues.

 

[Drew]

Agree to disagree. I can take almost any guitar as is, plug in, tweak the EQ, adjust gain, and sound pretty good. Sure, optimizing a guitar to your tastes is part of the process, but experience and a good amp solve most issues.

Depends on what you are playing. Lower gain styles are generally easier to get to sound acceptable no matter what your signal chain is. When you are dealing with higher gain saturation, it's a completely different ball game, and the entire signal chain becomes more critical. I had a PRS with 57/08 pickups. Loved the pickups but they were absolute mud in the low registers with medium gain and higher. There was no fixing that with amp settings, eq pedals, etc. The amp itself factors in too. Certain amps have EQ characteristics that are baked in and very hard to dial out. These can magnify any flaw/draw back in your signal chain leading up to it.

 

[Chuck_P]

I put a 59/Custom in the bridge and a Pearly Gates in the neck of an SE Singlecut, replacing a HFS and a Vintage Bass. I have been very pleased. The 59/custom is more vocal and dynamic (maybe more "vintage" or "classic") and the Pearly Gates is chimier and much more useful to me. I felt it was a modern rock/metal guitar stock, and now it can do anything I want it to. I never, ever drop that far though - my guitar may have gone further AWAY from what you're looking for!

 

[MarcWink]

When you're tuned as low as you are, I'd recommend looking at pickups that will give a little bump in the mids and highs and have a little less bottom end for the sake of clarity. You may want to look at the Bareknuckle Emerald, Duncan JB, Duncan Alpha and Omega set (stock in the SE Holcomb which also ships tuned in Drop C), or a set of DiMarzio Evolutions. It may also be worth exploring some of the active pickup options out there. EMG has a few different options whether the classic 81/60, 81/85, or Daemonum. Duncan has the Blackout actives, and the Mick Thomson set would be worth a look as his guitars live in Drop B and Drop A. The Fishman Fluence pickups have also been getting used a lot in low tuned guitars.

For what it's worth, each of my guitars has a dedicated tuning, here's the pickups in each of those guitars.

E standard - 58/15 LT
Eb Standard - 85/15 TCI
Drop C# - Dragon II
Drop C - Bareknuckle Abraxas
C# Standard - Dragon I
Drop B - Dimarzio Tone Zone/Air Norton
Drop A - Gibson 500T/496R
A standard (7 string) - EMG 81-7/707

 

[Draconomics]

Time to start modding my SE 245 & CU24 guitars. So I thought I would ask, before I order anything to save myself a return hassle.

-Are any of you guys, or have any of you guys rocked a Seymour Duncan Alternative 8, or a 59/custom hybrid
pickup in your SE guitars or PRS's in general? I recently setup the 245 with 12-54 strings and I alternate the tuning between C & drop B. I also just installed MOJOTONE 59's w/A4 mags in my 245 and I like how they sound, but I want to tinker with something hotter in the bridge since I'm tuned so low. Is this pickup going to be a good match, or am I'm going to hit mud?

-I also came across the 59/custom hybrid pickup and thought about throwing a TB-16 and a jazz neck in my SE CU24. Any of you fellas have any experience with the SH/TB-16?

Mod wise to my SE's

-PRS SE locking turners are a direct replacement on all SE guitars?
- Will PRS ACC4210C flat pickup rings fit SE guitars?
- Will PRS US guitar nuts fit SE models?

Thanks fellas

As to the pickup question, I have used a SD 59 many years ago, along with some Jeff Beck trembucker and a bunch of others I cant recall. Dont remember much about them, I think for the most part they were fine, though the lowest I would go was Eb tuning. Take a look at Bareknuckle pickups. I really love their stuff, and they make more modern sounding things that would be ideal for drop tunings.

- I did also once use a TB-16 in....some trem axe I had wayback. Maybe an SE custom back in like 2009. I recall it was ok, but I think I replaced it with a Burstbucker.

- To the SE questions, SE lockers fit except for the Paul's, Bernie Marsden, and Zach Meyers models. Basically, any model with the Kluson style tuners. You can still put them in, but youll have to make new screw holes.

- I presume those are pickup rings for US models. The answer is yes, though I find the alignment is not perfect, but I have core rings on all my SEs.

- US nuts should fit, however I dont use PRS nuts, I use Tusq or NuBone. Dont really like that synthetic bronze stuff.

 

[JDFro]

the ZMeyers SE has Vintage tuners, configuration G, and non-collared post holes. there are only a few tuner sets that will fit this guitar without messing up the wood.