Sorry..got to laugh about the co$t of 57/08 pickups

[Sage]

I'd agree that the 57/08s aren't exact PAFs; they seem to sound a little fuller range to me, and still have bite and clarity. Honestly I think they're an improvement on the PAF. But then, every truly vintage PAF sounds a bit different from another one because of variables in winding, magnet aging, etc.

I've never had occasion to hear a real vintage PAF up close and personal, so I have no baseline to compare with. But Les is on the money when it comes to the repros I've heard. I had a pair of 57/08s that I hijacked from a 25th anniversary Cu24 and stuck in my HBII. They sounded fantastic. When I returned those pickups to their original place, I bought a set of GFS Classic II Alnico 2 pickups in the hollowbody. They have much of the same character, but just don't seem quite as full as the PRS 57/08 set did. No idea why. I thought the 57/08s might be wound a little hotter, but according to this chart they aren't.

 

[NomadMike]

Well, this is one of only 5 rules here - interpret as you like:

If you have a customer service issue or concern with your PRS product, please contact customer service at [email protected], or 410-643-9970. Customer service and support issues will only be addressed via email or phone and not on the PRS Forum.

I wouldn't interpret that as applying to what the OP was bringing up, or even Sage's "The company's prerogative is irrelevant." remark which to me was just kind of funny.
Go read what gets posted on the official Gibson forum and not removed, I'd think PRS, which has a better product, has a pretty thick skin.

 

[markie]

I want "free" P-ups :wink: :tongue:

 

[Brad737]

I have 2 sets of vintage PAFs. The real ones have an almost single coil vibe to them with a harmonic on top for good measure. Personally, I LOVE 57/08s, and find a lot of similarities with the real deal, but they're much different to my ears. 57/08s are a little fuller and juicier, and not as "singlecoily". They are still articulate, and I think the most "open" sounding pickups PRS makes.

 

[JMintzer]

Hey, stop that. You're making entirely too much sense.

:wink:

Sorry, it was an accident...:tongue:

 

[sergiodeblanc]

I want "free" P-ups :wink: :tongue:

I've got some free pups for you.

 

[markie]

I've got some free pups for you.

No more Dogs at my House :box:

 

[Egads]

Can this be the new "pie" post?!?! Love it!

 

[11top]

I want "free" P-ups :wink: :tongue:

Hey, it's not like they're cell phones. :wink::dontknow::vroam:

 

[Boogie]

I want "free" P-ups :wink: :tongue:

You do...with every guitar purchase. :biggrin:

If you hurry you can go pickup your "free" cell phone. :vroam:

(Oops...just saw that 'ol Stevie beat me to the punchline)

 

[Ur2funky]

I just heard my first set of 57/08s, my HBII was delivered today! Too little time to get any perspective, but very happy first impressions!

 

[FennRx]

I'd agree that the 57/08s aren't exact PAFs; they seem to sound a little fuller range to me, and still have bite and clarity. Honestly I think they're an improvement on the PAF. But then, every truly vintage PAF sounds a bit different from another one because of variables in winding, magnet aging, etc.

Of course, tone/appearance preference is a personal thing.

When my son was engineering the new 30 Seconds to Mars record, he came home for a visit for a few days, and played my 57/08 equipped Stripped 58; for reference, his main guitar has been a fairly vintage 335. His reaction was similar to mine, "These are the best humbucking pickups I've ever tried, where can I get a set?"

As far as something else being "better" in components, I gotta call BS.

to each their own. I absolutely agree with you on PAFs varying from pup to pup. But if PAF tone is what you're after, the 57/08s don't compare to some of the boo-teek winders out there.

 

[Curt Musgrove]

People can argue whether a pickup is "PAFish" or not or whether they cost too much. Price and tone are relative terms. To me, the 57/08 pickups are great sounding pickups. I just had a set installed in my McKorina. I could care less if they are PAF style or not. Bottom line - they sound good. BTW - I always figured that you could only get 57/08 pickups through PTC, so that they would not end up in Gibsons. :laugh:

 

[LJD]

When sending a guitar to the PTC for 57/08's or whatever, does it have to be a PRS guitar?

 

[Herr Squid]

I cringe when I see a PRS guitar (non-SE) listed for sale on Craigslist where the guy has replaced the original pickups with third party pickups.
Then I scoff when the add referrs to the pickup swap as an "upgrade".
If I were interested in such a guitar, I would make an offer equal to what I thought the guitar would be worth without any pickups at all.
I can see installing PRS USA pickups into an SE; no problem there.
I must be a PRS purist or something.

Truth be told, there was a time prior 2008 when PRS pickups seemed mainly good for pushing gainy preamps (like Boogies) or clean-clean bright tones and not much in between. At least that's how they always struck me. Lots of people swapped pickups then and it frequently was an upgrade.

The stock pickup situation is much better now. The newer 5x/0x pickups are a serious improvement over Dragon IIs, RPs, Artists, McCartys, and SC245s, and HFS2s in my older PRSi, and I've replaced 'em all, mostly with PRS pickups and I'm a happy camper.

I was a little dubious of the new "magic" pickups when the 57/08s were introduced, but I tried the Kool Aid and it was good!

(Hmm. Don't ask me how much I've spent on PRS replacement pickups in the last few years...)

 

[Herr Squid]

When sending a guitar to the PTC for 57/08's or whatever, does it have to be a PRS guitar?

Yes.

 

[László]

to each their own. I absolutely agree with you on PAFs varying from pup to pup. But if PAF tone is what you're after, the 57/08s don't compare to some of the boo-teek winders out there.

I think we agree that the 57/08s aren't true re-creations of a vintage PAF. They have a "PAF-ish vibe," but they're different.

I'm OK with different; PRS came up with a pickup that works really well in PRS instruments.

We musicians are a tweaky lot by nature. Everyone's got a different idea about what they want to hear when they play a note or a chord, and considerable sums are spent on the most interesting things. And it's not just we guitar players; concert pianists will spend eons selecting their instrument, and will only let one or two special piano tuners near it, not only to tune the thing (which is done by ear and a tuning fork by the best ones) but to puff up the felts on the hammers a certain manner so that the strings are struck in a particular way.

Orchestral clarinet players will spend their time on eBay looking at tweaky vintage mouthpieces, and buy boxes of used ones if they can find them, to get just the right embouchure and tone happening, which some of them can't seem to find with modern makes.

We talk about vintage re-creations. A while back Gibson's custom shop came out with an SG Special that was a Pete Townshend model.

OK, I have a vintage 1965 SG Special myself, and it's got the original pickups and electronics. It was bought new by my brother when we were kids. I'd lived with that SG for 40 years or so, so I had the nuances of its tone embedded into my brain. And I'm a P-90 fan. I thought, "Wow, I'm going to see how close they came to vintage." Well, the new one wasn't very vintage sounding. It sounded like a modern guitar. It looked like the original, though.

Then again, do my '65 pickups still sound exactly the way they did in '65? I have no idea! I'd need a time machine to know for sure.

What will original 57/08s sound like in 50 years after the magnets age, and the coils, and all that? I know for sure that I won't be around to find out, but my son might just wonder about whether they sound like the ones we played the night he dug the pickups when he visited from LA...

 

[NomadMike]

Truth be told, there was a time prior 2008 when PRS pickups seemed mainly good for pushing gainy preamps (like Boogies) or clean-clean bright tones and not much in between. At least that's how they always struck me. Lots of people swapped pickups then and it frequently was an upgrade.

Would those be the pickups that gave many PRS guitars the "sterile sounding" stigma that I heard so much about? Always wondered if it was true or just a aural figment of those of us who were biased to the Big G Lester sound.

 

[Tag]

They have much of the same character, but just don't seem quite as full as the PRS 57/08 set did. No idea why. I thought the 57/08s might be wound a little hotter, but according to this chart they aren't.

57/08s are about 5-15% hotter than most vintage and vintage voiced PAFs measured the same way. Side by side they are a bit fuller sounding (which is what you heard) but slightly less clear and have slightly less top end. Exactly what you would expect to hear. I like them both equally.

 

[László]

Would those be the pickups that gave many PRS guitars the "sterile sounding" stigma that I heard so much about? Always wondered if it was true or just a aural figment of those of us who were biased to the Big G Lester sound.

It was probably a little of both. My 1991 was not sterile sounding, but it was different from the sounds a Fender or Gibson made. Players were used to those sounds, and tended to be critical of something different.

However, IMHO recent PRS pickups certainly suit me a lot better than the older ones. The 5x/0x pickups were a significant step up in tone (for me and for my tastes).

The good thing about PRS' older pickups was that they did indeed have sustain, power, and a lot of qualities that matched up well with amps like Boogies, etc. Whether someone wants to label them as "sterile," one could just as easily label them as "modern," which I think is more accurate. Because the pickups had personality, just a different kind than some players were used to. I include myself as a player who loved PRS, but kind of yearned for a more vintage tone.

The fact that PRS guitars were even in the same conversation as Fenders and Gibsons back when PRS first came out was really something, though! Here was an upstart company challenging the acknowledged heavyweights.

Today we see PRS on a lot of stages. That's pretty cool.