Stock pickups on Core guitars

On your core guitars do you currently have the original pickups in it, or have you "upgraded"?


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RevBillyG

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Just trying to get a general feel on how many of you have "upgraded" your pickups.

So, on your core guitars do you currently have the original pickups in it, or have you "upgraded"?

& I say it like that because I understand some folks may love the stock pickups where others see room for improvement. So swapping them to something else isn't necessarily an upgrade.
 
I answered "Original", but it would really be both. Every core I have has the original pick ups, unless I have more than one of that model. I've got a set of Throbak Peter Green's in a DC594, a set of Kinman Noiseless P90 Humbucker in a SC594, and I have a set of \m/'s coming next week that are going in a Santana.
 
I have the original pickups on my DGT now but in the beginning, it went a little something like this
1. Acquired the guitar with a 59/09 in the bridge, 57/08 in the neck (original pickups were in a little bag in the guitar case). Wasn't heavy enough for me so one week later...
2. DiMarzio Crunch Labs. Disliked them immensely and almost immediately...
3. PRS \m/ in the bridge, original Grissom in the neck. Stayed with this configuration until a year later...
4. EMG 57/66 set. Sounded great for about 2 months but then the metal band I was in broke up so...
5. Original Grissom pickups installed. Much happier and will remain with these pickups for the life of this guitar.
 
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I'm a total freak when it comes to replacing pickups. To me, it's about bringing out the best in each guitar. The only guitar I have with stock pickups is my Signature Limited with 408 pickups. I'm sure that if that had standard size pickups I would have replaced them.

My latest replacement was a Lindy Fralin Twangmaster as a neck pickup in my P245SH. It's the first real single coil sounding pickup I've heard in a humbucker cover. But since I couldn't make my mind up about what pickup to buy, I also ordered a big single, a P90, a sunbucker and a standard humbucker bridge. If I practiced as much as I'm changing pickups, I would be awesome :)
 
Lollers -- you got the almost exact same Fralin pickups I'm interested in -- the Twangmaster, Big Single, Sunbucker, and...I forget the fourth one, might've been the Unbucker. EDIT: P-92!


Me -- mostly stock, I got rid of one Custom 24 because I just couldn't get into the 59/09 pickups, but I do plan on swapping out the HFS/VB in the one Custom 24 with maple neck from Japan that I got. But I've been extremely happy with the others I have -- 57/08, 58/15, 85/15, 513 (whatever that single coil one is called), 408 pickups. The 58/15 and 408s in particular, I will never change out. And probably not the others, except in one particular instance. (I'm thinking about putting a Benedetto B-6 in my Singlecut Archtop (!!!), but only because I love the Benedetto B-7s in my 24/7s so much.
 
Everyone of my guitars has the pickup it came to me with so the only non PRS pickups are in a CU22 I have Dimarzo 36th Anv and a Tone Zone got it from CRGTR that way and it sound killer
 
I didn't answer the poll, 'coz it's kinda both. I've put 59/09s into my Modern Eagle, 53/13s into my Singlecut Hollowbody, and also 59/09s into a Custom 22. And 57/08s in a Hollowbody. All were pre-2008 guitars (i.e. pre-578/08s) , and improved by the swaps, but all PRS pickups.

If I think about it, I do have a CE22 that has a pair of WB pickups in it, a Heaven and Hell set I think. That was a pre-2008 swap.
 
All stock except for the first, a CU24 that came with the VB/HFS set, now replaced with a reissue T&B set. It wasn't something I was considering until the T&Bs were available - suddenly, the guitar had that PRS sound that I remembered from trying PRS guitars years before.

I've also swapped the pups in my SE7, but that's outside the realm of this thread.
 
PRS core guitars have probably the best stock PUs ever, great for a lot of different styles.
But as I play mainly heavy metal, there are after-market PUs that suit my style much better.
That's why I swapped out PUs on every single PRS I ever owned.
 
S2 Custom 22- stock pickups, 2003 Mira- stock pickups, 2006 SAS - stock pickups (screams!), 03 CE 24- replaced with 57/08`s. I found the clean sounds on the VB/VHS were too brittle sounding when clean. I have a number of SE`s that have all been modified out the wazoo, but all with PRS pickups.
 
Back in the old days i used to swap pickups in everything just to ascertain the effects on tone. I learned some neat things like "i really need multiples of these guitar models just to have different pickups in them". I think it took me up until the 59/09's came out to catch up, and then i lost all desire to remove strings and solder.
 
All my Core PRS guitars have the stock pickups except my SC250 Artist. I switched those out for SD Saturday Night Specials because the SC250 were WAAAAYYYYY too hot for my taste. I purposely buy PRS' with 57/08 or Dragon II pickups because those sound the best for my playing - though my CU22 and CU22SH (with Dragon IIs) are slated for 57/08s in the near future - gonna go with the 3-way toggle change also...that 5 way rotary is difficult to switch live!!

While not Core, my S2s all have the stock pickups as well. I LOVE the S2 #7 pickups!!
 
I took out my 57/08's on my hollowbody and put some sheptone tributes in. They sound awesome. Not sure what to do with my 57/08's now. I also have some other sets laying around that are really good sets. Including wizz, sigil NOS 57 wire, slash sig, pearly gates, and wolfetones. Not enough guitars. Unfortunately my siggy can't have any swapping with the 408's.
 
I think PRS stock pickups are the gold standard as far as factory pickups go. I will be swapping the Tremonti pickups out of my Core Tremonti for some 57/08s and installing coil taps for them as well though.
 
I've swapped some and left some original. Most are original but some I've put in 57/08's instead of the ones someone else put in that weren't PRS's for example. I also put SD 59's into one that had original "Vintage" pups in it, but put the originals back when I found the switch to make it all original. I actually like the 59's better, but keeping an 88 CE original seems important to me. Besides, that 88 wiring is pretty interesting.
 
I don't like to change pickups because I want my guitars as stock as possible.
However, it's very interesting to get the most of the instrument, but here's the question:
How do you "analyse" the acoustic sound and then say: oh, these pickups aren't giving me the most of it"???
 
I think PRS stock pickups are the gold standard as far as factory pickups go. I will be swapping the Tremonti pickups out of my Core Tremonti for some 57/08s and installing coil taps for them as well though.

I think that may be true recently. The 85/15s seem to have been well received. The 57/08s, the DGs... I think that's when PRS pickups elevated to a class all their own. Then the things he's doing with the 408s is truly innovative.

All my opinion of course. I know there are fans of the Dragons, Dragon IIs, HFS etc... but it's not the same.
 
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