TCI pickup question

[ELF]

I am unclear about the differences between the pickups in the Core guitars. The information posted for the Custom 24 and Custom 24-08 state it is equipped with the 85/15 pickups, but these are now modified with “TCI”.

The information for the Paul’s Guitar and the Modern Eagle V state they use “TCI” pickups, but don’t say “85/15”, “58/15”, something like “Paul’s Pickup”, etc.

So is there a difference between the TCI pickup used in the Paul’s and MEV vs those used in the Custom 24/24-08? Why does PRS use the term TCI interchangeably without using another descriptor word for the pickups used in the Paul’s and MEV?

Inquiring minds want to know (old old old commercial).

This is a common question that pops up from time to time. I had it myself early in my PRS journey. As I understand it, TCI is a process applied to many/most but not all PRS pickups, where they electronically tune the pickup to a standard set of established specifications for what they have in their system for the pickups sound/characteristics. The neck and bridge pickups (but not the middle) on the MEV are the same as on the Paul’s . Those pickups have certain characteristics that PRS tunes for. Different from them are the 58/15s on some guitars (for example the McCarty 594) and the 85/15s on others (Custom 24/24-08). Part of the characteristics of the 58/15 is to sound nearly identical to the pickups on a 58 Les Paul. For the 85/15, the sound/tone/characteristics they tune for are typical mid-80s rock/light metal (I think).

The TCI pickups aren’t generally available for aftermarket sales. They sell for about $500 a pair when you can find them. They are highly desired. In my opinion, they are the key component of a Core model PRS. Which begs the question, why do you want to own a more expensive PRS and then swap out the pickups? It’s a personal thing, but really, just buy an SE or a S2 (which have much cheaper Korean made versions of the TCI pickups) and put your aftermarket pickups in those. You’ll save thousands of dollars in the end.