Tell me about 53/10 pickups

M

Mole351

New Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2016
Messages
113
never played them. Eyeing a guitar with them. Don't hear much about them.

Anyone played or have experience with them?
 
I had an SC58 with them. Great pickups, the pick attack is a little rounder, and less biting than 57/08s. The overall impression is warm sounding.
 
I have an all hog ce22/rotary switching and 5310s. Great sounding guitar. Through my 5150 amp it gets very close to EVH brown sound.

I have another set in my parts drawer and would snatched up another set should I stumble across them.

I would love to find a quatro to buy or trade for. They don't cone up for sale very often.

Anyway, if in your shoes. I would buy the guitar. If the 5310s don't do it for you then you would have no problem selling them.
 
I've only had a covered neck pickup, from that one experience I'd call them (really "it') dark but very big sounding. It wasn't my favorite... but I'm still trying to find "the one" for the neck position of guitar it was in so, it may very well work excellently in another guitar.
 
Might be worth having a go in that Bernie, as my old one came with a 53/10 set and I thought that the neck was great there.
The bridge was really frustrating to me, very ice pickey bright and I had to get longer screws to make it sit deeper to find a sweet spot. Some of it will be down to the amp at the time, but as it came from PRS I didn't think the two were very well balanced as a pair, in that guitar anyway - they were a limited run retrofit by prs uk when it was possible to buy 53/10s as aftermarket pickups.

Due to rarity a core guitar with them may hold up value more, I guess?
 
pac90 said:
Might be worth having a go in that Bernie, as my old one came with a 53/10 set and I thought that the neck was great there.
The bridge was really frustrating to me, very ice pickey bright and I had to get longer screws to make it sit deeper to find a sweet spot. Some of it will be down to the amp at the time, but as it came from PRS I didn't think the two were very well balanced as a pair, in that guitar anyway - they were a limited run retrofit by prs uk when it was possible to buy 53/10s as aftermarket pickups.

Due to rarity a core guitar with them may hold up value more, I guess?
Click to expand...


I may give it a try in there.

Yeah, they’re kinda rare pickups, I hold onto it knowing it’ll be perfect for something.
 
I have one guitar with them. I find them to be the mellowest of the 5x series. I like them, but not enough that I would go out of my way to put them in another guitar.
 
Mole351 said:
never played them. Eyeing a guitar with them. Don't hear much about them.

Anyone played or have experience with them?
Click to expand...

Today, I received a Modern Eagle Quatro with the 53/10 pickups. Stunning sound. This past year, I've become a PRS convert. As a result, I traded many high end guitars, which list for more money. No matter. The PRS guitars are better instruments for my likes and needs after decades of playing regularly.

I could go on about why I like these pickups, and from reviews, they are the reason I bought the MEQ on Reverb. But let's put it this way: I immediately took the guitar to Chicago Music Exchange for a proper setup, and allowed my people there play it to their hearts' content. The consensus: Stunning.

So, buy a PRS with these pickups. The ask, when there, on Reverb is just under $4,000, but you'll get one for less. So compare that price with an off the shelf Gibson USA Les Paul, and you'll scratch your head. Why? I have top of the line Gibson Custom Shop and Fender Masterbuilt guitars. But I play the PRS ones (largely due to the trem), and this new MEQ (with trem) is the best of my PRS guitars, including 594s, a Santana and my beloved 509. And that's due to the incredible 53/10 pickups. Don't hesitate if you are interested in them. You can always find a buyer of you don't agree with my subjective taste.
 
Studio Rat said:
Today, I received a Modern Eagle Quatro with the 53/10 pickups. Stunning sound. This past year, I've become a PRS convert. As a result, I traded many high end guitars, which list for more money. No matter. The PRS guitars are better instruments for my likes and needs after decades of playing regularly.

I could go on about why I like these pickups, and from reviews, they are the reason I bought the MEQ on Reverb. But let's put it this way: I immediately took the guitar to Chicago Music Exchange for a proper setup, and allowed my people there play it to their hearts' content. The consensus: Stunning.

So, buy a PRS with these pickups. The ask, when there, on Reverb is just under $4,000, but you'll get one for less. So compare that price with an off the shelf Gibson USA Les Paul, and you'll scratch your head. Why? I have top of the line Gibson Custom Shop and Fender Masterbuilt guitars. But I play the PRS ones (largely due to the trem), and this new MEQ (with trem) is the best of my PRS guitars, including 594s, a Santana and my beloved 509. And that's due to the incredible 53/10 pickups. Don't hesitate if you are interested in them. You can always find a buyer of you don't agree with my subjective taste.
Click to expand...
I've been preaching the virtues of the 53/10s ever since I got my PS with them, and liked them so much that I managed to snag one of the last available pairs once I heard they would be gone forever. I'll eventually install them in only a most worthy vehicle.

I have and have had and played nearly every PRS model, along with countless Gibsons, etc., and can say without reservation that if your tastes gravitate toward pickups in the PAF ballpark with even more clarity and solid output, they're among the very best on the planet by anyone. So sweet, versatile and full of character, but with a very strong nod to those traditional sounds so many revere. It's a shame that rare pixy-dust infused vintage wire used for them is no longer available, but as @Studio Rat stated, if you like this tonal profile and ever come across a pair for sale, I agree, grab them.
 
AaeCee said:
I've been preaching the virtues of the 53/10s ever since I got my PS with them, and liked them so much that I managed to snag one of the last available pairs once I heard they would be gone forever. I'll eventually install them in only a most worthy vehicle.

I have and have had and played nearly every PRS model, along with countless Gibsons, etc., and can say without reservation that if your tastes gravitate toward pickups in the PAF ballpark with even more clarity and solid output, they're among the very best on the planet by anyone. So sweet, versatile and full of character, but with a very strong nod to those traditional sounds so many revere. It's a shame that rare pixy-dust infused vintage wire used for them is no longer available, but as @Studio Rat stated, if you like this tonal profile and ever come across a pair for sale, I agree, grab them.
Click to expand...

AaeCee, thank you for responding to my post. I've never posted a comment on any message board before, but I wanted to add to the discussion about these incredible pickups. You did so very artfully.

Paul Reed Smith is our modern day Ted McCarty and Les Paul rolled into one. Screw the fact that vintage freaks disrespect PRS guitars as not cool enough. I've had Gibson and Fenders from the Golden Era, and I'm over it. I care about the instrument doing what it is supposed to do (with the advantage of what's been learned since the Golden Era) and nothing else. My MEQ could well be the most important guitar I've ever owed...but that is my personal take. Perhaps, someday, the market will catch on. Until then, folks, there are incredible values to be had, if you are interested in absolutely terrific instruments for serious players.
 
Studio Rat said:
AaeCee, thank you for responding to my post. I've never posted a comment on any message board before, but I wanted to add to the discussion about these incredible pickups. You did so very artfully.

Paul Reed Smith is our modern day Ted McCarty and Les Paul rolled into one. Screw the fact that vintage freaks disrespect PRS guitars as not cool enough. I've had Gibson and Fenders from the Golden Era, and I'm over it. I care about the instrument doing what it is supposed to do (with the advantage of what's been learned since the Golden Era) and nothing else. My MEQ could well be the most important guitar I've ever owed...but that is my personal take. Perhaps, someday, the market will catch on. Until then, folks, there are incredible values to be had, if you are interested in absolutely terrific instruments for serious players.
Click to expand...
The MEQ with its 53/10s is easily the most appealing of the ME bunch to me, and has always been high on my list of yet another classic PRS I'd love to own. I've never been fortunate enough to play one but have listened to many clips, and that is one sumptuous beast of a guitar for sure!
 
Like I stated, I have one guitar with 5310s but I also have a set out of a p22 plus a covered bridge PU in my parts drawer.
 
I would also agree that if you bought a guitar with 5310s like a Quatro and didn't like it, it would be an easy sell.
 
I have one of the 53/10 launch guitars, the 53/10 limited. I bought this guitar once I had heard about the 53/10 pickups as I thought they'd be more what I was looking for.
I haven't really played any of the other PRS pickups so I don't have anything to compare them to. But they do what I want. Nice warm and vintage sounding, though still with enough output.

One thing I did do was to remove the treble bypass capacitor from the volume pot, and changed the tone capacitor from 0.33uf to a slightly brighter 0.22uf. I found that the treble bypass cap was shelving some of the lower frequencies off making them sound a little thinner, whereas the tone cap change put back in a little top end presence to compensate for the warming of removing the treble bypass. I think they sound more traditional and vintage that way
 
Thanks, Tone-y.

Folks, if any of you want to buy a guitar like the one pictured on Tone-y's profile and described in his post, there's one listed on Reverb. And to be clear, it's not mine! I've been posting about these pickups, because I want to spread the word, and I appreciate those that informed me about them by posting themselves in the past. Very helpful.
 
Studio Rat said:
Thanks, Tone-y.

Folks, if any of you want to buy a guitar like the one pictured on Tone-y's profile and described in his post, there's one listed on Reverb. And to be clear, it's not mine! I've been posting about these pickups, because I want to spread the word, and I appreciate those that informed me about them by posting themselves in the past. Very helpful.
Click to expand...
Just seen it I think. The fire burst one? They are lovely guitars. Kind of like a what a PRS virtual old stock would be with its satin nitro finish and vintage leaning pickups
 
This will be my last post on the subject, lest I appear as though I need to "get a life". But, note, it's almost 20 below zero in Chicago today, so there's not much to do (if not going out at all) except play music and obsess about gear in my studio (after playing for hours and rocking out with my 16-year old on drums). In any event, I agree that "split" sounds great with these pickups. I like the 509 for the single coils, as well. My style of play with these guitars is to play with no pick and the trem arm always in my palm (sort of a Beck on Strat meets Knopfler kind of sound, I suppose). So I play with a very light attack. Full-on Humbuckers can get a little muddy with my style of play, and that shows with 53/10 pickups. In single coil mode, the neck pickup sounds like a Tele, with a really good pickup, and that makes sense, since the history of these pickups is the wire machine that was used for actual 53 Telecasters. I'm not worrying about whether the pickup is close to a PAF. What I find cool is the fact that it has elements of a good P90, good Tele pickup and, of course, a low output Humbucker. As I wrote before, everyone's taste and style is different and I make no judgments. But if you are intrigued by this discussion, or other chat boards or articles about the 53/10, and have the scratch to get a set or a guitar with them, I do think it would be a safe investment today, in the event you don't care for them and want to sell. There's enough interest out there that suggests someone like me will buy. But note the current "buyers' market". For some reason, the PRS 53/10 Models on Reverb are not moving. I think it might be a matter of price and competition from comparably priced PRS 594s, since neither the 53/10 Model nor the 594 comes with a trem, but I'd venture to say that the 25" scale neck on the 53/10 is well-suited for the 53/10 pickups, given their nod to some single coil color. And note if you're into single coils and trems, the 509, with its 25.25" scale neck, is really great. I couldn't put that guitar down..until the Modern Eagle Quatro arrived this week.

So, from this guitar nerd to another, the 53/10 pickups are special. And Paul Reed Smith as a person is unique today. Do you think people fawned over Ted McCarty during Gibson's Golden Era? No. It took decades to appreciate what he did for Gibson. And Paul is that guy today in terms of advancing the state of the art of scaled, high quality, consistent guitar manufacturing, with constant improvements based on what is learned each year and basic physics. Now, watch the interviews at NAMM 2019 posted on the Web of the two newbies now running Gibson, and then consider how Paul's personal hand is in everything PRS does. I'm a late Baby Boomer, and when my generation, with its nostalgia for the rock icons of the 60s is no longer in the market, if Gibson stays where it is product-wise, KKR will have found they made a very bad trade in buying the bonds that led to their ownership of Gibson. You can only rely on this "beloved brand" bull**** for so long. I can't see current management at Gibson ushering in "lightening in a bottle" like Paul did with the 53/10 pickups.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
Quatro 4 Pickups
Replies
5
Views
168
Tone-y
Tone-y
Blueswillismusic
Modern Eagle Pickup Question
Replies
16
Views
249
dilznik
D
M
What makes PRS a 5000$ guitar?
3 4 5
Replies
80
Views
2K
Daryl Jones
Daryl Jones
Rapdog
Anyone wanna trade two narrowfields for 53/10s?
Replies
0
Views
160
Rapdog
Rapdog
JasonE
53/10 VS 57/08 with a P22
2
Replies
27
Views
1K
JasonE
JasonE
Back
Top