Black Plaid
Other Alan!
Typo?
What is TCI? Myth or reality
- Thread starter Domingo Lantigua
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Typo?
Black Plaid
Other Alan!
Someone needs to mail Big Clive a Paul's Guitar so he can draw out the circuit and explain to us all.
Hotblack Desiato
New Member
Yes, as I state in my original post's opening sentence.
My question remains (though I'll be more specific as I have one pre-ordered) - the website says the 35th Anniversary Custom SE has TCI pickups but doesn't mention which pickups they actually are e.g. 408, 85/15, HFS etc. etc. Any ideas as to which pickups they are? Or is it the case that the TCI procedure is so effective they can now make a single humbucker and voice its response via the TCI process therefore no more 85/15 etc. just a 'basic' pickup that gets 'fine-tuned' to each guitar?
jak3af3r
Jake
Resistors in parallel divide resistance (ohm's law)
Resistors in series add together.
Capacitors are opposite.
Bob Hundemer
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My question is, how will we know if a guitar has TCI pickups or not? Foe example there are several 594 sc for sale on the net. Are we to assume that none of these have the new TCI pickups? How are we to know?
Yes, and even more complex, if one is interested in buying a used guitar, once someone has changed the pickups, the benefit is lost. Or if one wants to buy a set of used 58/15's, once they come out of the guitar they are no longer tuned. They are back to "normal" 58/15's.
Glide-bpm
We were small but we were slow...
Mozzi
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And as I answered, the TCI Pick-ups are 'named' TCI but could easily of been called 'Paul's' Pick-up which is based off the 408 Pick-up - tweaked I assume for his preference like any other 'Signature' pick-ups would be. They are, as far as I know, a slightly revised version of the Pick-ups that were in the Paul's guitar before the model was updated.
The 'S' Pick-ups, whilst NOT 408 in size, are just a Pick-up wired to sound like the US Paul's guitar. Its essentially a Signature Pick-up. Its not an 85/15 or 58/15 - its like the Tremonti's or DGT's but because the Pick-ups were named after the WHOLE process, they are called TCI BUT could have been called Paul's Pick-ups and that would be the 'base'.
You are confusing the name of the pick-ups with the Process. IF you are buying a Custom 24 SE, then these could be the 85/15 Pick-ups (I believe) that would have been fitted to 2019, 2018 etc Pick-ups but have been through the TCI process when assembled with the rest of the electronics. Its possible that these pick-ups though could also be the 'TCI' pick-ups that were fitted to the SE Pauls and SE Santana SC that released this year. Again - its just the name and NOT the process when you talk about the Pick-ups outside of the guitar as a whole.
It maybe confusing because PRS opted to name the Pick-ups 'TCI' when they designed the whole process before they realised the potential confusion. The TCI (name) pick-ups are essentially Paul's Signature Pick-ups and by Paul's Signature, I refer to the fact that 'Paul's Guitar' is classified as a signature model. If its referring to 'just' the Pick-up, then its literally just Paul's signature Pick-ups - like a set of Tremonti's or DGT's. TCI as a Process though can literally be done on any set of PRS (and probably most 3rd party after-market sets if you know what to do).
The real question you should be asking though is not what Pick-ups are being used because if it says the Pick-ups are TCI, then that IS the Pick-ups which are a 'badly' named (at least now that TCI is also the name of the process), but real question should be whether they are referring to the Pick-ups OR the Process.
I don't know how else I can explain it - I thought I explained it the first time when I said the TCI pick-ups were named too soon and literally meaningless but are referring to Paul's 'signature' Pick-ups. If it says the Pick-ups are TCI, then that is the 'base' pick-up and, had they called them 'Paul's' or 408+, then that would be the base but its still the exact same pick-up - its just a name in this case....
Mozzi
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TCI (named) pick-ups - as found in the Paul's guitar (SE too) and Santana SE SC are the ONLY TCI pick-ups.
NO 594 will have TCI pickups - they either have 58/15 LT's or 58/15 LT+ pick-ups.
from 2020 onwards, most (if not all) core guitars will have the TCI process applied which is also about the electronics that are fitted during assembly - the Pick-ups are still NOT TCI pick-ups and will still be 58/15 LT's or 85/15's but will be assembled with the perfectly matched electronics. TCI in this case refers to the whole process in the electronics and NOT the Pick-ups alone.
If you want a 594 SC, then you need to buy a PRS SC594 with the 58/15 LT+ pick-ups that has been through the TCI process and putting 58/15 LT+ pick-ups in a 2018 594 SC that originally had 58/15 LT's will not provide the same result because the Electronics have not been fitted to match the Pick-ups and their impedance
Black Plaid
Other Alan!
Thanks, I didn't realize capacitors had any effect on resistance.
They don't have any effect on DC resistance. They look like an open circuit to DC current. To AC current they make a difference but we call that impedance, not resistance. That's where TCI starts to make sense. We are looking at more than just the DC resistance value.
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jak3af3r
Jake
Right I forgot to specify units in pointing out how ohm's law is opposite mathematically when factoring farads.
The TCI system has more to do with AC than DC. DC resistance tells very very little about a pickup except for an approximate output and the general higher output=more mids bit.
The TCI is targeting a specific frequency most likely way up in the overtones area that adds clarity while filtering out harsh frequencies much like the skyliner EQ of our favorite mortgage-priced amplifiers do.
The pickups would be aptly named because as the manufacturer you would know important data points in targeting a specific frequency. Knowing what inductance and what frequency you're targeting only leaves the value of resistance which seems to be the largest and most easily changed variable in the system.
On a side note, you can use a TCI system on coil splits to leave one coil active and set the frequency cutoff starting around 70Hz and below so you have a hum-cancelling singlecoil.
Domingo Lantigua
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This is all great stuff!!! However, the meat is.. What is done to the pickup to tune it? I'm sure it's proprietary information. If we go by what we know, I believe it's doing something to the pickup (before or after winding), whether adding caps, resistors or unicorn tears to achieve a specific sound. Something similar would be Seymour Duncan's "dunaged" pickups, where the magnets were demagnetized to simulate an old magnet. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what a guitar looks look with "TCI" applied
jak3af3r
Jake
My semi-educated guess is they've toyed with a HUGE number of pickup constructions and manufacturing techniques to make a consistent product. Then you find which upper end harmonics to attenuate (it's a passive circuit) and all that's left is to determine per setup what levels of resistance and capacitance need to be added to achieve as closely as possible the desired harmonic attenuation.
Like I said earlier, you can apply the TCI to an existing guitar but the results will be kinda wonky unless you just happen to know the exact inductance (Henries) of the pickup and have a general idea of the frequency (Hertz) you're shooting for.
Bob Hundemer
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So using a different description for the 594 .. how will we know if they have the+ pickup or not??
You might be surprised to know that Stradivari also made guitars. One is still playable and has been recorded. There are you tube videos of it being played.
Alnus Rubra
Loving nature’s wonders
I note only his hands are allowed to touch it!
Oh if that were the only thing wrong with that little quip. Nostradamus died 100 years before Stradivari was born. Nostradamus lived in France, Stradivari lived in Italy, and though it would not be surprising to learn that they could speak each other's language, it could easily be the opposite.
Mozzi
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Ask? Look at the year it was made? The 58/15 LT+ pickups are only fitted in the 'new' (as in 'new build') PRS 594 Singlecut so if its a regular SC594 made in 2020 with the vintage tuners and the 'Nitro' finish, then its pretty safe to assume its also got the 58/15 LT+ but if you want to know for sure, ask or look on the hang tag...
Bob Hundemer
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I spoke with Moore Guitars and asked them about the 2020 594. They told me that they were told that the new guitars are 12-15 months out! To mean that means the 2020 models and the + pickups.
On the other hand Sweetwater said they were starting to get the 2020 guitars in now and that they would be added to their web site.
So who really knows? lol
On the other hand Sweetwater said they were starting to get the 2020 guitars in now and that they would be added to their web site.
So who really knows? lol
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