Which to pick... SE 245 - Humbuckers or Soapbars?

[Zatx]

Now before I ask this question I know the most popular response will be "buy them both!" and I'm okay with that .... eventually. So my question should be ... "Which one of these should I pick.... FIRST".

I'm new to electric guitar. In fact I don't even own one yet. This will be my first. I mainly play Bass and and I dabble with an acoustic. My wife and I fell in love with the looks of the SE 245 at our LGS which lead me to research the fantastic reviews of Paul Reed Smith guitars and specifically the SE line due to costs.

Which leads to my question. I love the Single Cut 245 in Tobacco Sunburst and I've decided to go with it. My choices are getting the regular 245 with Humbucker pick-ups or the Soapbar model with P90 pick-ups. From what I've read it comes down to which tone you want, but I really don't know enough about electric guitar tones to make an informed decision. From watching youtube reviews I'm leaning slightly towards the clean tones of the Humbuckers, but not sure which will fit the type of music I play.

I currently play in a Praise & Worship band on Sunday mornings playing today's modern "Christian Music" and dabble with some classic rock, grunge, and alternative on my own. (hey I have an eclectic taste in music)

Based on what I'm playing... which would you choose.... ?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Danerada]

I play in the same "genre" you do. my suggestion would be to get the soapbar. it will give you single coil snap with some real growl when needed. And nothing sounds like a P90 neck for clean...

 

[Whitecat]

Soapbars can be hard to manage in a live situation if you play at higher gain. You may have to introduce some noise reduction or hum removal into your chain somewhere. But, the tone is second to none, IMO. It's its own thing and is so nice and responsive to the tone knob. I agree with Dane that P90 neck clean = bliss.

 

[Danerada]

Soapbars can be hard to manage in a live situation if you play at higher gain. You may have to introduce some noise reduction or hum removal into your chain somewhere. But, the tone is second to none, IMO. It's its own thing and is so nice and responsive to the tone knob. I agree with Dane that P90 neck clean = bliss.

Definitely can be a handful. I use a HumX for my amp and pedal board and that helps (all of the 60 cycle hum from a church setting is crazy). Also - I really only have hum when the guitar volume is up and I am not playing. If I am playing its not really noticeable, so I just turn down between songs if I am not doing the transition.

Easily handled and great tone.

 

[thieves&foxes]

Both are stunning guitars to be honest. I have a soft spot for the Soapbars, they have that something special.

 

[László]

I love soapbar pickups, but for someone new to the instrument humbuckers may be a safer choice.

 

[Zatx]

So far the vote is looking 3 to 2 for Soapbars.

Thank you for the comments and advice thus far!

 

[Aubs]

I too mainly do contemporary Christian. What amp are you using and how much clean headroom do you have?

 

[Zatx]

What makes the Soapbar challenging for someone new?

I haven't decided on an amp yet and have no idea what "clean headroom" means. I'm a bit of a newb.

 

[gball]

I love soapbar pickups, but for someone new to the instrument humbuckers may be a safer choice.

This, X10

 

[Aubs]

Sorry about that. I forgot you said this was new territory for you. Humbuckers are higher output than P90/Soapbar pickups. Most people on this forum will lead you toward buying a amplifier with vacuum tubes(valves). Clean headroom, is how loud you can play it, before the output from the pickups start to make the clean sound turn into a overdriven/distorted sound. The humbuckers will push an amp into overdrive earlier than the P90/soapbar. If you want to deal with less pickup noise, go with the humbuckers, however, I think tone wise a new guitarist will like the versatility of the P90/soapbar and deal with a little more pickup noise.

 

[Zatx]

Sorry about that. I forgot you said this was new territory for you. Humbuckers are higher output than P90/Soapbar pickups. Most people on this forum will lead you toward buying a amplifier with vacuum tubes(valves). Clean headroom, is how loud you can play it, before the output from the pickups start to make the clean sound turn into a overdriven/distorted sound. The humbuckers will push an amp into overdrive earlier than the P90/soapbar. If you want to deal with less pickup noise, go with the humbuckers, however, I think tone wise a new guitarist will like the versatility of the P90/soapbar and deal with a little more pickup noise.

Thank you for the informative post.

Man I can't get over how helpful people are on this forum. Most forums I've been to (unrelated to music) you get flamed for asking newbie questions. It's refreshing.

 

[Aubs]

Yup. People on here are excellent. Very helpful. Tons and tons of knowledge and experience. Good luck.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Now before I ask this question I know the most popular response will be "buy them both!" and I'm okay with that .... eventually. So my question should be ... "Which one of these should I pick.... FIRST".

I like you already.

 

[Zatx]

I like you already.

I'll try not to hold Downers Grove against you.

I used to live in Bolingbrook for years.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

I'll try not to hold Downers Grove against you.

I used to live in Bolingbrook for years.

Hey now! It's not like I'm from Naperville or anything!!! :tongue:

 

[László]

What makes the Soapbar challenging for someone new?

Humbuckers were invented to solve the noise problems of single coils.

P-90 type aoapbars are powerful single coils, so unless you get hum-cancelling version (made by a few companies but not stock on PRS) you have to learn to deal with the increased noise. Because P-90s are more powerful than other single coils, there is also more noise. This noise manifests itself as increased buzzing and humming, and is caused by electromagnetic interference and radio frequency interference that is present any place you have electrical wiring, electrical appliances, TVs, computer monitors, fluorescent lights, etc., etc,. etc.

The noise can vary from not objectionable, to very loud, depending on the room you're in, and the direction you're facing in the room. It can be caused by proximity to an amplifier's transformer, or how far away appliances are, or even the quality of your AC lines.

So when I say a "safer" bet, I'm doing so in view of the added issue of noise, which does bother some players.

I learned to play guitar on a P-90 guitar, and have had many. I love P-90s. Because a humbucker pickup works on the principle of phase cancellation, all humbuckers have a somewhat phasier high frequency range than a single coil. So a P-90 will usually have a crisper tone. That's what I like about P-90s. A humbucker will have a "warmer" tone, which actually means that a small amount of high frequency content will be cancelled out along with the hum.

As we all know, great recordings and concerts have been made with both single coils and humbuckers, and the notes you play are more important than the kind of pickups, guitar or amps, the rest coming down to personal preference.

If you stand in the right spot in the room and face what P-90 players jokingly call "Mecca" (just facing a part of the room where noise is minimized) they're great pickups. But if you play near a computer for practicing, lessons, or recording, or play in a worship setting where you may not be able to move around as easily, noise becomes a factor.

As for which type of music you play, the choice between pickups is largely irrelevant, all pickups work, and players of every style of music play every kind of pickup.

It simply comes down to preference.

Also, my opinion may be absolutely worthless to you if you've played P-90s and 'buckers, and simply prefer P-90s. Really, as nice as the folks here are, what you get on a forum like this is merely random opinion from complete strangers whose experience and tastes you know nothing about. The real trick is to play a guitar with P-90s and a guitar with humbuckers, and see which you like. It doesn't have to be with PRS, you can get a general idea about the differences between types of pickups with other guitars, too.

 

[Zatx]

My LGS may have decided for me. They are willing to sell me a Soapbar version that has been hanging in their store for 6 months for $450 which is about $200 cheaper than a still-in-the-box Humbucker version. At that price I can get the P-90's and if I have problems with the noise buy and install a set of Humbuckers and still be spending less than the $650 original price tag.

 

[László]

My LGS may have decided for me. They are willing to sell me a Soapbar version that has been hanging in their store for 6 months for $450 which is about $200 cheaper than a still-in-the-box Humbucker version. At that price I can get the P-90's and if I have problems with the noise buy and install a set of Humbuckers and still be spending less than the $650 original price tag.

Great! It's good to save a buck!

You can't install traditional humbuckers in a P-90 guitar without a lot of modification, but you can install a set of noiseless P-90s easily. Fralin sells a good set for around $130 each.

 

[Danerada]

My LGS may have decided for me. They are willing to sell me a Soapbar version that has been hanging in their store for 6 months for $450 which is about $200 cheaper than a still-in-the-box Humbucker version. At that price I can get the P-90's and if I have problems with the noise buy and install a set of Humbuckers and still be spending less than the $650 original price tag.

Or some mini humbbuckers. But I think you will be very pleased with the stock soapbars.