Why do people complain about the pickups on PRS S2?

OnliWanCannoli said:
I've read a lot of people who aren't happy with the pickups on the PRS S2. Personally I think they sound great. Is it just because the pickups are made in Asia?
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In my opinion, many people are snobs and like to show off their guitars by putting down others as inferior. But not everyone. Some may genuinely just not like the S2 pickups after trying them for a time. But I see so many haters online and you know what they say, haters gonna hate.
 
Normally the comparison you read is between older import to the core versions, and they do sound better to me. I have tested myself in 2x SEs and 2x S2s

However the new import pickups sound great in online reviews anyway, so its a step up
 
It took me a while to warm up to the #7s, but that was because the pickup height from the owner was not factory spec. After a home set-up and intonation, the tone and sound came back to what I expected.

There's also the possibility of adjusting your FX's or amp's EQ settings, which is far less costly than buying a set of new pickups.

My mantra has been these past several months: Find the least invasive and most cost-effective way of accomplishing my desired tone. In my instance, the set-up/intonation / EQ adjustments did just that.
 
I've owned one S2, a 2016 Custom 24. I hated the pickups - the HFS/VB import set was harsh and brittle. By comparison, I've owned several Core guitars with the US HFS/VB set, and while they're not my favorite I wouldn't replace them. I tweaked the height, EQ, etc and got them to sound acceptable, but I had a few other issues with the guitar so I only kept it for a week before it went on Craigslist. It's on Craigslist again now, so perhaps it's just one of those guitars that's hard to bond with.

On the flipside, I bought it because I'd played a newer S2 in a local store before everything went down, and was quite impressed with the 85/15S set. So, it depends on the pickups...
 
I couldn’t watch the video again, LBB. The guitar looked, well, just wrong! Seriously, my S2 Custom 24 has the 85/15s pickups, and on that guitar they sound wonderful. We all hear differently, and the goal is to find “the sound” you hear in your head. If you tweak the stock pickups you can get them to your liking on most PRSi. If not.....hey it’s your guitar. What I have trouble with is people who buy a guitar and change things before they know how they sound. Different doesn’t mean better.
 
dogrocketp said:
I couldn’t watch the video again, LBB. The guitar looked, well, just wrong! Seriously, my S2 Custom 24 has the 85/15s pickups, and on that guitar they sound wonderful. We all hear differently, and the goal is to find “the sound” you hear in your head. If you tweak the stock pickups you can get them to your liking on most PRSi. If not.....hey it’s your guitar. What I have trouble with is people who buy a guitar and change things before they know how they sound. Different doesn’t mean better.
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Did you mean the S2 in stock form looks wrong? Why? Error in the video though, it has #7, not 85/15s.

But, you do know I switched to DiMarzios since then...

 
I have a 2016 S2 Custom 24. It has the HFS/VB set. I’ve gotten to where I’m digging the HFS, but the VB just seems to bass heavy. I’m still working with it, but I’d like a little more brightness out of it. Split setting is better, but still not what I’d like. I’m going to play with some settings a bit more, but I may swap the set for either a set of 85/15’s or a 57/08 and 59/09.
 
For me, it depends on the pickups themselves, and how well they match the guitar, more than the fact that they’re “import.” That being said, I’m happy to say that I’ve only switched out one pickup amongst three S2’s. I have a Custom 22 Semi Hollow and Satin 22, both with #7’s. The 7’s to me have a prominent upper mid and treble articulation, so in the fatter sounding semi hollow, they’re a perfect match to balance things out. The bridge pickup in combination with the other aspects of the guitar in the Satin 22 created a very twangy, upper-mid nasally sound - it was actually too articulate for me, always makes me scratch my head why people say the 7’s are muddy, but whatever. I think a country player would’ve loved that guitar with the stock 7’s, and I still don’t think it’s a bad pickup, just in that guitar it wasn’t for me. Replaced it with a covered 59/09 (thanks @Coral Sky Music ) and kept the 7 neck, which I still like very much. The pickups in my S2 Studio are perfect and I’m totally pleased with them.

Overall the import pickups on S2/SE’s have gotten better and better as time goes on. I had an older SE Custom 22 made in the mid 00’s sometime, the pickups were so-so, and an SE Custom 24 with the HFS/VB which I didn’t like, they weren’t matched well in output and the neck pickup had no cut. But the 245’s are solid pickups, as are the 7’s, Starlas, D Type. Looking forward to a little more time trying the 58/15 and 85/15’s.
 
I actually like the asian made HFS that is in my old SE Custom 22 (2008-2009 I think) a lot more than the US made one in my core Standard 24 (2005). The one in the SE is pretty great sounding which is something I really can’t say about the US made one.
 
I´ve had one S2 withe the #7 s Humbucker and they sounded fuller and better than the Burstbucker Pros in a Standard Les Paul. I swapped the Burstbuckers for Suhr Doug Aldrichs Humbuckers.
The S2 with the 7# still sounded better in my ears.
 
littlebadboy said:
Did you mean the S2 in stock form looks wrong? Why? Error in the video though, it has #7, not 85/15s.

But, you do know I switched to DiMarzios since then...

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Do I ever. I watched in awe as you transformed your guitar from a mild mannered stock to a rip roaring , fire breathing piece of art!
 
My ‘14 S2 Singlecut Semi-Hollow sounds great. But compared to my core ‘13 Brent Mason Signature, it is not as clear sounding. I think it is similar to the difference in an acoustic guitar with laminate woods compared to an all solid wood acoustic. The notes are the same, but there is just so much more going on in each note. Totally different bodies (woods and construction) on my two. But I have heard similar qualities on other core guitars in shops.
 
Howdy,

I just joined the forum. I have an S2, but most of my other guitars are Charvel/ EVH Super-strats. And for me as a player, I'm constantly tweaking my sound, which means swapping parts in and out of my Charvel's. For me personally, that's just something normal. I think that everyone else does the same thing too. Don't they?

I first tried a DMT Baker Act in the bridge- It's my go-to high gain pickup. Tons of clarity and harmonics, but it just didn't sound good in the S2. Second I tried the KSE Fluence pickups and I LOVE THEM. I'm probably putting them in my next guitar too!

As for what I didn't like about the s2's pickups? They weren't terrible by any means. They just didn't really offer anything special to me. I like pickups with more harmonics and touch sensitivity. Besides the KSE Fluence and Baker Act, other pickups I'm pretty fond of are the Dimarzio Fred/ Duncan Screamin' Demon. And the stock pickups in the S2 weren't anywhere near where I wanted them to be.
 
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