Why the 85/15 S hate?

How do you feel about the 85/15 S pickups?

  • Too muddy!

    Votes: 5 9.4%
  • To bright/brittle!

    Votes: 9 17.0%
  • Lifeless!

    Votes: 2 3.8%
  • Good enough for me!

    Votes: 12 22.6%
  • They're great!

    Votes: 25 47.2%

  • Total voters
    53
Here a guy comparing an SE to a Core model. The link should open at the short sound samples towards the end of the movie. Even for YT sound quality, pretty easy to tell them apart.


I actually do like my "S" pickups in my S2 Custom 24 a lot.

I really don't think a video from 5 yrs ago is relevant today considering the pickups were different then. I believe the SE has the 245 pups in that video and I don't think the core has the 85/15's in either as it was older again.

There are better, newer comparisons between SE and Core PRS - both with 85/15's with the SE obviously having the 85/15 'S' pick-ups. Today, the SE is made in Indonesia and have the PRS signature now too.

In fact here's one...
 
Glad you went with the 35th Anniversary. I was one of the dudes on reddit talking to you about it.

Since I've had it I tweaked my pickup heights a lot, really dialed them in and have had a different experience with the guitar since I got it.

Like you, I can get really nice high gain tones out of it, where before it was a bit squishy and unwieldy.

I actually kind of felt bad that I may have mislead you, so I am glad to hear you went with your gut and not some squid on the internet.

It's a small world. No worries. It's all good. Quite a few people told me that the TCIs on the 35th CU SE aren't going to cut it for metal. How much did you tweak your pickup height ?
 
It's a small world. No worries. It's all good. Quite a few people told me that the TCIs on the 35th CU SE aren't going to cut it for metal. How much did you tweak your pickup height ?

I dunno, I think they're fine for metal. You'll probably have to adjust your amp and maybe your pedals, though. I have 4 electric guitars - 3 of which are loaded with Humbuckers. The PRS is the brightest, but I still get some pretty solid metal tones that suitable enough for the styles I play.

While I don't get to plug in much these days, I did manage to do a few back-to-back comparisons with my other guitars, and noticed that the PRS is the noisiest. It almost compared to my SSS Strat-style guitar in terms of noise. Long-story-short: I tracked down a probable grounding issue and I am currently exchanging it for another 35th anniversary edition.
 
I dunno, I think they're fine for metal. You'll probably have to adjust your amp and maybe your pedals, though. I have 4 electric guitars - 3 of which are loaded with Humbuckers. The PRS is the brightest, but I still get some pretty solid metal tones that suitable enough for the styles I play.

While I don't get to plug in much these days, I did manage to do a few back-to-back comparisons with my other guitars, and noticed that the PRS is the noisiest. It almost compared to my SSS Strat-style guitar in terms of noise. Long-story-short: I tracked down a probable grounding issue and I am currently exchanging it for another 35th anniversary edition.

I'm good, I have no problem with getting metal and soaring high gain tones from my 35th Anniversary SE. I've had enough experience with my gear to know how dial in the tones I want (fine tweaking them to perfection is the on going endgame, lol) . I was asking OGORMANIA out of curiosity about the pickup height tweaking he did. I'm a noob when it comes to do it yourself guitar setups do I'm trying to learn anything I can. Never too late right?

I remember your noise issue with your 35th. Has your replacement arrived?
 
I'm good, I have no problem with getting metal and soaring high gain tones from my 35th Anniversary SE. I've had enough experience with my gear to know how dial in the tones I want (fine tweaking them to perfection is the on going endgame, lol) . I was asking OGORMANIA out of curiosity about the pickup height tweaking he did. I'm a noob when it comes to do it yourself guitar setups do I'm trying to learn anything I can. Never too late right?

I remember your noise issue with your 35th. Has your replacement arrived?

Monday!
 
It's a small world. No worries. It's all good. Quite a few people told me that the TCIs on the 35th CU SE aren't going to cut it for metal. How much did you tweak your pickup height ?

I went a bit overboard with tweaking at first. Then ended up resetting to factory specs via PRS' website then ever so slightly tweaked to my preference.

I probably tweaked the pickup heights 6 - 7 times now. I found even the smallest turn made a big difference. I also discovered that bass started to flub the further I backed it from the string.

I pretty much tweaked all 4 sides until I got it to my liking and ended up with a great middle position tone too.

There is definitely a sweet spot if you care to put the time in. And of course everyone's sweet spot is different.

My SE245 I have tweaked the least. Neck pickup bass side was .1mm above spec, so I lowered it to spec and it sounded perfect, no more boom.

My SE HBII also needed the neck bass side lowered but much more than the 245. But also didn't need much tweaking passed that.

I think the heights of the 35th Ann Custom 24 were hard for me to get used to. Its a hard guitar to tweak outside of a mix. It can border on shrill I found. But the minute its in a mix it cuts through and I'm happy I didn't try to fuss with it further. It was pretty much on this Friday that I finally settled on a height that I now love.
 
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