bassbiscuits Posted June 17, 2016 Posted June 17, 2016 Hello, I'm mulling over swapping out the bridge pickup on my PRS Bernie Marsden, but not sure what might suit it - i see all sorts of pickups being described as 'working well with maple necks', or 'longer scale / seven-string guitars etc' I guess the BM is much like a Les Paul in construction, but with a slightly shorter 24.5" scale. I've got a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates in my strat, but that's deliberately chosen to be bright, hot vintage sounding in that guitar. Any experience of swapping out pickups in a PRS SE, and what did you find worked really well? I saw Whole Lotta Humbuckers mentioned once before, but haven't heard them first hand. Or I could just leave things as they are and enjoy playing!
skankdelvar Posted June 17, 2016 Posted June 17, 2016 (edited) Check out [url="http://www.oilcitypickups.co.uk/"]Oil City pickups[/url]. UK based, nice guy with good products at a fair price. They love him over on The Fretboard. Edited June 17, 2016 by skankdelvar
NancyJohnson Posted June 18, 2016 Posted June 18, 2016 Give Josi Warman a look up. (http://www.warmanguitars.co.uk) No idea where he sources his stuff from, but I fitted a pair of humbucker sized P90s to one guitar and a single zebra humbucker to another. Whether or not you feel they're too cheap for a PRS is one thing, but from a personal perspective, both mods have (to my ears) been a significant improvement to both guitars.
DaytonaRik Posted June 20, 2016 Posted June 20, 2016 +2 for Bare Knuckles. One of my guitards has swapped out the stock Gibsons in both of his Custom Shop re-issues and they make a world of difference.
darkandrew Posted June 20, 2016 Posted June 20, 2016 And another for Bare knuckle pickups (so that's +3). 3 of my guitars are equipped with BKPs now after previously using Seymour Duncans. Vintage style, I'd recommend Mules and for something a bit heavier I've gone for Rebel Yells and Nail Bombs.
molan Posted June 20, 2016 Posted June 20, 2016 Lead guitarist in our band had a nice Epi LP that was lacking a bit of 'oomph'. Our guitar tech fitted a pair of Fatboy pickups and changed all the pots, switch, Jack, caps wiring etc to quality parts at the same time. Totally transformed it. It sounds absolutely huge now and has great sustain. Makes me smile every time I hear it 😄
Kiwi Posted June 21, 2016 Posted June 21, 2016 I keep mulling over the idea of replacing the pickups in my Yammie MSG but am nagged by a doubt. What if the replacements don't sound all that better than the originals...? Plus the pickup surrounds will need custom replacements...a complete ballache altogether.
bassbiscuits Posted June 23, 2016 Author Posted June 23, 2016 Thanks for all these responses - sorry i'd forgotten i'd posted this question! In terms of the current set up, its just not as clear or distinct sounding as my Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates-equipped strat. The BM's neck pickup I do like a lot, but back to back with my SD-equipped HSS strat, the bridge pickup is just a bit generic. Not by a huge margin in fairness, so it could be opening a whole Pandora's Box searching for some elusive tone in my head, when there's a very useable one right there. Hmm.
randythoades Posted September 2, 2016 Posted September 2, 2016 (edited) I don't know if it would be the same for the BM, but I had the PRS SE One, the Les Paul Junior a-like. I also found it a bit generic but changed the pot and wiring instead of the pickup and it made a huge difference to my ears. More transparent tone and much better control. Maybe try that first, if you were changing pickups you ought to upgrade the wiring too. Edited September 2, 2016 by randythoades
therealting Posted September 2, 2016 Posted September 2, 2016 I put GFS pickups in my PRS Singlecut SE and they transformed it for the better. I had a 59 in the bridge and a Mean 90 in the neck.
Olafgarten Posted September 25, 2016 Posted September 25, 2016 Forget Bareknuckle, contact Ash at Oil City, he will sort you out. The other option is to get the Bernie Marsden signature pickups from Mojo Pickups.
Andyjr1515 Posted October 10, 2016 Posted October 10, 2016 Personally, I put Tonerider Classic IV's in all mine in preference to p/ups 2 or 3 times the price. But...it depends what sound you are after....
Veils Posted October 11, 2016 Posted October 11, 2016 Another for Bareknuckle. Also, if you can source some Dragon 1's from a PRS, they make a wonderful sound.
Danuman Posted October 11, 2016 Posted October 11, 2016 [quote name='randythoades' timestamp='1472797476' post='3124268'] I don't know if it would be the same for the BM, but I had the PRS SE One, the Les Paul Junior a-like. I also found it a bit generic but changed the pot and wiring instead of the pickup and it made a huge difference to my ears. More transparent tone and much better control. Maybe try that first, if you were changing pickups you ought to upgrade the wiring too. [/quote] I swapped out the pickups on a strat last year and the bridge pickup didn't live up to my expectations, whereas the other two did in spades... At first I thought I didn't do something right or that the unit was faulty. After going through extensive trouble-shooting without much success, I gave in and changed all of the wiring, pots and the pickup selector... and there it was. The difference was night and day. Happy with that guitar ever since.
bassbiscuits Posted October 24, 2016 Author Posted October 24, 2016 Some good stuff here - cheers. I think if i change the p/ups i'll get the wiring upgraded too. saying that, I'm quite liking the sound as it is at the moment so i'm just gonna get on with playing it.
hubrad Posted October 24, 2016 Posted October 24, 2016 Sounds like you're already a fan of Seymour Duncan, excellent pickups! I put their P-Rails in the neck on my USA PRS, and it's an amazingly versatile pickup.. more so than I am a guitarist! SD's website has a really handy tone comparison chart and audio clips for each pickup, which may prove useful in decision-making. This kind of thing: http://www.seymourduncan.com/comparison-audio
Lozz196 Posted October 25, 2016 Posted October 25, 2016 I really like the Gibson Classic 57 Plus. At quiet volumes it sounds a bit insipid, but push your amp and it comes alive.
SH73 Posted July 13, 2017 Posted July 13, 2017 I've been looking at bare knuckles and oil city. They look expensive. In fact you can get dimarzio or seymour duncan for less than that. Toneriders are better vslue pickups but they were unable to answer my questions.
adamg67 Posted July 13, 2017 Posted July 13, 2017 What about a PRS HFS? I've got one in an S2 Custom 24 and I really like it, especially with coil tap for more options.
SH73 Posted July 13, 2017 Posted July 13, 2017 [quote name='adamg67' timestamp='1499959351' post='3334853'] What about a PRS HFS? I've got one in an S2 Custom 24 and I really like it, especially with coil tap for more options. [/quote] Nah i ordered some from irongear
Skybone Posted July 16, 2017 Posted July 16, 2017 Bare Knuckles are good, but get in touch with Hayden at Bulldog Pickups, great service, great quality, great bloke who'll listen to what you want, and wind some great sounding pickups. He knows his stuff, is a great guitarist and he just so happens to also work for Matamp. He wound a couple of sets of custom humbuckers for me a few years back, the best I've ever tried (that's after being through a good few of the BKP range).
Signal Path Posted July 25, 2017 Posted July 25, 2017 Alan Price AKA Catswhiskers pickups,make some really nice pickups. I've got some A4 PAFs in a 339 of mine,that sound fabulous The Dimarzio 36 Anniversary set are very nice, as are the Dimarzio PAF masters Tonerider PAF A4,and Ironheart Blue's engines are good value.
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