Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: Daniel G on July 12, 2010, 05:13:52 AM
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Ok boys and girls, i got my hands on a PRS 25th Anniversary SE Custom 24, and it needs some different pickups.
It's got a Maple top with quilted Maple veneer, Mahogany body, Maple neck with Rosewood fretboard.
I'll be using it for lots of general rock/pop music, but i'll mostly be doing a lot of Oingo Boingo type stuff.
I already tried the Rebel Yells from my LP, and they somehow just aren't 100% right, even with a coil split, so i'm open for some suggestions...
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Not right in what way?
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That's the thing, i can't quite put my finger on it.
It just isn't 100% what i want, seems to lack a bit in all departments.
I love the Rebel Yells when they're in my Epi LP, but in this guitar it just doesn't quite hit the spot.
So they'll be going back into the Les Paul soon, but that leaves the PRS with it's original pickups, which don't have enough definition for my taste.
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If you want more beef, how about a Nailbomb set?
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I'd try a VHII set, I love how different they sound when split.
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Nailbombs in my PRS Prism. Love them!
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Looked into the Nailbombs, think they'd be a bit too much with the ceramic magnets, Boingo's sound isn't quite that tight.
VHII looks ok, i'll see if i can find someone locally who owns a set in a similar guitar.
I'm also thinking about Rebel Yells minus covers, a friend of mine has a custom guitar that has similar acoustic specs as my PRS, and he uses uncovered RY's, which does sound a lot more different from my covered RY set then i'd expected.
Beyond these, does anyone else have any ideas ?
Any other Boingo fans have any suggestions, perhaps ?
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just installed a custom slightly overwound Riff Raff with a thicker alnico 5 magnet (4 mm) in my '96 McCarty Custom
IT'S WONDERFUL :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
clean tone is flawless, low end has A LOT of punch (due to the thicker magnet, according to Tim)
midrange is mild, as expected from a vintage type alnico 5 pup, but not thin at all
this thing sounds thick and edgy, but with that smooth T-Top hollow feel (in a good way) on the mids
I think this is the clearest bridge alnico pickup I've ever played
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I had a similar problem with the stock pickups in my PRS Custom - too honky and not enough definition. I was able to pick up a used set of BKPs - a Holydiver for the bridge and a Cold Sweat for the neck position. I put a 4-conductor wire on both and flipped the magnet of the bridge pickup so that they work with the 5-way selector (this is not necessary if you mention in your order that they will be going into a PRS - I am sure Tim can then accommodate for that). The PRS sounds better than ever now. I do not intend to change the pickups again.
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I had a similar problem with the stock pickups in my PRS Custom - too honky and not enough definition. I was able to pick up a used set of BKPs - a Holydiver for the bridge and a Cold Sweat for the neck position. I put a 4-conductor wire on both and flipped the magnet of the bridge pickup so that they work with the 5-way selector (this is not necessary if you mention in your order that they will be going into a PRS - I am sure Tim can then accommodate for that). The PRS sounds better than ever now. I do not intend to change the pickups again.
bet it sounds great
but his is a SE
the top is actually a printed photoflame, not even a veneer (at least the SE Custom 24 I had)
it was a good guitar, but a lot more muffled sounding than the two USA mccarties I had
I'd pick something lower output with an edgier top
I'd be between the riff raff and vhII
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Bare Knuckle Geoff Whitehorn signature in my PRS Custom 24. Can't recommend them highly enough:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSghgh-nEtY
Brian.
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I had a similar problem with the stock pickups in my PRS Custom - too honky and not enough definition. I was able to pick up a used set of BKPs - a Holydiver for the bridge and a Cold Sweat for the neck position. I put a 4-conductor wire on both and flipped the magnet of the bridge pickup so that they work with the 5-way selector (this is not necessary if you mention in your order that they will be going into a PRS - I am sure Tim can then accommodate for that). The PRS sounds better than ever now. I do not intend to change the pickups again.
bet it sounds great
but his is a SE
the top is actually a printed photoflame, not even a veneer (at least the SE Custom 24 I had)
it was a good guitar, but a lot more muffled sounding than the two USA mccarties I had
I'd pick something lower output with an edgier top
I'd be between the riff raff and vhII
The 25th Anniversaries have real maple tops and the figure is a veneer...
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I had a similar problem with the stock pickups in my PRS Custom - too honky and not enough definition. I was able to pick up a used set of BKPs - a Holydiver for the bridge and a Cold Sweat for the neck position. I put a 4-conductor wire on both and flipped the magnet of the bridge pickup so that they work with the 5-way selector (this is not necessary if you mention in your order that they will be going into a PRS - I am sure Tim can then accommodate for that). The PRS sounds better than ever now. I do not intend to change the pickups again.
bet it sounds great
but his is a SE
the top is actually a printed photoflame, not even a veneer (at least the SE Custom 24 I had)
it was a good guitar, but a lot more muffled sounding than the two USA mccarties I had
I'd pick something lower output with an edgier top
I'd be between the riff raff and vhII
The 25th Anniversaries have real maple tops and the figure is a veneer...
did you see the actual wood?
cause mine looked real, but it wasn't
most schecters are just like that too (same factory)
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Man, i forgot all about this thread after going on holiday... Oops.
Well, as a general note, i've been thinking of going for some Mules with some burnt chrome covers, just because i love that burnt chrome look, especially on this guitar.
I'm looking at mules because a few clips i've heard so far really nailed the tone that i'm looking for.
@ Eric Hellstyle : Not sure if a RifRaf would be quite what i'm looking for, my brother has some in his PRS SE (same model as mine, but red), and it's not quite the tone i'm looking for.
But thanks for the suggestion nonetheless man :)
Also, Guitar Asylum is right, the 25th's have a proper maple top, i've had this one fully disassembled, and you can see the different layers of wood, the maple seems thicker than on the regular SE's.
@ darkbluemurder : Doubt i'll be going for pickups that are that hot, really.
But thanks for reminding me of the 5 way rotary, i should get one of those installed over the 3-way that's in here, and maybe some extra mini toggles for additional funky wiring 8)
@ wrxmania : The Crawlers are great indeed, but not sure if it's what i'm looking for.
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Looked into the Nailbombs, think they'd be a bit too much with the ceramic magnets, Boingo's sound isn't quite that tight.
VHII looks ok, i'll see if i can find someone locally who owns a set in a similar guitar.
I'm also thinking about Rebel Yells minus covers, a friend of mine has a custom guitar that has similar acoustic specs as my PRS, and he uses uncovered RY's, which does sound a lot more different from my covered RY set then i'd expected.
Beyond these, does anyone else have any ideas ?
Any other Boingo fans have any suggestions, perhaps ?
Only a point for clarity: the Nailbomb has an AlNiCo V magnet unless you get a custom ceramic version.
Roo
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I had a similar problem with the stock pickups in my PRS Custom - too honky and not enough definition. I was able to pick up a used set of BKPs - a Holydiver for the bridge and a Cold Sweat for the neck position. I put a 4-conductor wire on both and flipped the magnet of the bridge pickup so that they work with the 5-way selector (this is not necessary if you mention in your order that they will be going into a PRS - I am sure Tim can then accommodate for that). The PRS sounds better than ever now. I do not intend to change the pickups again.
bet it sounds great
but his is a SE
the top is actually a printed photoflame, not even a veneer (at least the SE Custom 24 I had)
it was a good guitar, but a lot more muffled sounding than the two USA mccarties I had
I'd pick something lower output with an edgier top
I'd be between the riff raff and vhII
The 25th Anniversaries have real maple tops and the figure is a veneer...
did you see the actual wood?
cause mine looked real, but it wasn't
most schecters are just like that too (same factory)
Yup... it's for the 25th Anniversaries. Like I said, the figuring is a veneer, but there is actually a maple cap on it.
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Cold Sweat set? Nearest replacement for VB/HFS that BKP does...
vs HFS - slightly cooler, much more definition
vs VB - much more 'alive'/3D
The HFS sucks, IMO, and while the VB isn't as bad the CS neck is a massive improvement.
I have that set in my Cu24, but as it has a rosewood neck the response will be a little different.
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Well, it's been two years since i started this thread...
I did a LOT of research in the mean time, tried out quite a number of guitars that had BKP's that were mentioned in the thread, tried to keep with guitars as similar (wood wise) to my PRS SE as possible, and...
Came to the conclusion that HairyChris's suggestion of a Cld Sweat set would be the most likely candidate.
So i took the chance, ordered a calibrated, covered set of Cold Sweats a month or so ago.
Yesterday my techie called and said he had put them in, (including some mods to the guitar, which includes 3 mini toggles for individual coil splitting and for out of phase, and some PRS USA brass bridge saddles to replace the shoddy SE saddles), and it turns out these were EXACTLY what this guitar needed to get the best possible tone for what i use it for.
Neck is really well rounded, very decent definition, never muddy, and the bridge has very good balance of highs/mids, very tight sound, but never over the top.
So once again, thanks to Tim and the other staff at BKP for making these excellent pickups, thanks to everyone that contributed to the thread and answered my questions, and special thanks to HairyChris for pointing me towards the Cold Sweats :D
Quick phone pic of the end result :
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b366/DanielGravesNL/04dba992.jpg
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Congrats, glad you like them.