Pickup recommendation for PRS Custom 22/24?

[Rocknrory]

I previously got a recommendation for some nailbombs in my ESP LTD EC-1000 les paul styled guitar from Tim and I love them. I'm graduating high school very soon and my parents agreed to buy me a new guitar as a present, really rad of them. Anyway I've been looking at PRS Custom 22's and 24's, and I was wondering what pickups you would recommend for styles such as funk, alternative, rock, hard rock, indie, etc. I also play metal, but not so much recently, so I'll leave that for my other guitar, with the nailbombs in them. A few of my favorite bands include Muse, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Incubus, Tool, Foo Fighters, Sly & the Family Stone, P-funk, etc. Let me know what pickup you guys think would be great for my styles and this kind of guitar, thanks.

Also, I've only been trying Custom 22's for a while but today I went to the local music store and tried a few 24s and found it sounded pretty good, not perfect, but I loved the feel of the neck compared to the 22. I'm betting a pickup swap would be great, although it does come with the PRS 57/08 pickups which sound great, in certain guitars. The 57/08s sounded better in a Custom 22 Limited Edition with a single f-hole making it semi-hollow.

By the way, Tim recommended me the VH II or the Abraxas. Which would would you guys say is better for what I'm looking for? My amp is a Mesa Mark V head through a Mills Acoustics Mach 212 cab.

[Telerocker]

The Abraxas covers a lot of ground. It has more mids then the VHII and will provide fat PAF-ish tones with enough chime. For Chili Peppers etc. I think the VHII is a better choiche, as it has clean nearly single-coil vocal qualities. It shines in mahogany-based guitars and does metal well. One of the guitarists of Godsized uses VHII's in a Les Paul.

[ericsabbath]

I'd pick the Riff Raff
one of the best tones I ever had was the riff raff in a mccarty I had
the clarity is almost surreal
really open and sparkly, and I could play anything without lacking sustain or punch
that would be my first choice for most of the bands you mentioned (except Tool, but it does that pretty well too)

[hunter]

I'd pick the Riff Raff
one of the best tones I ever had was the riff raff in a mccarty I had
the clarity is almost surreal
really open and sparkly, and I could play anything without lacking sustain or punch
that would be my first choice for most of the bands you mentioned (except Tool, but it does that pretty well too)

I totally second that. RR the in a PRS kills!

Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA1aBfc1N-Q

[Rocknrory]

Really? The Riff Raff you think its better than the VHII for a custom 22 or 24?

[Nolly]

The Riff Raff would certainly be great, but the VHII would also be very suitable.
However, I think you ought to wait until you have bought the guitar and base your decision off the specific characteristics of your instrument.

[Philly Q]

I think you ought to wait until you have bought the guitar and base your decision off the specific characteristics of your instrument.

A very good point, which we don't make often enough!  :)

[WHITESPIRITROCK]

As per Tims advice went with the VH11 in my custom 24 which originally had the vintage bass , and prs hum squeel scream ( whatever lol ) not the 57/08. For me was deffo the way to go I found before could never really get a great classic rock tone ( prs was just a little too modern sounding ) now I have the full range, cleans can be very strat like
and crystal clear if I want it , crunch is anything from blues to metal just by playing arround with volume and eq.
Altogether very versatile and very balanced as a set , really has changed the prs into a cover anything tone monster.
Just remember the spacing for the prs is F spaced not like prs themselves fit !

[Telerocker]

Congrats! (I just ordered a VHII for my superstrat.)