Pickup advice for PRS McCarty Rosewood

[zerolight]

Hi Tim,

I'm hoping you can give me some advice on pickup selection for my McCarty Rosewood (PRS McCarty Model with Indian Rosewood Neck and Fingerboard). The rosewood neck seems to cut mids a little and add a piano like chime. I'm looking for a bridge humbucker for this guitar. I'll give you the pup history so far...

The guitar started out stock. I felt that the bridge was missing a little mids and was a little boomy. So I started swapping out pups.

1st - I tried a Dimarzio Tonezone in the bridge and Air Norton in the neck. This proved to be too modern sounding to my ears - just didn't suit the McCarty.

2nd - I tried a pair of PRS Santana pups in the guitar. No coil taps on these. These are the zebras as fitted to the PRS Santana I & II not the Santana III pups. I like these, especially the neck. The are PAF types, but a fair bit hotter than a regular PAF. The bridge PUP seems to have boosted mids. However at high gain levels the bridge pup tends to get muddy - single note runs are lovely and thick, but chords are a little mushy and undefined... lacking in a treble sparkle I think. Perhaps too much mids.

3rd -  I tried a pair of WCR Darkbursts. These were actually a pretty good fit for the guitar, but I felt that they were just a little too bright, and underpowered. They're designed for a Les Paul really, a guitar which is already a little louder and more mid heavy than a McCarty.

4th - I'm back to the Santanas at the moment. I like the neck and so will likely stick with that and look to replace the bridge.


I guess what I want is a pup that will result in balancing out the tone of the McRosie a little bit. Nice and thick, yet with good note separation and sparkling highs. I like a fairly hot output too - but not Dimarzio Evolution or Tonezone hot. Probably an Alnico V magnet as that seems to be nice and warm sounding -  more suited to the vintage style.

I've listened to tone clips, and clean / crunchy, the Mule sounds very nice. But it's not hot enough for high gain tones - just a feeling I get. I've checked out the Miracle Man, one clip in particular sounded awesome - Miracle Man.mp3. But I worry that this being a ceramic monster, it won't do the cleaner, raunchier, Les Paul type tones so well. I'm not sold on the Rebel Yell yet, though on paper it sounds ideal - I didn't care for Steve Stephens crunch tone with that one - maybe just the amp. Finally, I've been tempted with an RS Guitarworks Shredder pickup (made my WCR) - which is apparently an improved version of the Duncan JB, but with less mids, and a more complex tone that cleans up very well with the volume. At $195 plus shipping though, it's cost is prohibative. I'm wondering if there's a pup that similar to that - or even the Miracle Man, but with an Alnico V? Maybe a Nailbomb? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

ps. What sort of returns policy do you have? Should I hate the PUP I buy, am I able to return it and try something else a few times till I hit that perfect tone, or is it a case of ebaying what I don't like (which is the WCR policy - no returns).

Thanks,

Graham

[zerolight]

Having read the reviews of the Nailbomb, I've pretty much settled on one, 4 conductor, open-coiled, zebra.

[HTH AMPS]

for a 'hot PAF' pickup with more output you should really consider The Crawler - thats what I use in my Les Paul.  it nails down your description - it's actually a little too hot for me at the minute as I need a straight up PAF repro (gonna order a Mule).

 :twisted:

[zerolight]

Thanks for the suggestion. I think a straight, boosted PAF, isn't quite going to do it for me. That's pretty much what the Darkburst was, and it was just a little bright. I note that the crawler has significantly more output, up there with the Nailbomb in fact, and so might well be a close match.

I think that what I really want is something that will do the Zakk Wylde thing, with a touch of Hetfield and Vai, when the gain is up high - squealing pinch harmonics, thick creamy tone, sparkly highs, and good note separation. But when the gain is lowered, it'll be equally at home with Slashes raunch, and Mick Marrs grind. And, hopefully, if I wind the volume back a little on the guitar, the Alnico warmth will shine through for a bit of Santana. I'd also like to be able to coil tap it and run it together with the untapped Santana neck pup.

ps. My musical tastes range from Santana thru 80's Rock (Poison, Van Halen, Guns n Roses, Motley Crue) thru Iron Maiden, to Metallica. Throw a bit of Vai and Satriani in there too.

[PhilKing]

I have a Miracle Man set in a Warmoth PRS clone with a Rosewood neck and they sound great, but are a touch more modern sounding than I think you want.  I have a PRS Artist II with VHII's and I think this set up might be exactly what you want.  You can get a really great rock tone from them, but push the gain and you can be in Iron Maiden territory.  Also with this set, the split sounds are great.  Just remeber when you get them that one pickup will need to be made with the magnet reversed if you want the split sounds.

[zerolight]

Thanks Phil. I've considered the VHII more than once, but it's not hot enough for my tastes, and the Santana in the neck would overpower it. My McCarty has Gibson style switching, and a pull knob on the tone control normally used for a coil tap, but my current pups aren't 4 conductor, so it's unused. Will I really have to flip the magnet in this situation? I thought that was just when using the PRS 5-way knob. Not that it's a big deal to do on an open coil I guess.

[PhilKing]

It depends on if you want to do the coil combinations.  The reversed magnet lets you have the coils from each pickup still be hum cancelling.  I have Rebel Yells in my PRS Standard.  They have more power than the VHII's but are a bit brighter.  My old EG has a Crawler and 2 BKP-90's, but it is a bold on neck and alder body.  I think the Miracle Man will work out fine but if you want the pickup that the JB should have been, you could also try the Holy Diver.  I have one in a HSS strat with 2 Trilogy's.

[zerolight]

Ah, I get ya. The neck pup in my PRS isn't coil splittable. It's humbucking all the way there. I like the idea of being able to add a single coil at the bridge for a lower gain rhythm sound.

[zerolight]

Given the guitar another try, with the current pups there's definitely too much mids and bass. Something brighter is required.

Just plugged in my Tyler which has a hotter pup than the McCarty has... a custom wound Duncan for Tyler. Whoa, makes both neck and bridge Santanas in the McCarty sound like underpowered mud.

I reckon that's my mind made up. End of this month I'll be ordering either the Miracle Man (to heck with clean) or the Nailbomb (for optional cleans) and then think about pairing it with something else in the neck later on.

[zerolight]

Tim suggested the Holydiver as well, so I hunted out some clips in the players forum, and yep, I think the Holydiver will do the trick. Kinda sounds like a Miracle Man with smoother mids and an Alnico V. At this rate I'll be hoping to conjure up funds for a neck unit too. ;)

[zerolight]

GAS is a bad thing. I now need a matched set of Holydivers. :)

Just need to ebay my PRS Santana Treble and Bass, uncovered, zebra humbuckers to fund the BKPs. :)

[JamesHealey]

The VHII is hot enough for your tastes, trust me i play thrash metal on a VHII quite easily it's got the hot! ;) but it's deffinatly still very sweet and dynamic and it's usually tims suggestion for a PRS..

http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5605 <- hot or not?

[carlaz]

I would have suggested Abraxas or Crawlers, but the Holy Diver could work too.