PRS CE24 Pickup Choices - Blue Note and Polymath?

[samahmadimusic]

I have a PRS CE24 from 2022. It has a maple top, mahogany back, maple neck, and rosewood fingerboard. It also has a coil tap. The stock pickups just aren't cutting it anymore for the tones I'm imagining, so I'm considering Bareknuckles. The current stock PRS set just feels muddy and unbalanced to me.

For the neck position, I'm imagining something clean and articulate that can handle very complex, jazzy chord voicings across all 6 strings without getting muddy at all (I often play acoustic these days, for reference). Something that can sing nicely with just a tiny bit of light boosting/overdrive and chorus, also. I'm leaning towards the humbucker-sized Blue Note in that position, mostly because I've had good experiences with P90's for this specific purpose. I'm fully open to any suggestions beyond the pickups I'm mentioning, also!

In the bridge, I mostly want something that can tackle very modern, tight metal/djent tones. Think of the Coalesce album by I Built The Sky, if you know that one (especially track 2, Mirage). I'm also imagining something that can dial in lead tones similar to Plini or Allan Holdsworth. Something that has some versatility to it would be great, so it doesn't end up being too limited. I'd love to be able to get more classic, 90's distorted sounds a la Smashing Pumpkins as well (I realize that is a completely different sound and might be hard to capture along with the other tone I referenced in one pickup). I'm considering the Polymath here, as I've heard it's modern yet versatile. Reliable and sparkly cleans are definitely a plus for a prospective bridge pickup, also. A friend was saying the Polymath lacks some of the low-end tightness needed for the djenty stuff, but as someone with no experience with Bareknuckles, I can't make that call.

I gather that the pairing I'm highlighting might seem odd in one guitar, but it somehow made a kind of sense to me given that I had fairly specific applications in mind for each one. I guess one other question might be what the middle position would sound like between a P90 and a humbucker..?

I realize that many things beyond pickup choice can affect tone, but any guidance here would be more than welcome. Cheers!

[timmy_b]

I think you certainly CAN do that kind of thing with the Polymath, but it's definitely not in line with what was used for things like Coalesce. Ro uses ceramic Warpigs a lot, so, with those, you're combining some of the fullness of something in the area of the Polymath, but with a much faster attack and more dry overall feel that comes with the more powerful ceramic magnet. Particularly if you're concerned with the guitar being on the muddy side, ceramic magnets are certainly going to be a good place to start.

Based off of a combination of all the tones that you reference, I would be potentially looking at something like the Ragnarok, which is going to give you a super tight feel, without being harsh, then has the coil size and resistance to deliver some great split-coil tones too, which will definitely help with getting smashing Pumpkins tones, which are mostly Strat neck singlecoil plus a shedload of fuzz!

[samahmadimusic]

Thanks, Timmy! That's really helpful. I'll definitely look into the Ragnarok.
Any thoughts on the Blue Note in the neck position for the cleaner tones I was describing? I wonder how that would pair with the Ragnarok..

[b.gandt]

I had a set of Blue Notes in a 93 Hamer Special.  Double cut, hog body and neck.  I dug the bridge model.  I found the neck to be too warm for my taste.  Not muddy, but too warm.  I was playing the harder end of classic rock sounds.

To be fair, I haven’t been thrilled by any neck P90s.  At the same time, I love bridge P90s! 

One of my fave neck humbuckers would be the Mule neck.  A great clear sound.  I had a set in a PRS SE Korina SC that I ended up foolishly selling…