Author Topic: Replacement pickups for PRS McCarty (pickups arrived) (Read 15745 times)

Zaned · « **on:** April 07, 2008, 01:52:21 PM »

Hi!

I actually posted the same question to the 'tech' e-mail address listed in BKP-sites contact information. But I thought that it wouldn't hurt to try here too 8)

<CLIP>

Guitar: '02 PRS McCarty, thick mahogany body with a maple top, fat mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard. Lightweight woods, resonant, on the warm side of tone (but not muddy though).

Pickups being replaced: Stock McCarty pickups.

Tonal requirements: the stock bridge pickup is the main culprit. It's not bad, but I would like the bottom to be tighter (well, clarity is a better word) and the pick attack to be somewhat more aggressive. Not EMG81 territory though, I like a very organic and balanced tone. There's something rubbing me the wrong way in the high end too, I can't quite put it to words. I tend to be heavy-handed and my main area is the harder side of rock. For example, John Sykes' tone on Whitesnake's album '1987' is one of my favourites.

1. Great harmonics and clarity, but no SCREECH. I like a strong midrange and the ability to cut through.
2. Tighter bottom and more aggressive attack than the stock McCarty pickups. Probably Alnico -equipped still..
3. Output is not an issue. Even if the pickup is lower output, I have pedals with which to pummel the front end of my
amp (ENGL Blackmore) if I want to. High output is equally OK too, the main requirement is organic tone.
4. Singing leads! Both on neck and bridge. I do quite a bit of leads on neck too and the McCarty neck 'bucker is
quite nice there. 5. Ability to walk on classic rock territory too.
6. Ability to clean up with volume knob. Coil-tapped sound would be very nice too, but the humbucker tone is the number 1 priority.

</CLIP>

I suspected in the e-mail that the VHII or Holydiver would suit me, or perhaps even Nailbomb. A calibrated set, that is.

Thanks for the suggestions!

-Z

Twinfan · « **Reply #1 on:** April 07, 2008, 02:01:26 PM »

Greetings :)

If you've had a reply back to your email from Tim, then that's probably the one to go for. He's not usually wrong!

The Rebel Yells might be worth considering too, or maybe the Crawlers? I'm thinking hot PAFs so:

Rebel Yells
Crawlers
VHIIs

I think the Holy Diver and Nailbombs sound like they may be a bit thick sounding for classic rock.......

ilÿti · « **Reply #2 on:** April 07, 2008, 02:45:00 PM »

I read your description, and this sounds like the Crawlers all over. It's exactly what I was looking for when I wanted to replace the stock Gibby pickups. Tim recommended the Crawlers, and I got what I was expecting plus a whole lot of good things I didn't expect.

Zaned · « **Reply #3 on:** April 07, 2008, 04:24:42 PM »

Thanks for the suggestions guys!

The description for the Rebel Yell pickups wasn't up yet the last time I checked them. After now reading it, they pretty much hit the nail on the head. Great tone on the clip too! :)

I also listened to the Crawlers. However, the Rebel Yell set might be better for my particular liking. Based on the clips, the Crawlers seem to be a little darker (voiced for strat too), and I'm afraid that they wouldn't have that 'edge' on my guitar (I heard that edge on the Rebel Yell clip).

Tim hasn't answered yet, we'll have to see :)

-Zaned

Yamhammer · « **Reply #4 on:** April 07, 2008, 11:01:02 PM »

Quote from: Zaned

The description for the Rebel Yell pickups wasn't up yet the last time I checked them. After now reading it, they pretty much hit the nail on the head. Great tone on the clip too! :)

I also listened to the Crawlers. However, the Rebel Yell set might be better for my particular liking. Based on the clips, the Crawlers seem to be a little darker (voiced for strat too), and I'm afraid that they wouldn't have that 'edge' on my guitar (I heard that edge on the Rebel Yell clip).

You can't go wrong with the Rebel Yells.

PhilKing · « **Reply #5 on:** April 08, 2008, 12:33:54 AM »

I have Rebel Yells in a PRS Standard and they give a great tone, in my Artist I used to have VHII's but changed them to Mules because the VHII had a darker sound than I was wanting (don't get me wrong, when I first put the VHII's in I was knocked out, but I was wanting a more classic rock sound). I have the VHII's and they will be going into another guitar very soon.

Zaned · « **Reply #6 on:** April 08, 2008, 07:07:10 AM »

Tim suggested Cold Sweats 8) They are voiced after the late 80's Sykes tone. I replied him about the suggestions here, just wanting to be sure.

It's a battle between Rebel Yells and Cold Sweats now :shock:

-Zaned

Dazza1004 · « **Reply #7 on:** April 08, 2008, 08:25:58 AM »

I have an RY bridge and CS neck in my Les Paul.

The CS neck is my favorite pickup ever. The RY is really cool too, I am more of a fan of alnico rather than ceramic hence the mix.

Yamhammer · « **Reply #8 on:** April 08, 2008, 12:03:23 PM »

I thought the CS neck is exactly the same as the RY neck.

Zaned · « **Reply #9 on:** April 09, 2008, 02:48:51 PM »

Ok, the plot thickens :D

Tim said that the CS is smoother in the mids and has more bite in the highs, whereas the RY has more aggressive mids and is sweeter in the high end. CS is marginally hotter, which makes no difference to me.

I don't think I'd go wrong with either one, just different flavours. CS is voiced after Sykes' 80's tone which I really like, and like I said, I really liked the RY clip.

Does anyone have clips of the Cold Sweat in a mahogany-bodied instrument (an LP would be nice, as that's what was used the RY clip)? It would help my final decision.

Anyway, I'll go with a calibrated set of either CS or RY. Hopefully my finnish dealer has both :?

-Zaned

Zaned · « **Reply #10 on:** April 09, 2008, 08:48:25 PM »

..after consideration and listening to soundclips, I've decided to order a calibrated set of..Cold Sweats!

I was a little surprised after Tim suggested them, but after listening to different clips, thinking about the guitars natural tone & the tone I aim for..Tim is a wise guy :D

Thanks for the help guys! All the different comparisons I made led me to the final decision

-Zaned

Sifu Ben · « **Reply #11 on:** April 09, 2008, 08:52:37 PM »

Quote from: Yamhammer

I thought the CS neck is exactly the same as the RY neck, .

The original was, but they tweaked it a bit, adding a bit of the VHII's flavour to the mix.

ilÿti · « **Reply #12 on:** April 09, 2008, 09:12:16 PM »

Quote from: Zaned

..after consideration and listening to soundclips, I've decided to order a calibrated set of..Cold Sweats!

I was a little surprised after Tim suggested them, but after listening to different clips, thinking about the guitars natural tone & the tone I aim for..Tim is a wise guy :D

Thanks for the help guys! All the different comparisons I made led me to the final decision

-Zaned

Congrats! I hope they satisfy.

Yamhammer · « **Reply #13 on:** April 09, 2008, 09:51:10 PM »

Sifu Ben:

Thanks for the updated info.

Zaned:

Very nice! I would like to hear more about it once the Cold Sweats are in the PRS.

Zaned · « **Reply #14 on:** May 16, 2008, 06:38:11 PM »

OK, so the pickups arrived and have been installed 8)

I'm still getting used to them, but EVERYTHING I've found out so far, has been great.

The pickups were exactly what I asked for. Gone is the slightly bloated bottom/low midrange that the stock pickups had in this particular guitar. It's been replaced by a tight fullness. A crisp, full pick attack. Again, much better than before. The tone is big and defined!

Like I said, I'm still getting used to them and might adjust the pickup heights somewhat. But the neck pickup works so great; it's clear, has a defined attack and it sings. It also work very very well when played clean, or when coil-tapped.

The bridge pickup, when played clean, works well too. Actually, I haven't played it clean much yet :D But my initial feeling is that it's a different (not necessarily better) from the stock pickup when played clean. Mind you, the stock bridge pickup was quite nice when played clean. The Cold Sweat bridge pickup is hotter and hence overdrives the amp more easily. Anyway, no problems there.

When played dirty, there's no comparison. Well, there is, but it's not pretty :lol: The bridge pickups screams. It's defined, aggressive and tight, but still very organic and natural. NOT harsh, I just love the attack. Coil-tap is very good too!

There's a certain clarity to the pickups which I just love. Not in the amount of highs, but somewhat less..mud. For some reason, there don't seem to be very many Cold Sweat bridge pickups here, very many neck pickups though. I can imagine the bridge pickup being a little too bright for many guitars. For an LP-style guitar with a mahogany body..it just works.

A happy customer! Which will probably lead me to buy another set for another guitar. It's a recently acquired strat (built by a finnish luthier in 1990), which I'm gonna give myself a little time with, before I replace the current Dimarzio Virtual vintages. A light alder body, and a neck with NO truss rod. Just a very good (brazilian rosewood I guess), thick fingerboard on top of maple, and a couple of ebony bars inside, giving it rigidity. Great guitar and even didn't cost me much. You just gotta love the quality and heart that great individual luthiers put to their guitars..

EDIT: a picture of the guitar with the pickups installed:

http://koti.kapsi.fi/~tomppa/PRS3.jpg

Zaned