aftermath or cold sweat in bridge of PRS?

[FLgearnut]

hey guys,

I've posted on here before and im fairly well versed in these pickups but im finding myself considering swapping my painkiller bridge pickup out of my PRS custom 22 in favor of something else and since i havent tried either of the pickups in my subject line, i am looking to you guys for the help.

the 6-string PK in my PRS just doesnt sound the way I want it to with my current rig.  It seems to have a very "chevelle" like response on the gain channel.  if anybody here has heard most of chevelles recent stuff, you know what the guitar tone sounds like.  its more "aggressively fuzzy" than tight..cant really explain..I would like the palm mutes to be a little tighter and a little more defined overall.  I know the PK is highly regarded as being a tight and awesome metal pickup, and here is where it gets even more confusing...

I have a calibrated set of PK's in my 7-string Bernie Rico Jr. and THOSE sound great to me.  they actually sound tighter and just more punchy overall through the same amp on the same settings.  I cant explain why the 6 and 7 string version would sound different but they just do in my guitars.

[FLgearnut]

so back to my original question, im looking to possibly swap to a different pickup model.  My current amp is a splawn nitro with KT88's and JJ pre's.  I run a maxon 808 boost in front to tighten it up.  The amp itself is characteristically more focused on low-mids by design.  I heard alot of good things about the aftermath and am extremely tempted to try it out, but i wonder if the cold sweat bridge might provide the clarity and punch im looking for too.  I dont know if a bright pickup with a low-mid accented amp would hit that sweet spot for focus and clarity, or if the aftermath is tighter than a dolphins blowhole and i need to go with that lol.

guys, your turn to chime in...what say you Knare Buckle owners? (see what i did there?)  8)

[ericsabbath]

did you hear the new website clips?
I don't think swapping a painkiller for an aftermath will make a HUGE difference in that aspect
they have similar characteristics
the aftermath seems to have a bit less upper mids and top end

maybe the cold sweat might help by removing some low mids and adding treble

you should try different tubes as well
in my experience, JJ's tend to get things darker than other tubes
try chinese shuguangs (or rebranded versions of them, like ruby or TAD)

[ev1ltwin]

Eric, he's saying that the same pickup in a different guitar sounds great through the same amp with same settings; he probably doesn't want to change the preamp tubes.

This is a radical suggestion, but maybe try upping your string gauge on the prs and using a lower output pickup like a black dog. The prs is a mahogany neck with a 25" scale, so it's inherently middier/darker than a guitar with 25.5+" scale (especially if you're BRJ has a maple neck, but even a mahogany neck). Upping the string gauge will give you more upper harmonics and bass response, and the lower output of the black dog will mesh nicely with that change. Considering you have an 808 and play through a higher gain amp, this should be more than enough to make up for lack of output compared with the PK.

I think the cold sweat would be a good choice too, but definitely up your string gauge if the PK isn't defined enough for you. At the very least, back the PK away from the strings more. Maybe it's just too close and getting muddy?

[ericsabbath]

I don't see how changing tubes would compromise the other guitar sound for the worse

I wouldn't go alnico/vintage as well
they can sound tight, but they are a lot smoother

otherwise, I would have recommended the riff raff, which is quite tight and defined

[DvE]

My pk was also sounding muddy some time ago... this was because it was too close to the strings.
It would try this first. Not much work, but can have a huge effect on clarity etc...

[ev1ltwin]

I don't see how changing tubes would compromise the other guitar sound for the worse

It's not that it would make the other guitar sound worse, but that guitar already sounds "GREAT" with the same amp according to OP. There's something inherently wrong with the signal coming from the PRS. There are a lot of things that could be wrong with the PRS, but i understand your sentiment of changing something besides the pickup; the PK is a really clear high-output pickup that already sounds good in another guitar.  *shrug*

[FLgearnut]

the PRS in question currently has a 10-52ga set on it and is tuned to dropped C.  The guitar setup-wise is perfect.  Its just the tone im currently getting.  I will try backing the pickup away a little bit and see what results i get. 

I think i should have been more specific about what im not crazy about in the tone.  playing open chords and single note stuff sounds pretty good but when i palm mute on the 2 lowest strings especially in the dropped tuning, it just doesnt track very well on the bass response.  I like it to have a very quick response for that "chug chug chug" instead of "chubbbb chubbb chubbb" if that makes ANY sense lol 

to those who have owned both, what is the REAL sonic difference between the PK and the aftermath in a guitar like a PRS?  what frequencies are you gaining or losing over the other and what is the bass response difference between the two?

[ev1ltwin]

a 25" scale with a .052 string tuned to C will be a bit about 97.5% the tension of a 25.5" scale with a .046 tuned to E... 97.5% is pretty similar, and 10-46 on a 25.5" in standard are fairly light IMO. The fact that you're playing an all-mahogany guitar and rosewood fretboard is gonna put you on the dark side of things to begin with.

Try experimenting with a heavier 6th string with the PK further away. It's a lot cheaper than buying a new pickup, and you'll get a lot more upper harmonics. You might like the feel of the heavier gauge better too *shrug*

[ericsabbath]

tension is not everything
a tight string doesn't sound tighter
ultra thick strings tend to sound flubby
sometimes you need to balance things
I use 010-052 strings, but a 046 or 049 E usually sounds a lot tighter, even if it feels too loose

[darkbluemurder]

the PRS in question currently has a 10-52ga set on it and is tuned to dropped C.  The guitar setup-wise is perfect.  Its just the tone im currently getting. 
... but when i palm mute on the 2 lowest strings especially in the dropped tuning, it just doesnt track very well on the bass response.  I like it to have a very quick response for that "chug chug chug" instead of "chubbbb chubbb chubbb" if that makes ANY sense lol 

I am afraid the PRS with its relatively short scale and glued in mahogany neck is not the ideal guitar for this application. A bolt-on maple neck with a longer scale would most likely do the dropped C chugs better.

[ev1ltwin]

tension is not everything
a tight string doesn't sound tighter
ultra thick strings tend to sound flubby
sometimes you need to balance things
I use 010-052 strings, but a 046 or 049 E usually sounds a lot tighter, even if it feels too loose

he says he wants tighter and more defined. you're right that a lighter string at the same pitch will sound tighter because it has less highs and lows, but it definitely wont sound more defined. definition is something you cant add if its not there acoustically, but you can always tighten things up with an eq IMO. Also, moving the pickup further away can alleviate some of the woofiness of heavier strings while still retaining a strong clear signal just based on the fact that there's more metal vibrating over the electric field.

I am afraid the PRS with its relatively short scale and glued in mahogany neck is not the ideal guitar for this application. A bolt-on maple neck with a longer scale would most likely do the dropped C chugs better.

maybe this :(

[ericsabbath]

but it definitely wont sound more defined.

I disagree
unless the string is so loose that it's getting out of tune when picked
I've been playing heavy gauge for 10 years and I aways get impressed on how much clearer my guitars sound when I eventually use regular 010's sets (unless I downtune the shite of them)

[darkbluemurder]

Actually my experience with strings above 10s is that the sound gets middier - good for slide playing in particular. I like 10s on a guitar I use on stage and 9s for home doodling but I usually play in standard tuning or only a half step down so the lowest would be a dropped C#. For that application I would use 10s.

[Roobubba]

Anything smaller than 14s just seems odd to me now, like playing a toy or something. It's odd how you can get so used to something!