Pickups for Bright PRS Cu22!!

[mkh02]

Hey guys need some advice. I have been wanting to change the pickups in my PRS Cu22 for some time now.

The neck is ok but the bridge pickup is very harsh and brittle sounding. Almost sterlie and hi-fi like in places.

The pickups are Dragon II and the neck is a one piece solid rosewood which is perhaps responsible for adding to the bright brittle trebly tone.

It sounds ok through my Plexi, not as harsh but very stale and sterlie but through my AFD100 it is like an icepick and is unplayable.

So here we are lol.... I initially wanted it for whitesnake style tones ie 1987, Forevermore so I could get some great smooth leads as most of my playing focuses on lead work.

I am kind of thinking now though that i want it firmly in classic rock territory with a bit more balls.

Any thoughts on what might work for me. Of all the clips i really like the sound of the VHII. it seems to have an openess to it that a lot of the more modern pickups don't. The blackdog has also been a consideration but I am just worried about that bright trebly top end the guitar has....not sure whether it's the pickups or the rose wood neck.

Any help would be great!

[djl]

Dragon IIs are often described as bright and sterile - I think you've nailed what some people don't like about them actually. I've got Mules in my Custom 22 and they are amazing, really added warmth to it whilst retaining enough brightness for lead work. From your description, VHIIs would be a good choice. I think a few people have tried the Abraxas in PRS (which is obviously named after Santana but is a slightly hotter PAF p/u) and that might do the classic rock with more balls thing really well.

There are a couple of other posts on this somewhere in this forum too I think

[Twinfan]

I have a little experience with PRS guitars and BKPs  ;)

From what you're saying, Holydivers immediately sprang to mind.  Black Dogs would be good too, they're a little less compressed than the HDs.  VHIIs are quite bright, and from what you're saying would posibly be too bright in your guitar.

I'm going to say Holydivers would be my choice for slick lead tones....

[Philly Q]

^
Twinfan's your man for PRS, including rosewood neck models!   :D   I'm assuming the Cu22 with rosewood neck is a bit brighter again than the equivalent McCarty, as there's effectively more maple, less mahogany due to the thinner body.

I thought Holydivers would get a mention, although I've never tried them myself.

Since it's a bright guitar and you said "firmly in classic rock territory with a bit more balls", I think Crawlers might be worthy of consideration.  

[monkey8911]

I would also consider the A-Bomb, very organic and rich sounding pickup.
Great for hard rock and softer styles as well. Great split tones!
The Black dog Iīve had was very sterile and harsh sounding, donīt think it would make a bright sounding guitar darker.

[Slartibartfarst42]

Holydiver, no doubt about it in my mind.

[Telerocker]

Holydiver, no doubt about it in my mind.

+1

[darkbluemurder]

Holydiver in PRS is a good match for fat singing lead tones. I use one in my Custom and it sings or screams depending how hard I hit the strings.

Cheers Stephan

[Slartibartfarst42]

I love the Holydiver in my Jackson and can't wait to get another one in my PRS.

[ericsabbath]

alnico miracle man (neck version in the bridge) or alnico warpig
doesn't sound like you're after a black dog (too low output) or nailbomb (edgy top)
FELINEGUITARS claims the alnico miracle man was recommended by Tim as the closest to Doug Aldrich's signature pickup
in my experience, it's a mid term between the diver and the warpig, with a lot of low mids and smooth treble
like a tamed top nailbomb with a fatter midrange

[mkh02]

Thanks for your help guys!

yeah the Holydiver does seem to crop up in suggestions and especially with it being a bright guitar it could be a good shout.

Only worried is that it may sound a bit too scooped and compressed? Has anyone that has used it found it was still good for something distinctly classic say Zeppelin, Free etc?

[Twinfan]

They're certainly not scooped!  I had them in a McCarty Rosewood and we gigged classic rock covers.  It sounded great, and the splits are really good  :)

[Philly Q]

Only worried is that it may sound a bit too scooped and compressed? Has anyone that has used it found it was still good for something distinctly classic say Zeppelin, Free etc?

Can't comment on the HD, but that was why I mentioned the Crawler as you were talking about the classic rock thing.

[gwEm]

HD not scooped for sure - nice fat mids :)

It does have noticeably less dynamics than something like a Mules, but it is still dynamic.

[Slartibartfarst42]

I play a couple of Free songs in my band and the Holydivers work great. The last thing it is as a pickup is scooped. It's great for Classic Rock and 80's Metal but will also to more modern Metal as well as make a decent stab at Blues.