Humbucker for PRS Tremonti Trem

[Zak McKracken]

Hey Folks  :D

Iīm a newbie here (as you can see) an iīve heard a lot of good feedback about BKs so Iīm wondering if some of this stuff would fit for some of my guitars...

I own a PRS Tremonti USA (Trem) and now (after a few months) I found out that the stock-pickups (especially the bridge) sounds too harsh, especially when played with more gain.
(stock pickup is the "Tremonti Treble", which, as far as I know, has ceramic magnets).

In the opposite, the Neck-PU sounds a bit too dark sometimes, but it has a cover, so Iīll try to remove the cover an see what will happen....

But the bridge is the "main-topic".... Iīm looking for something with "medium output" in the widest sense,
there should be warmer an smoother trebles (especially when played in the crunch and gain channel of the amp).

And some more mids wouldnīt be wrong, too....... (but not too muddy)

My style is mainly "Classic Rock" resp.  "Mainstream Rock" ( Thin Lizzy, Guns n Roses, Bon Jovi....)

My amp is a Peavey Classic 30 which is beeing kicked by Tubescreamer and MudHoney- Pedals....
 
Do you have any suggestions ?
Perhaps Abraxas ?

PS:
Sorry for my English 8)

[EffigyForgotten]

Thin lizzy = Cold sweat, Guns n Roses = stormy monday, Bon Jovi = VHII probably. I would go for the Emerald set though.

[TheyCallMeVolume]

I think Emerald would probably be best for all of those, although if you want a bit hotter, you could definitely go RY and not be disappointed.

[ericsabbath]

sounds like a crawler
I'd say the holy diver is also around "medium" output level compared to a tremonti treble
about as hot as a dragon II

[itamar101]

 I wouldn't put a crawler in a mahogany LP styled guitar. It'll be a bit to mellow/dark and just a very drastic change from what you currently have. The Holy Diver does seem to meet speciafications very sell though. It's got a smooth top end to get rid of that harsh bite. Itll also have much better cleans of the alnico magnet whilst retaining some I the aggressiveness and tightness that you'll be used to from the ceramic tremonti pickups, not all of it though. Also, holy diver seem to work very nice in les Paul styled guitars and work very well for the genres stated.

The cold sweat would also suit very nicely IMO but the emerald
might seem slightly to "weak" and open for your needs. If you do decide to replace the neck pickup I Definately suggest the emerald neck though. Especially with the holy diver bridge, it is highly regarded as one of BKPs best neck pickups and it'll certainly be more than capable of what you want.

Taken the cover off will add a bit of aggressiveness and attack but I don't think that it'll make your sound brighter TBH.

[Zak McKracken]

Thanks so far for your replies,

I have to admit that Iīm a little confused because of the different suggestions.
( I first eyed the Abraxas and hoped that you strengthened my point of view). But now the suggestions went in several other directions 

e.g.: On looking at the tone chart of the HolyDiver I can see that there are little more mids than trebles....
I put a Dimarzio PAF 36th. anniversary in one of my HSS-Strats (Dimarzios tone chart said that there were a little more mids than trebles.... the same as here!) and found out that I canīt stand this nasal, Tele-like tone !!

I know that Dimarzio ist something complete different than BK (and the PRS is complete different than Strat), but I donīt want something which has so many "nasal" mids....
(hope you understand what Iīm trying to say !)  :D

And it shouldntīt sound like the Seymour Duncan SH 4, please !!
(Iīve had this in another HSS- Strat, and itīs not my cup of tea !)

The PRS Tremonti is (like somebody said before) very Les Paulish, it has a thick mahagony body whith Maple Top and glued-in neck.
But it has the "PRS scale" and a Trem, which probably makes the tone a little brighter than the "classic" Les Paul guitar.

I wouldnīt say that the "natural sound" of this axe is too bright (as many prs-guitars are said to be) or too dark, I think that the sound is mostly equailzed.

So I thougt to look for something that hasnīt bigger resonant peaks in the tone chart.
( Abraxas has equal mids and trebles, less bass for example).

I think that Iīll change the neck humbucker, too.
So it should fit with the bridge- postion for nice clean sounds in parallel- running.

[Telerocker]

I believe Twinfan has Black Dogs in one of his additions to his PRS-collection. He raves about them. Abraxas would work fine too, even VHII's.

[Alex]

Thanks so far for your replies,

I have to admit that Iīm a little confused because of the different suggestions.
( I first eyed the Abraxas and hoped that you strengthened my point of view). But now the suggestions went in several other directions 

e.g.: On looking at the tone chart of the HolyDiver I can see that there are little more mids than trebles....
I put a Dimarzio PAF 36th. anniversary in one of my HSS-Strats (Dimarzios tone chart said that there were a little more mids than trebles.... the same as here!) and found out that I canīt stand this nasal, Tele-like tone !!

I know that Dimarzio ist something complete different than BK (and the PRS is complete different than Strat), but I donīt want something which has so many "nasal" mids....
(hope you understand what Iīm trying to say !)  :D

And it shouldntīt sound like the Seymour Duncan SH 4, please !!
(Iīve had this in another HSS- Strat, and itīs not my cup of tea !)

The PRS Tremonti is (like somebody said before) very Les Paulish, it has a thick mahagony body whith Maple Top and glued-in neck.
But it has the "PRS scale" and a Trem, which probably makes the tone a little brighter than the "classic" Les Paul guitar.

I wouldnīt say that the "natural sound" of this axe is too bright (as many prs-guitars are said to be) or too dark, I think that the sound is mostly equailzed.

So I thougt to look for something that hasnīt bigger resonant peaks in the tone chart.
( Abraxas has equal mids and trebles, less bass for example).

I think that Iīll change the neck humbucker, too.
So it should fit with the bridge- postion for nice clean sounds in parallel- running.

First, the tone charts are very rough description; they are easy to read, but IMO often add more confusion than a real estimation. I would, from experience, always rather go with the textual description of the pickup's sound, both with BKP and DiMarzio. For example BKPs Black Dog and Painkiller have identical tonal charts, but they sound nothing alike.

Second, most BKP are quite balanced IMO and therefore work in many guitars; that is one of the reason people recommend so many different pickups - a lot of them would work.

I would recommend that you choose the tonal qualities you want to enhance and see more in the focus. It seems your main concern is to get rid of the "treble harshness"; if Abraxas was your first choice, it would probably be a good one. The Black Dog and Holy Diver are probably not too far off either.

Finally, the Tremonti has some rather hefty ceramic pickups I believe. If you want to stay closest to that but without the harshness I believe the Nailbomb would probably work best; it's a very versatile pickup, but a bit more "metal" than the other mentioned pickups.

[ericsabbath]

no BKP that I played in a lespaul was nasal sounding at all
and the diver was one of the best sounding les paul pickups I had
it can get a bit nasal in the wrong guitar, like a gibson sg, but I don't think that's the case, considering the guitar specs, amp and pedals

also, a pickup played in a strat just can't sound nowhere near the same pickup in a set-neck PRS
not even the bolt-on CE models are any close to a strat

the emerald, cold sweat and rebel yell are pretty brightish pickups
my bandmate has a mccarty bird that had a tremonti pickup
he swapped it for a cold sweat, and recently a miracle man
although the cold sweat sounded considerably clearer, it's definitely brighter and less fat than the tremonti
the rebel yell should be as bright as a cold sweat but flooded with upper mids

the nailbomb is a great pup or a PRS indeed, but it's not as smooth as a holy diver and no near as middy, and probably not as middy as the tremonti either
still an amazing option, though, but not "medium" output
that would be my first choice for the PRS CE-22 I had for a short while, but not for the McCarties and the SE Cu24 I also owned

[darkbluemurder]

But the bridge is the "main-topic".... Iīm looking for something with "medium output" in the widest sense,
there should be warmer an smoother trebles (especially when played in the crunch and gain channel of the amp).

And some more mids wouldnīt be wrong, too....... (but not too muddy)

My style is mainly "Classic Rock" resp.  "Mainstream Rock" ( Thin Lizzy, Guns n Roses, Bon Jovi....)

My amp is a Peavey Classic 30 which is beeing kicked by Tubescreamer and MudHoney- Pedals....

Your description sounds like an Abraxas. The Abraxas bridge has a good strong but not over the top output, very good but not overbearing mids and still sounds remarkably open. It certainly would cover Thin Lizzy and G'n'R tones quite well, even though there may be pickups more suited to either Thin Lizzy or G'n'R.

Another good option would be the Holydiver. That pickup has a bit higher output than the Abraxas but still less than the Tremonti bridge (I never played one of those but I replaced the HFS in my Custom with a Holydiver so I have at least a comparison between these two). Mids are also strong, highs are smooth.

The Crawler is a bit darker compared to the other two.

The Alnico Nailbomb would also be a good choice but I would recommend Abraxas and Holydiver over the Nailbomb in your case.

Rest assured that none of these pickups sound like a Duncan SH-4.

Cheers Stephan

[PhilKing]

I have the Abraxas set in my PRS single cut and they work really well in it.  I tried Crawlers first but thought that they weren't quite working as I would have liked.  I like classic rock and blues tones and the Abraxas set gives me that in spades.

[Zak McKracken]

Hey,

thanks for your suggestions !

Meanwhile Iīve written an Email to BK and they gave me the advice to take the Abraxas, too.

I think I will decide either for Abraxas or Holydiver.

The only thing that puzzles me concerning the Abraxas is a post in this forum from last year:
Somebody put the Abraxas in his PRS 22 (slightly different guitar from my Tremonti I guess) and wasnīt satisfied with the overdrive sound. He said that it sounded "harsh, shrill and weak".

Hm...... :?

Without having read this comment I would go for the Abraxas doubtlessly.

I wasnīt completely sure whether Holydiver (which now is the alternative) sounds too "modern" or too hot for me.

But as some of you suggested the Holydiver it seems as if this is a suitable and versatile pickup for my purpose.

And I know: The longer I think about pickups in a pseudo-scientic way, the more confused I get.  :roll:
 

[Zak McKracken]

Edit:
PhilKingīs comment strengthenend my decision rather to take the Abraxas....

[itamar101]

The holy diver wont sound sound too modern, it is an extremely versatile pickup but most at home with 80s rock which seems to be just what you want. Also, the holy diver isn't much higher output than the abraxas and will sound a bit tighter but other than that... Not much more modern at all.

Of course... The abraxas will definately be more than suitable too. Whatever you choose, I don think that you'll be disappointed.
Might I suggest that of you go for the HD bridge then you might want the Emerald Neck to go with it. It's a great match and will do thin lizzy and guns n roses very well.

[PhilKing]

The only thing that puzzles me concerning the Abraxas is a post in this forum from last year:
Somebody put the Abraxas in his PRS 22 (slightly different guitar from my Tremonti I guess) and wasn´t satisfied with the overdrive sound. He said that it sounded "harsh, shrill and weak".

I've no idea where that comes from.  I have 2 sets of Abraxas pickups (the other set is in a 79 Hamer Sunburst), and they are great.  With the Sunburst I can get the Aqualung lead tone with my Ceriatone JTM45/18.  The PRS will get it too, but it has a bit more note separation than the Hamer (I'm sure it's down to scale length).

I have one of the first of the new series Holy Divers and it has a great 80's A5 tone (very like the original SD JB model - not the current mushy one),  so if you want that tone it is great.  I would keep the Abraxas neck though (and I'm a big Emerald fan!).  Take a listen to this, the guitar sole at 1:10 is played on an Abraxas neck - http://www.myspace.com/music/player?sid=27267773&ac=now