Rebel Yells for A PRS McCarty?

[Jeztone]

Hello all Im new.

I have a 98 PRS McCarty goldtop that has a very heavy body and as a consiquence, the vintage voiced McCarty pickups sound quite muddy and undefined. My brothers  2002 Mc Carty is stock but much lighter in weight and seems more brighter. so im thinking of fitting a set of Rebel Yells as they seem to be like a hotter brighter PAF kind of sound.

Any thoughts? Anyone use Rebel Yells in a McCarty?

[mniel8195]

After playing a holy diver and a/b against the rebel yell i dont like the pickup. its to lean and compressed for my taste it does lack the balls and 3d and just over hugeness of the holy diver. i would personally put black dogs in that guitar! if it was a lighter weight bolt on i would put holy divers.

[TheyCallMeVolume]

Yeah I don't personally think that a RY would be your best bet in a McCarty. I would think it would be a bit too top end-ish and lead to the belief that it's thin, as mniel pointed out. They're much better suited in thicker, fuller, and bassier guitars IMO.

[ericsabbath]

I had two mccarties
one was a 96, the other was a 2000 or 2001
the 96 was noticeably darker and thicker sounding
the riff raff was a huge improvement over the stock mccarty treble and also over the dragon II
an emerald should be closer to the dragon II, though
no experience with the rebel yell

[JonnyScaramanga]

I've got Rebel Yells in a Standard 22 and they sound awesome. No lack of balls for my money. I haven't used a Holy Diver, but I understand is has more low end, and less upper-mid and highs than the the Rebel Yell. That makes it quite in-yer-face for high gain, but not lacking in fatness IMO. I'm planning to do some clips soon.

If your guitar is dark, Tim usually recommends choosing a pickup with a higher resonant peak, which means lower output. I'm looking at Riff Raffs for my dark Les Paul, and they sound like they might be a good bet here. I don't know about Black Dogs, but since they are said to be quite fat without a huge amount of top end, they might sound dark in your guitar.

[Jeztone]

Yeah I don't personally think that a RY would be your best bet in a McCarty. I would think it would be a bit too top end-ish and lead to the belief that it's thin, as mniel pointed out. They're much better suited in thicker, fuller, and bassier guitars IMO.

I should point out my McCarty weighs more than my 2001 Gibson Les Pail Standard, theres no shortage of low end on it, its a beast.

[darrenw5094]

Yeah I don't personally think that a RY would be your best bet in a McCarty. I would think it would be a bit too top end-ish and lead to the belief that it's thin, as mniel pointed out. They're much better suited in thicker, fuller, and bassier guitars IMO.

I should point out my McCarty weighs more than my 2001 Gibson Les Pail Standard, theres no shortage of low end on it, its a beast.

Yep......the McCarty model is a Les Paul in disguise.

[Philly Q]

Yeah I don't personally think that a RY would be your best bet in a McCarty. I would think it would be a bit too top end-ish and lead to the belief that it's thin, as mniel pointed out. They're much better suited in thicker, fuller, and bassier guitars IMO.

I should point out my McCarty weighs more than my 2001 Gibson Les Pail Standard, theres no shortage of low end on it, its a beast.

Yep......the McCarty model is a Les Paul in disguise.

Not always - mine only weighs 7 pounds!

[darkbluemurder]

so im thinking of fitting a set of Rebel Yells as they seem to be like a hotter brighter PAF kind of sound.

That's not the way I see them. The bridge is clearly a modern pickup with more power and cut than a PAF-type pickup. My set is in a LP Custom and does the Ozzy/Sykes stuff to a T. I think they would work well in your guitar but they are not PAF-like IMHO.

What kind of music do you play and what is your amp/pedal set up?

Cheers Stephan 

[Kiichi]

I too would not call the RY PAF-like. They certainly are modern, though with some interresting vintage throwback in there. Kinda like a modern aproach to classic sounds. Somewhat like having the first Skid Row album recorded with todays production style kinda thing.

Itīs tight, agressive as heck and mostly just rocking extremely. Very in your face kinda thing. It does not have a big low end, but to me certainly enough. Delivers the punch. Loads of harmonics, generally very organic and alive.
Pure, in your face rock.

[Philly Q]

Yeah, "in your face", "aggressive" and "punchy" describe the RY. 

I agree that it's not PAF-like, it's a modern sound (but "modern" to me means '80s...  :lol: )  It always made me think of Ratt... and I'm not saying that's a bad thing.

[Jeztone]

so I'm thinking of fitting a set of Rebel Yells as they seem to be like a hotter brighter PAF kind of sound.

That's not the way I see them. The bridge is clearly a modern pickup with more power and cut than a PAF-type pickup. My set is in a LP Custom and does the Ozzy/Sykes stuff to a T. I think they would work well in your guitar but they are not PAF-like IMHO.

What kind of music do you play and what is your amp/pedal set up?

Cheers Stephan 

Last band was very 90 s alt rock, but i love Classic Rock. Sykes, Stevens, John Norum, Gary Moore, Lifeson etc.

In terms of playing style i like a fat tone, but with modern drumming styles a bit of top end prescence is helpful. I tend to need a guitar that can do sparkly cleans too.

I have a pedalboard with Blackstar HT Dual and Suhr Riot doing the distortions running into the clean channel of a 50 watt plexi reissue. I drive the front end of the Blackstars green channel  with a modded Boss SD1 for solos

[richard]

'  I like a fat tone, but with modern drumming styles a bit of top end prescence is helpful. I tend to need a guitar that can do sparkly cleans too. '

A pretty good description of the RYs. Have you listened to the demo ? I put RYs in my heavy all mahogany Firebird Studio because of the muddiness of the Gibson pups. I'm sure you'd like them and there's always the return policy.

On a side note - not so long ago I was playing through the clean channel of a Laney. I used a Boss OD3 with the gain turned to zero and the volume cranked about half to two thirds. This added a nice dose of grit to the sound. I then used a Blackstar Drive in front of the OD3 for solos. This allowed me to select both an increase in gain AND volume for solos. It didn't work anywhere near as well with the OD in front of the Blackstar. Just a thought.

[Telerocker]

You might want to consider Black Dogs too. They' have a lot of centermids, but are not dull in the topend. Plus thet're are pretty tight and will do nice cleans. With all these pedals (I've got the Riot too) you should get a lot of tones.

[Jeztone]

'  I like a fat tone, but with modern drumming styles a bit of top end prescence is helpful. I tend to need a guitar that can do sparkly cleans too. '

A pretty good description of the RYs. Have you listened to the demo ? I put RYs in my heavy all mahogany Firebird Studio because of the muddiness of the Gibson pups. I'm sure you'd like them and there's always the return policy.

On a side note - not so long ago I was playing through the clean channel of a Laney. I used a Boss OD3 with the gain turned to zero and the volume cranked about half to two thirds. This added a nice dose of grit to the sound. I then used a Blackstar Drive in front of the OD3 for solos. This allowed me to select both an increase in gain AND volume for solos. It didn't work anywhere near as well with the OD in front of the Blackstar. Just a thought.

Hi

Yes Ive tried the SD1 in front and behind in the signal chain, there is a massive jump in volume doing it the other way, but i prefer the sound of it in front of the Blackstar, but thatnks for the tip nonetheless.

Im thinking its going to be Rebel Yells! Cheers for your input though guys. I dont think mey McCarty is like other ones, its so heavy, like a 9 and a half pound guitar, my brothers is like a 7 and a half pound guitar, so its a dense chunk of wood.