New PU's for a PRS

[tekbow]

Alright guys

My PRS is currently BKP'd (Nailbomb Bridge and Cold Sweat Neck), the PRS is a Mcarty Trem, so basically a custom 22 with a thicker back (the Mcarty trems don't have vintage style tuners etc).

So, what's wrong with the current ones? well.. when i bought them, i spoke to Tim, told him what i wanted which is exactly what he gave me, but i believe i more or less ignored him when he told me what i actually needed i.e. what would work for the guitar. i say told me, he tried to steer me toward a few ther things..

I got the Nailbomb because i like mids. I like crunch, i like hot, i like AIC, i like dirty, open organic sounds. and thats what the nailbomb does, excellently, but i feel like they're fighting against what the guitar naturally sounds like a little too much. hard to describe what i want. I thought i didn't want a big bottom end, i wanted a tight bottom end, but maybe i want a big and tight bottom end because thats where mahogany lives.

Still want thick crunchy mids voiced toward the high end becuase i like how it cuts thru, and i still want clear articulate highs. i like richness and presence.

so, ideas? i was thinking rebel yells because they were designed to go in a Paul and i like the "clear bottom end description, and thats not a million miles from the mcarty, whereas i always felt the Nailbombs were more a superstrat pickup.

[mniel8195]

I would say black dogs are about the best pickup you could hope for in a prs!  The rebells are really lean and compressed.  i think they may be the hardest pickup to work 100% in a guitar. I think they are really meant for full thickness dark and heavy les pauls.  The black dog would sound sick in your guitar.

[darrenw5094]

Black Dog would be perfect if the bass was a bit tighter. The McCarty is an LP clone, but in double cutaway body, so the Rebel Yell tight bass, i think would work. I am thinking maybe the Holy Diver would get a few votes on here.

I am going to stick a set of Riff Raff's in my McCarty soon, although the Abraxas did cross my mind for it too.

Just curious as to what Tim originally advised you to get?

[TheyCallMeVolume]

VHII or Riff Raff in a second. Your description matches both of those pretty much spot on.

[ericsabbath]

I got the Nailbomb because i like mids. I like crunch, i like hot, i like AIC, i like dirty, open organic sounds. and thats what the nailbomb does, excellently, but i feel like they're fighting against what the guitar naturally sounds like a little too much. hard to describe what i want. I thought i didn't want a big bottom end, i wanted a tight bottom end, but maybe i want a big and tight bottom end because thats where mahogany lives.

Still want thick crunchy mids voiced toward the high end becuase i like how it cuts thru, and i still want clear articulate highs. i like richness and presence.

the holy diver does AIC like no other pickup (not even jerry's jb or afwayu)
it's crunchy, hot, dirty, open and organic
it's not as hot  and aggressive as the nailbomb, and also a little less bass heavy, but sounds thicker in the mids and lets the woods breathe a bit better
as the diver is not over the top like the nailbomb, you can get it closer to the strings, and that will make up for the low end and the picking attack

[JonnyScaramanga]

As I just posted in another thread, I love Rebel Yells in my Standard 22. You said you want tight low end, thick crunchy mids, and clear articulate highs. That's how I would describe the tone I get from the Rebel Yells in my guitar.

[tekbow]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies!

Looked back through my emails and Tim recommended the MM bridge and cold sweat neck at the time, so i guess i half listened to him.

Don't regret buying the nailbomb at all as i have my eye on a charvel that i reckon it was made for, so a switch will be happening there.

Was thinking about this a little also, the holydiver is getting a lot of love, which is great, but Jerry plays a maple bodied G&L so maybe i should be looking at something that compliments the wood on the guitar rather than trying to change the sound. would the HD do this

another thing that occured to me (thanks for the idea eric) is maybe i want to run with the "letting the wood breathe" thing. Maybe i should be looking at something lower output than the contemporary range and letting more of the guitars character come thru. or maybe stick with the contemporary range and set it way back from the strings?

Looks like it's between the HD and the MM now. The RY's are still intriguing though as they were basically designed to go in a paul. Will say that the mcarty isn't overly dark (although the Mcarty PU's were muddy as hell in it) and also the fact it has a trem is going to remove some of the low end.

Oh yeah, Darren is bang on also. The reason i looked at the RY's was because they were designed for a paul, and the PRS Mcarty was their stab at a LP sound. They made the back 1/8 of an inch thicker than the Customs to compensate for the loss of wood because of the double cut.

[darrenw5094]

Oh yeah, Darren is bang on also. The reason i looked at the RY's was because they were designed for a paul, and the PRS Mcarty was their stab at a LP sound. They made the back 1/8 of an inch thicker than the Customs to compensate for the loss of wood because of the double cut.

 8)

So, 2 votes for the Holy Diver, 1 for VHII, 1 for RR, 1 for Black Dog and 1 vote from  Tim was MM.
I think all would work apart from the BD, although it would still rock in there.

[itamar101]

Oh yeah, Darren is bang on also. The reason i looked at the RY's was because they were designed for a paul, and the PRS Mcarty was their stab at a LP sound. They made the back 1/8 of an inch thicker than the Customs to compensate for the loss of wood because of the double cut.

 8)

So, 2 votes for the Holy Diver, 1 for VHII, 1 for RR, 1 for Black Dog and 1 vote from  Tim was MM.
I think all would work apart from the BD, although it would still rock in there.

+1 vote for the Holy Diver. The RY may also work nicely if your guitar isn't too thin sounding already. It doesn't need to be "dark" for rebel yells to sound good, just not too bright.

[tekbow]

Cool, will have to have a serious think, the holy diver sounds great, but am thinkking i should have gone with what Tim recommended in the first place  :lol:

[ericsabbath]

the miracle man will deliver a bigger and tighter low end for sure
not much upper mids mids, but low mids are pretty full and the high end cuts pretty deep

my bandmate has a miracle man in the bridge of his mccarty custom and his tones are amazing
he uses a diy diezel based single channel tube preamp pedal that's pretty high gain and he's still able to get nice cleans just by using the volume knob