PRS Zach Myers Se question

[drphibes]

Hi all

I am looking to upgrade the pickups on my PRS Zach Myers Se and at the moment I am just deciding what pickups to go for.
The tones that I am looking for are Sex Pistols, Nirvana, Def Leppard, ACDC, Steve Stevens etc etc.
Tim from Bareknuckle has recommened the Riff Raff set to cover the most styles I want while the Rebel Yell would obviously be a good choice for the Steve Stevens tone.

Now my PRS is a three humbucker guitar and the question I have is what kind of pickups could I choose if I decided to upgrade all three pickups ?
PRS class the pickups in this guitar below

Treble Pickup PRS Designed SE Treble Humbucker
Middle Pickup PRS Designed SE Bass Humbucker
Bass Pickup PRS Designed SE Bass Humbucker

Other main specs are

BODY
Top Wood Beveled Maple Top with Flame Maple Veneer (no veneer on opaque finishes)
Back Wood Thick Mahogany
NECK
Number of Frets 22
Scale Length 25"
Neck Wood Mahogany
Fretboard Wood Ebony


Thanks

[Slartibartfarst42]

I must say that my first thoughts were either Riff Raff or Rebel Yell. Either would be a good choice. If you were replacing all three, I'm a little less sure as I always find the middle humbucker to be the problem on these guitars. Mmmmm......

I think if it was me, I'd go with a Rebel Yell in the bridge as it makes sense to put the hottest pickup there so you're not too confined by the choice of pickup in the other two positions. The Rebel Yell will give you plenty bite in the bridge and obviously nail that Steve Stevens tone. As you're looking for a range of styles out of your guitar I'd then put an Emerald in the neck. It's easily my favourite neck pickup so I'm clearly biased but I think it will really suit all of the mahogany in your guitar and the AIV magnet gives you access to a neck tone that is so sweet you wouldn't believe and is very versatile, which would be handy given the range of tones you're after. Finally I'd put a Riff Raff in the middle, probably a bridge version. It will give a nice alternative to the other two and being slightly brighter than the Rebel Yell should allow it to sit well in that position.

No doubt someone with better knowledge of Riff Raffs and Rebel Yells etc. will tell me I'm talking rubbish but that's what I'd be inclined to try.  :D

[ericsabbath]

the emerald sounds like the perfect middle ground option if you can't decide between a riff raff and a rebel yell in the bridge
this and a calibrated riff raff set for the middle and neck positions, so you can eventually try the bridge riff raff in the bridge if you're not fully satisfied with the emerald (or just for the experience)

[drphibes]

Thanks for the suggestions they are definately what I am after.
Hopefully there will be more options given over the weekend and I can then look at making a final choice for this guitar.

[Slartibartfarst42]

Interesting that Eric suggested an Emerald in the bridge as that thought did cross my mind too but as you'd already expressed a strong interest in the Rebel Yell it made sense to put that in the bridge and use the Emerald in the neck instead while accommodating the Riff Raff in the middle. Having said that, Eric knows more about the Riff Raff than I do and I can see his suggestion working well too or maybe an Emerald in neck and bridge and a Riff Raff in the middle.

[drphibes]

Some really good options coming up here, only problem is what to choose  :D

Slartibartfarst42 - I read your great review on the Emerald and it sounds really nice but then again I dont think I have read many reviews saying any Bareknuckles are bad !!

At the moment I am thinking of possibly going with the Emerald in the neck and then buying a Rebel Yell bridge and Riff Raff bridge.
Going off Tims advice I am tempted to put the Riff Raff into the bridge and stick the Rebel Yell in the middle.
I will be paying a guitar store to carry out the changes in the guitar so if possible I would like to get the pickups in their "good positions" in one hit because I dont really want to keep paying out having them swapped around.

[Slartibartfarst42]

I can see the logic of that for sure. My only concern with that would be that generally speaking, your hottest pickup goes in the bridge and they tend to get progressively a little bit weaker as you move towards the neck because there is greater string movement towards the neck so you need less power. That was my reasoning for having the Rebel Yell in the bridge and Riff Raff in the middle but perhaps someone with more technical knowledge than myself could offer an opinion on your proposed arrangement.

[drphibes]

I can see the logic of that for sure. My only concern with that would be that generally speaking, your hottest pickup goes in the bridge and they tend to get progressively a little bit weaker as you move towards the neck because there is greater string movement towards the neck so you need less power. That was my reasoning for having the Rebel Yell in the bridge and Riff Raff in the middle but perhaps someone with more technical knowledge than myself could offer an opinion on your proposed arrangement.

Your theory does make sense to me unless somebody else can offer any ideas on what positions these pickups should go to cover the sounds mentioned in my first post.
Funny thing is you would think the hardest part would be getting the money together to buy the pickups, but it is a hard task making actual choices aswell  :)

[Slartibartfarst42]

I sympathise, I really do. I go the the tortures of hell every time I go to buy new pickups, though I think I'm getting better with practise. The last lot I bought, the decision was made in no time at all but as I learn more about the pickups, more about my personal preferences and more about the language used to describe the sound in my head, it becomes a little easier.

[drphibes]

Hi all

Well I went forward with the upgrade of my PRS Zach Myers guitar and had a Rebel Yell bridge and neck and a Riff Raff bridge fitted in the middle position.
Sadly I am very underwhelmed with how the guitar sounds.
Without any distortion the tone of the guitar seems fine but when I try any kind of distortion with my Orange Tiny terror combo and with my Mooer dark secret pedal ( Rat clone) there seems to just be a mush of tone with no clarity of sound at all.
The guitar sounded better with the stock PRS pickups which seems very odd to me.

I have tested my other guitars with this setup and they seem fine to me.
Both of my other guitars are Signature STR1 (les paul type) , one is fitted with Barenuckle Nailbomb pickups and the other has EMG Hetfield active pickups.
The Signatures sound a million times better than my PRS at the moment.

Any ideas on what might be wrong ? The pickups where fitted at the store so I have not installed these myself.

Thanks

[Slartibartfarst42]

Very Odd. I've NEVER heard of any Bare Knuckle pickup being described by the word 'mush. indeed, one of the reasons I buy BKP as opposed to other pickups is that I know 100% that virtually no amount of gain turns them to mush. The Seymour Duncans and PRS pickups that came stock in my SL3 and CU24 both gave out long before BKP. These pickups are nothing if not articulate and I would imagine that brighter pickups like the Rebel Yell and Riff Raff would cut through even more.

Two possibilities leap to mind:

1) Pickup height. Bare Knuckles are VERY sensitive to it; much more so than other pickups I've tried. Generally I've found 2mm for the bridge pickup works well but they'll stay articulate even closer. Moving them further away opens them up a bit.

2) PRS guitars can have some odd controls on them. When I first felt that the Emerald was a bit too bright, Tim told me it had something to do with the pots or caps they tend to use so it might be something to do with that. I'm afraid I can't remember the specifics as I'm not that technically minded.

Contact BKP and ask them about it but believe me, Bare Knuckles DO NOT mush, or at least, they never have with me and I use a fair bit of gain.

[Kiichi]

That deffo sounds like there is something very wrong there. RY and mush? No sir.

The first thing I would do is check all the electronics. As Slarti mentioned might be something that was in the guitar or maybe a wiring error when installing the PUs. Those things happen easily and I have made mistakes in that department more times than I care to admit.

Sides that again, what Slarti said.


And on BKPs and mush: I have played riffs and powerchords on the neck PUs of my axes (Mule, Aftermath, Mississippi Queen, Manhattan (!), Supermassive, Crawler) for minutes with rather substancial gain (Tiny Terror gain @ 2 o´clock + overdrive) without noticing. xD  Went for over 10-15 minutes on occasions too when I had a rather slight low cut in action too.
There was an apperant difference when changing back to the bridge, but on their own even my necks are less mushy then a lot of stock bridges I have encountered. Though admittadly the necks have a darker voicing in comparison.

[Telerocker]

Like the others said, must something wrong. Even my Crawler doesn't sound mushy and that's one of the fattest and darkest BKP's.

[drphibes]

Hi

After looking on these forums I think one that might need looking into is the height of the pickups.
To look at the distance between the stings and the pickups could be approx 3mm so I might try and play around with the height to see if that is giving me this tone.
When I stated a "mush" tone it is not a dark tone but it just lacks any real definition, at one point I thought the guitar had gone out of tune but on checking it was intune !

If I cannot solve the problem myself I will end up taking it to a guy who has done some work for me in the past but I thought it would be worth asking for fellow members help here.

[Kiichi]

I always prefer to ask around here and possibly fix things by myself when I have something not working. Helps you get a good understanding of things.

Height whise, I personally like mine to be pretty far away, so when you fret the strings on the highest fret I want at least 2mm then. Most of the time I go to 3 or 4mm. For my taste and setup that works well.
The further you are away the more open, clear and woody the sound gets. When you get closer you get more compression hotness and fatness. But usually you would have to go insanely near with BKPs to get a undefined sound.