BKP replacement for Dragon II Bridge in PRS Standard 22 (whole mahogany)

[uchal]

Hi

I am the new guy on the forum and I have a question regarding my PRS Standard 22 whole mahogany guitar.
I play in a heavy melodic rock band and I find the Dragon II in the bridge sounding a way to muddy. I need the sound to be more tighter and more present in upper mids and highs. Ceramic is the obvious choice fore me but which one? If the guitar is whole mahogany should I use pickups that have good mid response like Painkillers or Aftermaths? In the demos on BKP page I prefer the ceramic Nailbomb more then Painkiller or Aftermath but it's hard to say how it would sound on the PRS STD 22 :/.

Does anyone have any experience using ceramic BKP in whole mahogany guitars?

[darrenw5094]

Ceramics might tame the mids a bit. My first thought was the Rebel Yell which has a Alnico 5 mag. Maybe check with the other guys if it can go heavy enough for you though.

[PhilKing]

I have Rebel Yells in my standard 24.  I love the sound, but I'm more of a classic rock player.  However the pickups are not muddy at all and have great harmonics and tone.  I have a Cold Sweat set in my BC Rich Mockingbird, which is all mahogany and they sound excellent, so I would expect that they would work just as well in a PRS.

[darrenw5094]

I have Rebel Yells in my standard 24.  I love the sound, but I'm more of a classic rock player.  However the pickups are not muddy at all and have great harmonics and tone.  I have a Cold Sweat set in my BC Rich Mockingbird, which is all mahogany and they sound excellent, so I would expect that they would work just as well in a PRS.

What is the tone like in the Cold Sweats? Are they mid scooped sounding or balanced?

[PhilKing]

They are pretty balanced, probably not as neutral as the Crawler.  You can really get a lot of attack from the bridge and get some very nice singing lead tones from the neck.

[Telerocker]

Ceramic NB's or - more scooped - Cold Sweats should solve the issue.

[JustinG60]

i am going to go with Ceramic Nailbombs for my PRS. I already replaced the Dragon's with DiMarzio D Activators, which are actually really nice for the guitar, but i was so impressed with my Painkiller for my EBMM that I can't really imagine using anything else now

[Philly Q]

I had a Standard 22 and actually used to find the Dragon IIs quite bright and a bit harsh..... but anyway, I like the Cold Sweats in an all-mahogany guitar, especially if you get both the bridge and neck models.  I don't know about the higher output BKPs.

[uchal]

Thanks!

I think I'll experiment with Ceramic Nailbombs or Cold Sweats. But I'll leave the DII in the neck and replace brigde pickup only. Too bad that there are no frequencies specs of PRS Dragon II Treble on the web. Is that a PRS's secret?

[Philly Q]

PRS are very secretive about their pickup specs!

[darrenw5094]

PRS are very secretive about their pickup specs!

Lol....they are.

And they are mostly muck too. :P

[Yellowjacket]

Ya, Nailbombs or Rebel Yells.

Rebel Yells through something like a Dual Rectifier sound massive, super crunchy, defined, and clear.  Tonnes of note separation.  Mud = a super abundance of low mids.  Have you recorded the sound of your guitar without pickups?  I did a frequency analysis of my Gibson Les Paul  (Set Neck with a Maple Cap) vs my Godin LG (24 fret bolt on mahogany neck with a mahogany body) and the results were quite telling.  The Godin LG also had that huge ball of mud problem going on. 

Recording and Frequency Analysis uploaded in this thread:  https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=31283.msg402937#msg402937

You'll like the clarity of BKP, it should help out immensely for you! 

[darkbluemurder]

A Cold Sweat set will make you immediately forget those Dragon IIs.

Cheers Stephan

[uchal]

Have you recorded the sound of your guitar without pickups?

Recording seems a good idea - the physicist way of thinking ;). What mic have you used?

BTW: My signal is going to Orange Rockerverb 100 ->PPC 212 . I have a problem during recording with SM57 i MD421.  The sound is dark and doesn't cut well in the mix. The sound is too smooth ( melts with the bass sound to much) and needs to be tightened.

[ericsabbath]

the dragon II is about alnico 5, about 12.5k, as far as I remember,  and is very trebly
the closest thing from BKP would be the emerald, but seems like you want something hotter

the painkiller seems like a good bet in your case