Changing Pickups in a muddy PRS Singlecut

[SynFactory]

Hi guys,
I would like to have an advice for changing the pickups in my PRS Singlecut.
I have installed a Cold Sweat in the Neck and a Nailbomb in the bridge.
I play in D standard/Drop C, in a style similar to Tool, A Perfect Circle, Alice in Chains, etc.
I love the cold sweat for clean but for distorted rhythms this particular guitar is already "bassy" and mid heavy so I have to remove a good amount of frequencies between 200-700hz to have clarity (especially 400hz, sometimes I cut 10db or more).
I've thinked about changing it for a Miracle Man. what do you think?
Thanks!
Paolo

[Dave Sloven]

You might be better off with the Cold Sweat bridge than a Nailbomb.  I had a similar experience with an alnico Nailbomb in a middy guitar (combined with a Cold Sweat neck) and going to the full CS set fixed it.  I then put the A-Bomb in an overly dark guitar (an Explorer) and that sounds good now too!

The Miracle Man could be fine, I'm just not sure, given your concerns regarding bass.  The CS will give a similar scoop but the pickup is very clear and punchy with enough push for high gain sounds.

I'm assuming you have the alnico magnet if you are finding it too middy.  A change of magnets would also be an option, but you are probably better off selling it or keeping it for another guitar (like I did).

[SynFactory]

Hi AgentOrange,
thanks for the reply!
Yes, I have the Alnico Nailbomb in it.
Just one question.
Why do you say "The Miracle Man could be fine, I'm just not sure, given your concerns regarding bass. "
Do you noticed that the CS is tighter than the Miracle Man in the Low End?

[Dave Sloven]

Hi AgentOrange,
thanks for the reply!
Yes, I have the Alnico Nailbomb in it.
Just one question.
Why do you say "The Miracle Man could be fine, I'm just not sure, given your concerns regarding bass. "
Do you noticed that the CS is tighter than the Miracle Man in the Low End?

I've never owned a Miracle Man. I have a Cold Sweat set, so I know what that's like.  I asked about the MM when I bought the CS bridge, and I was told that the CS has less output and less bass.  I don't know if it is 'tighter', I heard that the MM is pretty tight.  Cleans on the CS bridge would certainly be better.  The CS has the best cleans of any ceramic out there.

[SynFactory]

Thanks!

[RosettaStoned]

Well, i got a MM in bridge on a Esp Eclipse, and that was a huge success.. Is your guitar full mahogany?.. When i got some advice from tim, i wanted a pickup who could suit ozzy,pantera,satriani,kill em all metallica ETC on the solo side/treble, and heavy riffing as TOOL, pantera, etc..  To my ears, the MM nails the TOOL soundvery well.. And the pickups arent to bassy either. LP style guitars are known to be acousticly bassy, but the MM is a -sorry the language- $%&#ing good match in this guitars. ive almost been trought the whole sortiment of Seymours and EMG`s, and the MM is just awesome. And it isnt as extremely high output as people would think. Offcourse it got output, but its just a perfectly match to this style. I play ALOT of TOOL myself. Im really waiting for the new album of them. I think that 2014 would be a good year for new TOOL material.  I havent tried other high output BKP`s,  but the MM was a big suprise to me..

[darkbluemurder]

I have installed a Cold Sweat in the Neck and a Nailbomb in the bridge.

I love the cold sweat for clean but for distorted rhythms this particular guitar is already "bassy" and mid heavy so
I've thinked about changing it for a Miracle Man. what do you think?

Hi Paolo,

If the Cold Sweat neck is too bassy you could replace it with a Holydiver neck. Similar overall tonality but clearer in the bass. A Miracle Man in the neck would be even more bassy than the Cold Sweat neck.

Do you mean by "bassy" also the bridge pickup? If you like the overall tonal character of the Alnico Nailbomb but want less bass, then Rebel Yell could be something to look at.

Cheers Stephan

[ericsabbath]

the cold sweat sounds great in prs guitars, but it does have a considerable amount of bass (not low mids)
I'd say it has as much bass in the lower string as the nailbomb, although the nailbomb has a lot more low mids
perhaps the rebel yell or the emerald might work for you

my bandmate has a miracle man in a mccarty and it sounds amazing for tool and alice, but quite bassy
sounds more like alter bridge

the holy diver is still my cantrell/jones favorite
it has a lot of center mids, but it's not a bassy pickup

I use a riff raff/mule set in a 70's les paul and I can get pretty convincing tool and alice tones anyway, with my hot rodded JMP and proper boosting

it's more about how you adapt the whole thing to the guitar and pickups

[RosettaStoned]

"it's more about how you adapt the whole thing to the guitar and pickups".

Yes. as long the pickups sounds good, and good clarity, a EQ or effects can give the tone the user want.
Personally, i like to have hotter pickups than low outputs. For me, its easier to get the gain/output level down insterad of adding boosts,OD`s, etc.. i have more control with a hotter one.

I would go for MM. if u harent happy, u can send the pickup back and get another one. thats a guarantee they have if u buy them from BKP=) genius!

[Alex]

Yes, MM tightens up muddy low end on mahogany/maple cap guitars nicely. That would work.

Probably CS, Aftermath would work as well.

[ericsabbath]

MM is still one of the bassiest models and it does sound bassy in PRS guitars, although it doesn't sound bloated or nasal at all
I'm not sure that's the smartest move coming from an unhappy nailbomb relationship

[Alex]

Sorry Eric, but that sounds misleading. The MM is not "one of the bassiest" model if that implies booming bass. It has a really tight bass and works great with singlecuts.

[ericsabbath]

Sorry Eric, but that sounds misleading. The MM is not "one of the bassiest" model if that implies booming bass. It has a really tight bass and works great with singlecuts.

well, that's not what I meant
the nailbomb is also a bassy model with tight bass response that works great with singlecuts