Best Bare Knuckle to brighten up all Mahogany PRS

[KalenDWA]

I have a Single Cut, all mahogany, PRS and I have been trying to find the right pickup set to compliment the wood selection of the body, I have been through several different pickup sets trying to locate the proper pickup to compliment the guitar tonally. I like a very open, articulate, non compressed, aggressive tone. Definitely a heavier rock tone that can achieve modern metal tones without the extra compression when played with a heavy pick attack. I'll give a list of what I have tried so far and why it didn't work out.

PRS #6 pickups: Not bad, but very dark and seemed to lack clarity. I yanked them pretty quickly.

Cold Sweat Bridge, VHII Neck: not enough weight in the mid range with the cold sweat, while it didn't feel super ceramic like, still a little stiff in terms of dynamics. VHII was too dark in the neck.

Seymour Duncan JB/Jazz: JB is a great pickup, but lacked the articulation and dynamic response found with BK's, was bright, but more in a harsh way in this guitar, not as musical.

Painkiller Calibrated Set: Best ones so far, surprising not as bright in the highs but plenty of upper midrange, main issue was the more compressed response and stiffness I have found with ceramic pickups. 

I have also owned the Alnico and ceramic Nailbomb sets in other guitars, sounded great in those guitars, the Alnico Nailbomb was definitely the preferred option.

That being said I know I don't want anything ceramic and I like the openness and clarity you get with a lower output pickup, but I don't want it so low I lose attack and punch. I need something to compliment and brighten the all mahogany body and get a nice high end chime to the tone. Nothing that saturates super quick or gets buzzy in the midrange because the guitar naturally has a decent amount of midrange. I have considered the Rebel Yell, but while it has plenty of mids, I heard the highs can be slightly rolled off. Right now I'm mainly considering the Emerald or Riff Raff because they both seem to be very open sounding and not super hot. I'm also referencing a LTD PB-500 with Alnico Pro IIs. While they lack some punch and BK clarity the highs are there and have been a good reference point to refer to (it does also have a maple top which helps in terms of brightness). I absolutely love this PRS in terms of look and feel, I just need to find the right pickups to bring the guitar to life!

Any suggestions or personal experience would be super helpful!

Kalen

[Dave Sloven]

Sounds like a job for the Emerald bridge pickup.

Like the Rebel Yell though it tends to sound great through a big amp but can sound a bit weak through a small one due to the lack of compression.

I fitted an Emerald set to an early '90s LP Studio and it sounded amazing through my Peavey 6534+ and Orange 4x12 cab, but when he plays it through his Laney Lionheart 20W class A tube amp and 2x12 cab he finds it underwhelming by comparison to a JB with regard to output.  I'm looking at swapping his Emerald set for my Warpig set to give him that extra push.

[markr76]

I'm just waiting on an emerald bridge pup for my prs satin single cut. Mine had the #6 pups in it as stock. I changed them last year to a mule in the neck and a riff raff in the bridge. The riff raff I had the 53mm spacing to better line up the poles.

Both these pups worked great in that guitar, the mule is fantastic, a lot clearer an less mushy than the stock pup. The riff raff is a great pup added a lot of brightness and clarity to the guitar, I just wanted a touch more body to the sound for my taste. So I was recommended the emerald by Ben at bkp.

The riff raff wasn't a thin sounding pup by any means. It just wasn't as chunky sounding as the stock pup, I preferred it to the stock pup by a mile though so I would definatley give that one a look over. As well as the emerald. I can't recommend the mule enough though for the neck!

[CraigJohnsJr]

I had a PRS Custom 22 and found the stock pickups a little dark and muddy as well. I saw a video of someone who put Aftermaths in their PRS and it sounded great! If you're looking for something similar, but more clear and versatile yet still retaining the aggressive pick attack, I'd say go for the Juggernauts. Here's the video I was talking about: (Yes, it is a baritone and double cut, but it's a similar idea.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6azWVpVmMs

[JimmyMoorby]

I'd have though rebel yells. 

[KalenDWA]

I'm just waiting on an emerald bridge pup for my prs satin single cut. Mine had the #6 pups in it as stock. I changed them last year to a mule in the neck and a riff raff in the bridge. The riff raff I had the 53mm spacing to better line up the poles.

Awesome, let me know how that goes and how they work out. That would be super helpful given it's a very similar guitar. That's interesting about the 53mm, I thought PRS pickups usually ran with a 49.3mm spacing? But if that helps, that would be awesome!

I'm not super worried about output, my Alnico Pro II sits nicely with my setup, so I doubt I'll have any issues with anything in the vintage hot category. I tried my friends juggernauts and honestly was not a fan. I see why Misha uses them, but they lacked something in the low mids to my ears. It could have been the guitar, but something about them didn't sit right. I also tried my friends aftermath, again, great pickup, I like it more than the Juggarnaut, but it still felt ceramic to me, as it should.

[Yellowjacket]

Maybe try a Rebel Yell.  It's a brighter pickup than an Alnico Nailbomb with tighter lows, a wide pick attack, and a very even harmonic response.  The highs aren't overbearing but it is definitely NOT rolled off.  I have it in a solid mahogany guitar with a bolt on mahogany neck and it it sounds absolutely monstrous in that axe.  It's a dynamic pickup that has power but also sounds great when you roll the volume knob down.  550k pots / pio caps are a must:)

[KalenDWA]

Hey Yellowjacket! I used to talk to you on the Boogie Board all the time about Electra Dynes. Yeah, I actually ordered a Rebel Yell bridge but had to cancel it due to an unforeseen financial thing. It seems to make sense, but I don't really have a way to directly compare it too the Emerald or Riff Raff, it's tough to drop the cash without knowing for sure. Especially after all of the pickups I have gone through. I'm only hesistant because I thought the Painkiller would be bright enough, but it wasn't, and that's a bright pickup. Buf I think I'm going to switch the pots in the PRS out as well with the BK CTS ones. A tech told me not too because he said the difference wouldn't be audible in comparison to the PRS Pots, but I feel that could be part of what is choking the highs. Is there such thing as a Bare Knuckle 550K push pull pot? I don't use the cool split a lot, but it would be nice to have. I can live without it for the sake of tone. But I do trust your take on the rebel yells.

[Telerocker]

You can go wrong with A Mules-set or a RiffRaff/Mule-neck or a RiffRaff-set. Mules and RR's can handle loads of gain without mushing. I have Mules and I like the open, deep, musical, complex tones.

[Yellowjacket]

Hey Yellowjacket! I used to talk to you on the Boogie Board all the time about Electra Dynes. Yeah, I actually ordered a Rebel Yell bridge but had to cancel it due to an unforeseen financial thing. It seems to make sense, but I don't really have a way to directly compare it too the Emerald or Riff Raff, it's tough to drop the cash without knowing for sure. Especially after all of the pickups I have gone through. I'm only hesistant because I thought the Painkiller would be bright enough, but it wasn't, and that's a bright pickup. Buf I think I'm going to switch the pots in the PRS out as well with the BK CTS ones. A tech told me not too because he said the difference wouldn't be audible in comparison to the PRS Pots, but I feel that could be part of what is choking the highs. Is there such thing as a Bare Knuckle 550K push pull pot? I don't use the cool split a lot, but it would be nice to have. I can live without it for the sake of tone. But I do trust your take on the rebel yells.

Ah yes, I thought it was you.  I'm going to load some stuff into a dropbox folder and link it to you via PM.  I think you'll like the Rebel Yell a lot for the bridge.  I have a VHII on order for the neck position in that guitar so I can comment once I get it. 
If you hear some of the tones I've gotten out of the Electra Dyne lately, you'll be quite sorry you sold yours.

Also, if you have a super strat or a HSS strat, you owe it to yourself to try out the Juggernaut.  The set is rather quite brilliant.  I have it in a new guitar I got off of the buy and sell which was a project guitar for me. 

[KalenDWA]

That would be awesome to hear some demos, are they in your Les Paul? Haha, yeah the Dyne is great, one day I'm going to get another one, if I can track down a short head version I'll be all over that. Right now I down sized to the Rectoverb 25 head with the cabclone and road king 2x12 and I'm nothing but grins playing it. Super easy to gig with in terms of size and you hit the sweet spot without making your ears bleed. I'll have to give the Juggs a second shot, I played them in my friends Ibanez through a 87 JCM800 and didn't really jive with them, but it could have been other factors than the pickups. Hit me up with those demos, I'm anxious to hear them!

[Yellowjacket]

Hah!  Ibanez guitars don't have so much tone because they're so light weight.  My Redline III is a heftier and beefier super strat with more of a strat like unplugged tone.  The pickups are unrepentently modern sounding so it may bug you.  I found that the feel was just so 'on' that I instantly loved them. 

There are a few combinations for tones: 

Godin LG Seymour Duncan Electra Dyne
Godin LG Rebel Yell Electra Dyne
Godin LG Rebel Yell TS9 Recto
Godin Redline III Juggerset Electra Dyne.  (Bridge dirty and bridge / outer coils / neck clean)
Godin Redline III Juggerbridge Recto
LP A-Bomb Electra Dyne  (Not a fan of the mic placement here, too close to the outside of the cone)
LP A-Bomb Recto.

I also included a recording of 4 guitars unplugged that I've posted up around on the forums here as well.  I hope this helps.

[PhilKing]

I have Rebel Yells in my all mahogany PRS Standard.  They really sound great in it, they give it a good driving rock tone with lots of natural feeback.