Neck humbucker for PRS Custom 24

[nikosteph]

Hi everyone, I was a longtime lurker on these forums, but found them so helpful in my previous searches that I figured I'd finally post a query of my own :).

I just bought a PRS Custom 24, and plan to swap out its pickups with BK's.I already have a different guitar (a PRS McCarty) with more vintage pickups (a Mule neck and VHII bridge), so I want this guitar to be my more modern, "shreddy" axe. Things like 70's/80's hard rock/metal, and progressive stuff, with highly articulate and searing leads (the sound, anyways, my talent not so much :)).

I've already settled on a Holydiver for the bridge, but need to find a good neck pickup to match it. In general I want something that covers the ground that the Mule in my other guitar doesn't, i.e. brighter, more cutting, glassy, almost single-coil-esque. Something that can do jangly cleans, bluesy bite, and articulate high-gain solos, but NOT too thick or creamy.

I emailed the BKP team, and Ben suggested the Cold Sweat, which I'm definitely interested in. The only thing that makes me hesitate is that I used to have a CS neck in my McCarty, and while I loved the tone, it was a bit TOO thick and creamy for what I want in this new guitar. I also have moved that pickup to a different guitar, so I still have it available, and would like to expand my tonal options if possible.

I'm also considering the Holydiver neck, but my hesitation there is that I used to have an Ibanez Prestige RG with the Holydiver calibrated set. While I loved the bridge, the neck always seemed a little too "flat" and tame, too vintage for what I wanted. However, that might have just been the guitar (it was a rather thin-sounding, flat guitar overall so I ended up selling it), so I'm willing to revisit it.

Any other thoughts? Ben also suggested the Rebel Yell neck as an alternative to the CS but with a bit more top-end. He also dissuaded me from the Emerald neck because it would be too thick and dark for what I'm looking for.

Thanks so much in advance for the help, I've lurked on the forums for a long time and found them super helpful!

[Slartibartfarst42]

The Rebel Yell neck isn't a poke in the eye away from a Cold Sweat neck anyway so any difference won't be huge. I've had a Holydiver in my PRS Custom 24 and it's a fantastic match. For the neck I used an Emerald and Holydiver at different times and for reference, I've also had the Cold Sweat. I really liked the Cold Sweat but the Emerald and Holydiver were both better. Now choosing between those two, for me at least, was really difficult because they were both sublime in that guitar but in different ways. I think which was my favourite changed almost daily, depending on my mood at the time. For you, however, I don't think that's the same issue. The Emerald is darker, thicker and creamier than the Holydiver so in this case I'd strongly recommend the Holydiver set in your guitar as it fits your requirements nicely. It's quite a bright pickup and fairly thin sounding, though that doesn't mean it sounds wimpy. The relatively light wind helps it to retain a bit of a PAF feel to it but the combination of the more modern 42.5AWG wire and AV magnet means it's also very articulate and will take loads of gain. I really loved that combination so much that one of my guitars now uses an AII magnet in the neck with 42.5AWG as I find it to be a perfect combination. In your case the AV magnet will suit you better to keep it more modern. I think the Holydiver neck is a bit of an unsung hero in the range but those who have tried it generally love it. Check out the reviews in the Review thread if you haven't already done so.

My other suggestion would be to put a P90 in the neck as I suspect that would really work well for what you're describing. Either the Mississippi Queen or Supermassive should work well or use a Mississippi Queen bridge model in the neck of your guitar as a friend of mine did that and it sounds incredible. It's like the neck model but a bit more modern sounding.

[nikosteph]

Thank you so much for the thoughtful reply! That is really helpful, given your experience with this exact same situation. Yeah, I'm leaning towards the Holydiver neck at the moment given that my previous, somewhat lackluster experiences were in a sub-optimal guitar (and it was still a good pickup).

I've considered the P90 route as well, but have held back mostly for reasons of aesthetics, since I prefer the humbucker look (as vain as it sounds :)) and inexperience (since I've never had one before). But if the Holydiver neck doesn't quite work, I may take the plunge! Interesting idea about the bridge model in the neck too...

[Slartibartfarst42]

I get the aesthetics idea completely as it has also put me off so I'm clearly as shallow as you  I find that now I'd really like a P90, it's just that at this moment in time I don't have a guitar for it and for the aesthetics I'd need a covered bridge humbucker. Three things turned me on to the idea of a P90 in the neck:

1) Kiichi is always on about them and over the years I've come to trust his advice and realise that if he likes it, I probably will too.
2) Having heard my friend with his bridge MQ in the neck I was blown away by how good it is.
3) I find that on my Strat I really love the single coil tone in the neck, though I'm not as keen on a bridge single coil by itself. It's just so much clearer and bell-like than a humbucker so it seems perfectly logical that a P90 will give me a lot of what I like about the neck single coil but with a bit more girth.

In many ways a P90 seems to be the best of both worlds but failing a P90, I still think the Holydiver is the closest to what you describe. I certainly never found it to be 'flat', though I can see a little of why you might describe it as 'tame' and 'vintage'. Compared to the Cold Sweat it probably is but in my opinion, it's partly that which makes it have 'jangly cleans, bluesy bite, and articulate high-gain solos, but NOT too thick or creamy'. I think that if you made it hotter and more modern sounding you'd love the qualities you're after. Even with pickups this good, there will always be an element of compromise involved.

[nikosteph]

Yeah, you're probably right, we all have some "ideal" tone in our head, but in reality tone is due to a complex interplay of so many factors (guitar, amp, cabinet, pickups, strings, pedals, etc.) that we sometimes get a little unrealistic in demanding everything from a pickup when we've fixed so many of these other factors right from the outset!

In your experience, what's are the key differences between the CS and Holydiver necks? I'm intrigued by the idea of the P90, and am toying with replacing the CS neck I have in the other guitar with the Mississippi Queen, and then putting that CS neck in the PRS if it would fit my needs better than the Holydiver...(that other guitar is all beaten up anyways, so I don't care about looks in that case :)).

I was hesitating because I found the CS too thick/creamy, but that was in a PRS McCarty or the current guitar (a Westbury Standard, which is a mahogany slab similar to an SG, and also naturally darker than a Custom 24). If you think the CS neck in the Custom 24 fits the bill, I'll seriously consider it...(especially given that Ben recommended it first).

[Slartibartfarst42]

Mmmmm, the Cold Sweat neck is certainly thicker and darker than the Holydiver and in all honesty, doesn't match your description in the way the Holydiver seems to, BUT, it seems to me that you have nothing to lose by at least trying the Cold Sweat in the CU24 before you do anything else. If it's not what you want, put it back in the old guitar and choose between the Holydiver and Mississippi Queen for the PRS. If the Cold Sweat sounds fine in the PRS you can get the Mississippi Queen and then try that in both guitars to see which you prefer in the PRS. If it turns out you prefer the P90 the Cold Sweat can always go back in the old guitar. Just because I feel the Holydiver matches your description better, that doesn't mean the Cold Sweat is a bad choice. The Cold Sweat is more obviously a humbucker whereas the Holydiver is lighter and brighter than many neck humbuckers I've tried. If it was me, I'd be trying the Cold Sweat in the PRS before I did anything else. Of course, you can always get the P90 and if it doesn't float your boat, exchange it for the Holydiver. 

[nikosteph]

True, though I guess I'd rather not put the MQ in the PRS due to the aesthetic mismatch...also, I don't know how to swap pickups myself and have to pay a local tech to do it (though given how many I want to try, perhaps it's time to get familiar with a soldering gun!), so I'd prefer to minimize the number of swaps for purely financial reasons :).

I trust your judgement re: the HD vs. CS neck, so I'll probably just get the HD and see if it fits in the PRS. Then I might at some point get the MQ for the other guitar to experiment, and if it works in that guitar I can just sell the CS or keep it for a rainy day (i.e. when the "tone itch" to see what it sounds like in the PRS finally makes me try it out there :)).

In any case, I appreciate your input, I was sorta narrowing in on the HD neck before and after your feedback I can't NOT at least give it a go! It's good to hear it could work from someone who owns the exact same guitar I want to use it in...

[darkbluemurder]

In terms of brightness (going from brightest to least bright) the sequence is Holydiver neck, Rebel Yell neck, Cold Sweat neck. That is also the sequence of least output and bass to highest output and bass.

I have used the Holydiver bridge and Cold Sweat neck in my PRS Custom (also a 24 fret model). That was actually my first BKP set. I still have it but it's in a different guitar. The PRS now has a Crawler bridge and a VHII neck but I would not have any problem going back to the previous combination.

So Holydiver bridge plus either Cold Sweat or Rebel Yell neck would be a good combination. The Holydiver neck - while I think it's a great pickup in it's own right - may be too thin for a 24 fret guitar.

Cheers Stephan

[Dave Sloven]

That new Impulse neck humbucker is very bright and might be worth considering

[nikosteph]

Thanks for the replies, this is quite helpful. At the moment I'm thinking to try the Holydiver neck because I do have a CS neck in a different guitar (which, while darker than a PRS, isn't too much so) and it's a touch too thick/bassy for what I want. I guess I can always swap the HD for a CS or RY if it does indeed feel too thin in the Custom 24...

In any case, when I get the pickups in the guitar and try it out, I'll be sure to report back so that others may benefit from my experimentation in the future!

I hadn't even heard about the Impulse pickup, but thanks for the suggestion, it's definitely a scary looking beast :).