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Author Topic: Pickups for PRS SE CU24 30th  (Read 3146 times)

oneblackened

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Pickups for PRS SE CU24 30th
« on: July 04, 2016, 10:26:14 PM »
Got myself a PRS SE Cu24 30th anniversary a few weeks back. The stock pickups aren't bad at all, but this guitar is very bright (ebony board on top of a lot of maple in the neck and cab with a little bit of mahogany for the back) so the stock bridge is a bit thin. The neck is also a little too smooth for my taste. Not enough attack/too much low end. The guitar has a push-pull coil split so good split tones would be great to have.

So, what's worth looking at?

Thinking HD/VHII, Emeralds, Crawlers, or Suhr SSH+/SSV may be up my alley to try to even out the brightness.

I'm trying to make this guitar do most things well since it's a studio guitar, but it's not gonna really go under Drop D. Using a Friedman BE100 (well, the UAD version anyway).

Slartibartfarst42

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Re: Pickups for PRS SE CU24 30th
« Reply #1 on: July 05, 2016, 08:23:27 AM »
Only use an Emerald in the neck, where it's superb; the bridge Emerald is way too bright for this guitar. I speak from personal experience on this one as I've owned three PRS SE Custom 24 guitars and I still have one now.

The Holydiver works great in the bridge, especially if you like your mids. A smooth and tight(ish) tone with an even spread of mids. Strongly reminiscent of 80s Metal but with a slightly more modern flavour. Reasonably versatile for a contemporary pickup with good cleans and a superb lead tone. Using an Emerald in the neck is as close to perfection as you're likely to find. The AIV magnet gives it a bit of a vintage feel but the 43AWG wire gives it a lot more bite in the bottom end and it's far better at taking gain than a normal PAF - thick, creamy and fluid. Having a Holydiver in the neck is also an excellent option if you want your neck tone to be a little less thick and a bit brighter. Surprisingly, the Holydiver neck felt more vintage to me than the Emerald. A Cold Sweat neck would be a third option if you want something a bit more 'shreddy'.

A Crawler in the bridge will arguably give you one of the most versatile options you could imagine. It's thicker, darker and richer than the Holydiver, with a distinctive growl to it thanks to the 43AWG wire. It's quite a compressed pickup that has a lovely saturated feel to it. Cleans are excellent, it has the best splits of any humbucker I've ever tried and leads are incredible. It's not as tight as the Holydiver so won't take as much gain but I found that it could run from Blues to early Metal quite happily in standard tuning, Drop D, Eb standard and D standard. It certainly has a bigger operating window than the Holydiver with its natural home being Blues Rock and Classic Rock but more than happy to go either side of that. I REALLY loved this pickup in a PRS. The Emerald will also work here but I preferred using a Holydiver neck with this one because the brightness of the Holydiver neck gave me a nice contrast with the bridge and the more vintage feel of the Holydiver seemed to sit better with the Crawler. I wasn't keen on the Crawler neck but that's because with 42AWG wire, it's far more of a traditional PAF pickup and while the tone is very good, I always find the bottom end is too rounded and suffers under gain so  I prefer my neck pickups wound with either 42.5AWG or 43AWG.

Although I've not tried it personally, I'd also suggest an Abraxas in the bridge. It's a bit like a Crawler taken down a step so not as thick, dark or compressed but still with a rich, smooth tone and would again be a very versatile option. Think of it as the ideal cross between a vintage PAF and the far more contemporary Crawler. As well as being a Crawler that's toned down a bit, it could also be described as a Mule on steroids, and often is. For me, I'd either use it with a Holydiver neck or a Black Dog neck because both are very similar being AV magnets and 42.5AWG wire.
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Neck - Emerald; Cold Sweat; Crawler; Holydiver; Sinner; Trilogy Suite

ericsabbath

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Re: Pickups for PRS SE CU24 30th
« Reply #2 on: July 05, 2016, 06:11:03 PM »
well, depends on the styles and tones you're aiming for
I'd only rule out the emerald, riff raff, cold sweat and rebel yell bridge models, since you want to tame the brightness
Riff Raff, Mules, Black Dog, VHII's, Cold Sweat

Troy Baer

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Re: Pickups for PRS SE CU24 30th
« Reply #3 on: July 05, 2016, 07:43:29 PM »
I agree with Slartibartfast that the Emerald bridge is probably not your best choice if you're trying to tame brightness; IMHO the Emerald bridge is best in guitars that are either down-tuned or naturally dark sounding.  If it were me, I'd probably go with an Emerald neck/Abraxas bridge, an Abraxas set, or (don't laugh) a Duncan Pegasus/Sentient set.
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Kiichi

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Re: Pickups for PRS SE CU24 30th
« Reply #4 on: July 05, 2016, 08:24:05 PM »
Well, as so often Slarti has kinda said it all already, so IŽll kinda just give him a +1.
While the Crawler is awesome, the Abraxxas does give a little more final versatility here I recon.

Does depend on style focus too though, as said.
BKPs in use: 10th set / RY set / Holy Diver b, Emerald n / Crawler bridge, Slowhand mid MQ neck/ Manhattan n
On the sidelines: Stockholm b / Suppermassive n, Mule n, AM set, IT mid

oneblackened

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Re: Pickups for PRS SE CU24 30th
« Reply #5 on: July 06, 2016, 06:31:53 AM »
I feel like the Crawler or HD is up my alley for a bridge pickup. Might do a VHII, I like that pickup a lot and I have one lying around anyway (I have a CBomb/VHII set that's been in like 3 guitars, I just don't think the CBomb is gonna be right in this guitar. too bright.).

Dave Sloven

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Re: Pickups for PRS SE CU24 30th
« Reply #6 on: July 06, 2016, 06:35:06 AM »
HD/VH2 sounds like a good combo
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