Hi everyone, first time post here. Haven’t lurked all that much though I’ve swung by the forum before when looking for info on things BKP related.
I bought a new PRS Custom 24 which I’ve had for several months now and I’ve finally come to the conclusion that I’m not digging the 85/15 pickups. I gave them a chance as I like some aspects of them (clarity and control) but not enough to keep them in the end. Guitar is mahogany body maple top / rosewood neck / ebony fret board.
I’m playing into a Boogie Mark V-35. On the distortion side, gain is mostly dialed up. I like a full throttle Mark IV sound and dial down the gain where needed with the volume knob. Will occasionally throw a tube screamer on top of that for a little extra sustain in leads if needed. Though I don’t play straight out metal, my ideal dirty channel sound is circa Faith No More “King for a Day” period. On the clean side, I like intermediary “Strat” style sounds (typically from position 4 – i.e. neck + bridge single coils in parallel) as well as a nice warm neck HB (Burstbucker Pro or DiMarzio Air Classic).
What I don’t like about the 85/15s: I’m finding the bridge far too harsh: it’s all mids and treble. They also seem to pick up the transient string noises more than any other guitars I have and throw it back at me in a pretty unpleasant way. Accidental string slides on wound strings or pick scratches can be quite painful to my ears. It’s accentuated by the “V” EQ on the Boogie which really boosts those highs but it’s not nearly as bad on my other guitars. I could clean up my playing I suppose but that’s not happening anytime soon! Finally, they are a little (maybe even a lot) short on “oomph“. I recently read that the bridge pickup had a DC resistance of 8.8K. Apparently they make up for this with the coil wire gauge / number of winds but it’s just not cutting it for me. On the other hand, I do like the neck pickup, especially position 4. It could be a little warmer / fatter on full HB but it’s still pretty good. I would consider keeping it but there’s no saying how it would pair with a replacement bridge pickup, and it’s got those weird square bobbin covers so would look a little strange combined with a more classic looking bridge pickup.
What I like on the BKP side: I have a similar specced guitar (thin mahogany / maple body - rosewood / ebony Gibson scale neck) – though non-prs - with a matched pair of Rebel Yells. It’s great and it would be a no brainer for me to replicate that but I’m looking for something at a little different here to expand my tone options. Also, looking for something with perhaps a little bit less gain than the Rebel Yells – though probably still a little more modern than vintage. I also own a Holy Diver bridge / Irish Tour set which I have on an HSS strat. It’s good on the strat but I find that it is harsher than the Rebel Yell which has a more “liquid” sounding gain. I don’t think it’s an option here.
What I like generally: my 2006 LP with Burstbucker pro bridge sounds tremendous on the Mark V, though I need to add a touch of OD on the leads to up the sustain. I realize it’s a different guitar though, can’t really turn the PRS into an LP – that’s not the plan anyway.
So that’s that with the rant, as always, it boils down to what would you recommend? Rebel Yells and Holy Diver are off the table. I think a good summary of what I am after would be a slightly dialed down Rebel Yell with a little more note definition / separation. I saw a demo on YouTube where the Abraxas were sounding really good. Cold Sweat and Crawlers look like they might also fit the bill but are unknowns to me at the moment.
Thanks to everyone for their inputs.
