Crawler vs Abraxas

[Paz]

As above I think I’ve arrived at these two pickups for my PRS custom 24. (Maple neck, ebony board).

I tried the Holydiver but it didn’t really impress me much. It will stay in standard tuning (maybe drop D).

On this guitar I plan to play Gary Clark Jr, Foo fighters, just general indie/rock/blues styles really. The guitar is quite bright sounding, so I guess the pickup should be fairly dark to counter that.

If someone has tried these pickups, please let me know your experiences. The guitar doesn’t get played enough with the stock 85/15 pickups in it. (Not a great fan of them)

Dan

[Dave Sloven]

Here's a video I found with the Crawlers.  I couldn't find a Custom 24 with Abraxas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSghgh-nEtY

[Paz]

Thanks for that, they sound good!

[darkbluemurder]

What did you not like about the Holydiver? And did you try the set or bridge or neck?

Of the two, the Abraxas is the brighter one, both on the bridge and the neck models.

Cheers Stephan

[Paz]

I didn’t think it was beefy enough I guess. I think I was conflicted with what I wanted this guitar to do. I kept on comparing it to my SG which has a Seymour Duncan Custom in it. (Tuned to E flat) To me the SG just sounded fuller and generally crunchier in tone.

It was just the Holydiver bridge I tried. So to that end, I’ll try and play less heavier genres on the PRS, rather than compare it to my SG. 

Hence why I’m considering the Abraxas and the Crawler, as I’ve heard they are darker in tone. (I’ve got a high output ceramic humbucker in there at the moment, which I had wound a bit hotter than normal, but this doesn’t seem to work really!

Hopefully that makes sense!

[Dave Sloven]

I don't think that the Abraxas is really darker than the Holy Diver.  The latter probably has a bit of crispness to it that the others you are considering lack.

If you want a darker pickup than the Holy Diver I would recommend the Crawler or the alnico War Pig, but I think the Crawler is better suited to the styles you want to play.

[greham]

Hey. I just put some Abraxas in my S2 24 PRS, and I own a Holy Diver. The holy diver is darker, has more muscles. The Abraxas is round when your attack is soft, brighter when you dig in (yeah Alnico IV).
If you have dark and fat for rock, I guess go with the Crawler. If you want that burst of elegance, Abraxas. But your music tastes tell me you'd be better off with something a lot tamer, like the mules.

I have slightly harder tastes in music, and the Abraxas in my Orange Rocker terror sound exactly like classic Opeth albums, both riffs and solos. Tight PAF vibe in the lows without getting too bright to the point of become gnarly. Can support a good load of dirt, great cleans, and these interestingly thick mids without sounding honky. I was afraid of that c--ked Wah effect (like the SH4 seymour duncan) can have, and it stops before that. It's just my best combo Guitar + Pickups I've ever owned. Better than my Rebel Yell and VHII in my other PRS.

[Paz]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. It is difficult to know what to go with.

I have rebel yells in my Les Paul, and flat 50’s in my Tele. I do like heavy stuff as well, but I have other guitars for that stuff. I think for softer genres, the Abraxas would do well (Foo Fighters etc)

I’ll just have to make a decision and stick with it!

[greham]

Have you ever played with PAF like pickups?
You'd be surprised how hot a pick like an Abraxas still is. You can send a lot of distortion it's way, and I'm fairly sure it's the same for the Crawler. For warm rock distortion and things more on the dirt side, you could really go for lower output pickups.
For the sake of the example, I've got a Nik Huber Krautster (similar to a Les Paul Junior) with a PAF that is Alnico 5 and something like 8.4k of peak, a copy of Billy Gibbons PAF. I used to have a Black Dog in this guitar before, but it was still too powerful for what I wanted: hot & warm rock like Death By Unga Bunga, Psych rock, and down to blues rock like Black Keys). I find the Abraxas a lot hotter than this PAF.

When Tim says you can play metal with the Mule, he is not lying. Those 8 Kohm peak PUs are still capable of being nasty.

[Paz]

Yes I have, I’ve played with Gibson Burstbucker Pros and also the 498t/490r pickups. Maybe I’m better off going with lower output pickups.

[b.gandt]

Since you mentioned low output humbuckers...

I have a set of Mules in my PRS SE Korina Singlcut. The neck is also Korina, rosewood board.  I love the way these pickups crunch.  Being a rocker, I'm usually crunching, but there is a great clean too.  It's a classic sound.

[darkbluemurder]

If you want darker than the Holydiver, the Crawler does this. I had them back to back in my PRS Custom. The Abraxas has a similar midrange voicing as the Holydiver so I don't think that would be the right choice in your situation.

I once started a thread whether there was a lower output Crawler but did not get much out of it.

Cheers Stephan

[Telerocker]

If you want darker than the Holydiver, the Crawler does this. I had them back to back in my PRS Custom. The Abraxas has a similar midrange voicing as the Holydiver so I don't think that would be the right choice in your situation.

I once started a thread whether there was a lower output Crawler but did not get much out of it.

Cheers Stephan

I'm with Stephan here. The HD has more topend than the Crawler. Don't be fooled by the dc-resistance of the Crawler. It's medium ouput, slighty hotter than say a VHII. The Crawler also has pretty cleans, splits well and cleans up very well. The Crawler doesn't bark, it growls when pushed. ;-)

[Paz]

Apologies for the necro bump, but I finally got a Crawler bridge pickup, very impressed with it so far, it’s really fattened up my PRS Custom 24! At the moment I’ve left the neck 85/15 pickup in there, it seems to split well with the Crawler. All in all a fantastic pickup for me, and hopefully it will stay there!

[b.gandt]

Good to hear Paz!  I have a single H pick guard for my Strat, and it's loaded with a Crawler.  Love it for the Rawk, and cleans up well enough for my purposes playing that style of music.

 At the moment, a SSS pick guard is in that Strat due to the need for a SSS guitar, but I'm looking forward to when it goes back in!