SORTED Pickups ulgrade help (PRS SE)

Kinioo

Hi All,
I want to upgrade my standard humbecker pickups in my PRS SE Tremonti.

Was hoping to get a set of Gibson classic '57 & Classic' 57+ but no luck so far.

What else do you recommend??
Maybe something similarly good but easier to find etc? 

- solid rocky sound;
- mid low end;
- something which would be perfect match to JCM 800 for pure rock n roll.

Many thanks,

Chris

Funkfingers

The bridge/Treble position pickup in the USA Tremonti model was often reputed to be a Gibson 500T humbucker. By that yardstick, a Gibson '57 Classic Plus would be a considerable drop in output.

I have one Gibson '57 Classic stashed away somewhere. I would need to check its condition before offering it for sale.

Do you have D.C. resistance meter readings for the stock Korean PRS pickups?

Kinioo

No idea, but should be able to check it. Yeah, I have SE Korean version...with standard pickups.

US Tremonti pickups are (DC RES) Treble 15.42k and Bass 7.39k

Apparent Korean pickups are Treble about 10 and bass about 9k, but I didn't take measures. 

C. 

Funkfingers

Kinioo said:

 Korean pickups are Treble about 10 and bass about 9k

Obviously, DCR statistics are not the whole story but the two Gibson humbuckers on your wish list are both of notionally lower power than the stock PRS units. The tone should be better, though.

Does your SE Tremonti have a fixed "wrap over" bridge/tailpiece or a six screw fulcrum vibrato? One of the reasons for choosing a high resistance and ceramic magnet humbucker would be to compensate for the body mass lost to the vibrato cavity.

Kinioo

Funkfingers said:

Kinioo said:

 Korean pickups are Treble about 10 and bass about 9k

Obviously, DCR statistics are not the whole story but the two Gibson humbuckers on your wish list are both of notionally lower power than the stock PRS units. The tone should be better, though.

Does your SE Tremonti have a fixed "wrap over" bridge/tailpiece or a six screw fulcrum vibrato? One of the reasons for choosing a high resistance and ceramic magnet humbucker would be to compensate for the body mass lost to the vibrato cavity.

No vibrato. 

m_c

My Tremonti SE (Custom Ltd version with tremelo) came with an Irongear Rolling Mill neck up, and although I've got no idea how the original neck pickup sounded, the neck certainly gives a far fuller/richer sound than the bridge. The bridge not only sounds very trebley, it sounds very thin/weak.

I do plan to replace the bridge pickup, it's just I've never got around to it, as I'd quite like to add push/push pots with coil splitting at the same time, just so I can experiment more.

dcg

FWIW, try a Bare Knuckle Mule; perfect for your guitar...

Kinioo

Thanks for all replies.
What I try to achieve here is a bit fattier sound, rich in mids & low end not too much high output/gain etc,

I mainly play blues, rock, so want to get warm, rich sound.

Chris

PS:

@dcg - are these Bare Knuckle Mule - how do they sound ?  

Megii

Oil City Nightfighter Alnico II Custom set maybe? http://www.oilcitypickups.co.uk/hbmodernoutput.html

...or perhaps Tonerider Rocksong set if less to spend. Haven't tried either of these, I should add... I do have an Oil City order in at the moment, and the proprietor is a nice chap who knows his stuff.  

Kinioo

Megii said:

Oil City Nightfighter Alnico II Custom set maybe? http://www.oilcitypickups.co.uk/hbmodernoutput.html

...or perhaps Tonerider Rocksong set if less to spend. Haven't tried either of these, I should add... I do have an Oil City order in at the moment, and the proprietor is a nice chap who knows his stuff.  

I will have a look thanks.
Yeh, don't want to spend fortune...

RE: Bare Knuckle Mule - wow, would be a good fit but the price is rather high!!

webrthomson

dcg said:

FWIW, try a Bare Knuckle Mule; perfect for your guitar...

BKP Mules are an awesome suggestion, but they are a bit pricey.

Oil City PAT 63's sound like they might be in your ball park too:

http://www.oilcitypickups.co.uk/hbclassic.html

dcg

Kinioo said:

Thanks for all replies.
What I try to achieve here is a bit fattier sound, rich in mids & low end not too much high output/gain etc,

I mainly play blues, rock, so want to get warm, rich sound.

Chris

PS:

@dcg - are these Bare Knuckle Mule - how do they sound ?  

I put a set of BKP Mules into a PRS SC245, which at the time I gought it was one of PRS's closer shots at a Les Paul type of guitar.  To my ears, they sounded great - very meaty, very PAF-like, but not stupidly overwound.  They're a lovely vintage-sounding pickup, and worked with my alt country/funk/soul repertoire; cost wise, they are more towards the upper end, (although there are some mental prices being charged by US boutique pickup builders).  I thought the Mules were well worth it, but we're all working to a budget (and I did get the neck unit used on eBay).  Good hunting!

Kinioo

Thanks dcg !

Funkfingers

How about a couple o' Duncan P-Rails via Triple Shot mounting surrounds? On the four knob SE Tremonti, you could govern all of the coil combinations via push-pull pots.

https://i.imgur.com/Lgh6WjK.jpg?2

Jalapeno

Have a browse of Mojo Pickups' web-shop, and see what tickles your fancy .....

https://www.mojopickups.co.uk/product-category/pickups/paf/

https://www.mojopickups.co.uk/product-category/pickups/humbuckers/

ADP

What about a pair of PRS Vintage Bass and HFS pickups? They're different from the Tremonti set but still in the same range, and I happen to have a set you could have.

normula1

I had a set of Mules in my CU22 and swapped them back out in favour of the original PRS pickups that had been rewound by Oil City to their Forces Sweetheart spec. and I couldn't be happier with them.

Kinioo

normula1 said:

I had a set of Mules in my CU22 and swapped them back out in favour of the original PRS pickups that had been rewound by Oil City to their Forces Sweetheart spec. and I couldn't be happier with them.

Have you still have them - Mules ?
C.

normula1

Unfortunately not. They had sat in their box for the past eighteen months so I sold them on here a couple of weeks ago as part of a clear out.

Kinioo

Funkfingers said:

Kinioo said:

 Korean pickups are Treble about 10 and bass about 9k

Obviously, DCR statistics are not the whole story but the two Gibson humbuckers on your wish list are both of notionally lower power than the stock PRS units. The tone should be better, though.

Does your SE Tremonti have a fixed "wrap over" bridge/tailpiece or a six screw fulcrum vibrato? One of the reasons for choosing a high resistance and ceramic magnet humbucker would be to compensate for the body mass lost to the vibrato cavity.

Ok I measured the resistance of the pickups (on the guitar cable, didnt remove pickups):
Bridge: 9,42
Neck: 8,66

TTony

The "normal" route for upgrading PRS SE pickups depends a lot on your budget.

At the low-end are a range of made-in-China options.  I've found Iron Gear to be consistently good for the money.

At the top-end you have BKPs, but as you've already said, they're pricey.

In the middle you have the independents such as Mojo (linked above), Bulldog and Oil City.  Each of those is run by someone who understands pickups, and makes excellent quality units.  If you can articulate what you want, they'll either tell you which of their products meets your spec, or tell you that none of theirs does, so they'll either wind you something unique or they'll recommend someone else.

You wouldn't go wrong with any of them.  Check their websites, think about what you want, and then check back here because many of us have got experience of most of them.