I've got myself a PRS SE Standard 24, and decided I want a single coil in the neck with a bridge humbucker. The coil split just wasn't good enough in the neck. I've ordered a Schaller E+ megaswitch to open up a few possibilities. I'll be playing cliché stuff, probably in Eb, from Hendrix to GnR to Metallica.
In the neck, I've got a Creamery Sonic Six, which is an improvement but not everything I'd hoped. I have a 500k resistor on order, to reduce the pot value, and also an Alegree Frostbite, in case I prefer that tone.
As for the bridge, I'm at a loss. I thought I'd go for an alnico V of some sort, since I assumed it would be better under gain, but having heard a comparison with an alnico II Irongear TeslaShark yesterday, which sounded clearer, I'm confused. Ideally, it wouldn't be too out of balance, with the neck, which will be around 8 or 9k (but single coil).
As for brands, I'm interested in Oil City, Alegree etc., or any of the cheaper brands like Tonerider.
Thanks!
Comments
For regular humbucker-sized cavities, you would be looking at Duncan Phat Cats, Bare Knuckle HSP models, Alegree et al.
A combination that is working well in my PRS S2 Singlecut is Oil City Winterizer II (neck) and Scrapyard Dog Plus (bridge).
Have you tried a Nightfighter compared to the Scrapyard Dog Plus? I've been looking at both.
NF4 neck and SYD+ bridge is a combination that I have purchased more than once.
Visit the Alegree Pickups website clearance section. Lurking amongst the bargains is a Frigid Haze Stratocaster pickup in a humbucker cover. Could have been made for you.
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The stock SE neck humbucker is of approximately 8k. Hence, the split reading will be an underwhelming 4k. Only a monstrously powerful magnet could save it.
This suggests that you will be wishing to access a mixture of humbucking and true single coil sounds. Might be worthwhile choosing pickups that are designed to do both. e.g. Duncan The Mag and Stag Mag, Alegree Chameleon or Oil City Brass Knuckle.
The Sonic Six construction and specs remind me of G&L Jumbo MFD pickups. (Think twangy P90s.) If you are not impressed by the Sonic Six, you probably wouldn't enjoy P90s either.
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I looked into doing a partial split, and it did sound like it improved things for people, but I find neck humbuckers a bit woolly in general so figured I'd just whip it out and get a full-time single coil. Thanks for the info on the sonic six comparison. I think the 500k pot might be the source of my dissatisfaction, since it's a bit ear piercing and doesn't sound very full... Lowering the tone pot helps, but the taper isn't great and it does lose something. Fingers crossed either the resistor or Frostbite sorts that position.
Riot Act neck and Beano bridge. Mega sensitive to tone and volume and huge breadth of tones.
Usually, what you get here is people trying to steer you away from the pickup make/model of which you first thought and towards the make/model that they just happen to have listed for sale in the Parts £ section.
I never got round to trying a resistor to lower the pot value on the Sonic Six. The Alegree Frostbite arrived, so I just chucked that in quickly for comparison on 500k pots. It seems to be a lot higher output, darker, and more P90 like. It also handles high gain remarkably well, so I'm keeping it! The Sonic Six does sound a lot more like a traditional single coil side by side, but it was better suited for cleaner than I play, and I didn't need the twang.
There is still a hole where my bridge pickup should be. I imagine I'll end up with a Nightfighter
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