PRS SE pickup oppinions

relic245

I have a SE model Tremonti. 

I'm not unhappy with the pickups but just wondering about general opinions if there is a significant upgrade in sound by swapping them out. 

If so any recommendations? 

I'm going to swap the tuners for locking ones but apart from that it's a great guitar for price.

elstoof

You’ll only really notice an “upgrade” if you feel there’s something lacking currently tbh, whether that’s clarity, mudiness at high gain etc

grungebob

Not really , not unless you’re looking for dramatically different styles etc?

in my old black Tremonti SE I installed the classic Gibson set 490 /498. 

They were louder at the same heights as the originals but sounded very much the same. 

In a SE Santana II I replaced the bridge with a Duncan JB but quickly swapped back as it sounded worse. 

The only time I could tell a difference was on an Navarro SE where I changed the SE pickups for the USA HFS/VB versions and they sounded much better. 

The thing that has consistently changed the tone for me on the SE’s I’ve had was swapping the nut for the PRS USA one.  It really made the notes sustain longer with better clarity. I don’t know why but it did. 

timmypix

They revamped the stock pickups in SEs around 2017 and the newer ones are much better. My older PRS SEs had pickups that did the job, but were generally a bit hot and muddy. My experience of more recent ones has been that they're actually pretty good for general applications unless you want something specific that they're not doing.

So if there's something you don't like about the stock pickups, by all means look into it, but if you're happy, don't bother. 

Funkfingers

Er, which PRS SE pickups does your guitar have? (They should have model ID labels on their baseplates.)

The VB/HFS "S" pair are 8/16k with A5/ceramic magnets, respectively. Most of the other pairs seem to be 8/9k with alnico magnets. 

When present, full coil split tends to result in disappointingly weak sounds. Partial coil split is better.

There is an argument for magnet swaps in PRS "S" humbuckers. A4 in for neck position and A8 for the bridge.

I find that the SE models with all-"mahogany" bodies gel extremely well with P90 pickups. 

grungebob said:

The thing that has consistently changed the tone for me on the SEs I’ve had was swapping the nut for the PRS USA one.  It really made the notes sustain longer with better clarity. I don’t know why but it did. 

The PRS USA nut is a fancy compound material whereas the SE nut is plastic. 

The SE nut makes the same dull thud on impact as the items that Paul dropped onto the stage during his TED Talk lecture. (To use the American parlance, tone suck.)

rich75

I've got a 2021 SE Tremonti with the stock Tremonti S pickups in it. I'm currently going through a similar thought process to you as I find them a bit lacking in clarity and they don't clean up from the volume pots particularly well. I've read quite a lot online about pickup swaps in this guitar - a lot of people seem to do it but there are lots of differing opinions about which replacement pickups work best, as I guess everyone's requirements are a bit different.

I like the sounds for higher gain lead but need a bit more clarity for rhythm playing and for cleaner tones. I'm impressed with the feel and general build quality of the guitar though.

I also swapped out the tuners for locking tuners and definitely think that was worthwhile.

I'll be interested to hear if you end up changing the pickups in yours and will report back if I ever get round to changing mine!

HT986M2

SE PRS Hollowbody II owner here with what I believe are the 58/15 “S” pickups.   No complaints with the pickups.  Medium-low to my ears, but pretty clear.  Certainly better than those that came on my Les Paul Standard 2010 which were very meh and muddy.

As @elstoof mentioned, it's only worth upgrading if you can hear something lacking.  Otherwise you'll be on a never ending journey.  Try to identify what is is your missing - e.g. clarity, low-end, top-end etc. - and focus on that.  Bareknuckle support are always pretty great at matching potential pickups to guitars if you can describe the guitar, what it's currently missing, and what you are aiming for.

Yorkie

PRS SE SC 245 here. It has a 8.1k neck and a ‘mucho macho’ 8.9k bridge, alnico V. Both are superb pickups and will not be replaced on this guitar.  

ToneControl

in my experience, the older USA and SE models have mediocre sounding pickups, whereas for the last 10+ years, many of them are amazing

imalrightjack

ToneControl said:

in my experience, the older USA and SE models have mediocre sounding pickups, whereas for the last 10+ years, many of them are amazing

The Archtop pickups in the old HBs sound brilliant and I got wonderful tones from a 2000 McCarty. 

Grampa

imalrightjack said:

ToneControl said:

in my experience, the older USA and SE models have mediocre sounding pickups, whereas for the last 10+ years, many of them are amazing

The Archtop pickups in the old HBs sound brilliant and I got wonderful tones from a 2000 McCarty. 

This. I would never dream of changing the pickups in my 2000 McRosie or 2006 ME1, both sound epic as standard. In contrast I swapped out the pickups in an old SE ZM for SD Phat Cat P90's and was extremely happy with the results. If your looking to stick with humbuckers OX4's are well worth a look.

Kebabkid

No complaints with the pickups in my SE DGT and I prefer them to the ones I had in my Core DGTs as they were too dark.
They handle gain well but are quite spanky on the coil-split sound.

I didn't like the Dragon IIs I had in a core CU24

WeZ84

Before you jump into buying new pickups, try playing with adjusting the pickup height of your current pickups. In my SE custom 24 i felt the pickups were a bit dark sounding but after a couple of tweaks to pickup height, I noticed an improvement and the best thing was it cost nothing!

Grumpyrocker

I've certainly got no complaints about the sound of my recently purchased SE McCarty 594.

ToneControl

imalrightjack said:

ToneControl said:

in my experience, the older USA and SE models have mediocre sounding pickups, whereas for the last 10+ years, many of them are amazing

The Archtop pickups in the old HBs sound brilliant and I got wonderful tones from a 2000 McCarty. 

personal taste differs clearly
I sold my old USA HB because I thought the pickups were bland, much prefer the ones in the new PRS SE HB

I'm no expert but I did see plenty of people writing that they were unhappy with the old Dragon ones, and then there seemed to be a large effort to move to new pickup designs that were highly expensive to buy aftermarket (e.g. the 57/08s in one of mine, which sound excellent)

Fez

I haven't thought about changing the pick ups on my 2 PRS SE's they sound fine as they are.

skinfreak

Never really cared for the 245s in my 2015 Tremonti. They weren't very Tremonti tbh. But that said the core Tremonti pickups are an interesting thing (i have both an SE and a Core). Remember, Mark rides the volume so sonically his guitar goes from smooth clean (classic-ish PAF) to crazy ass distortion. That level of technical ability to scope sound is certainly beyond me and I can understand why this is a challenge. The bridge pickup is a monster.

If you have a Pre-2017 then swap them out for sure. If it has Tremonti-s pickups and his range of sounds you are after, then maybe not. If you just like the guitar and want fewer extremes then give a swap a go. 

For mine, I'm about to put a Dragon II neck in the SE, with a BKP Rebel Yell at the bridge. Let's see how that works out. (plus the Dragon has a nickel cover which aligns with the Tremonti aesthetic).