Hot pickup with tight, lean low end

[jeff5]

Motor City Afwayu if you can find one. Otherwise a Duncan Custom would do great.

 

[jeff5]

I love the PRS \M/ pickup. I have used it in a number of PRS's I have owned and it has killed every time.

Output wise, it is the next step up from a 57/08, which is in the "hot PAF" category.
It has great midrange attack, but it has more more balanced mids compared to alot of high output pickups, and i think that is part of what makes it really versatile.

It is also very clear, tight and punchy in the low end and absolutely stays that way regardless of tuning or gain.

I waffle back and forth between it and the Tremonti as to which I like better for a higher output PRS pickup. Tremonti has more output, bigger low end, top end sizzle and is a bit more forgiving.

For some reason I could never get along with the PRS \M/. Just too tight and dry for me. I much prefer the Tremonti. That is another option for the OP. It is a bigger, maybe a bit less focused sound than the Afwayu or Custom, but it is a great pick up.

 

[Iamnada]

I assume we're just suggesting pickups at this point. I'm cheap, so I'd try an EQ pedal before I spent MORE money.

If that's not of interest...Maybe the Dean "Baker Act". To me it's an improved JB.

 

[VHTStark]

For some reason I could never get along with the PRS \M/. Just too tight and dry for me. I much prefer the Tremonti. That is another option for the OP. It is a bigger, maybe a bit less focused sound than the Afwayu or Custom, but it is a great pick up.

I could see that. The \M/ is absolutely very tight and there isn't really much "give" when you play it.

 

[valve]

Definitely fits the description, but have heard they sound thin and bright in a les paul but idk!

i never had 2 LPs sounding the same plugged or unplugged, so who knows...

 

[TheGreatGreen]

@ZEN Amps

Here's an oddball solution you might be interested in. PRS has a model called the 24-08 that does something interesting. Stay with me lol, I'm not recommending that guitar itself or the pickups in it. I mention it because along with the standard controls, it has two toggle switches, each switch connected to a humbucker. These are not coil taps. Instead, they activate or bypass a capacitor/resistor twisted parallel pair wired in series between the direct out of the pickup and the next component in the chain, that acts as a low shelf bass cut.

The capacitor only passes high frequencies. The lows blocked by the capacitor then instead flow through the parallel resistor, but because they flow through a resistor, they're attenuated. In other words, the strength of the capacitor controls the low shelf cutoff frequency, and the resistor controls how much those lows are cut.

What I'm saying is that if you wanted, you could pick out whatever humbucker that has the mids, highs, and output you like, and then wire in a capacitor/resistor right after that humbucker in series to tighten up the lows in whatever way you like.

 

[ZEN Amps]

@ZEN Amps

Here's an oddball solution you might be interested in. PRS has a model called the 24-08 that does something interesting. Stay with me lol, I'm not recommending that guitar itself or the pickups in it. I mention it because along with the standard controls, it has two toggle switches, each switch connected to a humbucker. These are not coil taps. Instead, they activate or bypass a capacitor/resistor twisted parallel pair wired in series between the direct out of the pickup and the next component in the chain, that acts as a low shelf bass cut.

The capacitor only passes high frequencies. The lows blocked by the capacitor then instead flow through the parallel resistor, but because they flow through a resistor, they're attenuated. In other words, the strength of the capacitor controls the low shelf cutoff frequency, and the resistor controls how much those lows are cut.

What I'm saying is that if you wanted, you could pick out whatever humbucker that has the mids, highs, and output you like, and then wire in a capacitor/resistor right after that humbucker in series to tighten up the lows in whatever way you like.

Interesting, I've not head of this before. Got a Duncan Distortion in now that's doing the job but may look into this. Thanks.