Prs guitars picky with amps

[Kevin11]

While we're on the subject of PRS guitars and pickups, I have a CU24 Floyd with PRS' new \m/ (metal) pickups. I haven't seen a lot of discussion on here about them, but the naming and marketing is kinda misleading IMHO. I've tried everything under the sun over the years and the \m/ set is one of the rare few I dug and bonded with immediately. In my particular PRS, they're super well-balanced (no mid honk), tight and clear. They're overwound ceramic so they have a great liquid feel under the fingers with the guitar volume on 10, but rolled back just a bit (and I assume with the help of PRS' treble bleed circuit), it's easily in PAF/hot Tele zone, with that super clear, almost single coil-ish snap. Definitely worth a look. They're incredibly versatile and not just for metal IMHO. Don't be put off by the 15.7 k DC Res. I actually prefer more low-output pickups these days and these still do it for me.

 

[GuitarGuyLP]

I have always been a PRS fan ever since my first time in a music store when I just picked up the guitar, and I saw the big rack of PRS guitars. I have had a number of them, but I have always swapped out the pickups. But I do that with just about every guitar I have ever owned. I look at pickups like I look at speakers they can completely make, or break the tone, and they have to be matched to the guitar, and to your tastes which is what makes selecting a pickup such a pain. I do usually like the neck pickups in PRSs thought, and so far I don't mind the pickups in my current PRS, but I haven't had a chance to play it a lot lately.

 

[jlb32]

My '02 PRS singlecut still has the stock pickups and they sound really great through every amp I've tried it with. I think they are the #7's.

 

['63-Strat]

I've played a lot of beautiful PRS's, but really none I ever came close to buying, just don't dig the tones. And when I think about it, there are literally no known pro guys I like who played PRS during their peak years, either. There are a few guys who used them briefly like Marty Friedman and Johnny Hiland that I definitely like but their best tones were not on PRS and really they're the kind of guys who sound very similar regardless of gear, it's their playing I dig, not necessarily their "tone." That said, I haven't played one with Duncans in them, that may fix it for me. Total respect for their build quality and looks, but after all these years, I kinda just know they're not my thing.

So I dunno I'd agree they're picky with amps per se, just that their inherent tone is its own thing and not a lot of people's cup of tea.

Their tones are all over the place because the woods and electronics they use vary quite a bit. They have tons of different pickups they use, and that is a huge variable in your final tone.

There is no "PRS tone" just like there is no "Gibson tone." Way too much variety in the the styles, components, etc.

Again, I'm simply sharing my experience and I do this for a living, music is my only gig. I don't dig them and don't know anyone that I like that plays 'em. YMMV.

 

[ChurchHill]

I have always been a PRS fan ever since my first time in a music store when I just picked up the guitar, and I saw the big rack of PRS guitars. I have had a number of them, but I have always swapped out the pickups. But I do that with just about every guitar I have ever owned. I look at pickups like I look at speakers they can completely make, or break the tone, and they have to be matched to the guitar, and to your tastes...

Almost exactly my experience, too. I haven't kept the stock pickups in any guitar I've ever owned, at least not after I figured out what the guitar needed tonally to get it where I wanted it to be. To be fair, I've changed speakers in almost every cab and combo I've ever had, too, with a few exceptions.

 

[squank]

I've played a lot of beautiful PRS's, but really none I ever came close to buying, just don't dig the tones. And when I think about it, there are literally no known pro guys I like who played PRS during their peak years, either. There are a few guys who used them briefly like Marty Friedman and Johnny Hiland that I definitely like but their best tones were not on PRS and really they're the kind of guys who sound very similar regardless of gear, it's their playing I dig, not necessarily their "tone." That said, I haven't played one with Duncans in them, that may fix it for me. Total respect for their build quality and looks, but after all these years, I kinda just know they're not my thing.

So I dunno I'd agree they're picky with amps per se, just that their inherent tone is its own thing and not a lot of people's cup of tea.

Their tones are all over the place because the woods and electronics they use vary quite a bit. They have tons of different pickups they use, and that is a huge variable in your final tone.

There is no "PRS tone" just like there is no "Gibson tone." Way too much variety in the the styles, components, etc.

Again, I'm simply sharing my experience and I do this for a living, music is my only gig. I don't dig them and don't know anyone that I like that plays 'em. YMMV.

Birds of a feather, no doubt. Your likes/dislikes are yours, of course, and are totally legitimate. I've got no problem with that.

I was only heading off what looked to be winding up as a PRS hate conversation based on the silly comments of others about how they all have a "sterile" tone compared to the "organic" sounds of a Gibson or some other BS. Boiling an entire brand of guitars down to one or two models and their pickups just doesnt' work.

As an aside, I don't care for most early PRS pickups. But then, I dislike a lot of Gibson pickups, too. I'd never dismiss a guitar that I liked otherwise without trying several other pickups in it first. The combination of pickups with the specific pieces of wood in a guitar all make it unique. I had one SC245 that sounded great with its stock pickups. Another sounded a bit muddy, so I put in a set of Suhr DSHs and it came alive.

 

[ChurchHill]

The combination of pickups with the specific pieces of wood in a guitar all make it unique.

Exactly! I've played tons of guitars, all major makers and a lot of minor ones, too. Always, the first thing I do is play a guitar unplugged. Some I've liked, a few I've loved, most I didn't care for. If it didn't feel good or didn't sound good acoustically, I passed. The ones I did take home, I've always spent a lot of time just getting to know the guitar acoustically. Once I'm comfortable with it, I'll plug it in. If the guitar sounds good by itself, I can tweak the electronics to get it to sound good plugged in. If it doesn't, no amount of effort is going to make it sound great. It simply doesn't matter whose name is on the headstock.

 

[Badronald]

I've played a lot of beautiful PRS's, but really none I ever came close to buying, just don't dig the tones. And when I think about it, there are literally no known pro guys I like who played PRS during their peak years, either. There are a few guys who used them briefly like Marty Friedman and Johnny Hiland that I definitely like but their best tones were not on PRS and really they're the kind of guys who sound very similar regardless of gear, it's their playing I dig, not necessarily their "tone." That said, I haven't played one with Duncans in them, that may fix it for me. Total respect for their build quality and looks, but after all these years, I kinda just know they're not my thing.

So I dunno I'd agree they're picky with amps per se, just that their inherent tone is its own thing and not a lot of people's cup of tea.

Their tones are all over the place because the woods and electronics they use vary quite a bit. They have tons of different pickups they use, and that is a huge variable in your final tone.

There is no "PRS tone" just like there is no "Gibson tone." Way too much variety in the the styles, components, etc.

Again, I'm simply sharing my experience and I do this for a living, music is my only gig. I don't dig them and don't know anyone that I like that plays 'em. YMMV.

Agreed. I’ve never played or heard one that I really care for. Not disparaging an entire brand, I just don’t dig them. I’m generalizing, of course. Ive heard some heavy tones that sounded ok. Cleans, not so much. I have a different benchmark.
I don’t even care for the look.