PRS McCarty Pickup Replacement

[mermer]

Hi all,

I have a new McCarty stoptail which I truly enjoy playing unplugged. It’s currently in D Standard / Drop C with 11-54 (I will put 56 for low E in the next setup). The only issue is the 58/15LT pickups; in my current setup they just do not work. For ambient, clean, melody type of playing they are good but for hard rock / metal riffage they sound too mid scooped, boomy in the lows, stuffy in the highs, worst of all worlds. Besides they cannot hold together under high gain. My main amp is a Wizard MTL MKII, though it performs better with IRJ, still not satisfactory.

So I would like to change the pickups. Not sure if I should aim a vintage-hot or a medium output set. I would like to play tunes in the vein of Mastodon; tight riffage but also some melodies with open strings etc. I have a Bare Knuckle Rebel Yell in stock which I reserve for a les paul but I can try that first. Polymath’s are sounding great in AnaLogEddie’s videos, so it’s another candidate. I am also eyeing the Riff-Raff’s which I am curious due to the description of Tim Mills’ in Tone Talk.

Let me know your experiences and suggestions!

 

[sandman]

I added a duncan ‘59 set to my Mccarty when I had it. It was a nice upgrade in my opinion

 

[jski59]

I put a set of Aldrich's in my old McCarty stoptail and they were a great match...sustain for days.

 

[SFW]

If you want to stay in the PRS world, the Tremonti bridge is nice. I had one in my McCarty years ago. If you want to leave PRS world, the Afwayu is nice as well.

 

[mermer]

I added a duncan ‘59 set to my Mccarty when I had it. It was a nice upgrade in my opinion

I put a set of Aldrich's in my old McCarty stoptail and they were a great match...sustain for days.

If you want to stay in the PRS world, the Tremonti bridge is nice. I had one in my McCarty years ago. If you want to leave PRS world, the Afwayu is nice as well.

59 sounds nice. I am curious how overwounded pickups like aldrich and afwayu would perform in Drop C tuning with thicker strings. I afraid the guitar sounding too compressed and dark. Maybe that’s my lack of experience on higher output pickups

 

[Sixstringflannel]

Had the exact same issue as you when I got my McCarty. Threw a tremonti in the bridge and I love it. I can roll the volume down and clean it up if need be. Still sorting out the neck for either a tremonti neck or a polymath neck.

 

[SgtThump]

59 sounds nice. I am curious how overwounded pickups like aldrich and afwayu would perform in Drop C tuning with thicker strings. I afraid the guitar sounding too compressed and dark. Maybe that’s my lack of experience on higher output pickups

Anytime I've tried high output pickups, they do indeed sound compressed and dark to me. I hate that. I have defaulted to a Duncan 59 set in several previous guitars and they are kinda the opposite of compressed and dark. They are very open and bright to me, but scooped in the mids with big lows. Exactly as everyone describes. I love them personally.

 

[harddriver]

Anytime I've tried high output pickups, they do indeed sound compressed and dark to me. I hate that. I have defaulted to a Duncan 59 set in several previous guitars and they are kinda the opposite of compressed and dark. They are very open and bright to me, but scooped in the mids with big lows. Exactly as everyone describes. I love them personally.

Didn't you test drive a SD Whole Lotta Humbucker recently? What did you think of that P/U? I really like mine, it has just enough output without pushing the mids and compression when you overwind past PAF levels.

 

[SgtThump]

Didn't you test drive a SD Whole Lotta Humbucker recently? What did you think of that P/U? I really like mine.

Yes! Actually, the 59s in my LP Custom weren't sounding as good to me as other guitars. That guitar is kinda bright and scooped on it's own and the 59 set was too much.

I replaced them with the Whole Lotta Humbucker set I had. They sound much better in the LP Custom. More mids and still bright in a good way. Makes it a great hard rock guitar!

 

[SgtThump]

Didn't you test drive a SD Whole Lotta Humbucker recently? What did you think of that P/U? I really like mine, it has just enough output without pushing the mids and compression when you overwind past PAF levels.

I still want to try those Duncan 78 pickups you turned me on to in one of my guitars.

 

[mermer]

Had the exact same issue as you when I got my McCarty. Threw a tremonti in the bridge and I love it. I can roll the volume down and clean it up if need be. Still sorting out the neck for either a tremonti neck or a polymath neck.

Tremonti is also an option I do not like the Ceramic magnet stiffness. I am very biased towards Alnico V but both tremonti and \m/ is very beloved in the PRS community so there might be a reason.

Yes! Actually, the 59s in my LP Custom weren't sounding as good to me as other guitars. That guitar is kinda bright and scooped on it's own and the 59 set was too much.

I replaced them with the Whole Lotta Humbucker set I had. They sound much better in the LP Custom. More mids and still bright in a good way. Makes it a great hard rock guitar!

I am curious about Whole Lotta Humbucker as well. My McCarty sounds different than my Les Paul's though. It feels like it has more upper mids and treble unplugged. T-Tops in my 71 Les Paul Custom sounds immense in that guitar, not sure a similar pickup would sound that good in the PRS. A bit more compression and guts might be beneficial in this guitar.