Specs for PRS Dragon II pickups?

  • Thread starter Thread starter jforsythe
  • Start date Start date
J

jforsythe

New member
I have an '05 CU22 with Dragon II pickups. I like the output but I don't care for the tone, so I'd like to find a replacement pickup comparable in output. I don't see the specs listed anywhere on the internet, including the PRS website. Does anyone know what the magnet type, DC Resistance, and Resonant Peak are? Thanks.
 
How's this for a late reply? :D I was just using Google to try to find out what magnets are in the Dragon II pickups, and it seems I was hitting dead ends...but I did find this post and a couple on HC as well (which had no answers).

The Dragon II bridge pickup reads around 12K ohms and the neck reads around 9K ohms. That being said, that's not an "output reading" but only a resistance reading. Depending on the thickness of wire, how many turns, and how strong the magnets are, the output could vary a lot (other pickups which read around 12K ohms can be fairly "low output" or even on the "high output" side of things).

The Dragon II bridge pickup has a sound and response which seems to me as though it has a ceramic magnet (based on comparisons very recently with other pickups in the same guitars, in which I've swapped A2/A5/ceramic magnets to hear the differences). I may swap magnets in the Dragon II bridge pickup with an A2 and an A5 I have on hand to hear the differences, since I'm also not very fond of its sound (and that might be an easy out for me rather than finding another pickup, since I have extra magnets on hand and can re-pot the pickups in wax). If I do hear significant differences in the ways I expect, I can pretty much be certain that the magnet in it is a ceramic. As for what I'd do with the neck pickup, I'm unsure of that. I'll report back in a few days after I've decided what I'm going to do with these pickups.

As for pickups similar in output overall, here's a list you can refer to:

-Duncan Custom (would be somewhat less upper-mid heavy but have the same overall attack/feel)
-Duncan Custom 5 or Gibson 498T (these are similar sounding/feeling pickups, and would be darker/growlier/not as smooth sounding overall)
-Duncan Screamin Demon (would have more of a treble type clang to the attack instead of an upper mid type of clang that the Dragon II has)
-Dimarzio Breed (similar to the Screamin Demon but darker/growlier/not as smooth sounding)
-Dimarzio PAF Pro (similar upper mid emphasis as the Dragon II but not as pronounced, less clank on the attack, a bit growlier sounding)

Those are all in the general realm of the Dragon II bridge pickup for output levels. The Custom, Custom 5, 498T might seem somewhat higher in output but it's hard for me to say.
 
I just found this on the PRS site, in the FAQ:

"Dragon II Treble: Stock on Custom 22s, CE 22s and Standard 22s. The nickel silver cover and months of tweaking have resulted in an alnico pickup with McCarty like tones and a little more output."

So much for it having a ceramic magnet. :p
 
JamesPeters":6d096 said:
How's this for a late reply? :D I was just using Google to try to find out what magnets are in the Dragon II pickups, and it seems I was hitting dead ends...but I did find this post and a couple on HC as well (which had no answers).

The Dragon II bridge pickup reads around 12K ohms and the neck reads around 9K ohms. That being said, that's not an "output reading" but only a resistance reading. Depending on the thickness of wire, how many turns, and how strong the magnets are, the output could vary a lot (other pickups which read around 12K ohms can be fairly "low output" or even on the "high output" side of things).

The Dragon II bridge pickup has a sound and response which seems to me as though it has a ceramic magnet (based on comparisons very recently with other pickups in the same guitars, in which I've swapped A2/A5/ceramic magnets to hear the differences). I may swap magnets in the Dragon II bridge pickup with an A2 and an A5 I have on hand to hear the differences, since I'm also not very fond of its sound (and that might be an easy out for me rather than finding another pickup, since I have extra magnets on hand and can re-pot the pickups in wax). If I do hear significant differences in the ways I expect, I can pretty much be certain that the magnet in it is a ceramic. As for what I'd do with the neck pickup, I'm unsure of that. I'll report back in a few days after I've decided what I'm going to do with these pickups.

As for pickups similar in output overall, here's a list you can refer to:

-Duncan Custom (would be somewhat less upper-mid heavy but have the same overall attack/feel)
-Duncan Custom 5 or Gibson 498T (these are similar sounding/feeling pickups, and would be darker/growlier/not as smooth sounding overall)
-Duncan Screamin Demon (would have more of a treble type clang to the attack instead of an upper mid type of clang that the Dragon II has)
-Dimarzio Breed (similar to the Screamin Demon but darker/growlier/not as smooth sounding)
-Dimarzio PAF Pro (similar upper mid emphasis as the Dragon II but not as pronounced, less clank on the attack, a bit growlier sounding)

Those are all in the general realm of the Dragon II bridge pickup for output levels. The Custom, Custom 5, 498T might seem somewhat higher in output but it's hard for me to say.
Click to expand...

+1 to this. May I suggest a Duncan Custom Custom in the bridge and a Duncan Jazz in the neck? I just put this combo in my Custom 22. I felt the Dragon II's were a bit flubby, and had a characteristic that I didn't like, that I couldn't put my finger on.

The Custom Custom is very tight, articulate, and not as hot as the Dragon II's. It feels much better to play. The Jazz in the neck of the CU22 is just heaven for leads and clean passages. Tapped, I got some very bluesy sounding tones with the tone backed off a bit in the middle position. I'm putting this combo in our guitarist's CU22 tomorrow.



BTW, James, your avatar kicks fuckin ass.
 
Necro Thread alert! I swapped in an UOA5 in a Dragon II bridge pup. My DC res went from 12.8 to 13.1. The magnet that came out is definitely alnico and is polished. I'm thinking either A4 or A5, personally I think its an A5 from how bright it was. Anyways, I think the UOA5 should smooth it out some.
 
zakmichael":jrf8vwis said:
Necro Thread alert! I swapped in an UOA5 in a Dragon II bridge pup. My DC res went from 12.8 to 13.1. The magnet that came out is definitely alnico and is polished. I'm thinking either A4 or A5, personally I think its an A5 from how bright it was. Anyways, I think the UOA5 should smooth it out some.
Click to expand...

Necro indeed!

2% difference in resistance reading is nothing significant. If you had heated the pickup (to re-flow the wax, or re-pot it), the resistance reading would be different while the pickup is at a higher temperature. If you'd measured it several times (turning your meter on and off or re-calibrating it) before and after the swap, you'd see the reading remained the same. The readings will differ a slight bit since you're measuring the resistance of an inductor (and there's the idea of how good the connection is to the meter's leads at the time of the reading, if the meter is really sensitive to measuring resistance of an inductor, etc.), but measuring a bunch of times you'd see it's the same overall.

Unoriented A5 would make it warmer and a bit less peaky for sure. Not that my memory of the pickup is clear anymore since I haven't used it in 9 years. :) But yeah you can expect that with unoriented A5 vs "normal" oriented A5.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top