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**Ward** · 04-04-2010, 11:16 PM

You will get a lot more responses if you post this in the pickup makers section, anyway:
Metal covers eat highs, brass is the worst, nickel silver is supposedly the least treble killer. Plastic covers will sound the same as no covers. Open metal covers should be the same as no covers. If you take the covers off you should hear a more open sound with a tad more airy tops, ie, more treble, if you like the sound then just go for the open gold metal I reckon. No worries about pole spacing and they look pretty sharp IMO. Of course this depends on what colour the pickup bobbins are as to whether open covers are what you want. You just have to take the cover off and see what you think of the tone, you will definitely hear a difference though.

**proffett** · 04-05-2010, 04:04 AM

Thanks for the reply... I haven't had a chance to mess with the les paul at all for a couple of weeks, but I will probably go ahead and remove the stock covers and try them out, before making any decisions as far as replacing them.
If I don't end up liking what that does for them I'll probably opt for a set of P-90s instead, and forgo the McCartys altogether.

Cheers
Dan

**Steve Conner** · 04-06-2010, 11:42 AM

Why would you bother putting PRS pickups into another guitar? The general consensus seems to be that since PRS started making their own, they're not that good. Too overwound and dark sounding. Taking the covers off would help that, I guess. But it looked to me as if they put wax inside the cover to stop microphonics, and that might make your life a bit harder.

I just took the stock bridge pickup out of my McCarty, replaced it with a Duncan Alnico 2 Pro, and I think it made a huge improvement. It sounds more like the Les Paul tone you hear on records. Still can't decide whether to junk the neck one, though.

**David Schwab** · 04-06-2010, 04:59 PM

Originally posted by proffett View Post

...but I was looking at the plain black plastic covers at Mojomusic.com... or possibly the open faced metal ones. How does the cover affect tone...

The metal cover makes the pickup a little less bright and flattens the resonant peak. I think it makes them sound drab. You will get a better tone with the open top covers or even the plastic ones. But if you are going to use plastic, just take the covers off and leave them off.

I know covers are the fad these days, but people started taking the covers off of humbuckers for a reason. Pickups sounded better without them.

And I second what Steve says, the PRS pickups are not so good. Might be about the same as the Epis.

**David Schwab** · 04-06-2010, 05:01 PM

Originally posted by Steve Conner View Post

Still can't decide whether to junk the neck one, though.

The neck AIIP is the best part! Dark neck pickups suck.

**proffett** · 04-07-2010, 11:31 AM

Thanks for the replies...
I actually have decided to go with P-90's (Phat Cats or HD Z-90's) in the Epi, and put the Epi pickups, sans covers, in my project guitar. (It's gonna have chrome or black hardware anyways.)
I will have to say, however, that every PRS that I've played (granted, only a handful) has sounded pretty sweet (to my ears) with stock pickups. Perhaps transplanting the pups from a PRS into a different guitar would be detrimental to the sound, I don't know... but at any rate, moot point, I'm not gonna do it...
I appreciate your advice, and be prepared for more asinine and annoying questions to come...

Thanks

Dan

**David Schwab** · 04-09-2010, 05:30 PM

Originally posted by proffett View Post

I will have to say, however, that every PRS that I've played (granted, only a handful) has sounded pretty sweet (to my ears) with stock pickups.

have you heard the same guitar with aftermarket pickups? Like night and day.

One of the guitarist in my band has two new PRS Custom 24's, and he's already changed the pickups out, and the guitars sound better.

**LtKojak** · 04-10-2010, 08:07 AM

Originally posted by proffett View Post

Thanks for the replies...
I actually have decided to go with P-90's (Phat Cats or HD Z-90's) in the Epi, and put the Epi pickups, sans covers, in my project guitar. (It's gonna have chrome or black hardware anyways.)
I will have to say, however, that every PRS that I've played (granted, only a handful) has sounded pretty sweet (to my ears) with stock pickups. Perhaps transplanting the pups from a PRS into a different guitar would be detrimental to the sound, I don't know... but at any rate, moot point, I'm not gonna do it...
I appreciate your advice, and be prepared for more asinine and annoying questions to come...

Thanks

Dan

I think Epi p'ups are the worst stock p'ups EVER to be found in any guitar.

The only way to make'em sound DECENT is to take off the covers, all the excess wax and change the magnets and screw polepieces.

The neck ones are particulary badly designed, as they're way too hot wound to that spot. Mine measured anywhere from 8.25K to 8.5K, when the "sweet spot" lie from 7.2K to 7.6K.

The brass baseplate and specially the slugs are the muddiest sounding of all p'ups I've come in contact with (I'm talking about several dozens here, I'm a guitar tech).

Bottom line: unless you play mainstream jazz with all the highs rolled off, don't even bother using'em.

Word of advice: sell those PRS p'ups and get some second-hand Duncan p'ups... your ears will thank you forever!

HTH,

**Steve Conner** · 04-10-2010, 10:31 AM

OK, so on Dave's advice I changed my neck pickup out too. Hell yeah!

I used the stock pickups for years, but I think they were just too dark and muddy. The Duncan ones just sound the way a humbucker ought to.

But to give the PRS pickups their due, the bridge one was excellent for high gain. Maybe PRS designed them to sound good with Mesa amps or something. But with lower gain, the Alnico 2 Pros sound so much better that I can live with it.

Maybe I'm imagining it, but it seems as if the new pickups improved the tone of the guitar even when it's unplugged! The tone seems brighter and it sustains longer. I guess pickups with strong magnets and covers could damp the strings, turning the energy into eddy current losses in the covers.

The McCarty neck pickup measured 7.7k DCR, and the bridge was 8.something, I forget. I actually expected it to be higher than that from its sound.

The Duncans are 7.6k and 7.85k.

**proffett** · 04-11-2010, 03:33 AM

Originally posted by David Schwab View Post

have you heard the same guitar with aftermarket pickups? Like night and day.

I don't doubt it... I rewired a guitar (Ibanez Prestige) for a friend not too long ago that had a DiMarzio and 2 SD pickups in place of the stock pups.. it was a huge difference... I've just never personally had the opportunity to play a pRS with aftermarket pickups of any kind, I'm just commenting that the stock guitars I have played all sounded great to me, so I really have nothing to go on as far as a side by side PRS comparison...
I do know that the McCarty's I was looking at were pretty hot by most standards... both metered over 8.5k, so it sounds like it is just as well that I didn't pick them up.
I'm going to pull the covers off of the stock Epi pups, and try them out in my Custom, but eventually will go with a P-90 of some sort in that guitar, I think, and put the Epi pups in the project guitar, until something better comes along. I don't have much experience with aftermarket guitar pickups, but I do have a set of SD Quarter Pounders in my Aerodyne bass, and the difference that made was absolutely incredible. I will definitely be putting a set of those in any other bass I may come into in the future.
The only guitar pickups I've replaced on my own guitars was a set of GFS Lil Punchers I put in a MIM Tele I had for a while... they sounded OK, but I didn't keep the guitar long enough to really get to know the pickups.

**David Schwab** · 04-12-2010, 05:53 AM

Originally posted by LtKojak View Post

I think Epi p'ups are the worst stock p'ups EVER to be found in any guitar.

I think that distinction goes to the pickups that were in my FirstAct GarageMaster. Total mud. Between too much wax, and a plastic top over the bobbins that puts them too far from the strings, and weak ass magnets, they were just awful.

They looked nice though.

**David Schwab** · 04-12-2010, 05:53 AM

Originally posted by Steve Conner View Post

OK, so on Dave's advice I changed my neck pickup out too. Hell yeah!

**movek1** · 04-19-2010, 01:27 AM

i dont know if someone already gave you this advice but i just changed some covers for some mcarty pickups
first off you can find perfect matches, it will be gibson made and i think it was called a neck pickup spacing 030 part number or something like that. you can get them in chrome, nickel, and gold and i found them on ebay for about $15 each.
The customer wanted new pickup covers because the old ones were pretty nasty.
I will tell you your going to need a serious soldering gun to get the old covers off, they solder the base of the covers to the base of the pickups, and they do a good job

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