# Have any of you guys ever put emg's/blackouts in a PRS.



## daybean (Jun 23, 2008)

:
yeah i bought a PRS Custom 24 this past week and i was thinking of adding some emg's, and one with the 2 in 1 pickup (for cleans sounds). the guitar looks great and since its mahogany wood why the fuck not, i know the pickups in the guitar allready sound great, but im more of a hard rock, metal kinda sounding player. ive seen some PRS guitars with the emgs and they sure look cool but how do they sound in a PRS.

Would this be a good idea?  or 
Am i  or ?
do i ,  or am i  as


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## OrsusMetal (Jun 23, 2008)

Hahaha, the last of this post made me laugh.

Do it! I'd do it. So...with that logic...you should do it!  
I think it'd sound awesomely heavy.


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## daybean (Jun 23, 2008)

OrsusMetal said:


> Hahaha, the last of this post made me laugh.
> 
> Do it! I'd do it. So...with that logic...you should do it!
> I think it'd sound awesomely heavy.



your logic has just blow my mindhole, and made me second quess my emg switch!!!..........just kidding. i would imagine they will get an even better tone with the great wood and craftmenship the guys over at PRS put into their 3000 dollor guitar customs.


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## guitarjitsumaster (Jun 23, 2008)

Seems like a blasphemous thing to do to a PRS..........SO DO IT! do it now!!!


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## daybean (Jun 23, 2008)

this was the guitar i was to get, but the guy said he wanted the cash like in three days. paypal takes like 4,5 days to transfer money into the paypal. he gave me a super good deal (under 2000 bones) but then he sold it the next guy for almost 600 dollors more.


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## Thrashmanzac (Jun 23, 2008)

my mate has emg's in a tremonti prs, and he swares by it, the only thing he had trouble with was the rotory switch on the prs, so be wary


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## HighGain510 (Jun 23, 2008)

Thrashmanzac said:


> my mate has emg's in a tremonti prs, and he swares by it, the only thing he had trouble with was the rotory switch on the prs, so be wary



That's impossible... unless your friend added an aftermarket rotory switch himself, the Tremonti does not have one.  The Tremonti has a Les Paul control config with a 3-way toggle, two volume and two tone pots.


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## djpharoah (Jun 23, 2008)

I personally wouldn't put emgs in a PRS because EMGs are known to almost totally disregard the woods natural tone. PRS guitars are great sounding guitars which shouldbe exploited with some awesome pickups. Save your money get some BKPs or something passive. Putting EMGs in a PRS is like neutering it. My


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## Nick1 (Jun 23, 2008)

djpharoah said:


> I personally wouldn't put emgs in a PRS because EMGs are known to almost totally disregard the woods natural tone. PRS guitars are great sounding guitars which shouldbe exploited with some awesome pickups. Save your money get some BKPs or something passive. Putting EMGs in a PRS is like neutering it. My



Ding Ding Ding What do we have for him Johnny? 

I have a PRS Single Cut and I wouldnt change the pups if I was paid to. I love the clearity and output. They are great pickups. Even for metal. Opeth Anyone?


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## turmoil (Jun 23, 2008)

I would personally avoid EMGs in a guitar with such excellent wood but at the same time, it's your guitar so do what YOU want with it


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## jaxadam (Jun 23, 2008)

This is coming from a guy who loves PRS and who love EMG, but the thought of EMGs in a PRS kinda makes me cringe. The Dragon I's are probably some of my favorite pickups, and the Santana's aren't bad, either.

But I'd definitely be interested in how it turns out!


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## daybean (Jun 23, 2008)

yeah, i will pass on the emg's on a 1600 dollor guitar i just bought. it doesnt have the prs drangons, i was just giving it a thought, i will however want a different bridge pickup (passive).


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## budda (Jun 23, 2008)

BAREKNUCKLES!

or sell the guitar to me 

gonna go hit up that other thread of yours, i expect pics


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## guitgeek (Jun 23, 2008)

I have 3 prs guitars, 2 mccartys and a cu22. I love the mccarty stock pickups for hard rock, but the dragon 2s in the custom were kinda thin. I had some emgs put in there and changed the switching to 3 way. It's a lot better!


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## daybean (Jun 23, 2008)

well they got the HFS(Hot, Fat and Screams!!!). I think i might have jump out and started talking about changing pickups on a prs guitar i have yet to played. when i get it later this week i will let you know how it sounds through the line 6 flextone on INSANE. If it is to thin or not metal enough i will consider a different pickup, maybe the nailbomb or the SH-4 JB Humbucker.


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## Metal Ken (Jun 23, 2008)

djpharoah said:


> I personally wouldn't put emgs in a PRS because EMGs are known to almost totally disregard the woods natural tone.



I disagree with this. I notice a big difference between my two Schecters, both with different woods, but the common factor being the EMGs. I'm sure its not as big a difference as some other actives or definitely passives, but i think that blackouts would be a great choice, considering they have a higher output pickup and a lower powered preamp than EMG, allowing for more tone of the wood.


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## jaxadam (Jun 24, 2008)

daybean said:


> well they got the HFS(Hot, Fat and Screams!!!). I think i might have jump out and started talking about changing pickups on a prs guitar i have yet to played. when i get it later this week i will let you know how it sounds through the line 6 flextone on INSANE. If it is to thin or not metal enough i will consider a different pickup, maybe the nailbomb or the SH-4 JB Humbucker.



I have heard great things about a JB in a PRS Custom. I was actually going to suggest that, or a SD hybrid like a Distortion/Custom.


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## HighGain510 (Jun 24, 2008)

The HFS, IMO, is one of the worst pickups ever... especially in a PRS.  I've owned a few PRS guitars in my day and every CE-24 that I owned that had the HFS in there stock just killed the guitar for me until I swapped the pickups out. After a pickup swap I had a guitar that looked great, played awesome and SOUNDED great.  Before the pickup swap, I was less than thrilled with the tone. Just keep that in mind when you first try it out... if you like how it plays but the tone isn't your thing, look into some aftermarket pickups (passives ).


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## jaxadam (Jun 24, 2008)

Funny thing is, I've played a few CU24's with the HFS's in them, and some of them sounded TERRIFIC, but some of them sounded horrible. I am just really surprised with the hit or miss PRS has become.

I've always liked the Dragon I's in ANYTHING I played. They are a rocking pickup.

The more and more I'm thinking about this, I think I'm getting GAS for a CU24 with a JB/Custom 5 hybrid in the bridge and a Distortion/Custom hybrid in the neck!


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## HighGain510 (Jun 24, 2008)

Yeah same experience here... the fit and finish is always top notch but not all PRS are created equal when you are talking about tone. Even after pickup swaps a few have been dogs tone-wise.  My buddy has a CE-22 (or CE-24, I forget which now?) with a Custom 5/Jazz combo that sounds awesome.


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## turmoil (Jun 24, 2008)

Metal Ken said:


> I disagree with this. I notice a big difference between my two Schecters, both with different woods, but the common factor being the EMGs. I'm sure its not as big a difference as some other actives or definitely passives, but i think that blackouts would be a great choice, considering they have a higher output pickup and a lower powered preamp than EMG, allowing for more tone of the wood.



I too, notice some slight sound difference between my two les pauls with EMG 81/60 combos. It's mostly that the one has a maple top so that one naturally has a brighter punchier sound, while the other is solid mahogany and has a darker and slightly fuller sound. Overall though, they both give very similar tones though.


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## soldierkahn (Jun 24, 2008)

if youre wanting actives in a prs, i would DEF suggest the blackouts, as they actually incorporate a little bit of the wood into their tone. Moreso than EMG does. 

but its whatver YOU want tonally!


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## Solstafir (Jun 24, 2008)

The purist in me considers this operation even more blaspemic than carving devil horns in a graveyard.. BUT I am also very concerned that whenever we want a difference in tone or sound the first thing we consider is ACTIVE.. I don't exactly like this.. 

It will be different and it definetely will sound unique (as unique emg's can get nowadays now that everyone and their granda uses them) but. From a luthiers point of view, if u see it like a chunk of wood, mahogany and emg's/bo's definetely match. Think of it like taking a '86 Wolkswagen and adding a F1 V8. The car may run as fast as hell, but not quite sure if the car was designed to run like that, even if it works like that.

If the tone out of this guitar is not leaving u satisfied (I mean, u only have it for what, on week or two?) then maybe u should get another guitar. Not all guitars were meant for metal, doesn't necessarily mean they can't, but the world is full with metal guitars of all sorts and shapes. I'd leave this as is, 80% of PRS's guitars are true jewels. In the same vein i would leave a swirl green Universe intact, for example, i would not touch this.. 

Good luck with whatever choice u make, but if u do it, record some samples


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## Uber Mega (Jun 24, 2008)

Being a PRS fanboy through and through...i'd hunt you down and slap you if you switched the HFS/Vintage for EMGs. The stock pups are great for metal and extremely versatile. Nice buy anyway, the custom 22/24s may be completely made by machine, but the woods used are decent quality tone woods and the guitars ooze with elegance.


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## Solstafir (Jun 24, 2008)

Opeth and mr. Akkerfeldt don't mind stock..


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## Ancestor (Jun 24, 2008)

People put EMGs into high end Les Pauls all the time. Why not? I think it will sound better for metal, tighter and more focused. 

And, yeah, the wood makes a difference. They don't sound the same in every guitar. I put EMGs in a mahogany guitar and a basswood guitar and the sounds were different.


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## eightballhemhorrage (Jun 24, 2008)

i build PRS's all day. they are not completely made by machine. all the rough cutting/carving is done by cnc but that is the end of machinework. final body shaping through stringing up is done by hand.

and 'BTW... i had an EMG 81 bolted to my workbench when i was working as a luthier just to prove to people that they disregard wood. there was VERY little difference between old charvels and upper end les pauls or PRS's or any other guitars i had to put them in and the sound coming out of the piece of plywood that my bench was made out of.


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## daybean (Jun 24, 2008)

i went ahead and ordered the seymoure duncan sh-4 jb for the bridge. thats the only one i plan on changing. i dont want to take to much away from the guitar wood tone and i loved the sh-4 jb in my jackson soloist (i use to cover pantera/slayer/metallica/megadeth, etc) with that guitar. However i heard the the HFS pickup sounds "better when coil tapped)


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## jaxadam (Jun 24, 2008)

I think you'll be very happy with a JB in there.

Damn, this lady outside of my office is going off on her phone, holy shit... Someone's getting bitched out...


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## Celiak (Jun 24, 2008)

I did it, in my old Tremonti SE and thought it sounded great, a lot better than what it had stock. It's definitely not their top model, but it surprisingly good now, I use it for drop D pop songs as that's the tone it does best with the EMGs. However, since I prefer passives now I wouldn't do it again, but if that's the sound your going for it will sound great.


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## xXcondemnedXx (Jun 25, 2008)

Solstafir said:


> Opeth and mr. Akkerfeldt don't mind stock..



i think peter had a seymour duncan in the bridge of his prs...


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## B Lopez (Jun 25, 2008)

Might as well try it, it's not like it's irreversible.


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## hairychris (Jun 25, 2008)

I've ordered a calibrated set of Bareknuckle Cold Sweats for my PRS Cu24 with IRW neck. I found that the VB was pants and the HFS wasn't really tight enough. The Cold Sweats should be able to cover metal plus more old school rock tones, and are configured for the 5 way switch.

Really looking forward to this. I love that guitar but it doesn't sound as good as it plays (and, if you like bling, looks).


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## duffman (Oct 18, 2010)

I have a PRS McCarty and a PRS Standard 22 and both guitars have the EMG 81-85 combo. I think it sounds amazing. I haven't found any pickups I like more than EMG. With the right EQ settings they can be quite versatile.


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## MaxOfMetal (Oct 18, 2010)

Please look at the date on the last post before necro-bumping.


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