A tale of two PRS McCarty pup swaps...

dmatthews

dmatthews

Ambassador of Birds
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Welp...
After 6 months of thinkin' about it, I finally committed.
At the time of purchasing my 2019 AP SC SH, I also bought some 58/15LT+ pickups.
I just dropped two guitars and the pups off at my tech's place.

So... These...





Are going into this...



And the pups that come out of the 594 are going into this McRosie...



Even though PRS has since quit making/using the 58/15LT+ in single cuts, I REALLY wanted to try them.
Along with that, I've found the original McCarty pups to be a tad muddy, so this change seemed to fit them both. We shall see in a few days...

And now, a word from Tom Petty...

 
One of my McCartys really came alive with 57/08s in it. Fantastic vintage-sounding humbuckers, ideal for this guitar.
My other McCarty is a korina/Brazilian with some extra upper-midrange snap, and the stock pickups are good for that one.

IMO the McCarty pickups aren't on the same level as any of the 00/00 series.

Many others have said that they feel the stock McCarty humbuckers lack personality.
I think part of that could be due to the A4 magnets; they tend to have a pretty neutral voicing.

Hope the swap is as good as you hoped. Or even better.
 
eclecticsynergy said:
One of my McCartys really came alive with 57/08s in it. Fantastic vintage-sounding humbuckers, ideal for this guitar.
My other McCarty is a korina/Brazilian with some extra upper-midrange snap, and the stock pickups are good for that one.

IMO the McCarty pickups aren't on the same level as any of the 00/00 series.

Many others have said that they feel the stock McCarty humbuckers lack personality.
I think part of that could be due to the A4 magnets; they tend to have a pretty neutral voicing.

Hope the swap is as good as you hoped. Or even better.
Click to expand...
Cheers mate!
My McRosie is a 2001 and I know that later on they started putting 58/15 in them, so I'm thinking/hoping it'll be an upgrade. They sound awesome in the singlecut!
DirtySteve said:
Hope it works out for you. I don't know anything about PRS pickups.
Click to expand...
Thanks mate!
Recent PRS pups (not all) have a numeric name. the 58/15 moniker came about because they were going for a 1958 type of PAF, and it first came out in 2015.
So the 57/08 that @eclecticsynergy referred to are fashioned after a 1957 PAF, and first came out in 2008.
The 57/08 became an instant hit, so they carried on with that style of nomenclature including 59/09, and 53/10 etc...
 
OK... here we go after picking the guitars up and finishing the work day. Both guitars got a minor spa treatment with a fretboard clean and oil, frets dressed, and an intonation tweak. New NYXL 9-42 installed.
Had about 30 mins between both the McCarty and the 594 SC.
I picked up the McCarty first just because I was curious about how the 58/15s would change this guitar. As I stated before the McCarty pups just seemed a bit dark for me.
Well holy carp! The donor 58/15s turned this guitar into EXACTLY what I was hoping for! Definitely more clear and defined. They sound VERY much like they did in the 594 which became my number one. The splits sound excellent and can get into that twang if you want/need it.
For me this was an amazing and excellent upgrade. The McRosie is DEF going to next practice. Success indeed!
Looks wise, the 58/15 with gold is a nice touch as well...




Now on to the 594 SC...
Again, holy carp!
The rumours/statements I read said these 58/15 LT + pups have a bit of a push in upper mids and highs. Well dayum, they most definitely do. You like gain on a PAF? This is the schlitz! They retain the clarity and definition, but push it more "in your face". You can get to that gain easily and pull it back to clean up nicely with the volume knob. I need to play with this one more for sure.
I REALLY like the split tones in all positions with these. I finally like a split neck/bass pup position!



Right now I'm giddy with the results of the experiment. I'll be beating both of these up over the weekend. One thing I hadn't noticed was the new 58/15 LT + pups are slightly brushed, where the original 58/15 LT are glossy.



Gotta say... so far the trepidation around doing this was unfounded and unnecessary. Time will tell, but I firmly believe the plan is/was solid!
YMMV, but, yeah...
 
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dmatthews said:
OK... here we go after picking the guitars up and finishing the work day. Both guitars got a minor spa treatment with a fretboard clean and oil, frets dressed, and an intonation tweak. New NYXL 9-42 installed.
Had about 30 mins between both the McCarty and the 594 SC.
I picked up the McCarty first just because I was curious about how the 58/15s would change this guitar. As I stated before the McCarty pups just seemed a bit dark for me.
Well holy carp! The donor 58/15s turned this guitar into EXACTLY what I was hoping for! Definitely more clear and defined. They sound VERY much like they did in the 594 which became my number one. The splits sound excellent and can get into that twang if you want/need it.
For me this was an amazing and excellent upgrade. The McRosie is DEF going to next practice. Success indeed!
Looks wise, the 58/15 with gold is a nice touch as well...




Now on to the 594 SC...
Again, holy carp!
The rumours/statements I read said these 58/15 LT + pups have a bit of a push in upper mids and highs. Well dayum, they most definitely do. You like gain on a PAF? This is the schlitz! They retain the clarity and definition, but push it more "in your face". You can get to that gain easily and pull it back to clean up nicely with the volume knob. I need to play with this one more for sure.
I REALLY like the split tones in all positions with these. I finally like a split neck/bass pup position!



Right now I'm giddy with the results of the experiment. I'll be beating both of these up over the weekend. One thing I hadn't noticed was the new 58/15 LT + pups are slightly brushed, where the original 58/15 LT are glossy.



Gotta say... so far the trepidation around doing this was unfounded and unnecessary. Time will tell, but I firmly believe the plan is/was solid!
YMMV, but, yeah...
Click to expand...
I like the 58-15 LT my 594 sounds like a real Burst

IMG_3339.JPG
 
Here's my gaggle of 594 guitars...
The one on the left is a 2017 Wood Library with rosewood neck, ziricote fretboard, smoke chrome hardware, and satin finish.
The HB is a 2021 non 10 top.
Then there's the 2018 soapbar (insane).
And finally the 2019 Artist pack semihollow singlecut with ebony board.

 
Last edited:
dmatthews said:
Here's my gaggle of 594 guitars...
The one on the left is a 2017 Wood Library with rosewood neck, ziricote fretboard, smoke chrome hardware, and satin finish.
The HB is a 2021 non 10 top.
Then there's the 2018 soapbar (insane).
And finally the 2019 Artist pack semihollow singlecut with ebony board.

Click to expand...
I love that P90 pup one on the end. I wanted a wine red with cream accents one they made so bad. I just can’t get a neck from them I like, tried them all. I wanted to like those more than any other guitar because it was perfect, just what I wanted.
 
Ampeq said:
I love that P90 pup one on the end. I wanted a wine red with cream accents one they made so bad. I just can’t get a neck from them I like, tried them all. I wanted to like those more than any other guitar because it was perfect, just what I wanted.
Click to expand...
Yeah, the 594 Soapy is one of my fav guitars indeed! The 594 has a neck on most all models called Pattern Vintage. It's a bigger neck than some but fits me really well. The only one I know of that's different is the S2 594 Thinline model. This model has a Pattern thin neck which may be closer to what you like, but no P90 option. :cautious:
 
dmatthews said:
Yeah, the 594 Soapy is one of my fav guitars indeed! The 594 has a neck on most all models called Pattern Vintage. It's a bigger neck than some but fits me really well. The only one I know of that's different is the S2 594 Thinline model. This model has a Pattern thin neck which may be closer to what you like, but no P90 option. :cautious:
Click to expand...
I think they had a total of 4 necks when I tried them. It wasn't the thickness, it was the shape. Might have been more like a Carvin neck than a Gibson neck. I know I tried them all because I was willing to special order one with the right neck if I had found it.
 
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