[mflemmer2]

I'm looking to replace the stock pickups (PRS SE HFS bridge, SE Vintage Bass neck) on my PRS SE Floyd. GREAT guitar, especially for the money, and the pickups aren't terrible, but I do want to upgrade. It has a mahogany body (with maple top), and rosewood fingerboard. I definitely want to keep the tone fairly modern, since I already have a Les Paul and Stratocaster with vintage sounding pickups.

I want the lows to stay tight and articulate even with reasonably high gain, but I don't want extremely dark sounding pickups---the highs are important to me as well. I don't want "ice pick" highs, but neither do I want them to be so fat they lose their edge.The mids can make their presence known (as opposed to scooped), but not be overwhelming. I'd like for pinch and tapped harmonics to be relatively easy to find. Since I play a variety of genres, cleans are somewhat important too, both humbucker and split coil, but I don't expect them to sound like the '57 Classics in my Gibson when clean. I considered the PRS \m/ (metal), but I can't believe they're that much better than the others I'm considering to justify spending around $200 per pickup. I'm mainly looking at Dimarzio, and the pickups I'm most interested in so far are these: Illuminator (neck & bridge--I'm a HUGE John Petrucci fan, and I've heard that these do have PAF traits while sounding modern), Liquifire (neck), Transition (neck & bridge--someone else suggested these, but I'm not sure about the lows with high gain), Mo' Joe (bridge--I've heard the harmonics are great, but what about cleans?), and Steve Morse (bridge).

I'm also considering the following Seymour Duncans: Custom (TB-5 bridge), Jazz (neck--once again, not sure about the lows with high gain), and Sentient (neck--CLEANS?). I may even get a bridge PU from one brand and neck from the other. My 2 preamps are a Peavey Rock Master moded to sound like a hot-rodded Marshall JCM800, and a Mesa Boogie Studio Preamp (Mark IIC+ sounding), along with a Peavey VTX power amp. I also have too many pedals to mention here, but the Boogie is the extent of my available amp gain (although I can goose it with a clean boost), and Dream Theater-like tones are as heavy as I need. Hopefully I'm not asking for too much from one set of pickups. The overdriven tones are my main priority, but I'm obviously looking for versatility, including better cleans than the stock pickups provide. I would like to keep the suggestions primarily between these 2 brands. ANY help is appreciated, and the more detail the better. Thanks in advance!

[DarthPhineas]

From the list of ones you are considering.....

Mo' Joe bridge.

Neck models can be really tricky and a whole different animal, based on the player preference.





I'd also submit the 36th Anniversary

[Monsta-Tone]

Not on your list, but......

When I had my SE Floyd, I had a set of Duncan Parallel Axis pickups in it.  That was a damn fine sounding guitar!
It needed a level and dress, and I didn't want to deal with it, so I took advantage of Musician's Friend's 30 day money back guarantee.

PATB-1n - Neck - Very nice sustain, really nice harmonics, just the right amount of bass and treble to really sound great clean or distorted

PATB-1B - Bridge - Incredible sustain and harmonics!  It's bright, but not like a JB or Duncan Distortion.  Lots of bass too, but never muddy.

I have this same set in my Ibanez JS1000 and they just flat out rock!  I can cover anything from Blues to Santana to Faith No More to Foo Fighters with these pickups.

[buddroyce]

I'd go with the Illuminator set or the Transition set. I personally like the Transition set a bit more than the Illuminator myself but I'm not looking for a super aggressive tone these days and it suits my needs well.

[DarthPhineas]

I'd go with the Illuminator set or the Transition set. I personally like the Transition set a bit more than the Illuminator myself but I'm not looking for a super aggressive tone these days and it suits my needs well.

I just got an Illuminator bridge last week. Have yet to install it. What do you consider some of the biggest similarities and differences between the Illuminator and the Transition?

[mflemmer2]

I'd go with the Illuminator set or the Transition set. I personally like the Transition set a bit more than the Illuminator myself but I'm not looking for a super aggressive tone these days and it suits my needs well.

What do you like better about the Transitions? Also, objectively speaking, what are the differences, both clean and distorted?

[mflemmer2]

Thanks for all the responses so far.  Since my original posting, I've narrowed it down to the following: Dimarzio--Illuminator (bridge & neck), or Steve's Special bridge with Gravity Storm neck. Seymour Duncan--Custom or Pegasus bridge, Sentient neck. I appreciate all responses, but if we could please keep it to these choices, I would appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

[mflemmer2]

Well, it's between the Seymour Duncan Pegasus/Sentient combo and the DiMarzio Illuminator (neck & bridge). Anybody who wants to weigh in, especially those who've tried either of these, feel free!