*Help Needed* PRS SE Kingfisher pickup upgrade..

[PRS-Man23]

Hey all,
I’m really hoping someone here has some experience with the PRS SE Kingfisher bass, more importantly with replacement pickup options...

These pickups are PRS designed Humbuckers, but I’m just not satisfied with the output & Tone no matter what I do.
I love the bass, and want to put in a new set of pickups and re-wire but I’m lost....
I can’t seem to find pickups in the right size, dimensions are 3.5”x1.5” (taken from another forum) and will
Double check when I get home from work.

Has anyone changed out these pickups, and if so....what fits?!?

Thanks for your time & help!
-Michael

 

[eastcoasteddie]

3.5” x 1.5” is an EMG 35 size

EMG 35PX 5String XSeries Pickup - Best Bass Gear

so anything labeled as EMG 35 size should fit
Many pickup manufacturers make models of this size, EMG of course, Bartolini, Seymour Duncan, etc...as well as different styles like ceramic soap bars, AlNiCo dual-jazz, split coils...

 

[PRS-Man23]

Thanks so much for the help

3.5” x 1.5” is an EMG 35 size

EMG 35PX 5String XSeries Pickup - Best Bass Gear

so anything labeled as EMG 35 size should fit
Many pickup manufacturers make models of this size, EMG of course, Bartolini, Seymour Duncan, etc...as well as different styles like ceramic soap bars, AlNiCo dual-jazz, split coils...

! That’s exactly what I was looking for...
-Michael

 

[Claymore]

Hey all,
I’m really hoping someone here has some experience with the PRS SE Kingfisher bass, more importantly with replacement pickup options...
View attachment 3666108

These pickups are PRS designed Humbuckers, but I’m just not satisfied with the output & Tone no matter what I do.
I love the bass, and want to put in a new set of pickups and re-wire but I’m lost....
I can’t seem to find pickups in the right size, dimensions are 3.5”x1.5” (taken from another forum) and will
Double check when I get home from work.

Has anyone changed out these pickups, and if so....what fits?!?

Thanks for your time & help!
-Michael

I just replaced mine with EMG HZ JB

Hey all,
I’m really hoping someone here has some experience with the PRS SE Kingfisher bass, more importantly with replacement pickup options...
View attachment 3666108

These pickups are PRS designed Humbuckers, but I’m just not satisfied with the output & Tone no matter what I do.
I love the bass, and want to put in a new set of pickups and re-wire but I’m lost....
I can’t seem to find pickups in the right size, dimensions are 3.5”x1.5” (taken from another forum) and will
Double check when I get home from work.

Has anyone changed out these pickups, and if so....what fits?!?

Thanks for your time & help!
-Michael

I just replaced mine a half-hour ago with EMG 35HZ JB pickups. First impression... DRAMATIC improvement. All the noise that the original pickups caused is gone and the EMGs have none of the "sterility" complained about by some users. They sound punchy and harmonic. Pair those with some Fodera strings and that bass turns into a workhorse.

 

[Swindon_yongguk]

I just replaced mine with EMG HZ JB

I just replaced mine a half-hour ago with EMG 35HZ JB pickups. First impression... DRAMATIC improvement. All the noise that the original pickups caused is gone and the EMGs have none of the "sterility" complained about by some users. They sound punchy and harmonic. Pair those with some Fodera strings and that bass turns into a workhorse.

Did you have to use different potentiometers and capacitors? I'm about to replace my pickups, but I know the current pickups are actually single coils with a dummy second coil. Would anything need to be changed if I dropped in actual humbuckers?

 

[Claymore]

Did you have to use different potentiometers and capacitors? I'm about to replace my pickups, but I know the current pickups are actually single coils with a dummy second coil. Would anything need to be changed if I dropped in actual humbuckers?

I did swap out every pot with better quality ones but I did not change the values. Capacitor stays the same. If you keep all the electronics stock and only swap out the pickups, you'll be fine. These pickups (passive EMGs) don't get a lot of love in the forums but I swear they sound incredible on this particular bass. I own 9 basses and this is now my best sounding and quietest one. I put on Fodera Nickels so your mileage may vary depending on what strings you use. Highly recommend those strings paired with those pickups.

 

[Swindon_yongguk]

I did swap out every pot with better quality ones but I did not change the values. Capacitor stays the same. If you keep all the electronics stock and only swap out the pickups, you'll be fine. These pickups (passive EMGs) don't get a lot of love in the forums but I swear they sound incredible on this particular bass. I own 9 basses and this is now my best sounding and quietest one. I put on Fodera Nickels so your mileage may vary depending on what strings you use. Highly recommend those strings paired with those pickups.

Thanks very much! I've ordered the pickups and strings, so I'll give it a go

 

[Kurt Weber]

I am in the exact dilemma. My local shop said they won't touch it because the pickups are proprietary basically.

Have you had any luck replacing yours? I love playing this thing, but yeah, that limited sound/tone....my wife hates it!!!

I'm considering a Kiesel Icon or LB series, but not being able to play it makes me a bit nervous.

EDIT-the whole page hadn't loaded. apologies as I read all of the replies...

 

[Rod Barchetta]

I just swapped the stock pick ups with Seymour Duncan SSB-4 soapbar passive pick ups. The difference was AMAZING. All I did was wire nut them in and MAN what a difference. The bottom that was missing before is there now with pretty of treble. No noise at all. Plenty of punch. I thought the original pick ups were very one dimensional and sounded too much like a guitar and not enough like a bass.

The SSB-4 pick ups slid in perfectly without any issue. The springs behind the pick up were pretty poor and the pots on my bass were also pretty poor. Hard to believe on a bass built this well. I am having my local luthier change all the pots to top line Seymour Duncan YJM using the best wire. He is also putting in foam pads beneath the pick-ups to push them up evenly and firmly. Pick up position relative to the strings is critical for the best sound. When I get it back, she is going to be my number one.

 

[Morosini]

I just swapped the stock pick ups with Seymour Duncan SSB-4 soapbar passive pick ups. The difference was AMAZING. All I did was wire nut them in and MAN what a difference. The bottom that was missing before is there now with pretty of treble. No noise at all. Plenty of punch. I thought the original pick ups were very one dimensional and sounded too much like a guitar and not enough like a bass.

The SSB-4 pick ups slid in perfectly without any issue. The springs behind the pick up were pretty poor and the pots on my bass were also pretty poor. Hard to believe on a bass built this well. I am having my local luthier change all the pots to top line Seymour Duncan YJM using the best wire. He is also putting in foam pads beneath the pick-ups to push them up evenly and firmly. Pick up position relative to the strings is critical for the best sound. When I get it back, she is going to be my number one.

How funny, just bought a pair of the Duncan ssb-4's for my Kingfisher. Glad to know they fit tonally and literally with the bass!

 

[Obese Chess]

As others have stated, those are standard EMG humbucker size - you have plenty of options.

 

[Rod Barchetta]

How funny, just bought a pair of the Duncan ssb-4's for my Kingfisher. Glad to know they fit tonally and literally with the bass!

I would make one recommendation. The springs under the original pick ups are a little cheesy. I recommend using some foam under the pickups to give a nice even pressure so you can get the spacing to the strings just right. (I used some of the foam that came in the packaging for the pick ups.)

I'm waiting on my luthier to get in the best Seymour Duncan pots and wiring in so he can swap it out. Then she will be perfect.

I really like the sound of these pick ups. They maintained the clarity while giving a much fuller, warmer, and beefy sound. I think you are going to be very happy with the outcome.

 

[Morosini]

I would make one recommendation. The springs under the original pick ups are a little cheesy. I recommend using some foam under the pickups to give a nice even pressure so you can get the spacing to the strings just right. (I used some of the foam that came in the packaging for the pick ups.)

I'm waiting on my luthier to get in the best Seymour Duncan pots and wiring in so he can swap it out. Then she will be perfect.

I really like the sound of these pick ups. They maintained the clarity while giving a much fuller, warmer, and beefy sound. I think you are going to be very happy with the outcome.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[rbrown1969]

Nordstrand Big Splits!

I love my Kingfisher. The stock pickups sound great when practicing at home (although not a lot of sonic variation from neck to bridge) and they look fantastic. However, when playing on stage they are a problem. They are very low output which is an issue if you are plugging directly into a PA system. Worse, they are extremely noisy around electronically-controlled lights.

I went for the Nordstrand Big Splits. They fit perfectly and it only took about 15 minutes to do the swap. I also added some extra foam under each pickup to firm them up a bit.

Wow - this is now the perfect bass. Since the Big Splits are (obviously) split coil, using just the neck results in a vintage P-Bass sound. Using adding the bridge gives a modern J-bass sound. I couldn't believe the difference. When playing at home through a Fender Rumble on clean (not loud), my wall pictures started shaking. It was tough forking out the $$$ for these, but sometimes you get what you pay for.

These look great with their offset pole pieces. I couldn't be happier. This is now the perfect passive bass.

 

[Bass Canuck]

I do believe that the Aguilar G3 pickups will fit as they are a replacement for the EMG 35s.

 

[Rod Barchetta]

Has anyone ever installed a Bartolini HR3.3/918 pre-amp in a Kingfisher? I lover my Seymour Duncan SSB-4 pickups, but all my other basses are active. This would give me the active or passive option.

Any comments?

 

[Rod Barchetta]

Has anyone ever installed a Bartolini HR3.3/918 pre-amp in a Kingfisher? I lover my Seymour Duncan SSB-4 pickups, but all my other basses are active. This would give me the active or passive option.

Any comments?

It was one of the best decisions I have ever made. This bass is untouchable now. After my 70 year old luthier wired in the Bartolini preamp, he thought he would set the action and intonation as a favor to me. He didn't touch it; he said it was the best set up on a bass guitar he had ever seen. I only needed 9V to get the sound EXACTLY the way I want it. It expanded the tonal range of the bass through the stratosphere. And it is crystal clear, not even a hint of noise.

 

[rbrown1969]

Swapped mine for Nordstram Big Splits. This completely fixed the noise problem, increased output (so I can plug straight into DI without a preamp), and greatly increased tonal variety. This is the perfect bass now!

 

[Bret64]

The comments I read on people not liking the sound of the original pups surprises me.
I have a number of basses that give me traditional bass sounds and what I like about the Kingfisher (apart from the excellent fit finish and feel) is how it does sound different. Mine is incredibly punchy and has a very detailed sound. I like a very sensitive to play sound and due to this most of my bass playing compatriots are not keen on my setup. Its not forgiving at all, you screw up and everyone hears it. But for me it makes my playing so much more detailed and nuanced.
The problem with these pickups is (as others have mentioned) the hum or R/F noise. To get the punch and sensitivity I have to run the pots at full and Gain and tone control with my rack preamp. Which is what I've generally always done anyway. We checked the pickups, wiring and pots. The pots were Alpha which I've used before and have been ok. These however appeared to be Linear taper rather than Audio taper which was pretty unhelpful. We swapped all three out for CTS 500k Audio taper pots. Used a higher quality shielded wire and shielded the entire wiring cavity and pickup cavities with copper tape. The pickups themselves are not humbuckers at all. The only operational part of the pickups is a single coil in each. They dont seem to have even bothered to set them up using a dummy coil. When you put a multimeter onto one of sets of poles it goes straight to earth. The live poles dont.

I totally understand that guys want a more traditional sound than the factory sound from this bass but for me this is a sound I've been after and love.

I've emailed and messaged PRS but they dont seem interested in responding to me. I'm just interested in the thinking behind what they did with these pups. I mean, why not just put single coil pups in it in the first place?
Rather than Mock Humbuckers. They list the pickups on their website as Humbuckers, but they definitely are not.

I thought that being of Korean manufacture they might be Artec's, an excellent Korean company that makes a large range of pickups from good quality OEM through to Hand wound top of the range ones. But I've been informed that they are not Artecs. Two sources have led me to believe they are of Chinese manufacture but I haven't confirmed this yet.

If anyone has any extra info or has had contact with PRS I'd love to hear from you.

 

[Rod Barchetta]

The comments I read on people not liking the sound of the original pups surprises me.
I have a number of basses that give me traditional bass sounds and what I like about the Kingfisher (apart from the excellent fit finish and feel) is how it does sound different. Mine is incredibly punchy and has a very detailed sound. I like a very sensitive to play sound and due to this most of my bass playing compatriots are not keen on my setup. Its not forgiving at all, you screw up and everyone hears it. But for me it makes my playing so much more detailed and nuanced.
The problem with these pickups is (as others have mentioned) the hum or R/F noise. To get the punch and sensitivity I have to run the pots at full and Gain and tone control with my rack preamp. Which is what I've generally always done anyway. We checked the pickups, wiring and pots. The pots were Alpha which I've used before and have been ok. These however appeared to be Linear taper rather than Audio taper which was pretty unhelpful. We swapped all three out for CTS 500k Audio taper pots. Used a higher quality shielded wire and shielded the entire wiring cavity and pickup cavities with copper tape. The pickups themselves are not humbuckers at all. The only operational part of the pickups is a single coil in each. They dont seem to have even bothered to set them up using a dummy coil. When you put a multimeter onto one of sets of poles it goes straight to earth. The live poles dont.

I totally understand that guys want a more traditional sound than the factory sound from this bass but for me this is a sound I've been after and love.

I've emailed and messaged PRS but they dont seem interested in responding to me. I'm just interested in the thinking behind what they did with these pups. I mean, why not just put single coil pups in it in the first place?
Rather than Mock Humbuckers. They list the pickups on their website as Humbuckers, but they definitely are not.

I thought that being of Korean manufacture they might be Artec's, an excellent Korean company that makes a large range of pickups from good quality OEM through to Hand wound top of the range ones. But I've been informed that they are not Artecs. Two sources have led me to believe they are of Chinese manufacture but I haven't confirmed this yet.

If anyone has any extra info or has had contact with PRS I'd love to hear from you.

View attachment 4597733 View attachment 4597734 View attachment 4597735

I totally agree the build quality of the PRS Kingfisher is impeccable. It is my favorite 4 string bass to play.

However, I bought it from Dave's Guitar Shop for $450 brand new. I actually bought it twice. The first one was even more beautiful than the one I have (due to the grain), but I was SO disappointed with the pots and pickups that I traded it at Guitar Center less than a month after I bought it.

Turning the pot 10% produced and/or reduced all the volume all the way. The tone knob had almost no effect. The output of the pickups was lower than any other bass I have ever owned or played.

I immediately bought Seymour Duncan SSB-4 pickups which were a direct replacement. I later added a Bartolini HR3.3 918 preamp (just enough space to hold everything with no mods). It is the SWEETEST sounding bass I own. It always gets unsolicited compliments every time I play it.

I have no idea why PRS uses these pickups or pots. If yours work well, you are the exception. There is a reason why Dave's can sell them at $450. PRS basically gave these guitars away. They mat have made improvements over the years. I think mine was a leftover 2014 that I bought in 2018.

If you are happy, then rock on. But I can tell you I am not alone in my experience as witnessed by this thread. The people at PRS probably don't want to discuss this matter.