PRS Dragon II Vs Vintage Bass & HFS Pickups

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[chrisrva]

I have a custom 22 with D2s and just ordered a CE with the HFS & Vintage. Best of both worlds.

[rainshadowband]

Both sound great! Personally digging the Dragon over the HFS because saying you have "dragon pickups" sounds a lot more fun than an acronym.

[jonathananthony]

First of all, outstanding video! This shows the same conclusion I came to a while back. The HFS vintage base set definitely lends itself to more Rhythm Style, they are more aggressive with less mids. The dragon 2s definitely lean more towards the lead guitar player. Something about the mid-range frequency they have just makes the notes seem to jump out of the guitar! The dragon 2s are what I have in my PRS Custom 22 and I absolutely love them to death!

[Hyperspce]

I have a SE Custom 22 MIK from 2009 loaded with some killer HFS pups. For anyone interested in them, I highly recommend playing with the tone control to dial in tones. I keep my mine around 7.5 with lil changes here and there. In this video I liked the Dragon II's for clean stuff and the HFS pups for Distortion/High Gain. I love PRS guitars <3 Keep slaying

[BobK]

Both sound great, playing and arranging is excellent, could listen to more of this, well done 😎

[manifestgtr]

The hfs/vb is among the greatest pickup sets of all time. I’ve been using that set in my cu24 for over 20 years and it never sounds anything but amazing. Here’s the kicker…the hfs/vb set sounds incredible through ANYTHING. Straight into my bassman, direct in through my flyrig, with just a ts-9, into a high gain engl, through plugins into pro tools…it doesn’t matter. They just *always* sound incredible. No other pickup set is as universally perfect and I own many, many sets. Even the 85/15s in my ce semihollow…they sound great almost everywhere but they don’t eat up my small, pickup gig board the same way my hfs set does. Even if I eventually retire my number 1 custom 24 from gigging, I’ll always have at least one set of those pickups in rotation. They’re essentially perfect…

[vonbleak]

I love my Dragon II's in my Custom 22 :)

[m.stewart]

Great vid. I just got an old PRS with D2s and I’m digging it. Not sure why people dog these pickups. They have much more character than the 85/15 which i find a little stale. I might be wrong but the middle position on the rotary is both pups single coil in series but with the three way they could be both full humbucker or single depending on the pullups i assume in series.

[lilybond]

I just brought a 2002 ce24 with the dragon pickup ups in mint condition! I absolutely love it

[jackzango]

To my ears the HFS pickups are the clear winners. They just sound thicker and will respond to rolling off your volume knobs. The Dragon's are also nice but my ears choose the HFS.

[BroccoliKing-Telluwhut]

AWESOME playing! I just ordered a CE and found out they are selling the dragon IIs again, I had no idea, just a memory of those old guitar world magazines with the rig rundowns at the end.

[timothyhingham]

Thanks for the video Dragon 2 Bridge has more soul than the HFS. Vintage bass is much nicer than Dragon 2 neck as used in the video.

[angusorvid]

Excellent demo. I loaded my PRS with several different sets of DiMarzios, Duncans and actives before settling on a JB/Jazz combo. It really shines. The bright, trebly send of the JB is toned down because it absorbs into the mahogany. The Jazz neck really pops. I love PRS guitars but I don't always feel their pickups are that well matched. I did back in the 80s when I first tried a PRS but I think it's a little too one size fits all with their pups unless you are considering their Narrowfields which I love.

[Jalliams]

Great video, man! Thanks very much. Big help to fans seeking to hear the tones before making new pickup choices. Have just bought 2 x different sets of old PRS pickups - HFS & VB, and HFS 2 & VB.
Quick note, pickup covers make a difference to the sound.

[Deebz]

Such a close call. Having heard Dragon II's before live, I am slightly biased...
However, trying to be objective, I still err toward the D2's though, they seem to have more depth, especially in lead playing.

.
I'm looking to upgrade the pups on my S2 CU22 Semi-Hollow and D2's are in my laser sights. This excellent comparison video has helped with that decision.
Well done Simon - thumbs up and subscribed. Great playing BTW.

[guitarandotherthings]

The VB and HFS are just much better, hence why chosen for their 20th anniversary model.

[jakecal]

HOT. FAT. SCREAMING!!! I have a 7 string PRS with those I love them. The vintage bass is so nice too. But I want a pair of dragons once I get another guitar.

[danielgalanti]

Honestly I prefer the HFS. If I want more mids I'll turn a knob or kick on the secret freq. Pedal by M. Fuller. I think Paul got it right straight off. Nice video

[jonathananthony]

HFS 6:22
Dragon II 7:44
Vintage bass 1:12
Dragon II 2:30

[bradt.]

Nice to listen to but really you gotta use the same. I have 2 identical (except color) cu22's and if I take the PU from one and put it in the other it sounds different. Now the HFS and the D2 do sound a lot different but were also hearing the diff. in guitars too. Oh, I've tried both PU's in several PRS's and prefer the D2's. Really I like the original incarnation of the 57/08's in my Sunburst 22. The 245's (also called Mira) are also nice PU's.