These pups are good, but I'm not over excited with them. They are the 5th pups that I've fitted on a Hagstrom Viking. I first changed the stoch HJ50s for SD PhaTCats, but they just didnt sing, they worked ok, but for me, didnt have tonal quality. Since then I've tried other HBs and P90s but beginning to think that the guitar was not inherently producing the tones. The guitar I love, it looks good, has a good unplugged tone, and the neck is a dream, so all I needed was a pup to finish it. My music style is complementary to the ES335 image, blues and classic rock.
When I installed the Prail pups I was very pleased with their build quality, and also their appearance, i was a bit aprehensive about the black finish after chome casings, but against the cherry red body they look bril!
I simply wired them with a double pole 3way switch, so selection became either neck, or bridge , or mixed pup could be run as a P90, HB or single
I like the P90 best, it is very precise and powerful, esp in neck or mixed pos'n and will break up nicely with drive. In bridge position I dont think they are the best pup, the sound is a bit too sterile and thin. HB is good, but ordinary. The single is ok but doesnt bring out the acoustic sounds of the semi which i thought it would. Maybe that is a sonic problem with the guitar.? But the singles esp in mixed are ok for clean rhythm strumming.
But overall, ilike the pups and they will remain on the guitar. I find the three sound options very usable. I dont know how the P90 sound or HB compares with other P90 / HB industry benchmarks but for me they work and are recommendable.
