Newbie Question - PRS SE Custom 24 pickup swap

[Downrazor11]

Re: Newbie Question - PRS SE Custom 24 pickup swap

The red and bare wire you mentioned have been left there, they were from when the original pickups installed.

That is what it looked like from the before and after pics. How many watts is your soldering iron?

I will try to put together some pics of how this should look after it has been soldered a bit later.

 

[Downrazor11]

Re: Newbie Question - PRS SE Custom 24 pickup swap

Can you unscrew your switch and take a pic of the front and the back of it, in focus and in decent lighting? I have been assuming we are dealing with a normal import 3-way switch, but when looking up prs docs i see custom switches and super switches used in their "custom" guitars..

 

[Sylaar76]

Re: Newbie Question - PRS SE Custom 24 pickup swap

The red and bare wire you mentioned have been left there, they were from when the original pickups installed.

 

[Downrazor11]

Re: Newbie Question - PRS SE Custom 24 pickup swap

@1:57

The red and bare wire you mentioned have been left there, they were from when the original pickups installed.

@4:24

The red and bare wire you mentioned have been left there, they were from when the original pickups installed.

Ok.. Got it!

If your switch is a standard 3-way import switch with a connection pattern like this..


Then this wiring should work for you..




The two black wires on the selector switch come from the pickups, the white wire is the selector output and it has a braided shield that is connecting the side tab to the ground on the volume pot. The volume pot has the white wire input from the selector with the red wire sending the signal (in parallel) over to the tone pot. The middle white wire is the output to the output jack. The braided shield is run to the back of the pot and then the lug furthest from the selector switch (in this pic at least). One black wire on the back of the pot goes to the tone pot ground, the other goes to the output jack. One more wire may need to be/should be added to the ground wires on the back of the volume, that's the bridge ground wire (not shown).

Please check if your selector switch is a custom switch or not. The best way for one to do this would be to unscrew the switch, then get a small flashlight or LED and shine it across the body (pointing into the switch, against the metal side just under the PCB) and then to take a pic of the illuminated PCB. Otherwise, just take a clear pic of the front and then the back and I may be able to tell from the pics.

 

[Sylaar76]

Re: Newbie Question - PRS SE Custom 24 pickup swap

Photos of front and back of switch, I've de soldered the pickup wires from it.

 

[Downrazor11]

Re: Newbie Question - PRS SE Custom 24 pickup swap

Hi, in the first pic of the post above this one (the metal ALPHA side) I believe I can clearly see a solder 'bridge' between the first lug on the left and the second lug on the left, and another between the 7th and 8th lugs from the left, therein lies your problem..

This can be solved by just putting the Neck pickup wire on the 1st and 2nd lug from the left and putting the Bridge pickup wire on the 7th and 8th lug from the left.. I wouldn't trust the solder bridges to hold up by themselves after this much resoldering (and due to the fact that the neck tested normal and not 'always on').

Normally manufacturers join the 2nd and 3rd lugs from the left (aka lugs B2 + B1 on the chart on the first page) for the bridge pickup and then join the 6th and 7th lugs (A3 + A2 on the first page chart) for the neck pickup, that is what all of my pics showed. But this switch shows yet another way to do it, by joining the 1st and 2nd lugs for the neck pickup wire and joining the 7th and 8th lugs for the bridge pickup..

EDIT: I am wrong about the solder bridging, see below..

 

[Downrazor11]

Re: Newbie Question - PRS SE Custom 24 pickup swap

Nothing to see here.. No longer a relevant post..

 

[Sylaar76]

Re: Newbie Question - PRS SE Custom 24 pickup swap

Here are all the lugs very close up first photo is the far right looking at the ALPHA side, second is the far left and third is the middle lugs.

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: Newbie Question - PRS SE Custom 24 pickup swap

Quite the mystery....
I’m beginning to think the switch is bad.

 

[Downrazor11]

Re: Newbie Question - PRS SE Custom 24 pickup swap

Here are all the lugs very close up first photo is the far right looking at the ALPHA side, second is the far left and third is the middle lugs.

Ok, thanks for the additional pics, I am wrong, there is no visible solder bridging. We are back at square one, but you still could try to put the lug pairs on the outer 2 lugs, respectively, it couldn't hurt.

 

[Sylaar76]

Re: Newbie Question - PRS SE Custom 24 pickup swap

I'll try that, I have found this pic from another thread on the forum and it also suggests the 2 outer lugs.

 

[Sylaar76]

Re: Newbie Question - PRS SE Custom 24 pickup swap

I soldered it to the outer 2 lugs either side and now works perfectly. I want to thank everyone who's helped an utter beginner in guitar pickups / electronics, I've learnt a lot.
I really appreciate it. Below is how my guitar now looks, it used to have cream pickup mounts and zebra pickups and a cream selector knob.

Thanks Again . . .