PRS coil split wiring resistor
- Thread starter Wayne27
- Start date
From what I read, they pretty much help the humbucker to keep a good amount of volume when doing coil splitting so they can have the full sound of a real single coil pickup.
I believe they also call it partial coil splitting.
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The resistor is placed between the splittable coil and ground so that some of the signal is retained. I guess it’s similar to a “spin-a-split”, except the resistor is not variable. Here’s an example:
https://d159anurvk4929.cloudfront.net/documents/prs_ce24_wiring_schematic.pdf
ThreeChordWonder
New member
Here's a linkry to the Fralin version
https://humbuckersoup.com/partial-tap-resistor-advanced-techniques/
https://humbuckersoup.com/partial-tap-resistor-advanced-techniques/
Got it, that makes sense. What value resistor?
1.1k for the neck and 2.2k for the bridge.
ErikH
Well-known member
I've done this myself. I settled on 2.2k for both the Whole Lotta Humbucker neck and the Screamin' Demon. It pulls up the DCR to the 6k range and adds a little more output to it. It's great for vintage output humbuckers. I made a thread on it last year after wiring it up.
BluesIsBlood12
New member
For low output pickups I think this is clearly superior. Even though it's not really a single coil tone, it's highly useable. For high output pickups the regular split is probably a better way to go.
eclecticsynergy
Well-known member
This brilliant idea was originally proposed by Bill Lawrence back in the 70s. It languished pretty much forgotten because back then the only production humbuckers wired for splits were high output and didn't need the help.
PRS revived the idea in the 21st century and it has gained wider popularity because it works very well indeed.
An adjustable version can be done using a trimpot instead of a fixed resistor.
That way you can set it to taste, and if desired you can always redial it later.
Not tweakable moment-to-moment like a true spin a split - but you don't have to sacrifice a tone control.
PRS revived the idea in the 21st century and it has gained wider popularity because it works very well indeed.
An adjustable version can be done using a trimpot instead of a fixed resistor.
That way you can set it to taste, and if desired you can always redial it later.
Not tweakable moment-to-moment like a true spin a split - but you don't have to sacrifice a tone control.
Because thats product of the wiring scheme, not the pickup itself.
eclecticsynergy
Well-known member
Something fairly simple has to be amiss. Perhaps just the switch itself having failed. It's been known to happen.
I suggest testing that for correct functionality first.
Wire color codes can cause mixups too. Could also be too-high resistor values or subsequent connection to ground.
Does the guitar have the stock pickups and wiring? Or has it been modded?
Assuming the pickups sound fine, the number of likely problems is not very large.
chadd
New member
Neither push/pull worked correctly from the factory. I've since upgraded the pickups and verified the connections match PRS diagrams and same result. I'll replace the pots at some point, but it still works fine as an HH guitar. Definitely on the list to go out the door before I move in the fall.
eclecticsynergy
Well-known member
If the wiring's right and the resistors are the correct values, splits will work fine once you have better push-pulls.
