SD JB wiring in PRS Custom 24 HFS replacement

[podman]

Hi All,

I am trying to replace the HFS in My Prs custom 24. The guitar has a 3 way toggle plus push push switch. All was fine but I had a JB lying around that I thought I would stick in instead of the HFS.

I followed the correct procedure and the pick up worked but did not seem right. The south Coil was slightly quieter than the north in the JB. Neck pick up is the standard one from the PRS, still works fine.

Could this be a problem with the pick up?
Could the magnet have been reversed at some point?
As far as I am aware the magnet should not need reversing as I am not using the PRS 5 way rotary switch?

The colours I used on the JB were as follows:
Black = Hot to switch.
White and Red = together and to coil tap.
Green and shield to ground.

I have tried testing the pickup with only a jack plug to an amp and still get the same problem.

Anyone any ideas?????

Thanks,

Podman.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: SD JB wiring in PRS Custom 24 HFS replacement

How did you determine the volume of the coils? By scratching/tapping the rods/screws?

 

[podman]

Re: SD JB wiring in PRS Custom 24 HFS replacement

at first just by ear then on an input meter to check the ears were not playing tricks on me!

POdman

 

[Karn Evil 9]

Re: SD JB wiring in PRS Custom 24 HFS replacement

it could just be that one coil is slightly closer to the bridge than the other; did you have the same problem with the stock pickup?

 

[super rad stuff]

Re: SD JB wiring in PRS Custom 24 HFS replacement

it could just be that one coil is slightly closer to the bridge than the other

this is indeed the case. since the screw coil(south) is so close to the bridge, where there's minimal string vibration and energy, it recieves less signal than the slug coil, which is out further towards the neck. this is why people often use lower output pickups in the neck and a more powerful pickup in the bridge position.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: SD JB wiring in PRS Custom 24 HFS replacement

However, a multimeter doesn't care which coil is where.

If you checked it with a decibel meter (audible output), then it's as Ryan said.

 

[podman]

Re: SD JB wiring in PRS Custom 24 HFS replacement

had no probs with the stock pup.

what should the mutil meter read output wise?

which wires should I test accross?

Thanks.

 

[super rad stuff]

Re: SD JB wiring in PRS Custom 24 HFS replacement

had no probs with the stock pup.

what should the mutil meter read output wise?

which wires should I test across?

Thanks.

around 8-8.5k each, with combined output at 16.6k-ish

test across black-white, and red-green.

 

[podman]

Re: SD JB wiring in PRS Custom 24 HFS replacement

just s traight continuiuty test?

I just tried it and I am getting no reading accross either of the pairs you suggested. The meter beeps fine when I touch the 2 probes together. I knwo the meter is ok.

Thanks.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: SD JB wiring in PRS Custom 24 HFS replacement

Not continuity, but rather Ohms.

 

[Karn Evil 9]

Re: SD JB wiring in PRS Custom 24 HFS replacement

Now that i think of it, the coil tap on my Custom 24 (which has the Mccarty electronics) only gives me one coil, not a choice between north and south.
How is yours wired up podman; is it stock or have you added an extra push pull pot?

 

[podman]

Re: SD JB wiring in PRS Custom 24 HFS replacement

Yeah I could only get one coil with the PRS pups. You cant split it I dont think, like you can with the SD's. I think you get different coils when using the PRS 5 way switch?

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: SD JB wiring in PRS Custom 24 HFS replacement

As I understand it, there's a difference between coil tap and humbucker split. Usually, from what I've seen in the Duncan diagrams, a tappable pickup only has 3 wires (hot, ground, and tap), but you can only get split if you have 4 conductor (2 wires from each coil).

Given that, if the PRS pickup only has 3, then it's only logical you couldn't select a particular coil, as it's only using half of the pickup's overall coil, not just one of the two (basically using half of both coils to retain humbucking properties).

 

[Karn Evil 9]

Re: SD JB wiring in PRS Custom 24 HFS replacement

Yeah I could only get one coil with the PRS pups. You cant split it I dont think, like you can with the SD's. I think you get different coils when using the PRS 5 way switch?

The 5 positions are something like this
-Bridge humbucker
-outer coils in parrallel (south coil of the bridge and north of the neck)
-inner coils in series
-inner coils in parallel
-neck humbucker
all positions are hum-cancelling so you effectively have the usual bridge/neck humbucker sounds, as well as two sounds very similar to positions 2 and 4 on a strat, and a pseudo middle humbucker