Hollowbody II Wiring (pre or post 2007?)

[Stoopalini]

I am getting ready to swap the stock Archtop pickups out of my 2004 Hollowbody II (w/piezo), and in looking for a wiring diagram, found that PRS changed the wiring scheme in 2007.

I don't understand all the nuances in how caps effect tone, treble bleed, etc ... or how the volume and tone POT wiring work together, but did notice the differences in the wiring diagram when looking for a schematic.

So my question is: Should I just swap the pickups and leave the wiring as is, or should I also update the wiring to the Current scheme while I'm in there?

Anyone know why PRS changed the scheme, and what effect it has on the tone?

Thanks for any input ....

Here is the pre-2007 wiring scheme:

And the current wiring scheme:

 

[garrett]

Second pic isn't working, but looking at the 2015 diagram on the PRS site, the only difference I see is the change from .022uf cap to .033uf, which rolls off more highs when you turn the tone knob down.

It will be much easier to swap just the pickups, because all you have to do is pull the switch through the f hole. It's a PITA to make changes involving the pots.

PRS opted to not include a treble bleed on the Hollowbody. Such a circuit retains more high frequencies when turning down the volume control. I added one to mine. It was worth it to me, but digging out those electronics is not something I want to do often! And I don't have the added complication of the piezo.

 

[Stoopalini]

Here's a link to the document with the differences.

https://www.prsguitars.com/csc/schematics/schem08/hollowbodypiezo.pdf

It's more than a cap change though. And with the piezo, it looks like the wiring will be easier, as the piezo board is large and slides out of the side through a large cutout.

Here's a picture (not mine) of what the piezo setup is like. The piezo circuit board is attached to the back side of this jack plate. So removing it gives a lot of room to work.

 

[garrett]

Okay, thanks. The other pic works for me now too. Strange. Anyway, I think that one is out of date now.

Here is the one dated 2015: https://www.prsguitars.com/csc/schematics/2015/hollowbodypiezo.pdf

The 2008 version connects the tone control to the output of the volume control (the other versions go to the input). This means you retain highs when turning down the volume, but it changes the taper of the tone control roll-off.

The challenge in changing the wiring is fishing everything out and then getting it all back into place. Very doable, but it's tedious work.

Long story short: IMO, start with the pickup change and then after living with that for a while, decide if you want to change anything else.

 

[Stoopalini]

Sounds like wise advice to me. As you stated, changing the pickups looks to be as simple as fishing the 3 way switch out and desoldering/resoldering the pickup leads on it. If I want to make further changes down the road, I suppose I haven't lost anything, as I would then need to fish everything out.

I do notice on this HBII, the tone knob has a dramatic effect on the tone when I 1st begin to rotate it, then somewhere around 25%, the effect seems to taper off and not do much for the last 50% of the rotation. This is in contrast to my 1978 Les Paul, in which the tone knobs have a very linear effect on the sound all the way through the rotation. I imagine this is related to what you described above, in how the tone and volume controls are wired in the 2 guitars.

 

[LJD]

I removed the piezo from my HBII and wired it like it was just removed from the signal daisy chain (pickups>3waySelector>tone pot>volume pot> output. I didn't wire it 50's-ish style. I thought over wiring it like McCarty wiring but the guitar and controls always worked great, so why change. Later added a new PRS volume pot with the treble bleed and loved it. Takes a day or two to get used to, but for the way I play (control gain/overdrive with vol knob) I found it to be an improvement in clarity when rolling back the volume. All the knob tapers sound and feel right to me.

 

[Derptech]

Which diagram would work for it me of the new SE Hollowbody Piezo guitars?