PRS Mark Holcomb Limited Edition PTC Mod Project!

[Dusty Chalk]

Splatter?

 

[HighGain510]

Splatter?

Newp! You'll just have to wait and see I guess!

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Digi camo? Art Deco...no, that's 70s...

 

[G-Man]

You have a plan that you put much thought into, you are sending it to the "A" team to do the work and you are being financially responsible for future costs. Good call and good luck.

 

[The Fight]

OMG my hero!

 

[HighGain510]

As I took my Holcomb apart to prep for her trip to the PRS PTC, I came across a couple unique things:

The PRS Phase III Locking Tuners are apparently made by Gotoh!

I've used a lot of Gotoh hardware over the years and love it, so I think they made a great choice! Obviously the Phase III tuners work great, had no idea who made them (and I'm sure others didn't either) so figured I'd share!

It also seems since the first run of Holcomb sig pickups were done specifically for the PRS MH Limited Run sigs, they didn't come with "Custom Shop" stickers despite obviously being wound by the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop in bulk for these guitars only (and the production models weren't even a discussion item yet haha). These are also labeled "MH Omega Bridge" and "MH Omega Neck" instead of "Alpha Neck" and "Omega Bridge" like the later limited run sets were labeled:

I bought another set of these pickups from the short run Duncan did for aftermarket purchase to drop into my CU24 Satin Wood Library (which was basically what I was trying to accomplish with this project, prior to thinking of this idea!) and they have the usual white and orange custom shop labels on there, so I just found it odd/intersting and wanted to document it!

While I'm at it, here are a few more pics of this beauty as she still stands prior to the mods:

Well, she's all packed up and ready to roll to Stevensville!

I was talking with Skitchy tonight and he said that both he and the PRS Social Media Team will be documenting this project, so I'll try to get some more pics to share with you guys but if you keep a look out for their FB/IG accounts, you might see my baby moving through the process!

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Sweet! I anticipate.

It also seems since the first run of Holcomb sig pickups were done specifically for the PRS MH Limited Run sigs, they didn't come with "Custom Shop" stickers despite obviously being wound by the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop in bulk for these guitars only (and the production models weren't even a discussion item yet haha). These are also labeled "MH Omega Bridge" and "MH Omega Neck" instead of "Alpha Neck" and "Omega Bridge" like the later limited run sets were labeled...

Heh-heh, oops. Seems someone wasn't paying attention. Bad.

 

[Maertl513]

As I took my Holcomb apart to prep for her trip to the PRS PTC, I came across a couple unique things:

The PRS Phase III Locking Tuners are apparently made by Gotoh!

Is that news that Gotoh is the manufacturer of Phase III? In Germany we had a small discussion who ist the actual producer of the tuners. I unveiled that "secret" in my 513 gallery in April 2013.
Phase III were made by Gotoh, Phase II by Schaller, and the Winged Locking Tuner ("wing collar") by Schaller, too.
Gotoh

 

[juka]

Phase III were made by Gotoh, Phase II by Schaller, and the Winged Locking Tuner ("wing collar") by Schaller, too.

Concerning the Phase II, that's not exactly right.
First they were made by Schaller, then Gotoh gradually took over. Bad thing was, that Schaller and Gotoh produced to different specs.

I found this out when one tuner on my SCT went bad. It was equipped with Gotoh Phase II from the factory and when I ordered a replacement set from my dealer I got a set made by Schaller and found out that it was no 1:1 replacement because the dimension were not exactly the same :-( Even the screw holes were slightly off.
That's why I went with Phase III tuners when I already had the guitar at the PTC.

 

[Maertl513]

@juka, thanks for sharing that detail. That said I´ve to update that certain passage in my gallery.

 

[HighGain510]

Is that news that Gotoh is the manufacturer of Phase III? In Germany we had a small discussion who ist the actual producer of the tuners. I unveiled that "secret" in my 513 gallery in April 2013.
Phase III were made by Gotoh, Phase II by Schaller, and the Winged Locking Tuner ("wing collar") by Schaller, too.
Gotoh

It's entirely possible someone has taken their tuners off and found this before, but I frequent a lot of message boards and have not seen mention of it before (I don't speak German so I have not been to the site you mentioned, of course ) so I thought it was worth bringing up here in case anyone was curious.

Concerning the Phase II, that's not exactly right.
First they were made by Schaller, then Gotoh gradually took over. Bad thing was, that Schaller and Gotoh produced to different specs.

I found this out when one tuner on my SCT went bad. It was equipped with Gotoh Phase II from the factory and when I ordered a replacement set from my dealer I got a set made by Schaller and found out that it was no 1:1 replacement because the dimension were not exactly the same :-( Even the screw holes were slightly off.
That's why I went with Phase III tuners when I already had the guitar at the PTC.

Correct! It's unfortunate as small changes like that don't really affect them as much as it might affect the direct consumer, so I figured it was worth noting the current Phase III's are still Gotoh. Hopefully they stick with Gotoh, Schaller also makes great hardware but Gotoh stuff is solid as well so other than getting a better bulk discount, there isn't any advantage in switching again.

 

[juka]

Yes, as far as I know Gotoh is the only supplier of the Phase III tuners and as much as I like Schaller hardware that's a clever decision.

Nevertheless, I think PRS maintained business relations with Schaller, as I strongly suspect that they manufacture the recent adjustable and Piezo stop tails (hint: google for Schaller's new Signum bridge) and maybe even the two piece bridge.

By the way, was there any official comment on their move from milled (classic one-piece and old adjustable) to cast bridges (recent adjustable, Piezo and two-piece) that I missed?

 

[Maertl513]

To that time I rely on the things I´ve been told by experts. End of November I ordered replacement tuners (Phase III) for my custom made hollowbody, The luthier installed Sperzel Trimloks due to the fact that Phase III weren´t available while building process.
But at the end of 2013 I could purchase a set of Phase III and noticed personally that they are made by Gotoh.
By the way: The wooden tuner buttons (Phase III) you get as PRS replacements or in general with PS instruments are manufactured in Germany by Crazy Parts.

 

[darkthrone07]

Just wanted to share that PRS uses custom "R11" nuts for their necks assuming Mrak's CU24 siggy has the same neck width as regular production custom 24s.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Not sure about the neck, but the fretboard radius is shallower...so yeah, pretty much everything is different about this guitar...

 

[g.wizz]

What a great modding project Matt, I hope it would be a Mirror finish a la Satriani maybe?
in any case the result will be sensational,
I hope the waiting period won't be long.

 

[HighGain510]

What a great modding project Matt, I hope it would be a Mirror finish a la Satriani maybe?
in any case the result will be sensational,
I hope the waiting period won't be long.

I hadn't seen your post since I was on vacation! Not a mirror finish, but that would look INCREDIBLE on the contours of a carved top PRS!

I just received the latest update, looks like she's heading for the router soon! Should have another update in about a week, but they've prepped her for surgery!

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Ooh, covered pups!

 

[HighGain510]

Ooh, covered pups!

No sir? It's getting the stock Seymour Duncan Custom Shop Holcomb Alpha/Omega pickups still, that's one of my favorite parts of the guitar!

Skitchy is plowing right along!

Back has been routed out! Tomorrow? TOP FLOYD BRIDGE CAVITY TIME, BABY!

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Ah. I assumed (incorrectly, admittedly) that the taping off was to route out the pup cavities.