PRS SE Soapbar II ......harsh / toppy / brittle top-end in Bridge P90 .... ideas ?

[ben ifin]

Ha all !

My first post here – this seems like a great forums with very knowledgeable members !!

I have a PRS SE Soapbar II .

The guitar is great and the neck pickup is fine BUT the stock Bridge pickup is very harsh / toppy / brittle in the top-end-frequencies – not chimey but like-too-much “presence:.

From my net’ research this seems to be quite a common issue.

As a result and by-product of the above, its sound is also lacking in mid and low-mid grunt / growl due to the very bright’ish [ not in a good way ] top-end

Other than replacing the stock Bridge P90, what would people recommend I try / do:-

-> Different Magnetss in there and what should I try ?
-> A 500k or 250k or 100k Volume Pot ? not sure what is in there already ?
-> Something else ?


Any / all help and advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Ben

 

[xjbebop]

try a different amp...

 

[garrett]

My advice is to always start with the cheapest solution and work your way up.

1. Adjust the height of the bridge pickup. Lower the treble side a little bit, maybe raise the bass side a little bit, which can make a big difference.
2. Experiment with a resistor (or cap/resistor combo) on the bridge pickup to tame the treble and tune the mids.
3. New pickup(s).

I wouldn't bother tinkering with the magnets, personally.

The guitar has 500k pots, but if you change the volume to 250k, it will alter the voicing of the neck pickup in a way you might not like.

 

[Egads]

+1 on starting with the height of the pickup. I bet this helps a lot. Keep in mind you might also need to adjust the neck pup to balance after you get the bridge pup to play nice/mean.

 

[]-[@n$0Ma☩!©]

Install a 280k superpot (volume) from RS Guitarworks.

 

[Danerada]

Adjust the pole piece screws. Lower the high E and B, raise the D and G and the A & Low E if necessary....Makes a HUGE HUGE HUGE difference. I just did this last night with my SE One. It went from "I need a pickup replacement" to Awww yeah!

 

[Danerada]

Install a 280k superpot (volume) from RS Guitarworks.

What is the stock pot?

 

[]-[@n$0Ma☩!©]

Probably a 500k with a huge variance.

 

[Danerada]

Install a 280k superpot (volume) from RS Guitarworks.

Just ordered one. Thanks Hanso....

 

[Itzed]

Really? I have not heard the Soapbar II described that way before. It's a P90, and sounds pretty much like a P90...
I have also not heard that others describe it like you do before either, and I've owned five of these over the years, and chatted about them for a a number of years also.
If you think it's too bright, then as was suggested earlier, you might want to consider the amp. How big is the speaker? Is it a very bright amp? Tubes? Mine has more growl than any other guitar I have. Down right snotty and knarly. It is going to have some highs, after all, it is a single coil pickup. But not harsh in any way.
If you are unhappy with the bridge pickup, but happy with the neck, it makes no sense to me to fool with anything common to both. Why not just replace the bridge pickup? I have one of these guitars with DiMarzio DLX Plus pickups, and it sounds very humbucker like. Not as much highs, and very middy. Sounds like something you would like.