Talk me off the ledge... S2 Semi hollow custom 22 sounds dead

Forgive my lack of truss rod experience. So am I turning it clockwise or counter clockwise? I have done all other aspects of setup, but have never messed with the truss rod.
 
First of all, excellent phrasing!

Second, could you be trying to make it sound like single coils? When you backed off the pick attack I heard more warmth and the pups started to sound like I expected. At the first the attack was shrill. I understand that is what you don't like about the S2. I'm thinking that if you EQ for humbuckers and play without the sharp attack (expecting a Strat quack) you may find the warm humbucker response.
 
Thank you AP515. I completely agree with what you are saying and have thought the same things myself as far as playing it like a single coil guitar. Until I played the PRS Hollowbody II at GC. I played it hard and it just sang. I am going to try to figure out the mystery of the truss rod and put in new pickups, then pray:)

BTW: this is the best forum I am on. Usually get so many uniformed replies, but you guys seem to get it:)
 
Good luck with the new pickups. I hope they help to at least salvage the situation.

Kevin
 
Thank you AP515. I completely agree with what you are saying and have thought the same things myself as far as playing it like a single coil guitar. Until I played the PRS Hollowbody II at GC. I played it hard and it just sang. I am going to try to figure out the mystery of the truss rod and put in new pickups, then pray:)

BTW: this is the best forum I am on. Usually get so many uniformed replies, but you guys seem to get it:)
You know this means you need that HBII. I recently got my HBI and it's a pleasure to play.
 
So, I raised the action a bit, and adjusted the neck and it is playing a lot better - not perfect, but better. The pups are still not for me and sound shrill, but that is fixable. I might take it to a guy to do a complete setup, but for now I will keep playing it. It plays like a dream and looks nice, so if I can get it to sound like I expect it to, that should fix things. I will post another clip once I get the new neck pup in. Still looking for a cheap SD bridge pup, since I spent everything I have on the guitar.
 
I know this might seem like a strange pickup to look at the Dimarizo Tone Zone have one on my CU22 its darker than most Bridge pickups and just sounds nice clean or with gain and it splits really well
 
I recorded a quick demo to show what I'm talking about. The first guitar is the PRS, then an American strat (to show that the amp actually sounds good). The issue doesn't really come across that well in the recording, but you can hear it when I am picking heavier. I have a new SD PU arriving tomorrow, so I can update the thread once I see if that helps. At this point the guy won't take it back, so it's fix it or sell it (and take a bath on it). I tried moving the truss rod a bit, but have never really played with truss rods, so I stopped messing with it. I only made a 1/4 turn or less, and saw no real difference.

The weird part is that I getting some decent sustain on notes and chords, but the sound just doesn't seem very lively.
To compare a semihollow to a solid body is silly. It is the nature of arch top guitars to have a pronounced pick attack, followed by a significant drop in 'energy'. You see, the top - while amplifying the sound - has to take some of the sonic energy to accomplish that. So they will inevitably sound more percussive than will a solidbody. Is it an appropriate decay? Hard to say.... Additionally, it would help if you kill the reverb when setting up examples like this.

Anyway, best of luck in getting what you want from the guitar.
 
Coyote- I have played alot of semi-hollows and hollow bodies over the years. I was not comparing them, the strat was just added so you could hear the quality of the amp. I very much understand that the differences between solid body, hollow and semihollow, but as you can hear in the example, there was something wrong with the tone and attack. Anyway, the other members replied with valid responses that led me to where I needed to get to.
 
In terms of the truss rod and where the neck relief "should be" - a good test is to capo the 1st fret, hold down the last fret and slide a business card between the fret and strings at the 8th fret. The card should slide easily with little, if any resistance against the strings. That should at least get it in the ballpark(the PRS link above are the guidelines I use as my starting point with any used guitar). How much neck relief, string height, etc. is all personal preference, obviously.

Taking it in for a full setup is a good idea, just make sure the tech is good.
 
I believe the hollowbody II is full hollow construction? These S2 Semi's are a different animal, so I don't think they'll ever sound identical. It even sounds different than the 335-style semi hollow ibanez that I used to own. That being said, I still love the sound of mine, I hope you find times you like too!
 
I thought I heard it a little something something in there. By all means, take it to a tech to have it set up. Make sure he/she has handled PRS before, and knows the little nuances. Yes, the action did sound a little low on your guitar. Are you using the same amp settings for the Strat and the S2? I`ve never had 2 guitars both sound well on the same amp settings. If you`re looking for a little more cojones, try lowering the pole pieces and raising the pickups. I did that on my S2, and it finally got me into humbucker land sonically. Also the coil tap sounds significantly better. I decided not to replace the pickups, I got the sound I wanted. The recording leads me to believe that this guitar will give you what you want.
 
Thanks all for your replies and knowledge on PRS guitars. I have been tweaking it a bit more and it sounds better. I have a few Seymour Duncans coming in the mail, so that should get me where I need to be, i hope.

Quick question about the pickups, since I haven't dissected the PRS electronics yet. I assume that I can just wire the 4 wire SD pups the same as the #7s are now? Anything to worry about or be aware of?

dogrocketp, yes I did raise the volume a tiny bit to equalize the single coil to humbucker output.
 
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PRS has schematics available for just about everything they have. I would look up the pickups as well. PRS pups will sometimes have black hot or white hot ect., then have opposites for neck and bridge. The wires might not be what you expect. Other than knowing what colors are what, I don't believe it should be too difficult.
 
PRS has schematics available for just about everything they have. I would look up the pickups as well. PRS pups will sometimes have black hot or white hot ect., then have opposites for neck and bridge. The wires might not be what you expect. Other than knowing what colors are what, I don't believe it should be too difficult.

This!
 
Thanks all for your replies and knowledge on PRS guitars. I have been tweaking it a bit more and it sounds better. I have a few Seymour Duncans coming in the mail, so that should get me where I need to be, i hope.

Quick question about the pickups, since I haven't dissected the PRS electronics yet. I assume that I can just wire the 4 wire SD pups the same as the #7s are now? Anything to worry about or be aware of?

dogrocketp, yes I did raise the volume a tiny bit to equalize the single coil to humbucker output.
Hey how did those Duncan's work out? And was it a s2 with #7 pups getting swapped?
 
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