Advice needed: SE Custom 24-08 wiring/grounding issue

[Reordian2010]

Hi folks,
did anyone here take a look inside their SE Custom 24-08?
I have a serious suspicion the wiring/grounding on mine is off. What comes out of the neck pickup is a red heat shrink tube that only has the four red/white/black/green strans - no bare wire. The bridge pickup has a green heat shrink tube with the same set of four wires plus a white wire with a bare/braided and a white shielded wire inside.
Also, on my other guitars, when I check the continuity from the pickups (pole pieces or screws) to the jack sleeve, I get a solid beep.
Not on this one - the pickups are not grounded and the neck is a lot more noisy than the bridge.
Any advice on this? Anyone had a similar issue? Thanks

 

[Reordian2010]

After a long examination of the two switches, it is aparent that none of the four black/white/red/green wires are grounded.
This doesnt look right.

 

[elvis]

Given all the wiring options, it may not have a simple ground scheme. Best to call PRS.

 

[shimmilou]

Aside from what you think looks right, what problem are you having with the guitar?

 

[Reordian2010]

Aside from what you think looks right, what problem are you having with the guitar?

The problem is unusual noise or hum. As an experiment, I taped a piece of wire down to the pickup highr adjustment screw and to the bridge (which is grounded) and the noise is gone. It is definitely a geounding issue.

This is my first SE and Im very disappointed that such a glaring QC issue slipped through.

The main problem I see is that my neck pickup doesnt have a bare wire or shielding braid to go to ground.

Is it supposed to be that way? Has anyone looked inside theirs? What does it look like?

Just to clarify - mine is a brand spanking new guitar bought straight from a reputable authorized retailer.

 

[shimmilou]

I don't see a schematic for the SE 24-08, but there is one for the SE Pauls

https://d159anurvk4929.cloudfront.net/documents/se_pauls_guitar_wiring_schematics.pdf

and one for the SE Cu24

https://d159anurvk4929.cloudfront.net/documents/se_customs_standards__wiring_schematics.pdf

see if the pickup wire colors match either one. Once the wires/colors are known, we can probably figure out the problem.

I have had a few new PRS guitars with wiring issues, both SE and S2.

 

[NazgulUK]

But if it's new from an authorised dealer, you shouldn't be needing to fix it, have you spoken to them?

 

[Draconomics]

Hi folks,
did anyone here take a look inside their SE Custom 24-08?
I have a serious suspicion the wiring/grounding on mine is off. What comes out of the neck pickup is a red heat shrink tube that only has the four red/white/black/green strans - no bare wire. The bridge pickup has a green heat shrink tube with the same set of four wires plus a white wire with a bare/braided and a white shielded wire inside.
Also, on my other guitars, when I check the continuity from the pickups (pole pieces or screws) to the jack sleeve, I get a solid beep.
Not on this one - the pickups are not grounded and the neck is a lot more noisy than the bridge.
Any advice on this? Anyone had a similar issue? Thanks

Im gonna wager the wiring on the 35th and the Pauls SE is the same. PRS wiring can be somewhat counter intuitive at times, but I think the PG schematic shimmilou pulled up will work. I had some light noise on mine at first, but It's silenced for the most part with some cavity shielding.

 

[ianfinchtg]

Exactly the same issue here. Shielding the pot/switch cavity helped somewhat but the neck pickup remains significantly more noisy than the bridge. If I connect an insulated wire from the pickup adjustment screw on the neck pickup to the bridge, the hum is massively reduced.

 

[Draconomics]

Exactly the same issue here. Shielding the pot/switch cavity helped somewhat but the neck pickup remains significantly more noisy than the bridge. If I connect an insulated wire from the pickup adjustment screw on the neck pickup to the bridge, the hum is massively reduced.

Oddly, I began noticing a pretty good amount of noise from the same pickup on mine. It was driving me bonkers trying to figure out what the issue was. I ended up pulling it out.

 

[ianfinchtg]

I've added a ground wire from the pickup to the volume pot. Much improved - now quieter than the bridge pickup. Looks like this is a something of a design fault.