Anybody put coil taps in the SE Hollowbody Piezo yet?

[Hotspur]

According to several videos, the pickups have the necessary wires. Would love to hear reports.

Also, ballpark what's it cost to get that done?

 

[CipherHost]

I received my Peacock Blue Burst on Saturday. I have been searching about the web for info on the 80/15 S in order to split them. I must admit a little confusion on my part, as one PU has the red and black wires tied together for the series path, and the other PU has the green and white wires together. I guess I don't understand why they would be different (phase?). While PRS has been kind enough to put many wiring diagrams online, the SE HB II Piezo is not yet listed that I can find. I'll post a pic of her and my drawing of how I think it is wired after I reach 3 posts.

 

[CipherHost]

I'll give it a try:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1plgdKYuqN5xxQCIQqLcrQXRYZLMjEmQ9/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aI25hP7WatWF1Kex3hD6IdJv7ksYnMIw/view?usp=sharing

 

[Hotspur]

I received my Peacock Blue Burst on Saturday. I have been searching about the web for info on the 80/15 S in order to split them. I must admit a little confusion on my part, as one PU has the red and black wires tied together for the series path, and the other PU has the green and white wires together. I guess I don't understand why they would be different (phase?). While PRS has been kind enough to put many wiring diagrams online, the SE HB II Piezo is not yet listed that I can find. I'll post a pic of her and my drawing of how I think it is wired after I reach 3 posts.

Aren't those the same pickups that come with split coils in the S2 594? Maybe you could find a wiring diagram for that guitar?

 

[Tim S]

These came out of someone's SE HBII and are mine now.

Red & Black taped together on the Treble pickup
Green & White taped together on the Bass pickup

 

[CipherHost]

@Tim S - Mine are different than what you posted above. My Red and Black taped together is the Neck PU and the Green and White taped together is the Bridge PU.

These are the pics from my guitar:
Neck Pickup - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VtRdEJheSNc2Y8alONJTQcAe751GuDWr/view?usp=sharing
Bridge Pickup - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bcFYERDXgbyiNp41uON4I8tdOWZbd66a/view?usp=sharing
Switch Neck Side - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_g2IwTU5Nst7fO3b4M5TuVHTZH3SQvuR/view?usp=sharing
Switch Bridge Side - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ha0bMDQA3aZ__4MmpwG0OSWzPIHYKeiK/view?usp=sharing
Lead Ends - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OWwdn5_ba2HF2CC7q1op-vH1fXiZ9SHR/view?usp=sharing

The lead end that has the green band is the neck PU (7.58K ohms). I confirmed this through listening and a digital ohmmeter. I don't have a red band around my bridge PU (7.98K ohms), but also confirmed with a digital ohmmeter. (Dead short between bare wire and PU cover)

I've been testing the tones do decide how I want to split the coils before I perform surgery on the guitar, i.e., installing a mini toggle or toggles. I'm contemplating using two 3 position DPDT mini toggle switches so I can select HB, screw coil, or slug coil on each PU, but I have not yet separated the taped together leads, just grounded them to hear the default coil the way PRS wired them (Bridge South and Neck North). I'm guessing on that last part because every manufacturer I can find pictures of has the screw coils as South and Slug coils as North. If this is true with the 58/15 S, then the screw coils are Red and Green, and the slug coils are Black and White. Maybe I'll just split both coils to the slugs.

 

[Tim S]

I can’t argue with pickups that are soldered in from the factory. Mine came to me already removed.

But the tape used on my taped-off wires is shorter and non-fabric (Like smooth electrical tape)

Another PRS wiring mystery?

 

[Tim S]

I just took another photo (sorry for the bad lighting}. The taped-off wires appear to be under shrink-wrap tubing.

For a sanity check, I took a look at a spare set of 85/15 "S" pickups I have, but on those the white & green are tied together on both of them.

 

[Hotspur]

@Tim S I'm contemplating using two 3 position DPDT mini toggle switches so I can select HB, screw coil, or slug coil on each PU

Evidently my original question was way more complicated than I knew because I'm like ... what?

 

[CipherHost]

Evidently my original question was way more complicated than I knew because I'm like ... what?

@Hotspur - That's what I was thinking while trying to figure out how to go forward with this project!

A 3 position DPDT mini toggle looks like this:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g1sY5HcMdsRxLA-DzRRnYx-gEb4l89_Y/view?usp=sharing

Based on how the switch works, I tried to figure out how to wire it to do what I wanted it to do; Center position gives me both coils in series (humbucker mode), switch up gives me just the slug coil (coil without screws), and switch down gives me the screws coil.

I still have to do the "use my ears" testing. I still have a lot of combinations to listen to, but I expect the tone of each coil will be affected by the coil materials used, pickup height, screw height or depth, and the position of each coil under the strings. What I can say is that I liked the single coil sound of these pickups in the default PRS wiring going direct into an FRFR speaker. Assuming I have not made any incorrect assumptions, here is one wiring version I think would work for the neck PU:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HlJJs2RRbGoOdFl-SAXLeo2CdHy0S7q6/view?usp=sharing

 

[CipherHost]

For a sanity check, I took a look at a spare set of 85/15 "S" pickups I have, but on those the white & green are tied together on both of them.

Paul comes across as very particular on how things are done. I don't doubt everything PRS does is done for a reason.
I'm guessing which wires are taped-off (when wired for humbucker use only) does not really affect the tone. It would only matter on guitars designed for coil splitting.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Alessandro]

I’m sure if you email prs customer service They will advise and provide a diagram for you. They did so for me for my 3 se’s. Also usually green and white are coil split wires in every other SE I’ve seen.

 

[CipherHost]

I separated all the PU leads today for testing.

Neck slug 3.65K, Bridge slug 4.08K, Neck screw 3.94K, Bridge screw 3.94K

I compared separate coils (slug and screw), series, and parallel wiring. My favorite was parallel for both the neck and bridge pickup with the following wiring:
Red & White hot and Green & Black ground. Neck in parallel 1.89K, Bridge in parallel 2.00K

This produced a very smooth, bright tone with minimal volume loss compared to series wiring. The neck PU slug alone did sound really good, so I'll have to spend some more time deciding on just slug, or slug and screw in parallel.

I'm almost there, but I just need to listen to how they sound with the bridge and neck together with each PU in parallel.

 

[CipherHost]

Decided to nix the the series/parallel/single coil project for now. It's all personal preference, but I really like her set up with each HB's coils in parallel (Cost = a little solder and some shrink tubing). For anyone interested, here is how I wired her up:

Bridge PU: Green & Black are hot, Red & White & Bare are ground
Neck PU: Red & White are hot, Green & Black & Bare are ground

@Hotspur - Sorry if I kinda hijacked your post. Hopefully someone will be able to use the information.

 

[Hotspur]

No worries! I found it to be an interesting discussion. So they ship in series, and you rewired them to be in parallel?

Could you explain what the difference sounds like a little?

 

[CipherHost]

I think I'm going to order this for my SE HB Piezo.
https://www.freewayswitch.com/schematics-toggle/
(3X3-03 2PU 2Pot PP B)
Plenty of options and no drilling. Anyone use these before?

 

[CrimesAgainstMusic]

I asked PRS service about coil splitting the pickups in Hollowbody Piezo and the non piezo versions.

The answer from "Paul" (not sure if it were The Man himself, or maybe they allow more than one Paul in the company) WAS ... For the Piezo, the toggle switch method should be used, as the positioning of the piezo electronics would not allow adequate clearance for a push/pull switch

In the non-piezo, either toggles or push/pulls are OK. with push/pulls being the least invasive (no need to drill holes in the top).

My question rose from concerns regarding the structural integrity of the guitar top. That maybe push/pulls may be hazardous (torque on the laminate top ?) .. PRS Service said not a problem....

Wiring ? I leave to the Tech that knows how ...HOW DO SPLIT 58/15S IN A HOLLOWBODY
SOUND ? I think was the OP's question, and I'd like to know that answer to that too !

I dig the way they sound in a S2 McCarty 594 Thinline (loooong name !) but I'm pretty sure these pickups sound different per the application they are used in ... HB/ Thinline / S2 DC/SC so I would expect different results per guitar ...

 

[CipherHost]

Hi @CrimesAgainstMusic ,
My plan was to use the switch for the mags only. Using both 1/4 inch outs works well with my rig for separating or blending the piezo / mags. Good to know the top is strong enough to handle the push/pull pot. I never thought about it, but I'm glad you did. I do remember the neck PU single coil (slug) sounding really good when I was testing, so I'm a little psyched about getting this project started. It might take me a little while, but I'll stop back after she's all done and post a video for anyone who's interested.

 

[CrimesAgainstMusic]

Good to know the top is strong enough to handle the push/pull pot. I never thought about it, but I'm glad you did.

I'd like to claim credit for the thought, but it was actually another poster that raised the issue first ...

Back In January, this is what PRS service had to say :

• Thank you for contacting PRS Guitars. A push/pull pot will be the best choice for a non-piezo model, but for the piezo equipped guitar, the mini toggle will be necessary. The board won’t allow room for a push/pull pot.
  
  Neither option will harm the structural integrity of the instrument.
  
  Adding either option will not void the warranty on your guitar.
  
  Thank you for your continued support of PRS Guitars.
  
  
  PRS Guitars
  
  380 Log Canoe Circle
  
  Stevensville, MD 21666
  
  
  

• ,
• or

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[CrimesAgainstMusic]

Hi @CrimesAgainstMusic ,
My plan was to use the switch for the mags only. Using both 1/4 inch outs works well with my rig for separating or blending the piezo / mags. Good to know the top is strong enough to handle the push/pull pot. I never thought about it, but I'm glad you did. I do remember the neck PU single coil (slug) sounding really good when I was testing, so I'm a little psyched about getting this project started. It might take me a little while, but I'll stop back after she's all done and post a video for anyone who's interested.

Yo CipherHost !

Please post the video if you can once you are done. It would be great to hear what the splits sound like in a Hollowbody. I really like the 58/15S in the HB and Thinline applications,

I'm thinking something more "robust" ? may work better in chubby bodied DC/SC S2 594 ... but maybe with enough $$$ I'll know one day ! I almost jumped on Lambertone's 20% off sale (Cremas) last weekend .. planning on pickups for a S2 McCarty 594 DC... that for me is at least a year away !