Brand new Fiore - Feedback Humbucker issue

Julien

New Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2021
Messages
25
Location
France
Hi everyone,

Before I start, I already emailed PRS customer service and I'm waiting for their reply, but thought I would get some opinions from the very knowledgeable people here as always.

I just received my brand new PRS Fiore today purchased from a store in Belgium (I live in France), and while the guitar is absolutely amazing on clean and crunch, there is a big issue when playing high gain unfortunately.

I A/B’d with my Special Semi Hollow and Custom 24 on the same settings (Origin Effect Hot Rod Compact into EVH5150 clean channel, not even loud, at home), same environment and conditions, no issue at all with these guitars. They are stellar, dead silent and joy to play as always.

But with the Fiore, in the position 1, the full humbucker (series circuit), there is a huge feedback when not playing, and can almost be heard while playing too.

The only way to stop it is too lower the guitar volume below 8, which isn’t a solution.

This is my first issue with a PRS guitar since my 1st PRS back in 2005, so I'm not used to this at all LOL

• Humbucker height seems to be ok according to factory specs from the site (lowering a bit doesn't seem to help)
• At this stage, I would think it might a microphonic issue with the humbucker or a defective humbucker. (but it seems to be fine on clean and crunch. How could I tell if it was defective?)
• Could a bad wiring creates this too?
• I'm really surprised it passed QC (or if the QC was made on clean and crunch, then yeah there is no way to tell)

It's a mixed bag, as the guitar is very good, but with this constant HB feedbacking at high gain, this is unplayable.
Also, the black iris finish is very fragile...

Last question to PRS owner located in Europe, any experience with the support?
I know in the US, PTC would be the best answer and service but being in France, this won't be an option unfortunately.

Thanks a lot for any comments!

Rock ON
 
IIRC (and I don't trust my memory any more than, um, I forget):

The HB on the Fiore is quite hot. So it will feed easily, depending on guitar and amp eq, etc. From the PRS product page:

"The Fiore-H humbucker fulfills Lettieri’s desire for extensive versatility in the bridge position: enough power and punch for high-gain lead tones, but with a smooth top end that allows the pickup to be played clean, even with the volume knob wide open. "

That tells me it has quite a strong signal, and would require taming.

But it is possible you have an unusually easily fed-back pup, so I will defer to those folks that have setups similar to yours.
 
Hi Shinksma,
Thanks for your reply.

Talked to the store I bought it from today, and PRS Europe (Jays from the UK) is sending me a brand new Fiore Humbucker, so I can get it swapped at my local luthier, free of charge.
This is way better than shipping the guitar back to the store in Belgium, then shipping it to the UK, and back!
So far, the PRS customer service is just excellent! (never had to deal with them, as all my PRS never had a single issue!)

There is definitely an issue, as I can clearly speak into the Humbucker and hear myself in the amp (which I can't, with both my Special Semi Hollow and Custom24)
Also comparing the high gain settings, the Fiore, (right now with my issue) is way less powerful (less gain) than my Special Semi Hollow.

I guess this is the result of the Humbucker issue, becoming microphonic and less powerful maybe? (less gain)

Hopefully, once it's swapped, I will finally enjoy the Fiore like I should :)
 
There is definitely an issue, as I can clearly speak into the Humbucker and hear myself in the amp (which I can't, with both my Special Semi Hollow and Custom24)
Also comparing the high gain settings, the Fiore, (right now with my issue) is way less powerful (less gain) than my Special Semi Hollow.
That sounds like the issue. It should not be microphonic if it was intended to be a hot pickup. I don't think PRS makes any non potted pickups. Maybe something didn't go well with the potting of the pickup when it was made. Swapping it out should fix the issue.
 
Hi!
Just a quick follow up regarding the issue I had above with the Fiore and its microphonic humbucker.

Happy to report that the humbucker has now been swapped for a brand new one, and the Fiore is now absolutely smoking like it should!
So good! Really happy now!

Quick question, do you guys know if the Phase III locking are a direct fit replacement of the tuners of the Fiore? Or screws holes won’t align?

Thanks a lot, :)
 
Hi!
Just a quick follow up regarding the issue I had above with the Fiore and its microphonic humbucker.

Happy to report that the humbucker has now been swapped for a brand new one, and the Fiore is now absolutely smoking like it should!
So good! Really happy now!

Quick question, do you guys know if the Phase III locking are a direct fit replacement of the tuners of the Fiore? Or screws holes won’t align?

Thanks a lot, :)
Glad to hear that you got it sorted out!

As for the Phase III, I'm would guess yes. I removed a set of PRS Vintage Tuners from my 2020 594 and replaced with PIII. I would think those were the same. If you want to play it safe, you could track these down. I put a set on my Joe Walsh Ltd 594 and SE Silver Sky. They were direct drop in.

 
Hi!
Just a quick follow up regarding the issue I had above with the Fiore and its microphonic humbucker.

Happy to report that the humbucker has now been swapped for a brand new one, and the Fiore is now absolutely smoking like it should!
So good! Really happy now!

Quick question, do you guys know if the Phase III locking are a direct fit replacement of the tuners of the Fiore? Or screws holes won’t align?

Thanks a lot, :)
The Screws holes do align and the fit is perfect BUT there is an outline from the vintage tuners. I like the phase 3s much better on my Fiore
 
Thanx @bodia !

@Rider1260 , do you have a picture of the « outline « you mention by any chance ?
Yes, the phase III i have on my other PRS are like butter when compared to the ones on the Fiore, which is why I wanted to have them on the new Fiore. Glad to see that I’m not the only one doing this here! :)
 
Thanx @bodia !

@Rider1260 , do you have a picture of the « outline « you mention by any chance ?
Yes, the phase III i have on my other PRS are like butter when compared to the ones on the Fiore, which is why I wanted to have them on the new Fiore. Glad to see that I’m not the only one doing this here! :)
Here are the outlines , I have not tried to steam them out or anything.
You can't see them when your playing.
Feel like it holds tuning better and is smoother.
Always been a fan of the Phase 3s

IMG_7960 by

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2nsENUd]
IMG_7961 by

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2nsEQJ2]
IMG_7959 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/152274366@N08/
 
Thanks @Rider1260 , looks fine to me!

Yeah, the one thing that Im really surprised at the moment, is how bad the Fiore stays in tune, especially when using the vibrato.
I can abuse both my custom 24 and Special Semi Hollow way beyond what would be acceptable, with minor if not any, issue in tuning.

On the Fiore, D and G are often getting out of tune.
The nut has been check by the tech who swapped the defective Humbucker. Looked fine to him, but acknowledged the stability issues.
Put some nut sauce, which I use on all my PRS, but never have to deal this kind of issue on any of them !
Im having hard time to believe Mark Littieri would be happy with my Fiore ahahahahahah

Hopefully the phase III would improve that, other than that, when everything is working, it's a great guitar, which is why I'm still giving it the benefit of the doubt after all these issues from day one!
 
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That sounds like the issue. It should not be microphonic if it was intended to be a hot pickup. I don't think PRS makes any non potted pickups. Maybe something didn't go well with the potting of the pickup when it was made. Swapping it out should fix the issue.
That’s what I was thinking. An unpotted humbucker with a cover on is gonna squeal usually at very high gain…
 
Thanks @Rider1260 , looks fine to me!

Yeah, the one thing that Im really surprised at the moment, is how bad the Fiore stays in tune, especially when using the vibrato.
I can abuse both my custom 24 and Special Semi Hollow way beyond what would be acceptable, with minor if not any, issue in tuning.

On the Fiore, D and G are often getting out of tune.
The nut has been check by the tech who swapped the defective Humbucker. Looked fine to him, but acknowledged the stability issues.
Put some nut sauce, which I use on all my PRS, but never have to deal this kind of issue on any of them !
Im having hard time to believe Mark Littieri would be happy with my Fiore ahahahahahah

Hopefully the phase III would improve that, other than that, when everything is working, it's a great guitar, which is why I'm still giving it the benefit of the doubt after all these issues from day one!
@Julien after installing the phase III did the tuning stability improved for you on both D and G? I recently purchased a new Fiore in Larkspur and whenever I use the tremelo the G gets out of tune. D only a tad bit. And liked you said it doesn’t take much vibrato to get it out of tune. It’s not like I’m doing dive bombs.
 
@Julien after installing the phase III did the tuning stability improved for you on both D and G? I recently purchased a new Fiore in Larkspur and whenever I use the tremelo the G gets out of tune. D only a tad bit. And liked you said it doesn’t take much vibrato to get it out of tune. It’s not like I’m doing dive bombs.
@nyg86 , yes much better indeed.
Following the same routine I have with my other PRS (nut sauce on nut and saddles) it is now very good.
Can slightly detune, but we are talking cents detected by the Fractal, where some other tuners will still say it's fine, and after moderate abuse for a longer period of time.
I'm considering installing the same strings nut I have on the cores instead of the bone nut that came with it.
 
@Julien after installing the phase III did the tuning stability improved for you on both D and G? I recently purchased a new Fiore in Larkspur and whenever I use the tremelo the G gets out of tune. D only a tad bit. And liked you said it doesn’t take much vibrato to get it out of tune. It’s not like I’m doing dive bombs.
The final fix for me was installing a PRS nut ( replacing the bone nut ) likely could have just done the nut change but I like the larger buttons and smoothness on the phase 3s better anyway , the nut for a Pattern Reg neck is a perfect fit.
 
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