CE24 3 way toggle switch help

[Philthy]

Hi,

I'm new to the forum and to PRS guitars.
I recently purchased a 2003 CE24 and am loving it. It has the 5 way rotary selector and the HFS/VB pups.

Until now I've been a devout Les Paul player and I tend to use the middle position, 2 humbucker sound for crunchy rhythm playing.

Much as I like the sounds on my CE24 I do miss that double humbucker sound. The "mid" position on my rotary gives a nice crunchy sound but it lacks a bit of the girth I get from my Les Paul.

Now the question, if I replace the 5 way rotary with a 3 way toggle and a push/pull tone for coil splitting will I be able to get the bridge and neck humbuckers together?
And, will I lose the current "mid" position tone (which I quite like, it's like a fat strat without all the hum!).

Ideally I would like to have the following -

Without coil taps -
1) Neck humbucker
2) Both humbuckers
3) Bridge humbucker

With Coil taps
1) Neck single coil
2) Neck & bridge inner coils (is this what rotary mid position usually gives?)
3) Bridge single coil

My alternative thinking is to sell another body organ and buy either a Custom 24 or a singlecut, however I'd love to be able to get all the tones I want out of my CE and retain the use of both kidneys.

Thanks in advance.

 

[]-[@n$0Ma☩!©]

I replace the 5 way rotary with a 3 way toggle and a push/pull tone for coil splitting will I be able to get the bridge and neck humbuckers together?

Yes.

And, will I lose the current "mid" position tone (which I quite like, it's like a fat strat without all the hum!).

Depends on how you wire it back together. Generally the 3-way toggle with push/pull tone pot will split both pickups at the same time so in the middle on the toggle you'd get two single coils. You can wire one pup to the tone pot and do a push/pull volume pot to split the other. That way you can pick and choose vs. splitting both. You can even wire them out of phase - which is a favorite of a lot of guys.

Ideally I would like to have the following -

Without coil taps -
1) Neck humbucker
2) Both humbuckers
3) Bridge humbucker

That's easy. You'll get that exact set-up with a 3-way conversion.

With Coil taps
1) Neck single coil
2) Neck & bridge inner coils (is this what rotary mid position usually gives?)
3) Bridge single coil

Add the push/pull tone pot to your 3-way conversion and that's what you get - though I'm not sure which of the single coils you'll get. Since you're starting with pickups that are configured to access individual coils it can be done. PTC can make that happen for you (http://prsguitars.com/ptc/).

My alternative thinking is to sell another body organ and buy either a Custom 24 or a singlecut, however I'd love to be able to get all the tones I want out of my CE and retain the use of both kidneys.

Your CE will provide all that you want. Get a CU24 and Singlecut (in addition to your CE) anyway. And welcome to the PRS Forum!

 

[Philthy]

Many thanks,

A trip to my local luthier beckons this weekend

 

[]-[@n$0Ma☩!©]

You're welcome. Post some pics of your CE!