Dissonant notes on certain strings - What could cause this?

Jaymond said:
I can't hear the issue when played acoustically - I don't know if that's because it's not there or if it's just too quiet to hear it unamplified. Originally I suspected an electrical issue but it seemed wise (and cheaper!) to check it wasn't just a setup issue first. Now I'm back to thinking it's electrical - either the pickups or something else. I don't know how I'd go about testing this though which is why I'd like a PRS tech to have a look at it. Although from the responses here it seems like the bridge still needs looking at too.

I haven't had a reply from PRS yet and it's been over a week so I need to get back on to them.

I've checked the cavities and there doesn't seem to be anything loose in them.
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I would bring to the guitar to a qualified person to go over it and any good experienced tech will get the setup done "correctly" and once the setup is done, they can identify if there are any further issues and get those corrected as well.
Your current tech returned the guitar without solving the issue which means you need to find a better tech that can locate the problem.
 
Unfortunately the PRS techs weren't able to find the cause of the issue, so that's about it. I'll be keeping the guitar as a very expensive reminder to always try before you buy.
 
Jaymond said:
Unfortunately the PRS techs weren't able to find the cause of the issue, so that's about it. I'll be keeping the guitar as a very expensive reminder to always try before you buy.
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I’m sorry you didn’t get a solution. Sounds very disappointing.
 
It is hard to tell without seeing it in person, but I believe it is an electrical issue. If you have a spare pickup, wire it directly to an instrument cable with some alligator clips and have someone hold it above the strings while you play. If you get a clear tone, it is in the electronics.
 
Without being able to get my hands on it makes it more difficult to figure out. I watched the video again. Does it do it if you switch it to the neck pickup? And if so, does it act the same way? Meaning it is worse when the pickup is tapped and is almost gone when using the full humbucker with the tone all the way down.

I don't know if it has been mentioned in this thread but in the video it looks like the back of the trem is pretty high off the body. I don't know if that has been addressed. That can cause strange issues like this because it changes how the string comes off of the saddle.
 
JasonE said:
Without being able to get my hands on it makes it more difficult to figure out. I watched the video again. Does it do it if you switch it to the neck pickup? And if so, does it act the same way? Meaning it is worse when the pickup is tapped and is almost gone when using the full humbucker with the tone all the way down.

I don't know if it has been mentioned in this thread but in the video it looks like the back of the trem is pretty high off the body. I don't know if that has been addressed. That can cause strange issues like this because it changes how the string comes off of the saddle.
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Yeah, I appreciate it is difficult without having the guitar in front of you. I'll try my best to explain it.

The issue is there when using either the bridge, neck or both pickups together. It's more noticeable when split but still definitely there in humbucker mode. Turning the tone all the way down (either split or humbucker or both) seems to make the issue go away. The issue also can't be heard when using a clean sound on the amp or playing acoustically.

I've experimented with other amps/guitars so I know the guitar is the issue and not a dodgy cable/amp issue etc.

I've levelled out the trem now so that it's sitting lower and parallel to the body.
 
Jaymond said:
Yeah, I appreciate it is difficult without having the guitar in front of you. I'll try my best to explain it.

The issue is there when using either the bridge, neck or both pickups together. It's more noticeable when split but still definitely there in humbucker mode. Turning the tone all the way down (either split or humbucker or both) seems to make the issue go away. The issue also can't be heard when using a clean sound on the amp or playing acoustically.

I've experimented with other amps/guitars so I know the guitar is the issue and not a dodgy cable/amp issue etc.

I've levelled out the trem now so that it's sitting lower and parallel to the body.
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Have you ever opened the back cover to look at the wiring? It may not hurt to have some good pictured of the wiring in it.

I am thinking though this a bit. Hopefully I can come up with some things to try. I have some theories but need to think them through more.
 
JasonE said:
Have you ever opened the back cover to look at the wiring? It may not hurt to have some good pictured of the wiring in it.

I am thinking though this a bit. Hopefully I can come up with some things to try. I have some theories but need to think them through more.
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Wondering if lefty wiring is a factor?
 
deathworlder said:
Wondering if lefty wiring is a factor?
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I am just thinking of things to check. It is possible that a mistake was made in the wiring. It is also possible that some component in the wiring is bad. I wish I could get my hands on this guitar. I am very curious as to what is causing the issue. I haven't seen behavior like this before and am genuinely curios. I have fixed a lot of guitars over the years and this one has me intrigued.
 
JasonE said:
I am just thinking of things to check. It is possible that a mistake was made in the wiring. It is also possible that some component in the wiring is bad. I wish I could get my hands on this guitar. I am very curious as to what is causing the issue. I haven't seen behavior like this before and am genuinely curios. I have fixed a lot of guitars over the years and this one has me intrigued.
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Me too...

Pickup height too high?
 
Here are some photos of the wiring. A couple of things to note:

1. The red wire running from the volume pot to the pickup switch wasn't connected very well and broke off the switch when I was poking around. I stripped the cover back and secured it in place but it didn't resolve the issue. I've got a soldering iron ordered so I'll fix that properly when it arrives.

2. All of the wiring to the switch seems to be backwards compared to the lefty wiring diagram deathworlder posted. I don't know if that would make a difference or not.

3. Looking at the diagram, it seems like the white wire from the bridge pickup and black wire from the neck are connected to the wrong part of the switch. I've included a photo to show this. Do they need swapping or does it look right?

I'm kinda assuming the wiring is correct as I guess the guitar just wouldn't make any sound if it wasn't.

https://imgur.com/Bg68XXj
https://imgur.com/1Xw4F0j
https://imgur.com/kWBWlbl
https://imgur.com/3ZefRVL
 
I am not seeing anything that looks glaringly wrong in the wiring. If the correct pickup is active in the positions of the switch now, you won't need to swap the wires you asked about. If the pickups are magnetically out of phase with each other, which they probably are, the wire colors will be swapped on one pickup to electronically put them in phase.
 
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