Guitar Mojo?

[starscream67]

Hi all,

I have a PRS SE Singlecut from 2011/2012 ish when they first started putting bird inlays on SE’s. It’s completely stock apart from me putting locking tuners on it a few months ago but this guitar just has mojo that I can’t explain.

Just wondering what people’s opinion on where guitar mojo comes from? The wood/build? The pickups? The sum of a whole?

Can mojo be improved with some USA pickups or should I leave it well alone for fear of ruining it?

 

[veinbuster]

The mojo comes from all of the above.

If I was really feeling it the way the guitar was, I wouldn’t change it...well maybe strings from time to time.

 

[CVS]

If you feel the mojo when you pick up the guitar & play it, I would not change anything (OK - strings excepted as veinbuster indicates).

"If it aint broke - don't fix it"

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Mojo comes from fairy dust and fairy dust comes from shaking (down) fairies.

You can change the pickups, but you take a chance of losing some mojo, if the pickups you install have incompatible fairy dust.

Me, I’d probably go ahead and swap them, as you can always swap them back. Especially if you have something particular in mind, which I usually do.

Which American pickups did you have in mind?

 

[BrianC]

Mojo cannot be explained at times.
My #1 defies all logic - it beats Private Stocks and Wood Library's! When you play it unplugged it does NOT win compared to my other PRS's, but plug it in and LOOK OUT.
I did change the tuners to Phase II some time back as well as converting it to a 3 way from the rotary switch. Since then I did also upgrade the pups.
So contrary to what is said above Go For It with upgrades. If it does not make it EVEN BETTER than you can always put it back.

 

[RaySachs]

Every guitar is a little bit different - PRSs are closer to the same across a product line than most, but still no two are identical. And every player is different, both physically and in terms of what they like. Mojo is when a near-perfect combination of guitar and player intersect and the player just KNOWS within seconds of picking up an instrument that it's gonna be his or her guitar. I've had it happen with a small few over 40 years of playing. They weren't exceptional instruments in terms of price or construction, but they were a perfect match for me. And I knew it pretty much immediately. Two of them I was even able to buy when I played them. A few others were either not for sale or way out of my price range at the time. I don't have any at the moment, but my 594 is so close to perfect that I suspect it's a lifetime guitar. Not like it was a perfect match for me in any individual way, but it's a guitar I can't imagine ANY player not being REALLY happy with.

I have a Robert Cray strat on the way and the last one I played had serious mojo. I didn't buy it because of some really bad fret buzz and a few notes that wouldn't play at all and a truss rod and some frets already at the limit. I'm sure the one on the way will be far more playable but we'll have to wait and see about the mojo. But I've found Fender's stuff has gotten much MUCH more consistent across a model line than it used to be, so I'm optimistic. I probably played five or six Baja telecasters over the course of a few weeks last year and all but one of them felt and sounded basically identical. I had two Classic Player 50s strats (swapped one for the other for finish reasons) and they both played and sounded identically good and both had a bit of mojo - should have kept that one... So I'm optimistic about the Cray on the way... We'll see.

-Ray

 

[Kynlore]

Mama says that mojo comes from magic rays of sunshine that come down when you are feeling blue...


...but I wouldn’t change a thing.

 

[andy474x]

I say the wood and build first. It's everything from the piece of wood it starts from, to the way it's made into the instrument. Pickups can play a part, but only if the former is right.

I love SE's, although I'll admit not every one I try has the "it" factor for me. Not that they're in any way bad, sometimes they just don't ring the way I like, or the neck is maple (have never loved them on a PRS), or whatever, but they still always have the non-negotiables right: intonation, fretwork, hardware, etc. But, when I find one, you know, the ONE (aka the one before the next one), yeah, they're rockin. My SE Akesson was that way. And I had the same question as you, I grabbed a set of 57/08 pickups and they needed a home, so even though I liked the guitar as it was (a lot), I made the change and have never looked back. I say do it, as long as you go for pickups that are somewhat similar to what's in your guitar spec-wise. I doubt you'll regret it!

 

[Steve's addiction]

For me it's not a brand or model, it's when you pick it up and it feels like home. You may pick it up and feel nothing but someone else picks it up and they are in heaven. Fortunately Paul puts a little heaven in everything he builds.

 

[dmatthews]

Mojo comes from the player when they bond with guitar X

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Couldn’t resist!

 

[starscream67]

Which American pickups did you have in mind?

I have an SD JB (trembucker) and 59 (shop floor custom with short legs, 4c wire and logo that I had to import from the USA which made it expensive) in my SE Custom 22 which, is absolutely flawless build/finish wise, but I’m just not bonding with it even after I have got used to the wide thin neck - so wondered if those pups would be better served in my SE Singlecut.

This SE Singlecut is the thin back, 25” scale version before they started making the 245, but it has a wide fat neck - so I did wonder if that was part of the mojo.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Could be. You will have to tell us how it turns out if you go through with it.

 

[Ironwolf]

I have a SE Frederick Akesson, (SE 245) which I could tell just was excellent playing it at the guitar Center one weekend, it was a special $100 off every purchase weekend at guitar Center, I got it for 399, back in 2012, I went ahead and dropped a Seymour Duncan alnico II Pro Slash, in the bridge.
talk about Mojo, really like the guitar, how can a $400 guitar sounds so freaking amazing. once my son started getting an interest in learning about music, I saw an opportunity, to buy another guitar, so I gave him that guitar, but he can see how important I think the guitar is. I said if you ever stop playing it and if you ever don't want it, you have to give it back to me. I actually believe that the guitar has an extremely unreasonable amount of mojo. just not exactly sure why. I keep asking him if he wants to send it back. not yet he says. he just told me he plans to take it to college this year as a freshman. he's never got past the beginner stage, so he only plays it once every three months. so it's not being utilized to its full potential. but it creates a very strong interest in music for him. and it really is a beautiful piece of art if nothing else. so I agree certain PRS SE models are able to find the mojo. I'm just about ready to try and pick up another akesson off of eBay, before they're gone. since it looks like I'm not getting my back. I think Bernie Marsden models are also high on the Mojo list.
I'm agreement with Andy, a pickup swap is a low risk high-value payoff.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Just a slight de-railment! Anybody had experience of SD Hot-Rodded set?

Seeing as there’s a lot of talk about SD

 

[davesultra]

Player adds the mojo!

 

[starscream67]

Just a slight de-railment! Anybody had experience of SD Hot-Rodded set?

No, but I regret not starting there rather than paying a ton more for the JB / 59 individualy. If that helps.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

No, but I regret not starting there rather than paying a ton more for the JB / 59 individualy. If that helps.

Thanks, I’m still not sure about the 7.2k neck vs 16k bridge. Only one way to find out though!

 

[starscream67]

Thanks, I’m still not sure about the 7.2k neck vs 16k bridge. Only one way to find out though!

If your putting a set into a PRS beware the pole spacing - I learnt the hard way the difference between Humbuckers and Trembuckers (also I doubt a covered Trembucker would fit in the pickup rings as the uncovered only just fits):

 

[Alnus Rubra]

If your putting a set into a PRS beware the pole spacing - I learnt the hard way the difference between Humbuckers and Trembuckers (also I doubt a covered Trembucker would fit in the pickup rings as the uncovered only just fits):

Thanks for that, I appreciate the information