Intermittent neck pickup.

[Samwell885]

Hey guys. New member here. Long time lurker.

I have a 35th anniversary S2 Custom 24 that has an issue. The neck humbucker will just cut out during playing or sometimes produce a very faint clean sound upon switching over from the bridge.

I had the stock 85/15s pickups swapped to a Seymour Duncan Jazz/JB set and it still does it, so clearly I have a separate issue?

Sounds like a ground issue to me? Any thoughts where I should look first?

thanks in advance!

 

[Lacire]

Does the neck pickup work with the pickup selector (3 way toggle switch) in the middle position (both pickups on) or is the neck pickup still intermittent? If it is still intermittent its probably a cold solder joint somewhere in the circuit. Have the person who installed the pickups for you go through and reheat the solder joints. If it works in the middle position then the 3 way toggle switch isn’t making a good contact when the neck pickup alone is selected. I don’t know what that switch looks like in your guitar, but I’ve had this problem before with switchcraft brand toggle switches on a Hamer and Gibson Les Paul and you can gently bend the switches contact arm just a little to make a better connection. If the switch is sealed then you’ll need to replace the switch. Let me know how it goes.

 

[RickP]

I’ll second the three way toggle as a first place to look. Even a little corrosion on the contacts can cause a pickup to drop out entirely. Sometimes, just working the switch back and forth a few times can temporarily get you going until you do a proper cleaning.

 

[Samwell885]

Thank you guys. Middle position also it will cut out so that makes sense about a solder joint. It happened on both the stock pickups and new so I’ll see what I can find. Appreciate the responses.

 

[Lacire]

Ok, I think your guitar is wired like the PRS Paul’s guitar. There’s a wiring diagram on PRS web page for it if you take a look under support, then manuals and tech documents. https://prsguitars.com/support

 

[Lacire]

I’m not sure if you can read the wiring diagram or even if this one is correct since I’m not familiar with your guitar, but whoever installed your pickups should be able to, hope this helps. I found another wiring diagram on a different forum with a quick internet search. Again post back when you find the fix. Good luck. https://guitarnuts2.proboards.com/thread/9414/info-prs-35th-anniversary-wiring

 

[Samwell885]

Got it. Much appreciated.

Kind of lame since the guitar is only a few months old. I got it off reverb from a reputable shop. I know things happen and no company has flawless QC issues. However it is my first PRS, so a little bummed to have this issue.

I’ll get my tech to take a closer look. Keep you posted. Really happy with my purchase otherwise.

 

[Lacire]

You have a good guitar and a cold solder joint can happen in any of them. I personally wouldn’t even look at the wiring diagram but start by going through and reheating every solder joint to make sure they all have a good connection. Then if you still have a problem start through the wiring diagram and re-troubleshoot it.

 

[Samwell885]

Cold solder joint it was. I ended up just reheating all the joints myself. Works every time now. Thanks for the advice guys.

 

[bodia]

Cold solder joint it was. I ended up just reheating all the joints myself. Works every time now. Thanks for the advice guys.

Glad you got it sorted out, and that it was something easy

 

[The Steady]

When I have guitars that do this it's always the 3-way toggle. I have had more than one guitar that displayed this only after a pickup change. I assume it's either I got some solder in the wrong spot now that my eyes are old or the switches just can't take the heat I used.

 

[Lacire]

Cold solder joint it was. I ended up just reheating all the joints myself. Works every time now. Thanks for the advice guys.

Glad we could help and it was nice hearing back from you.

 

[Lacire]

When I have guitars that do this it's always the 3-way toggle. I have had more than one guitar that displayed this only after a pickup change. I assume it's either I got some solder in the wrong spot now that my eyes are old or the switches just can't take the heat I used.

For me you still can’t beat the Switchcraft brand switches. They seem to last through years of playing (though hard use will eventually wear them out) and they can also take a lot of heat from a soldering iron.