Just received new S2 Custom 24 and have questions

Chrisk-K

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Nov 16, 2014
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I got an S2 Custom 24 in Scarlet Red. It looks and feels great. This is my first PRS. I have two questions, though.

First, the humbuckers are a little bit noisy. My other hum-cancelling pickups in my Strats (Fender noiseless & DiMarzio) are dead quiet. On the S2 if I don't touch the strings, I hear noticeable background noise. Even when I touch the strings, the S2 pickups make a little bit of noise. I wonder if this is the nature of the S2 pickups.

Second, the tone pot is much looser than the volume pot. I'm not talking about a loose knob. When I turn the volume pot, I feel nice resistance. However, when I turn the tone pot, I hardly feel any resistance. I wonder if this is by design or if something's not right.
 
The difference in pots is normal, my S2 is the same. Is it possible you have a faulty ground wire causing the noise?
 
I tested with my other guitars. Their pickups also make slight noise even when I touch the strings, so something funny must be happening with the power line today, I guess. The ground wire of my S2 must be working right because the background noise significantly decreases when I touch the strings. Anyway, the last HB guitar I owned was a Gibson ES-135, so I don't quite remember the noise level of a regular HB. I expected the PRS HB pickups to be dead quite...
 
I have an S2 as well. Only time the pickups really made any noise was when I split the coils. I'd try putting some foil in the cavity to see if that helps. The tone pot yes was a little looser, if you search around there is a cure for that too. I swapped my pickups out so my problem was looked after.

My new se does have the same thing you mentioned. I'll look around .
 
Pull your tone knob off and tighten the nut. Remember to use a cloth or shoelace to pull off the knob or you can damage your tone pot.
 
Pull your tone knob off and tighten the nut. Remember to use a cloth or shoelace to pull off the knob or you can damage your tone pot.

I'm not talking about a loose knob. The pot shaft itself is loose. Does tightening the nut help?

It seems that the noise issue was caused by a dimmer-equipped chandelier. It turns out that my son turned it on while I was testing this S2.
 
I have an S2 as well. Only time the pickups really made any noise was when I split the coils. I'd try putting some foil in the cavity to see if that helps. The tone pot yes was a little looser, if you search around there is a cure for that too. I swapped my pickups out so my problem was looked after.

My new se does have the same thing you mentioned. I'll look around .

How did you fix the torque/resistance on your tone pot?
 
The tone pot issue is normal with the push/pull that's used on the S2. My Mira (and every other one I have played) is the same way. I did get used to it after a while but it bugged me at first also.

Maybe the noise issue is somewhere else in the signal chain, but I will say that the stock pickups that came in mine were the noisiest of any humbuckers I have had...noticeably noisier than any of my other guitars. I switched them out to DiMarzios and it is dead-quiet now.
 
This guitar is going back:-( After receiving it yesterday, I noticed a dead spot (wolf tone) at the 10th fret of the B string (an A note). I put a brand new string and straightened the neck, but the dead spot won't go away. I'm not talking about the note fretting out. The A note sustains for about 2 seconds and then a wailing harmonic one octave higher takes over the fundamental. The 14th fret of the G string (the same A note) shows a similar wolf tone to a lesser degree. When I attached a heavy clamp to the headstock, the problem disappeared. Since that A note is frequently used, there's no way I can keep this S2:-(
 
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