Modded my HBII!

LJD

LJD

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Joined
May 15, 2012
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788
I set out to remove the piezo system and install dual coil splits on my HBII. I had never wired or soldered anything in my life. A few days of memorizing schematics and watching how-to videos online and I was ready to dive in. It was tricky, but... success!!! Kinda proud of myself. The 53/10's sound really cool split in the HBII. Jangly and spanky, and I really can't hear any volume loss. The middle combos of one-split, one-humbucking is very cool. Have to explore these single coil sounds some more...




Lookin' good.
 
Great work! I wouldn't have had the cojones to do it!

I wish that PRS would offer the option of not having the piezo, it's something I will never use. Didn't stop me from ordering one, but I wish...
 
Did you do this because you didn't like the piezo? Or just wanted the single coil sounds more? I love the combo single coil/piezo sounds on my P24...and thinking of adding coil split capability to my HB2...without removing the piezo. I had to have a drink to calm down after viewing those pictures....you are brave and skilled!!!
 
Tosca said:
Did you do this because you didn't like the piezo? Or just wanted the single coil sounds more? I love the combo single coil/piezo sounds on my P24...and thinking of adding coil split capability to my HB2...without removing the piezo. I had to have a drink to calm down after viewing those pictures....you are brave and skilled!!!
Click to expand...

As piezos go, the PRS setup is the best. That being said I personally don't like any piezo electric sound. I wanted dual coil splits more, and didn't want to drill new holes in the guitar. This way it's reversible. The cool thing was that the hole for the blend control pot is smaller than the volume and tone pot holes, so the mini toggle fit in there fine.

Really liking these new pickup combinations!
 
I like it! I can't get down with piezos either, single coil splits on the other hand....
 
My understanding is...not enough room for P/P pots in these...so mini toggle is required. That means drilling a new hole, or, as ingeniously done in this case, using existing piezo blend pot hole for this.
 
After another day of playing with the new setup I have this to report: this guitar has been unleashed, full potential. Getting great tones with the split coils (I'll try to post some audio later). Wow, I love this guitar!
 
I bought my HBII as a custom order in 2002, back when the piezo optional. I ended up getting the piezo because I thought it might come in handy, especially when playing "Roundabout." But I almost never use it. A Boss AC-3 can do just as good a job of simulating an acoustic sound, if not better, so really, what's the point?
 
Here are some sounds of the 53/10's in humbucker and split modes, clean and dirty. The split's sound cool and smokey with a little dirt, I like it.
I use an "always on" Analogman CompRosser" to buffer and sweeten my clean tone, light settings. It comes after my dirt pedals to keep each gain stage even. I'm using a Lovepedal Amp Eleven for the dirt sounds, and an Analogman Silver Mod Maxon OD-9 for the single coil leads at the end. I think I left my Trinity reverb (TC HallOF) on the whole time, light room setting. There's a little delay and vibe at the end too. The amp is a Princeton Reverb Reissue with a 5751 in v1, Blackplate Tungsol 6v6, Mullard 5ar4 (all nos glass), Allen TO20 output transformer, and a Celestion G10 Gold. Enjoy!

https://soundcloud.com/jonco74/hbiidemo0629
 
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