My First PRS

[Steven Lafferty]

I've been a Tele and Strat player for years. I decided to add a PRS SE Custom 24 Zebrawood to my arsenal. So far, I am really enjoying it. I played in Vegas for years until I retired after 35 years and now play lead guitar in our church Worship Band. Having a great time with this. Was wondering what most of you are using for settings to get a quality clean tone.

I should add that I am running at church through a Fender Twin Reverb amp with a Volume Pedal, Compressor Pedal, Digital Delay Pedal and a Tube Screamer.
Thanks so much for you input in advance. I wish you all a very Blessed Day.

 

[bodia]

Congrats on your first!

 

[slide13]

Congrats on the new guitar! I’m a recent first time PRS owner as well, coming from strats, and I’m quite impressed so far! Love the playability and quality so far. Enjoy! And post pics if you’re able

 

[vchizzle]

Congrats, those zebra wood 24’s look pretty slick!

 

[Steven Lafferty]

Congrats on the new guitar! I’m a recent first time PRS owner as well, coming from strats, and I’m quite impressed so far! Love the playability and quality so far. Enjoy! And post pics if you’re able

What model did you get? Were you able to get a nice middle selector switch clean tone using both pickups? I'm new to Humbucker PU's so this is quite different for me. Right now, I'm just trying to find the sweet spot. I'm wanting the tone to have nice low tones but fairly crisp and clean at the same time.

 

[Steven Lafferty]

Congrats, those zebra wood 24’s look pretty slick!

Yes it is. But coming from a Tele and Strat life for the last 30 years it is kind of tough to find a sweet clean tone in the middle position. But I really like this guitar a lot. It is just a different animal than I am use to.

 

[shimmilou]

Have you tried the middle position with the tone knob pulled up, so both pups are single coil?

 

[Kdogg788]

I think it sounds pretty solid in the middle position humbucked with the volume and tone rolled off slightly.

-k

 

[danktat]

Congrats on the new fiddle. That setup sounds like a quality rig. I have never owned an SE so I am not sure if it has coil tapping (or splitting) capabilities, but try pulling out the tone knob to see if it does. If so, you will lose some volume but it will give a more single coil tone and may be a bit more controllable for you. Also, if you roll back that volume knob a bit on a humbucker, you can find a spot that pushes you amp a little less so you get a cleaner tone, bump up the tone control to capture a bit more of the mids and highs, and go to your amp itself to dial in some more bass. If there is a presence control on the amp, that can help with some crispness on your highs, but too much can become a bit too biting if you aren't careful. Now, unfortunately, if you are looking for it to sound just like a tele or strat, you may never actually accomplish that since it isn't a tele or a strat. But you may find that once you play around with the settings, you can get some really sweet tones that have more of a single coil feel, but with fullness on tap of a humbucker.

Fiddle around with it for a couple of more weeks and let us know what you discover. The discovery is part of the fun

 

[Steven Lafferty]

Congrats on the new fiddle. That setup sounds like a quality rig. I have never owned an SE so I am not sure if it has coil tapping (or splitting) capabilities, but try pulling out the tone knob to see if it does. If so, you will lose some volume but it will give a more single coil tone and may be a bit more controllable for you. Also, if you roll back that volume knob a bit on a humbucker, you can find a spot that pushes you amp a little less so you get a cleaner tone, bump up the tone control to capture a bit more of the mids and highs, and go to your amp itself to dial in some more bass. If there is a presence control on the amp, that can help with some crispness on your highs, but too much can become a bit too biting if you aren't careful. Now, unfortunately, if you are looking for it to sound just like a tele or strat, you may never actually accomplish that since it isn't a tele or a strat. But you may find that once you play around with the settings, you can get some really sweet tones that have more of a single coil feel, but with fullness on tap of a humbucker.

Fiddle around with it for a couple of more weeks and let us know what you discover. The discovery is part of the fun

I'm wanting to push the front end to get that Humbucker tone some, but still stay a little on the clean side. We have all of our amps either mic'd or run line out to the main board so our sound man can keep control, but out tone and effects we take care of ourselves in our Worship Band in our church.

 

[danktat]

I'm wanting to push the front end to get that Humbucker tone some, but still stay a little on the clean side. We have all of our amps either mic'd or run line out to the main board so our sound man can keep control, but out tone and effects we take care of ourselves in our Worship Band in our church.

I have mine set up to where my volume on the git-fiddle is set around 2/3 of the way up when I have my base tone going. That way, IF I decide to push it a bit more, I can bump up the volume with my pinky to get more breakup, and volume. Or I can roll it back a little more to clean it up a little bit more. That gives me more fingertip control over my tone. I am almost never on 10 with my volume control but the option is there if I need to push it. If you set you rig up that way, even if you have a sound man, you can get a bit more control as to how much push you get out of your pups right at your fingertips.

Not that I am any master at tone (or playing for that matter) but I find that to be the easiest way to get some tonal control for me.

 

[Steven Lafferty]

I have mine set up to where my volume on the git-fiddle is set around 2/3 of the way up when I have my base tone going. That way, IF I decide to push it a bit more, I can bump up the volume with my pinky to get more breakup, and volume. Or I can roll it back a little more to clean it up a little bit more. That gives me more fingertip control over my tone. I am almost never on 10 with my volume control but the option is there if I need to push it. If you set you rig up that way, even if you have a sound man, you can get a bit more control as to how much push you get out of your pups right at your fingertips.

Not that I am any master at tone (or playing for that matter) but I find that to be the easiest way to get some tonal control for me.

Thanks so much, I will try that. I have heard if you roll things back that is the key to making things more clean but still a little grit.

 

[jak3af3r]

Congrats on the new guitar! I'm surprised they let you use a twin in a church. All the churches I've played in were sticklers for low/no stage volume.

 

[Steven Lafferty]

Congrats on the new guitar! I'm surprised they let you use a twin in a church. All the churches I've played in were sticklers for low/no stage volume.

We do have really low stage volume. Everything is run through the main board and the sound tech's control everything with the exception of pedal effects but they still control volume on that as well. Huge room. 3 Worship Services on Sunday. Seats about 600.

 

[Steven Lafferty]

Congrats on the new guitar! I’m a recent first time PRS owner as well, coming from strats, and I’m quite impressed so far! Love the playability and quality so far. Enjoy! And post pics if you’re able

What model did you get?

 

[vchizzle]

I have mine set up to where my volume on the git-fiddle is set around 2/3 of the way up when I have my base tone going. That way, IF I decide to push it a bit more, I can bump up the volume with my pinky to get more breakup, and volume. Or I can roll it back a little more to clean it up a little bit more. That gives me more fingertip control over my tone. I am almost never on 10 with my volume control but the option is there if I need to push it. If you set you rig up that way, even if you have a sound man, you can get a bit more control as to how much push you get out of your pups right at your fingertips.

Not that I am any master at tone (or playing for that matter) but I find that to be the easiest way to get some tonal control for me.

Good advice. Maybe slight pickup height adjustment could help too. Possibly raising neck, lowering bridge or both.

 

[WA Paul]

Congrats and welcome!

 

[Andrew Paul]

Huuuuuuge congrats!

 

[Steven Lafferty]

I have mine set up to where my volume on the git-fiddle is set around 2/3 of the way up when I have my base tone going. That way, IF I decide to push it a bit more, I can bump up the volume with my pinky to get more breakup, and volume. Or I can roll it back a little more to clean it up a little bit more. That gives me more fingertip control over my tone. I am almost never on 10 with my volume control but the option is there if I need to push it. If you set you rig up that way, even if you have a sound man, you can get a bit more control as to how much push you get out of your pups right at your fingertips.

Not that I am any master at tone (or playing for that matter) but I find that to be the easiest way to get some tonal control for me.

I tried this and worked out really well. Plus I went from 9s to 10s and that helped a bunch too.

 

[danktat]

I tried this and worked out really well. Plus I went from 9s to 10s and that helped a bunch too.

Cool man. Glad to hear it. The more you tinker with it the more you will get to know it. That will let you know [and get comfortable with] what the rig you have can do. Sometimes, when people come from one type of guitar or amp or pedals (I am currently attempting to switch from stop boxes to a digital multi effects modeler), they give up before the discover what all the new equipment can do. Heck, I am even like that with a new cell phone.....lol......try to look at it more as discovery than it is work. It will eventually be old hat