New Pickups Day

[CantankerousCarl]

Scored a set of 53/10s. Going to put these into my 2000 CU22 chambered (no f-hole) semi-hollow. Made the old-fashioned way, just like Tag likes them . Have a MannMade 2300 adjustable stoptail on order in satin finish to complement the brushed covers. Very excited - I love this guitar but I think the Dragon IIs let her down a bit. I think the 53/10s are going to sound lovely with the semi.

I probably won't have this done for a few weeks, and of course it's not some supermagical cosmetic transformation, but I will post pics and impressions post-surgery. Might throw some lampshades on her. Going to keep the "Phase 1.5" tuners for now (not pictured), as they have ebony buttons already and I kinda dig them - no need to upgrade to Phase IIs just yet. Yet...

 

[justmund]

Oh wow, goldtop CU22 semi, with 53/10s and a MannMade? That will be one super cool axe my friend!

 

[László]

That's an awesome upgrade, IMHO.

 

[bodia]

Awesome! Can't wait to see pics. Should be super sweet post upgrades!

 

[dmatthews]

You'll be spanking new life into that beauty!

 

[Snoopygore71]

Carl, you will love the 53/10's and Cu22 combo. I bought mine off Justin and the guitar has come alive. Dragon 2s are definitely less dynamic. BTW is your MannMade bridge pre slotted?

 

[justmund]

Carl, you will love the 53/10's and Cu22 combo. I bought mine off Justin and the guitar has come alive. Dragon 2s are definitely less dynamic. BTW is your MannMade bridge pre slotted?

I love those pickups, prob going to put one in the neck of my DC22...

I just ordered a MannMade stoptail with pre-slotted saddles Steve, sorry should have asked you if you wanted anything! I'm putting it on my S2 Mira SH (Wanda)...

 

[CantankerousCarl]

Carl, you will love the 53/10's and Cu22 combo. I bought mine off Justin and the guitar has come alive. Dragon 2s are definitely less dynamic. BTW is your MannMade bridge pre slotted?

Pre-slotted all the way...I'm all about plug-n-play! Went with unplated polished studs btw.

 

[Snoopygore71]

Thanks for that Justin and Carl - I was thinking the pre slotted but just needed feedback.

 

[justmund]

Pre-slotted all the way...I'm all about plug-n-play! Went with unplated polished studs btw.

:five:

Thanks for that Justin and Carl - I was thinking the pre slotted but just needed feedback.

Darn totally should have got together to save on postage. Not sure if John offers cheaper freight (he uses FedEx, which has an expensive base rate) but it will pay to ask him or Roxanne, maybe they can use USPS or similar...

 

[CantankerousCarl]

A little bit of uh-huh and a whole-lotta oh yeah...arrived today....

Work should be done next week...

 

[John Beef]

Takin' it up a notch! Several notches!

 

[Snoopygore71]

I like the way they look

 

[László]

You bet! Have fun with all that cool stuff!

 

[CantankerousCarl]

OK...soooo...good news and bad news....

My guitar SHOULD be ready today...but my local guy says that he cannot wire it up to split the 53/10s. I had given him the original PRS CU22 schematic, and then forwarded him the MEQ schematic as well (which is the guitar that these pickups supposedly came out of). He said that he could do the wiring that way, but he would have to order some additional resistors and such. I am SOOO not an electronics dude, but I thought putting the 53/10s in a guitar already wired with a 3-way toggle / P-P tone pot would be easy peasy. So he is saving the original tone pot, but putting in a standard 500K one he has, and we can do the work for the splits at another time.

Dunno guys - take a look at the schematics. BS or not?

http://www.prsguitars.com/csc/schematics/schem08/custom3waytoggle.pdf
http://www.prsguitars.com/csc/schematics/2012/me_quatro_2012.pdf

 

[justmund]

I don't need to look at the schematics, if they have the white split wire, then you can split them.

All he needs is a push-pull (or mini-toggles) a 1.1k resistor and a 2.2k resistor.

 

[CantankerousCarl]

Ok, so despite the fact that my tech accidentally banged up one of my studs (but ordered me a new identical set from The Mann for free) and I cannot split coils...HOLY SHEET!

This guitar went from an OK date with the original DIIs to a full -fledged marry-me-right-now supermodel with the 53/10s and MannMade 2300. I cannot believe how good she sounds. And sustain is off-the-charts...at least 2-3 seconds more than any other guitar I own.

Hard to tell from the pics, but the facelift did well for her too. The new pickup rings with the good screws bring out the good pole pieces, as do the polished brass studs. And the satin bridge matches the pickup covers perfectly. It's subtle but I really dig it. Goldie MkII:

 

[John Mann]

Nice \m/

 

[Mattden]

Beautiful. I really really dig the satin.

 

[justmund]

Killer.

Got a photo of the cavity? If there's a push-pull and a white split wire from each pickup, it's a doddle to get coil splits happening!