New SC245 sounds a bit sloppy, will 50's wiring help?

[variableresults]

Took delivery on a black-gold-wrap SC245 yesterday, my first PRS. The guitar itself plays amazingly and is superbly crafted, but it's a bit "sloppy" and "dead" sounding compared to my other guitars (including a 50's wired Epi Les Paul Tribute Plus). I checked in the control cavity and it looks like it's wired up with modern wiring and no treble bleed, which typically is a recipe for mud when it comes to Les Pauls in my experience.

Anyone switch to 50's wiring on their SC245? I'm hoping it will help mine because this guitar resonates and sustains like no other, and it's very comfortable to play.

 

[Deleted member 2284]

Do you experience this problem with volumes and tones on 10?

 

[Whitecat]

Check the pickup height too.

 

[variableresults]

Do you experience this problem with volumes and tones on 10?

Yes. There's a sort of plasticy sound in the midrange that I normally associate with both <500k pots and modern wiring. Rolling off the volume makes it worse. I messed with the pickup heights for about an hour last night and it didn't seem to help.

 

[garrettb]

You might just want to send it back if it isn't floating your boat. If you're not pleased with everything on 10, the 50's wiring won't help you there.

 

[variableresults]

You might just want to send it back if it isn't floating your boat. If you're not pleased with everything on 10, the 50's wiring won't help you there.

I'll probably give it a little more time before I do anything drastic. Like I said, the guitar itself is brilliant, but I feel like the electronics might be putting a blanket over its potential.

 

[Deleted member 2284]

Modern wiring vs vintage wiring shouldn't make a difference with "all on ten".

500k pots as opposed to 300k pots (for the volume) would make a difference, as the higher value pots result in a higher cutoff frequency, if I remember correctly. That means more high frequencies, which may be what you experience as "plasticky".

However, I could imagine that you were expecting a Les Paul sound from a PRS - if that is the case, then I'm sorry, but that's not how it goes. Replacing the pickups may help you, though.

Before doing anything so drastic (or even worse: sending the guitar back!), be sure to fiddle with your amp first!! You've probably done this already, but many people just plug into their amp at their normal settings and get surprised when the tone is not like "their old guitar". So I just wanted to mention it just in case.

Either way, try playing on the PRS to the exclusion of your other guitars for a good amount of time (a week maybe?) and see how you like it then. Oftentimes, it's just a matter of what we're used to, and we need the time to adjust to a new sound before we can truly appreciate it.

 

[variableresults]

Modern wiring vs vintage wiring shouldn't make a difference with "all on ten".

500k pots as opposed to 300k pots (for the volume) would make a difference, as the higher value pots result in a higher cutoff frequency, if I remember correctly. That means more high frequencies, which may be what you experience as "plasticky".

However, I could imagine that you were expecting a Les Paul sound from a PRS - if that is the case, then I'm sorry, but that's not how it goes. Replacing the pickups may help you, though.

Before doing anything so drastic (or even worse: sending the guitar back!), be sure to fiddle with your amp first!! You've probably done this already, but many people just plug into their amp at their normal settings and get surprised when the tone is not like "their old guitar". So I just wanted to mention it just in case.

Either way, try playing on the PRS to the exclusion of your other guitars for a good amount of time (a week maybe?) and see how you like it then. Oftentimes, it's just a matter of what we're used to, and we need the time to adjust to a new sound before we can truly appreciate it.

Thanks for the advice. I'm curious since it's not printed on the back of the pots, but are the PRS volume pots 300k or 500k in the SC245? That could explain what I'm hearing, too.

I certainly had no illusions of it being or sounding like a Les Paul, though there are some similarities I was hoping that would translate (the Les Paul bite and hugeness). One of the main reasons I looked at the SC245 was to get in that ballpark without all of the typical Les Paul drawbacks that end up bothering me to no end (hit or miss QC, having to play a dozen or go Custom Shop to find a good one, weak upper-fret access, etc).

I've got quite the variety of guitfiddles these days (heck, the only brand that I have two of is Suhr, which is probably a testament to their brilliance), so I get playing it exclusively and tweaking my amp, which is what I'm planning. I might just like brighter guitars. I do want to do something about the volume rolloff muddiness, though, as I tend to ride my volume pretty heavily to get in-between sounds with gain.

 

[garrettb]

I'll probably give it a little more time before I do anything drastic. Like I said, the guitar itself is brilliant, but I feel like the electronics might be putting a blanket over its potential.

I'm just thinking in terms of avoiding the rabbit hole that is making mods in an attempt to find that missing something, only to wind up selling it after spending tons of time and money to no avail. Been there, done that.

I'd say if it's new, and you have a return period, enjoy it as-is and then decide whether it's a keeper or not before you run out of time. It could just be that this particular example doesn't do it for you, and you may even like a different SC245 better.

 

[variableresults]

I'm just thinking in terms of avoiding the rabbit hole that is making mods in an attempt to find that missing something, only to wind up selling it after spending tons of time and money to no avail. Been there, done that.

I'd say if it's new, and you have a return period, enjoy it as-is and then decide whether it's a keeper or not before you run out of time. It could just be that this particular example doesn't do it for you, and you may even like a different SC245 better.

Oh, believe me, I've been through the modding rabbit hole. I'm just picky; I even sent my Suhr Modern back to Suhr when I first got it because of a few very small (but annoying to me!) workmanship flaws. To Suhr's great credit, they took care of everything at no charge, not even for shipping. I've found over the years that I'm very good at spotting the awesome potential in a core guitar, regardless of electronics, so swapping things out on that front doesn't really concern me. The only guitar I own that is still 100% stock electronics-wise is my Fender American Standard Telecaster, and that's because I feel they really got things right in the model I own. Even my Suhr Modern got a bridge pickup swap since I wanted something lower output than the flamethrower SSH+ it came with (and I have to say, the Thornbucker that replaced it is one of the best pickups I've ever tried). Heck, the electronics mods I did to my Epiphone LP Tribute Plus made it so much better that it's kept me from just going out and buying a Historic

I will admit, though, the more I play the SC today, the more it's growing on me, so we'll see. I'm going to change out the strings for some NYXLs first since they've made every guitar I own sound more to my liking.

 

[swede71]

I associate "plastic" sound with tight nutslots and plating on the bridge.

 

[garrettb]

Right there with you on being picky and on the Thornbuckers. I put a set in my S2 and they really are fantastic. The S2 models come with cheaper pots (wired the same as the SC245 though), and I recently replaced the volume pots with proper PRS pots. I went with modern wiring and kept the 180pf treble bleed cap. I definitely like the performance.

 

[variableresults]

Right there with you on being picky and on the Thornbuckers. I put a set in my S2 and they really are fantastic. The S2 models come with cheaper pots (wired the same as the SC245 though), and I recently replaced the volume pots with proper PRS pots. I went with modern wiring and kept the 180pf treble bleed cap. I definitely like the performance.

Yeah, I was really surprised by the Thornbucker. I don't usually get behind hype, but that pickup deserves all the praise. Pete Thorn and John Suhr definitely have a great ear for tone.

 

[Screamingdaisy]

Coming from Gibson to PRS I found the stock pickups much darker than what I'm used to. Almost a honky sound to the midrange. For the first week I kept reaching down to make sure my tone control wasn't rolled off, and then I got used to it.

Swapping the stock strings (which are pure nickel wrapped) to NYXL helped give it more attack and definition. Even with the NYXLs my McCarty is darker and smoother than my Les Paul with nickel strings.

In my case I really like the darker sound... much more clarity with less high end "junk" than what I'm used to. YMMV.

 

[kbprs]

Thanks for the advice. I'm curious since it's not printed on the back of the pots, but are the PRS volume pots 300k or 500k in the SC245? That could explain what I'm hearing, too.

PRS pots I've measured have been pretty reliably in the 470-475Ω range. PRS' *US* hardware and wiring has always been spot-on IME.

Also, what pickups are in your SC245? If you have 57/08s, you might find the 58/15s more to your liking. And if it's second-hand, definitely check the nut slots, tuner bushings, bridge/tailpiece setup, etc... lots of people on forums acting like they know things.

Oh.. wait... ;-) ;-)