New to me 2015 Santana SE and my upgrades

[90sMcCarty]

Picked this up recently for a steal ($380), confirmed by the guys at PRS HQ to be a 2015 Santana SE in Natural Mahogany, from the 30th Anniversary year but not one of the official 30th Anniversary models. A killer value and good guitar regardless, and I'm stoked to have it:

Core McCarty pickups from a 2000 model are here now, waiting on the drop-in McCarty wiring kit to arrive, along with a Switchcraft input jack, Chrome rings, a Core Nut, and Core Strap Buttons:

I haven't yet decided which Locking Tuners I'm going with, but soon I'll grab new Tuners and the Mann NOS Trem. I'll be grinding ~2" off the Trem arm, too.

A Chrome 3-way Switch Tip, and Mahogany covers for the Truss Rod, Tremolo, and Electronics cavity (which I'm shielding with soldered Cooper Tape) will eventually complete the upgrades.

It plays and sounds good now, to be sure, but it will be dialed in when I'm done and still a value in the electric guitar world. This one will end up costing me ~ $1100, compared to ~$1600 or more for used Core models that interest me.

I'm digging the 24.5" Scale Length, too. Like very old Les Pauls, I read. It's taken a little to adjust, but I'm adapting fine. It makes me want a Core McCarty in 24.5". It's a trip the difference a 1/2" makes.

More photos as things progress.

 

[Rusty Chops]

Score!

 

[bodia]

Outstanding

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Bangin’!

 

[veinbuster]

Well done.
Enjoy.

 

[90sMcCarty]

Thanks.

Also, I'm rather impressed with the Gig Bag. The little details like the backpack straps and the hidden coat hanger hook...

It's way more useful and nicer than I was expecting. I'm used to the standard OEM hardshell cases Core models have.

It's also staying in tune quite well, even with the stock SE tuners and Tremolo. No complaints so far, no upgrades I'd call necessary either... I'm impressed.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

You had me at “natural”!

 

[Ironwolf]

an all mahogany guitar with no Maple cap, could be good.
does the McCarty switching / wiring kit have coil taps?
Or are you going to keep it straight Carlos
It has that beautiful simplicity just pure clean tone wood.
I snagged something similar.

 

[90sMcCarty]

an all mahogany guitar with no Maple cap, could be good.
does the McCarty switching / wiring kit have coil taps?
Or are you going to keep it straight Carlos
It has that beautiful simplicity just pure clean tone wood.
I snagged something similar.

The kit includes the Push Pull Tone pot, and I'll wire it like an OG McCarty model at first. Later I may add a Push Pull volume pot to add an Out of Phase option.

It'll be an interesting mix of Santana and McCarty lineages and features. Enough to be its own thing, neither Santana nor McCarty, yet still PRS, which was the idea.

 

[90sMcCarty]

McCarty Pickups and Chrome Rings are in (but not yet wired up), plus the Core Strap Buttons are screwed down on the leather.

The chrome rings are cheap plastic. I was hoping for actual metal ones, so I'll keep looking around for ones I like better.

 

[Ironwolf]

Looking extremely sharp, clean simple workhorse. Unified chrome Theme, knobs blend in with the wood color beautifully, great job

 

[90sMcCarty]

Had time today to cutoff the end of the Tremolo arm and round the new end on the bench grinder. Much better, for me.

(The finish looks weird and inconsistent in this photo, but looks great in person.)

 

[90sMcCarty]

Looking extremely sharp, clean simple workhorse. Unified chrome Theme, knobs blend in with the wood color beautifully, great job

That's the basic idea, a sleeper / not so flashy workhorse, with little details like the unified chrome bits. Thanks.

 

[90sMcCarty]

Got the electronics cavity Shielded and the McCarty Pickups wired up to the Drop-In Wiring Kit and everything soldered where it needed to be, with the new Switchcraft jack, and cleaned it up with some zip ties.

Everything worked great the first time:

The night before I flushed the Tremolo Cover, by hand. It's definitely not CNC-level precision, but it looks great at a glance. I'll tweak it a little later to sharpen the lines.

I also got the Core Nut installed and glued, as well as modifying the 3-Way Switch Cap to be shorter and flipped it upside down, which is how I like them, fewer accidents:

The SE knobs work but sit up really high on the post and leaves a goofy gap of almost 1/4" underneath each knob. I'll get Core knobs or maybe wood ones.

Tuners next, then a Mann NOS Trem.

Almost done.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Got the electronics cavity Shielded and the McCarty Pickups wired up to the Drop-In Wiring Kit and everything soldered where it needed to be, with the new Switchcraft jack, and cleaned it up with some zip ties.

Everything worked great the first time:

The night before I flushed the Tremolo Cover, by hand. It's definitely not CNC-level precision, but it looks great at a glance. I'll tweak it a little later to sharpen the lines.

I also got the Core Nut installed and glued, as well as modifying the 3-Way Switch Cap to be shorter and flipped it upside down, which is how I like them, fewer accidents:

The SE knobs work but sit up really high on the post and leaves a goofy gap of almost 1/4" underneath each knob. I'll get Core knobs or maybe wood ones.

Tuners next, then a Mann NOS Trem.

Almost done.

A very tidy control cavity!

 

[Rick Lewis]

Awesome guitar...nice mods. Bet it sounds great!

 

[Eddie kim]

All it needs are the core lampshade knobs...... other than that, it looks fantastic.