New to me Tremonti - and some questions

[CoryB]

I picked up an 2002 SE Tremonti yesterday. It's in decent shape but needed some serious cleaning and it looks like I'll be replacing some rusty hardware in the future.


In doing a checkout I've found that the tone pot for the bridge pickup has no effect. Also the guitar has a hum that gets softer when I touch the strings, bridge etc.


Is there a wiring diagram available for the early Tremonti? The diagram on the PRS support page is for a 2015 Tremonti and looks radically different than the wiring in my guitar. Also, is there supposed to be any sort of ground wire to the bridge to reduce the hum?


Yeah, I know, pics or it didn't happen.

Thanks for any help.

 

[garrett]

All the wiring diagrams on the PRS site are for the USA models, so the SE guitars may vary a bit. It's a pretty straightforward 2 volume, 2 tone wiring, though.

I would think there should be a ground wire to the bridge, but the '07 SE Tremonti I had did not have one and the wiring looked stock. I added one and it did help the ground hum

 

[ViperDoc]

Bridge ground wire +1. I built a bass about 10 years ago. I shielded the control cavity with copper mylar that I soldered together to create a continuous ground. Quietest bass on the planet.

 

[dogrocketp]

Glad to see you got that beauty. I`d change to a CTS or PRs 3 way, and then change the pots to RS super pots. Out of curiosity, is there a reason you want to keep the current wiring?

 

[CoryB]

Glad to see you got that beauty. I`d change to a CTS or PRs 3 way, and then change the pots to RS super pots. Out of curiosity, is there a reason you want to keep the current wiring?

I found the problem. One of the wires that should be on the tone control is no longer connected to it - surprisingly not the ground though. But instead of fighting that, I ordered a full CTS upgrade wiring kit from Stewart-McDonald that should be here early next week. It's a new 3-way switch, wires, CTS pots, and output jack. I also ordered new knobs as the Alpha knobs won't fit the shafts on the CTS pots.