NGD and new member

[Marcus2]

Hi Folks,

I'm new here...just got my first PRS (a used 2008 Custom 24) after years of waiting till the time was right for me. As my wife put it, the guitar is my "it" guitar. I am enamored with this guitar (and have played many nice guitars in the past). This is a very special instrument and I look forward to a lifetime playing it.

I've got a few questions for you. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

First, should the middle position on the toggle switch give me both humbuckers full on, or is it supposed to split the coils? It does not sound like the humbuckers are both fully engaged in the middle position.

Second, from the tech help section, it seems as though it should have a push/pull tone control pot. Mine does not. Does that suggest that it was modded, or were some models made without this feature? I guess this impacts my first question, too.

Last, I would like to get one of the PRS leather guitar straps, but like to wear my guitars kind of high. While I appreciate knowing that they are adjustable up to a certain maximum length, I am more curious to know what they can be adjusted to as a minimum length.

Again, any info is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Marc

 

[SharkAtl]

Welcome aboard!! Hopefully folks will chime in and respond to your questions. But for me the important question is WHERE ARE THE PICS of this beautiful new guitar you have??? Never happened unless you have pics!

 

[AP515]

Hi Folks,

I'm new here...just got my first PRS (a used 2008 Custom 24) after years of waiting till the time was right for me. ...

First, should the middle position on the toggle switch give me both humbuckers full on, or is it supposed to split the coils? It does not sound like the humbuckers are both fully engaged in the middle position.

Second, from the tech help section, it seems as though it should have a push/pull tone control pot. Mine does not. Does that suggest that it was modded, or were some models made without this feature? I guess this impacts my first question, too.

Welcome Marc,

The 2008 Cu24 came standard with a 5 way rotary switch (looks like the tone or volume knob but had 5 switch positions. Moding it to a 3-way with a push/pull is fairly common as many players didn't care for using the 5 way switch in a live situation. I really like the 5 way but that is just me. If someone modded yours without getting a push/pull tone pot you would only have the standard 3 positions. That is what I suspect happened. you can check it by opening up the control cavity on the back and looking for two small wires that might be taped off and laying in the cavity. They would be the split wires not being used.

The middle position without a push/pull will be both buckers on. If you have a voume drop it is likely the solder job wasn't done correctly or well. That may be why the guy sold it. If so, lucky you, the wiring fix is easy and you get a wonderful guitar for what should have been a better deal. I was lucky enough to find a 88 CE24 at a great price. The guy said he replaced a worn out 3 way on it. The thing sounded like there was a wah pedal in the chain even though there wasn't. It was crazy. I pulled the pups out and put in new ones wired correctly and the guitar just sings. Hope you are as lucky.

 

[veinbuster]

Welcome to the club.

 

[cjmwrx]

Very nice, but not my old guitar. The switching has most likely been changed. They probably did not realize the RED tap wires need to be left taped off when no PushPull is installed.

Can you open up the back cavity and snap a CLEAR picture? I should be able to tell why you are tapped in the center position. And, I should be able to tell you how to fix it. If not, there are lots of smart folks on the board that can likely help.

Your local GC also stocks the 500K Alpha Push-Pulls, if you want to go that route. http://www.prsguitars.com/csc/schematics/schem08/custom3waytoggle.pdf

D'Marzio has some great wiring diagrams available as well.

With PRS pickups, the wires go like this:

Neck Pickup:
White = Hot
Black = Ground
Red = Tap
Steel Braid = Ground - Back of Pots, or Output wire Braid as long as output wire braid is also grounded to one pot.

Bridge Pickup
Black = Hot
White = Ground
Red = Tap
Steel Braid = Ground

Of course, all of this assumes you can solder.

 

[Marcus2]

Thanks for the welcome and the input. It seems I can be certain the guitar was modded and will need a little work to get back to what I want out of its electronics.

I'm looking forward to using a push/pull tome pot to getting some other tones out of this fantastic guitar.

Thanks, everyone!

Marc

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Hey buddy.