P22 Pickup Problem

[gush]

The 53/10 pickups in my P22 measurements are;

Treble: 8.72k
Bass: 8.03k

As a side note, the P22 that I have with 57/08 pickups in it have uncovered 57/08 pickups. I have only seen them like this is in the P22 guitars. They are also of the hotter variety.

The last pair of mine I measured were 8.85 t. 8.26 b

 

[Stringtheorist]

OK, I just checked the polarity of my pickups, and it seems the treble p/u's coils are reversed (screw coil is South instead of North). This checks out, as it presumably means it was wired correctly, and to be fair it was working up until recently. I have flipped the bass pickup around 180 degrees, and will rewire the treble pickup using the stock wiring, and see what difference that makes.

 

[Kree]

I recently bought a brand new PRS S2 McCarty 594 Thinline, and the bridge pickup suddenly stopped working after just 3 days. It turned out to be a cold solder joint in the bridge pickup. Problem solved and fixed.

 

[Stringtheorist]

After re-fitting the pickups and checking the output of each from one position on the switch to the next, things seemed fine until I installed the treble pickup where it became clear I was only getting the tapped output there.

With the pickups in the guitar I check again the resistance on each p/u with a multimeter by attaching the probes to each wire with crocodile clips, and I am no longer reading the correct output on either of them; it is about half what it should be in each instance. So I'm thoroughly confused now. I can't find any official diagram for wiring 59/09s, and PRS seem to change their colour coding from one set to another and from Treble to Bass side.

Anyone have any ideas? What would cause my readings to change after screwing the pickups back in (no connections soldered)?

 

[Stringtheorist]

Took both pickups out of the guitar again and now I can't get a full reading at all from either of them. I'm getting 5.08 on the Treble and 5.37 on the Bass. Have they died?

 

[JasonE]

That is some strange stuff. I can't remember, have you asked PRS customer service about wiring those up? They are very helpful with those types of questions.

My first thought is that you are not checking the right wires for the resistance and are only getting one coil. However, I know you checked them before and am assuming you are using the same wires and you got the full reading. Unless something has happened to them to cause physical damage, I can't imagine anything has gone bad with the pickups. I wish you lived near me. I am genuinely curious as to what is going on.

 

[Stringtheorist]

Took another reading the other day and the black-white wires measured full output again (!) so I put them back in the guitar, wired up to the switch and rechecked. Measurement between the same wires had dropped to about half on both of them. Disconnected them from the switch and re-checked. Still reading about 5k.

I don't know whether I'm doing something wrong with my use of the multimeter but it seems like putting the pickups physically into the guitar is messing with the reading. Having said that, when I took them out the other day they still read 5k one day one, and full output on day two. I'm perplexed.

I'm in discussion with Customer Service at the moment by email.

 

[Stringtheorist]

Quick update: I've had the guitar serviced by a PRS Service Centre here in the UK. No definitive reason given as to what the problem was. It was suggested that there may have been a stray piece of wire in the cavity causing a short, or that there may be an intermittent problem with one of the pickups. In any case, it is now working as it should and I didn't need to buy new pickups.

 

[Gtrbldr]

That blows. The 53/10s are rare as hens teeth, but the 59/09 is readily available if you want to stick with PRS PUs.

Otherwise there are very cool alternatives

 

[dprokofiev]

I purchased a used P22 around 6 years ago The previous owner had replaced the original pickups with a set of 59/09s, and until recently I had no issues with how it played. However, the bridge pickup suddenly seems to have stopped outputting full humbucking tones and appears to be locked in single-coil mode. The neck pickup also seems to have lost output but only in switch position 2 (single-coil mode). I downloaded a wiring schematic for the P22 and verified the connections; I then tried disconnecting the pickup, trimming the contacts and then re-soldering. However, it is still the same.

I am at a loss as to whether this is purely a wiring issue or whether I need to buy new pickups, and if so which ones I should get. Would it be safer to buy a set of 53/10s which I think were the original spec, or another set of 59/09s (since I know what they sound like)? Hoping someone can advise.

Hi! Exact same problem here, P22, 2012 year, purchased a used, suddenly bridge piuckup have started outputting only half of power. Sometimes (very rearly) it could bring all power. But only a couple of times for a long period.
Unfortunatelly, I'm not located in UK or near any PRS service center. Will try to find ourself ((((

 

[Stringtheorist]

Hi! Exact same problem here, P22, 2012 year, purchased a used, suddenly bridge piuckup have started outputting only half of power. Sometimes (very rearly) it could bring all power. But only a couple of times for a long period.
Unfortunatelly, I'm not located in UK or near any PRS service center. Will try to find ourself ((((

Wow, how strange. I thought my problem was unique. Which pickups are in yours?

 

[dprokofiev]

Wow, how strange. I thought my problem was unique. Which pickups are in yours?

The've just called P22 bass and P22 treble. 8.8 kOhm bridge and 8 kOhm neck. Or about that )))
S/N 186187

 

[Kree]

Are you certain you haven’t developed a cold solder joint either around the switch, or pickups? The fact that it’s affecting both humbuckers would lead me to try replacing the switch 1st before spending hundreds on replacement pickups though

 

[Stringtheorist]

The've just called P22 bass and P22 treble. 8.8 kOhm bridge and 8 kOhm neck. Or about that )))
S/N 186187

OK, these are the original pickups. Perhaps there is something else going on with this model of guitar?

 

[Stringtheorist]

Are you certain you haven’t developed a cold solder joint either around the switch, or pickups? The fact that it’s affecting both humbuckers would lead me to try replacing the switch 1st before spending hundreds on replacement pickups though

I've rewired the pickups/switch at least once. The PRS Service Centre has done so also.

 

[dprokofiev]

Are you certain you haven’t developed a cold solder joint either around the switch, or pickups? The fact that it’s affecting both humbuckers would lead me to try replacing the switch 1st before spending hundreds on replacement pickups though

Thanks for response, Kree!
Problem was only with bridge pickup. ((( But yeah, definitely could be problem with switch.

 

[dprokofiev]

I've rewired the pickups/switch at least once. The PRS Service Centre has done so also.

So, It seems fixed now )

So, what was the story:
1. I bought used P22 with original pickups
2. Bridge pickup had issue as descibed in theme.
3. I gave them to local service in Ukraine - they couldn't fix it. At first everything was fine, but at the concert again I heard a сoil split sound on the bridge in 1st position.
3. I replaced for another BKP set - all things were fine. Nothing to complain about. Except very bassy pickups sound - btw if you want to put BKP Misha Mansoor Ragnarok - keep in mind that Misha Jackson's are made of basswood, not mahogany))) It was my mistake. On my P22 they sounded very dark.
4. I decided to replace them back with the original ones.
5. Faced again with that coil split issue )))

What I've done just now (don't blame me folks, I'm in another country with kids right now and have not find a good guitar service yet)

1. Carefully disassembly bridge pickup.
2. Took off the сopper winding for grounding that cover both coils. (Sorry, didn't take a photo)
3. Unscrewed 4 gold screws and put off the coils separately
4. Changed the insulation that cover connection output wire of one coil to the input of another. (It looked wired)
5. Put the coils back together.
6. Put additional piece of insulation on the side of the humbucker where all the wires are located
7. Carefully put сopper winding back
8. Put main insulation back.
9. Installed and soldered the bridge again

Now bridge pickup is working as expected )))) I'm happy now. Let's see if this problem shows up again. But it seems to me that the problem was poor insulation between the coil connections, which caused only one coil to work (without screws). And maybe additioanal layer between wires and copper shield did their job too. I could be mistaken.

P.S. How I missed this sound . PRS know their stuff when it comes to pickups sound)))
Amazing sounded pickups )))

 

[Glide-bpm]

So, It seems fixed now )

So, what was the story:
1. I bought used P22 with original pickups
2. Bridge pickup had issue as descibed in theme.
3. I gave them to local service in Ukraine - they couldn't fix it. At first everything was fine, but at the concert again I heard a сoil split sound on the bridge in 1st position.
3. I replaced for another BKP set - all things were fine. Nothing to complain about. Except very bassy pickups sound - btw if you want to put BKP Misha Mansoor Ragnarok - keep in mind that Misha Jackson's are made of basswood, not mahogany))) It was my mistake. On my P22 they sounded very dark.
4. I decided to replace them back with the original ones.
5. Faced again with that coil split issue )))

What I've done just now (don't blame me folks, I'm in another country with kids right now and have not find a good guitar service yet)

1. Carefully disassembly bridge pickup.
2. Took off the сopper winding for grounding that cover both coils. (Sorry, didn't take a photo)
3. Unscrewed 4 gold screws and put off the coils separately
4. Changed the insulation that cover connection wire the output of one coil to the input of another. (It looked wired)
5. Put the coils back together.
6. Put additional piece of insulation on the side of the humbucker where all the wires are located
7. Carefully put сopper winding back
8. Put main insulation back.
9. Installed and soldered the bridge again

Now bridge pickup is working as expected )))) I'm happy now. Let's see if this problem shows up again. But it seems to me that the problem was poor insulation between the coil connections, which caused only one coil to work (without screws). And maybe additioanal layer between wires and copper shield did their job too. I could be mistaken.

P.S. How I missed this sound . PRS know their stuff when it comes to pickups sound)))
Amazing sounded pickups )))

Thanks for the detailed writeup! It may be very helpful to others if this pops up for them!

 

[bodia]

So, It seems fixed now )

So, what was the story:
1. I bought used P22 with original pickups
2. Bridge pickup had issue as descibed in theme.
3. I gave them to local service in Ukraine - they couldn't fix it. At first everything was fine, but at the concert again I heard a сoil split sound on the bridge in 1st position.
3. I replaced for another BKP set - all things were fine. Nothing to complain about. Except very bassy pickups sound - btw if you want to put BKP Misha Mansoor Ragnarok - keep in mind that Misha Jackson's are made of basswood, not mahogany))) It was my mistake. On my P22 they sounded very dark.
4. I decided to replace them back with the original ones.
5. Faced again with that coil split issue )))

What I've done just now (don't blame me folks, I'm in another country with kids right now and have not find a good guitar service yet)

1. Carefully disassembly bridge pickup.
2. Took off the сopper winding for grounding that cover both coils. (Sorry, didn't take a photo)
3. Unscrewed 4 gold screws and put off the coils separately
4. Changed the insulation that cover connection wire the output of one coil to the input of another. (It looked wired)
5. Put the coils back together.
6. Put additional piece of insulation on the side of the humbucker where all the wires are located
7. Carefully put сopper winding back
8. Put main insulation back.
9. Installed and soldered the bridge again

Now bridge pickup is working as expected )))) I'm happy now. Let's see if this problem shows up again. But it seems to me that the problem was poor insulation between the coil connections, which caused only one coil to work (without screws). And maybe additioanal layer between wires and copper shield did their job too. I could be mistaken.

P.S. How I missed this sound . PRS know their stuff when it comes to pickups sound)))
Amazing sounded pickups )))

Glad to hear you got it fixed! Great detailed write up, too.