PRS 513/DC3/305 Pickups

Soloist101

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Nov 30, 2017
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Hi, are all these single coils the exact same spec between these model guitars and also are the bridge/middle/neck pickups the same per guitar? so If you swapped the neck with the bridge for instance, it wouldn't make any difference?

I'm looking to make a 513 style guitar out of a dc3, so I'm trying to source some of these pickups. Wondering if I'm adding a pickup to the bridge and neck (513 configuration), if you can mix and match these pups regardless of where they started out.

MC
 
There's more to the 513 than that. The humbucker pairs are different from the singles. They can be full (Heavy), tapped (Clear), or split (Single Coil). The singles are just singles.

You could get close(ish) to the 509 functionality by paring up singles in series with switches to split with resistors. But if you're going to do that, I think you're better off going the same route as Rider and using standard pickups.

At 6k a pop, they might make a great bridge humbucker in series, but not such a great neck pickup I think.
 
No, they are not. They look the same, but under the hood they have different DC resistances even among 513's indicating they have different numbers of turns on them. The bridge pair have higher DC resistances than the neck pair, and the 513's with maple necks that I have have higher DC resistances and than the ones that don't.

The 509's have different DC resistances from the 513 and 305 as well. They also don't look like they are a straight split, because the DC resistances of humbuckers aren't even close to double the singlecoil values like you'd find on the 513's. Also, the pairs that form humbuckers have one less wire than the 513 pairs.

I know that when I had problem with a short in one of my 305 prototype pick ups, they actually had to look up the serial number to find the specs to wind me a new one.
 
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And then you've to bear in mind, that the SC pairs on treble and bass position (513/509) share one PCB as a connenction basis.
 
I have a braz rw necked 513 and two 305s, one is a 21 25th anniversary model the other according to Sound Affects/PRS was made by private stock team for an "artist" who never collected it it has a pull tone pot that S A described as a sweet switch.. When I realised it had no effect on the middle pickup I had a look inside to find it apoeared to tap the bridge and neck pickups. While changing the strings I popped the brodge and middle poickups out and yhis confirmed they were different,as this 305 iis from 2009 I suspect it has 2 513 pickups , the bridge which has a tapnis 8.3k tapped to about 5k while tbe middle same pab but no tap is arround 6k, I did not pull the neck pickup. These combinations give tge usual 305 power strat sounds untapped and a more vintage strat sound when tapped, but then again the body apoears to be quilted maple just to add another variation to the mix. I have never measured the pickups on my 513 only having ver removed the neck pickup to fix a dry joint whenI first got it many years ago caused I thinl k by a previous owner being over zealous when adjusting the pickup height causing the pcb to flex.
 
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