PRS S2 Starla piezo upgrade?

Haarfagr

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Joined
Jan 25, 2016
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Hey guys.

I'm thinking about upgrading my PRS S2 Starla. I would really like to have piezo on it, but I have no clue if it is even possible.
I've looked into the graphtec piezo system. Seems like it is possible.
Anyone tried to do anything like this?

I also have a SE Tremonti Custom which it would be cool to have piezo in as well, but the Starla is my main guitar, and I love the feel of and tone of it.
 
check out the SE mod thread. I put on in my SE Zach meyers. Pics are posted. it was not to hard to do. With the S2 starla, I would order a new pick guard to do the mod on so you always have the original to put back on if you want.
 
So, I just checked out the starla and I have to ask what ghost setup you planing to do? If you do the complete acoustic package, with the vol/tone pot and mini switch, i see an issue with space. I am not sure how much space you have under the pick guard.

Also, when i did the mod, i first ran the acoustic saddle wires into the bridge pick cavity until i was sure I like the setup and mad a permanent hole under the bridge to route the saddle leads. BEST MOD I have ever done. I thin you can do the same here.

I have thought about adding the midi option since i do have the space in the control cavity. But ready for that yet!!!!!
 
I'm planning the complete acoustic package, with preamp and all. Not sure what to do with switches etc, but it I guess I would need to add a mini switch for el, blend and acoustic, and perhaps a volumepot for acoustic volume? Nice tip with buying another pickguard if I ever want to change it back.

Found this picture, but could find the source of where I found it, so uploaded it to imgur.

MrXkiZZ.jpg


This is the US Starla, but I guess the room is kind of the same.


Not sure about the saddle wires, but I guess I could run them under the pickguard and into the bridgepickup cavity. They will show a little, but I think that is ok, since it's not too much.
Not sure what you meant with the permanent hole? could you show me?
Could find your post in the SE mods-topic, and didn't have time to look through 40+ pages right now :D

Thanks a lot for the replies!!
 
i did the same with the saddle wires. i notched out a nice groove in the bridge pickup ring to pass the wires into the pickup cavity to then send it in to the control cavity. Maybe do the same, have one groove in the pickguard to allow access into the cavity. that way if you decide to make a permanent hole under the bridge into the pickup cavity, there would be only one groove in the pickguard instead of six (one for each saddle wire). i guess the bonus for me doing my guitar is, i was able to replace the pickup ring at a cheaper cost than getting another pickguard. Based on that pic of the control cavity, space looks doable. You will need to plan the layout to get the mini toggle and extra vol/tone pot placed the way you want them.

Also, i did switch the master tone pot for the mag pickups to a push/pull for coil tapping them. It has become a very versatile guitar.

i will take a pic of the permanent hole i drilled under the bridge this weekend and post it. This gave the guitar a cleaner look by hiding the saddle wires sooner. so now the saddle wires no longer run to the bridge pickup ring to get into the pickup cavity for access to the control cavity.
 
was able to load some pics sooner than i thought

see how i run the saddle wires into the bridge pickup cavity. once i was happy with the mod ( 2 month later) I drilled a hole in the body under the bridge and then drill from the bridge pickup cavity to the hole under the bridge.
IMG_1154_zps6lpfghwm.jpg

here are pics of the wires going into the hole.
4EE5458B-764A-41A2-BCF2-5CDF67416058_zpsz1e9p1ge.jpg

EFA5A149-DB68-48BC-962E-D6899006C12F_zpsp8afif86.jpg
 
Yeah, I see! That looks good. I will not do this myself, since I don't trust me enough to do it. Will pay someone else to do it, haha.
To be honest, it wouldn't bother me to have the wires go like the first picture there. So I think I'll go for that.

I already have push/pull (which I want to change to push-push) on the Starla, so that is not an issue. I don't use the tone knob much, so it could be an option to just make the toneknob into the acoustic volume pot. Then I would just need to add a small mini switch, which is not a problem.

I think this should be doable.

The Zach Myers looks really cool, and with piezo and coiltap it seems like a very versatile and cool guitar. Thanks a lot for the help.
 
;)enjoy and post pics. we like project post on the forum!!!!!

how here is a pic of the top with how it is currently with a Mira bass and tremonti bridge pickups. love the combo these pickups provide in tone.

148FBC2F-3E2A-4D37-A097-1A74B462EFC3_zps4ghvizxp.jpg
 
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