PRS SE ONE

django

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Sep 20, 2013
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Hello all
My first post here. I'm about to buy a PRS se one with one p90 pickup. Amazing guitar for the money, I'm really impressed! My question is; does PRS make their own p90 pickups? And how much is the output? I know there is a difference between different kinds of p90, so I'm a little curios about the one on PRS

Regards
Kent, Denmark
 
welcome to the forum, Kent! The humbuckers are made by a korean company called G&B pickups. I'm pretty sure the P90s come from the same company, but I may be wrong! I've tried a SE custom semi-hollow with the P90s and I'd say they're slightly overwound. Not too hot, just overwound enough to sound rounder, maybe around the same ballpark as the duncan designed P90s. But you can always play around with pickup height later on to increase/decrease the output slightly.

That said, the pickup may actually sound more aggressive than it is spec-ed to be. The SE One doesn't have a tone control, so there's nothing to round out the high-end frequencies. It's just P90 on full blast when the volume pot is at 10, kind of like an Esquire on (serious) steroids, I'd say :haha:
 
You've chosen a great first PRS! Welcome to the boards, too, Django. The One gets a lot of love around here, including from me because it has so many personalities and delivers amazing tone out tof the box. Let me assure you that the stock pickup is perfect for this guitar, IMO. Pay no attention to the point of origin other than to know that PRS matched is well with the woods (mahogany or korina). Despite having several other guitars to choose from (including a Custom 24) my SE One was my main gigging guitar for a solid 2 years.

Keep in mind that the One is designed to be a reflection of the old Les Paul Junior or the late 50's, which has notoriously varying pickup output. Some were in the 9k ohms, while others were up to the 12k range. But all were surprisingly ballsy, which is what people expect from such an iconic rock machine. That's how my old Junior acts and is why I got a One (I'm not brave enough to gig the Junior). But in all truthfulness, the One is a VASTLY superior guitar to the original Gibson Junior.

My opinion: don't change the pickup and don't worry about how hot it is. Trust me, it's a freakin' beast that you can control by changing the pickup height. Good luck!
 
welcome to the forum, Kent! The humbuckers are made by a korean company called G&B pickups. I'm pretty sure the P90s come from the same company, but I may be wrong! I've tried a SE custom semi-hollow with the P90s and I'd say they're slightly overwound. Not too hot, just overwound enough to sound rounder, maybe around the same ballpark as the duncan designed P90s. But you can always play around with pickup height later on to increase/decrease the output slightly.

That said, the pickup may actually sound more aggressive than it is spec-ed to be. The SE One doesn't have a tone control, so there's nothing to round out the high-end frequencies. It's just P90 on full blast when the volume pot is at 10, kind of like an Esquire on (serious) steroids, I'd say :haha:

Awesome guitars. Just grab one, replace the stock P90 with your favorite brand and then install a stacked pot so you can pull up for a tone knob.
 
Awesome guitars. Just grab one, replace the stock P90 with your favorite brand and then install a stacked pot so you can pull up for a tone knob.

maybe a noiseless unit would be very useful on stage, kills the annoying hum and still gives you tone! :top: the stacked pot is a good idea too, if one prefers it.
 
Thank you guys!
I picked it up today, and man its a killer! What a great guitar for the money (544 us dollars)
It seems like there is plenty of output on the stock p90. Plucked it into my Orange Dual Terror, and there you go; great dirty rock sound, with a bit more clean compared to humbuckers. For a minute or two I was Angus AND Malcolm. I have owned a Gibson les paul double cut with two p90, also a smashing guitar, but double price! I take it out to rehearse with the band tomorrow, and I think it's gonna be a good compliment to my Les Paul with classic 57 pups.

I know there is a model with bird inlays made of korina. Is the SE ONE mahogany?

My first PRS so far. A new land for me. Very excited to go there ;)
 
Yup, the non-korina models are mahogany. PRS SEs generally use mahogany for the backwood, apart from the Orianthi model and the Korina models. Glad you're enjoying it :D rock on, man! :rock:
 
I have a SE one, I had someone put in a SD stacked p90, I would have done it myself but needed the pup cavity to be routed out, wanted a nice clean job. I wanted the stack to eliminate the 60 cycle hum. It was wired in parallel as per Duncan`s wiring diagram. It`s wired and grounded properly. When I play it thru my mesa lonestar 2 amps gain channel ( not even cranked up) it still produces noise, When I roll back the volume, as I will want to do to take advantage of the various tone changes varying the volume on this guitar creates, the noise changes tonality and becomes more noticeable. When I A-B it with other humbuckers in some of m other guitars, those guitars are quiet, seone is noisy. Wondering if its the vol. pot.
 
I have a SE one, I had someone put in a SD stacked p90, I would have done it myself but needed the pup cavity to be routed out, wanted a nice clean job. I wanted the stack to eliminate the 60 cycle hum. It was wired in parallel as per Duncan`s wiring diagram. It`s wired and grounded properly. When I play it thru my mesa lonestar 2 amps gain channel ( not even cranked up) it still produces noise, When I roll back the volume, as I will want to do to take advantage of the various tone changes varying the volume on this guitar creates, the noise changes tonality and becomes more noticeable. When I A-B it with other humbuckers in some of m other guitars, those guitars are quiet, seone is noisy. Wondering if its the vol. pot.

Why did you mod it?
 
Post a few more. I had a Korina SE One with birds that was fantastic. I sold it in a bit of a purge that I did last year or so. A friend has it now and he’s got some cool plans for it.

i put a Paul’s guitar treble into the P90 spot which truly woke that guitar up.
 
I put a 408 pickup in mine and it was fine, but it wasn’t “vintage-y” enough for what I wanted...don’t get me wrong it sounded great, but was just too modern sounding for me. I went to my overstocked parts bin, and it jumped out at me: a g-brand vintage mini-humbucker with original surround, ( 1st year PAF, btw ) metering at 6.1. I put it in and WOW,! A good guitar became a great guitar! It’s a korina se-1, and it was a perfect match. The guitar is with me at every gig, practice and session I play. The se-1 is a vastly underrated instrument. Enjoy yours, and do experiment!
 
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