PRS SE Swamp Ash Special!

Mine is getting PRS SE locking tuners, and will enjoy the guitar the way the PRS engineers optimized It with their R & D. Hearing Paul talk about the SE range and how they voiced the pickups perfectly for each guitar means that I will be happy with that at this stage. Of course you lot may make me abandon this as time goes on, we will see. Nearly Xmas everyone, wishing you all the best happiest time. Family is everything! Keep safe.
 
Mine is getting PRS SE locking tuners, and will enjoy the guitar the way the PRS engineers optimized It with their R & D

Locking tuners are a great upgrade! I wasn't having any problems with tuning stability but decided to put lockers on my SAS anyway and found a perceived improvement in tone, not too mention they look great.. lol

 
Easy for me to justify at the first string change. I do a full setup myself at that time. Price of the lockers is the money I saved doing the work myself.
? You'd do the full setup yourself anyway wouldn't you? To me lockers are a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. If you like the convenience, great, but otherwise no advantage over a properly strung guitar.
 
Updated with revised diagrams. We did the "Everything" mod, with push-pulls for coil splits and series switching. Great results! The series options add punchier Tele, LP, and even jazzbox tones.

Note the arrow pointing to an inset box at the top of each diagram. Use this alternate wiring to split both humbuckers to the coil facing the peghead instead of the bridge – it's a stronger tone.


Thanks to everyone here who mentioned Free-Way 6-position toggle switches. I used Free-Way's contact form, and the nice folks there made us a couple of wiring diagrams just for SE Swamp Ash Specials. (Free-Way's disclaimer is that these are "untested so far," and my SAS and new switch are still somewhere around my guitar tech's bench.)

Here's the Full Monty version. On the 6-way switch itself, you get the 5 Strat pickup options, plus the factory-original Bridge + Neck. It's factory B, B+N, and N on one pole, and B+Middle single-coil, Middle solo, and N+Middle on the other pole. Those last 2 are not stock:

Revised:


But optionally, here we also rewire the stock Tone push-pull as as simple "McCarty" coil split for the 2 humbuckers. (Because why not?) That gives us 5 extra tones, for 11 total.

And why stop there? Inspired by some of Free-Way's existing schematics, we can optionally replace the Volume pot with a push-pull that puts the Middle pup in series with either or both outside pickups. That gives us 6 more tones (in combination with the Tone push-pull), for...17? On my other PRSi, I've had good luck with Alpha B500 linear-taper push-pulls as volume pots.

The diagram's fine-print legend says this schematic shows two resistors for partial coil splits, but you can omit those if you want full coil splits. PRS' own SE SAS stock wiring diagram shows one 1.1KΩ resistor already onboard, so you'd need one more.

Finally, if you don't want to install a Volume push-pull for the series options, here's Free-Way's slightly simpler diagram, showing only the 6-way switch with the Tone pot repurposed as coil split. Happy modding!:

Revised:
 
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@dogrocketp Now I'm scared! How did it work out? Modded gloriously? Or disappeared into your guitar tech's alternate dimension, never to be seen again?
Man, I went freeway on my core SAS and it was the best damn thing I ever did to that guitar for versatility. I wouldn't change the volume pot to a push pull, but I kept the tone as push pull to have the middle only. A true Swiss army guitar.
 
Thanks to everyone here who mentioned Free-Way 6-position toggle switches. I used Free-Way's contact form, and the nice folks there made us a couple of wiring diagrams just for SE Swamp Ash Specials. (Free-Way's disclaimer is that these are "untested so far," and my SAS and new switch are still somewhere around my guitar tech's bench.)

Here's the Full Monty version. On the 6-way switch itself, you get the 5 Strat pickup options, plus the factory-original Bridge + Neck. It's factory B, B+N, and N on one pole, and B+Middle single-coil, Middle solo, and N+Middle on the other pole. Those last 2 are not stock:


But optionally, here we also rewire the stock Tone push-pull as as simple "McCarty" coil split for the 2 humbuckers. (Because why not?) That gives us 5 extra tones, for 11 total.

And why stop there? Inspired by some of Free-Way's existing schematics, we can optionally replace the Volume pot with a push-pull that puts the Middle pup in series with either or both outside pickups. That gives us 6 more tones (in combination with the Tone push-pull), for...17? On my other PRSi, I've had good luck with Alpha B500 linear-taper push-pulls as volume pots.

The diagram's fine-print legend says this schematic shows two resistors for partial coil splits, but you can omit those if you want full coil splits. PRS' own SE SAS stock wiring diagram shows one 1.1KΩ resistor already onboard, so you'd need one more.

Finally, if you don't want to install a Volume push-pull for the series options, here's Free-Way's slightly simpler diagram, showing only the 6-way switch with the Tone pot repurposed as coil split. Happy modding!:

Update:: Revised diagrams are now in the original posting.

Hey! If you're planning to do either of these mods, please hold off a bit. We've discovered an anomaly where the bridge pickup, when split, leaks into positions 4 and 5 on the 6-way switch. Free-Way has kindly provided me with 2 updated diagrams, but we want to verify that they're perfect before I re-post them.

One other note: Use the inset at the top of the diagrams in order to split both humbuckers to the coil facing the peghead. This might sacrifice some hum-cancellation with the middle single-coil pup, but it's a better tone on both pickups. More soon!
 
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Hey! If you're planning to do either of these mods, please hold off a bit. We've discovered an anomaly where the bridge pickup, when split, leaks into positions 4 and 5 on the 6-way switch. Free-Way has kindly provided me with 2 updated diagrams, but we want to verify that they're perfect before I re-post them.

One other note: Use the inset at the top of the diagrams in order to split both humbuckers to the coil facing the peghead. This might sacrifice some hum-cancellation with the middle single-coil pup, but it's a better tone on both pickups. More soon!
Going to be a fun project!
 
Hey! If you're planning to do either of these mods, please hold off a bit. We've discovered an anomaly where the bridge pickup, when split, leaks into positions 4 and 5 on the 6-way switch. Free-Way has kindly provided me with 2 updated diagrams, but we want to verify that they're perfect before I re-post them.

One other note: Use the inset at the top of the diagrams in order to split both humbuckers to the coil facing the peghead. This might sacrifice some hum-cancellation with the middle single-coil pup, but it's a better tone on both pickups. More soon!
Following this, for sure!!! SAS SE is high on my radar, and I was already thinking about a Freeway for it. Keep us posted!
 
Locking tuners are a great upgrade! I wasn't having any problems with tuning stability but decided to put lockers on my SAS anyway and found a perceived improvement in tone, not too mention they look great.. lol


I have the same truss rod cover on an SE CU24 turned 24-08, but it matching the FB wood. It's the little things sometimes. :cool:
 
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