PRS Swamp Ash Special 2002, Trans Red

[Prs Mods too]

Sure do miss my old one

My avatar is my red ‘06 SAS. One of the few that I have seen with the bird inlays.

Hummina Hummina!!!!!

 

[Bogner]

Because you just can’t stop thinking about it, can you?

I Can't Quit You...I Love You Too Much!

 

[dogrocketp]

I have a 2005 (blue, of course). It’s now got a Freeway switch in it. Great guitar. An SE SAS is on its way to me. After playing my buddy’s SE, resistance was futile. And it sounds different from the core. I played them back to back on two sets.

 

[Rhythmisking]

Mine's not trans, but it is non-binary. And definitely tonal-fluid.

Someone had switched out the pups when I got it, but the originals are back in now. So I guess it's had it's surgery reversed?

 

[Mark Ray]

Anybody here remember one of the first PRS Forum Events? A bunch of us were at Chuck Levin's. They had a new SAS in a reddish color, for all I know it's the one in this thread. We all wanted a go with it. Patentcad (RIP) had it in his mitts, and that was pretty much it. It went home with him. I and many others never got to touch it.

 

[JasonE]

yep. i had a blue one and a green one. at the time i considered them strat killers with prs necks. it was neat how they transformed into different sonic spaces when mccarty and dgt pickups were swapped in.

What where the highlights with the DGT pickups in it? I have a set and had thought about putting them in my SAS to check it out.

96 first year.. Here's my "97

I have a 2006 in a similar finish. Mine is a McCarty burst. It is more brown on the edges and a little less red next to that. Mine has birds on it as well and is the first year they put the 5 way blade switch on them. I put 57/08 pickups in my quite a few years ago. I also put a Fralin Blues Special middle pickup in it. I still have all of the stock pickups. I had thought about putting it back to stock earlier this year. I had a Tremol-No in it and took that out earlier this year.

 

[JasonE]

Mine's not trans, but it is non-binary. And definitely tonal-fluid.

Someone had switched out the pups when I got it, but the originals are back in now. So I guess it's had it's surgery reversed?

And a Stop Tail. That is unusual.

 

[JasonE]

Found this: PRS Swamp Ash Special 2002, Trans Red at 12th Fret in Toronto
$$2,400.00 CAD

PRS Swamp Ash Special Trans Red, 2002

Built from 1996 to 2009, the PRS Swamp Ash Special featured a solid Swamp Ash body with a 22-fret bolt on neck and a center single coil.

www.12fret.com

Anyone ever seen this model?

Looks like that could be a nice guitar. I think the price is too high on it. I would want to see more detailed pictures of it and know if they have the hang tag for it.

 

[watelessness]

I’m not sure. I bought it in 2021, did you sell yours then? I stupidly traded it (lots of factors led to that bonehead move). But I know who has it and have called Dibs.

I got it off eBay

I bought my blue one ('07 maple fretboard) from A Sharp music and traded it to local dealer several years ago.
I bought my green one ('08 rw fretboard) from Andrew A. and sold it to David G, also several years ago.

That said, there must be something i have that you need to buy. it's been what, a year now?

 

[watelessness]

What where the highlights with the DGT pickups in it? I have a set and had thought about putting them in my SAS to check it out.

I looked for my spreadsheet from the "buy a used guitar and swap out the pickups" era but am unable to locate it. grrrr. annoying. i do remember being amazed that putting in DGT or McCarty pickups and the guitar went from being a strat killer to just another normal sounding PRS. made me appreciate the work that went into the SAS pickups to bring out the tone of the ash. man, i can smell solder now...

 

[Rhythmisking]

And a Stop Tail. That is unusual.

I didn't know that was unusual

 

[JasonE]

I looked for my spreadsheet from the "buy a used guitar and swap out the pickups" era but am unable to locate it. grrrr. annoying. i do remember being amazed that putting in DGT or McCarty pickups and the guitar went from being a strat killer to just another normal sounding PRS. made me appreciate the work that went into the SAS pickups to bring out the tone of the ash. man, i can smell solder now...

Now you have me thinking about putting the stock pickups back in it and taking the 57/08s out of it.

I originally changed the middle pickup to a Fralin Blues Special and the humbuckers to Fralin Unbuckers to get stronger stratty tones from it. It actually worked pretty good. I fell in love with 57/08 pickups after that and was able to procure a set that came out of a special run guitar and put them in it. They have been there ever since.

 

[SinSir]

Now you have me thinking about putting the stock pickups back in it and taking the 57/08s out of it.

I originally changed the middle pickup to a Fralin Blues Special and the humbuckers to Fralin Unbuckers to get stronger stratty tones from it. It actually worked pretty good. I fell in love with 57/08 pickups after that and was able to procure a set that came out of a special run guitar and put them in it. They have been there ever since.

I personally prefer the 5708 by a large margin. I look at the 5708 as an evolution of the McCarty pickup, and if I remember right I read somewhere the NF in the swamp ash 25th are of the 5708 variety. After trying a ton of pickups in the SAS the 5708 are heaven. Honestly most PAF variety worked well, but something like the 8515 didn't work at all.

 

[Fatherjones.com]

I remember lot of 'swamp ash' PRSi a decade or more back. Very nice material. But isnt it just marketing lingo for lightweight ash?

 

[JasonE]

I personally prefer the 5708 by a large margin. I look at the 5708 as an evolution of the McCarty pickup, and if I remember right I read somewhere the NF in the swamp ash 25th are of the 5708 variety. After trying a ton of pickups in the SAS the 5708 are heaven. Honestly most PAF variety worked well, but something like the 8515 didn't work at all.

Mine originally had the actual SAS pickups in it. From what I remember they are a modified McCarty pickup. They had McCarty pickups before these were made. It has been so long since I put the 57/08s in it that I have no recollection of what the originals sounded like. I don't remember disliking them. The only reason I pulled them was to try the Unbucker experiment.

Once I was able to get the 57/08s, those went in immediately. I got them at a time when they only way to get them was to buy a guitar with them in it. I don't remember the exact model of guitar they came out of but they look different than the others. They have shiny covers and gold screws. Back then all of the 57/08s were lightly brushed covers. I bought them back in the BAM days. I know I have had them for at least 13 years, probably longer.

 

[SinSir]

Mine originally had the actual SAS pickups in it. From what I remember they are a modified McCarty pickup. They had McCarty pickups before these were made. It has been so long since I put the 57/08s in it that I have no recollection of what the originals sounded like. I don't remember disliking them. The only reason I pulled them was to try the Unbucker experiment.

Once I was able to get the 57/08s, those went in immediately. I got them at a time when they only way to get them was to buy a guitar with them in it. I don't remember the exact model of guitar they came out of but they look different than the others. They have shiny covers and gold screws. Back then all of the 57/08s were lightly brushed covers. I bought them back in the BAM days. I know I have had them for at least 13 years, probably longer.

I always forget about the SAS pickups. Ignore my last post nothing to see.. oh wait, maybe something. 5708 and swamp ash are heaven!

 

[JasonE]

I always forget about the SAS pickups. Ignore my last post nothing to see.. oh wait, maybe something. 5708 and swamp ash are heaven!

I know they sure sound good in my SAS. They sound good in everything I have them in, and I have them in quite a few guitars. They are my favorited pickup, ever.