PRS Wiring Mods Resource Thread

Here's a good resource on that: https://www.premierguitar.com/gear/...-for-your-strat-tele-les-paul-and-super-strat

It's a common mod in the Strat world. On a PRS, you would just run the red wires shown below from the blade to one side of your push/pull.

image.jpg
Thank you Garret, I've got the Pot and will install it this weekend. Will try draw up a schematic once its done.
 
I am really new to electrical type things, I installed a set of Seymour Duncan pearly gates into my S2 standard yesterday. Now I cannot split “ tone push/pull.There’s no change when I pull up the knob. Suggestions?
 
I am really new to electrical type things, I installed a set of Seymour Duncan pearly gates into my S2 standard yesterday. Now I cannot split “ tone push/pull.There’s no change when I pull up the knob. Suggestions?

Don't know if this would help but here is a post I made a few years back on wiring 2 Duncans into a Custom 24 with the 5 way blade switch Not sure if the S2 is the same switch but this in theory is how I did it...

Wiring 2 Duncan Humbuckers in a 2017 PRS CU24 with the 5-way blade switch

After spending some time experimenting with every combination I could think of, I have the answer on how to do it.

First off as stated in many posts…

You need to select one of the DUNCAN pickups and reverse the magnet.

NOTE: IT CAN BE EITHER PICKUP IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THE BRIDGE PICKUP.

I flipped the magnet in the Neck Pickup.

This is the PRS Diagram for the 2017 CU24:

http://prsguitars.com/csc/schematics/2017/customs_2017.pdf

PRS>DUNCAN wire color conversions

White > Black
Red > RED and White Soldered together
Black > Green
Bare > Bare

***Both bare wires go to the Tone Pot Just as they were with the original PRS Pickups. I put some heat shrink around them so they don’t hit up anything else.

So basically, the PRS schematic tells you which wires go to switch lugs A-F. You leave the rest as is.

A - Bridge White B - Bridge Red C - Bridge Black D - Neck Red E - Neck Black F - Neck White.

Just in theory here are the wiring schematic conversions (DON’T WIRE YET):

A: The PRS bridge white wire to the Duncan bridge black wire.
B: The PRS bridge red wire to the Duncan bridge red and white wires.
C: The PRS bridge black wire to the Duncan bridge green wire.
D: The PRS neck red wire to the Duncan neck red and white wires.
E: The PRS neck black wire to the Duncan green neck wire.
F: The PRS neck white wire to the Duncan neck black wire.

NOW HERE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING….

For whichever pickup you chose to flip the magnet in you will switch the hot wire and the ground wire in the configuration.

In my case I flipped the magnet in the neck pickup so the conversions are:

A: The PRS bridge white wire to the Duncan bridge black wire.
B: The PRS bridge red wire to the Duncan bridge red and white wires.
C: The PRS bridge black wire to the Duncan bridge green wire.
D: The PRS neck red wire to the Duncan neck red and white wires.
E Then becomes: The PRS neck black wire to the Duncan black neck wire.
F Then becomes: The PRS neck white wire to the Duncan green black wire.


If you were to flip the magnet in the bridge pickup the conversions would be:

A: The PRS bridge white wire to the Duncan bridge green wire.
B: The PRS bridge red wire to the Duncan bridge red and white wires.
C: The PRS bridge black wire to the Duncan bridge black wire.
D: The PRS neck red wire to the Duncan neck red and white wires.
E: The PRS neck black wire to the Duncan green neck wire.
F: The PRS neck white wire to the Duncan neck black wire.

It will work perfectly if you wire like above.
 
Is anyone able to help with coil tap/split using mini toggles on a guitar with a 3 way selector, 2 volumes and 2 tones?

ive had a look but can’t find a suitable diagram.

Thanks!!
 
Can I make a request? Wiring diagram for quite possibly the easiest mod in the world: swapping Bareknuckle HSP90 pickups into an SE Custom 24(/7, but that shouldn't make a difference), repurposing the push-pull to reverse the polarity of one of the pickups (since there's no coil-tap).
 
Is anyone able to help with coil tap/split using mini toggles on a guitar with a 3 way selector, 2 volumes and 2 tones?

ive had a look but can’t find a suitable diagram.

Thanks!!

It's essentially the same as the standard Singlecut 245 or McCarty 594 wiring (depending on which knobs you want where). The only practical difference being that the tap switches aren't attached to the pots. Use SPDT switches to save space.

http://prsguitars.com/csc/schematics/2015/sc245.pdf

https://web.archive.org/web/20171111213723/http://prsguitars.com/csc/schematics/2017/594_2017.pdf
 
Can I make a request? Wiring diagram for quite possibly the easiest mod in the world: swapping Bareknuckle HSP90 pickups into an SE Custom 24(/7, but that shouldn't make a difference), repurposing the push-pull to reverse the polarity of one of the pickups (since there's no coil-tap).

This article is aimed a Telecasters, but the same thing applies to any guitar, really: https://www.premierguitar.com/pro-advice/mod-garage-adding-an-out-of-phase-switch-to-a-telecaster

The pickups have to be two-conductor. If the HSP90 are the traditional P-90 single conductor style (black cloth wire with bare braided wire wrapped around it), you're out of luck unless you want to mod the pickup.
 
This article is aimed a Telecasters, but the same thing applies to any guitar, really: https://www.premierguitar.com/pro-advice/mod-garage-adding-an-out-of-phase-switch-to-a-telecaster

The pickups have to be two-conductor. If the HSP90 are the traditional P-90 single conductor style (black cloth wire with bare braided wire wrapped around it), you're out of luck unless you want to mod the pickup.
Thanks! I am fortunate in that the HSP90s are 2-conductor-and-a-shield, I think. So appreciate the info. (At least, that's what it said on the receipt, I already turned everything over to the tech, so will check with him later.)

I forgot to mention, I gave my tech this resource, and it seems to correspond (scroll down to "Phase Reversing"):
https://www.fralinpickups.com/2017/03/29/push-pull-pots-mods/
 
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I bought a Zach Meyers over the weekend, and I've noticed it's dark when I roll off the volume...due to the wiring I'm guessing. I looked at some wiring schematics, and read up on "50's wiring", but it seems the ZM is wired differently. If I try to move the capacitor as shown in https://www.fralinpickups.com/2020/03/01/50s-wiring-vs-modern-wiring/ then it just cuts the tone pot out of the circuit.

Can anyone tell me how I have to wire the ZM? Or would it maybe be easier to do some sort of Treble Bleed instead? Here's a link to the PRS ZM wiring diagram: https://d159anurvk4929.cloudfront.net/documents/se_245_se_zach_myers__wiring_schematics.pdf

Thanks!
 
I bought a Zach Meyers over the weekend, and I've noticed it's dark when I roll off the volume...due to the wiring I'm guessing. I looked at some wiring schematics, and read up on "50's wiring", but it seems the ZM is wired differently. If I try to move the capacitor as shown in https://www.fralinpickups.com/2020/03/01/50s-wiring-vs-modern-wiring/ then it just cuts the tone pot out of the circuit.

Can anyone tell me how I have to wire the ZM? Or would it maybe be easier to do some sort of Treble Bleed instead? Here's a link to the PRS ZM wiring diagram: https://d159anurvk4929.cloudfront.net/documents/se_245_se_zach_myers__wiring_schematics.pdf

Thanks!

I converted my 594 to 50's wiring, same as in your Fralin link. Make sure you ground the center lug of the tone pot and run the cap from the outside lug as shown.

Adding a treble bleed is easy and a great solution, too. You just solder in a small cap from the middle lug to the the left lug on each volume pot (based on the orientation in your diagram). 180 picofarad is the value used by PRS and I think it works really well. I've also used 220 pF with success. You can try different values; the higher the value, the brighter the sound when you roll back the volume.
 
I converted my 594 to 50's wiring, same as in your Fralin link. Make sure you ground the center lug of the tone pot and run the cap from the outside lug as shown.

I'm almost positive I did that, but I'm guessing since it didn't work, I messed up somewhere. From looking at the ZM diagram and then looking at a couple standard Les Paul wiring one's, it seems there's a wire that's different...the one running from the middle lug of the tone to the outer of the volume in the ZM.


Adding a treble bleed is easy and a great solution, too.

I might just go this route, it looks pretty easy.

Thanks for taking the time!
 
180 picofarad is the value used by PRS and I think it works really well. I've also used 220 pF with success. You can try different values; the higher the value, the brighter the sound when you roll back the volume.

Quick question: I'm looking at some of these on Mouser, and is there a voltage which is best? I see something like this one: https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetai...GAEpiMZZMukHu%2BjC5l7YbySkJvbHFKiRnaHzWVnOD4=

which shows as 100V and then others with different values.
 
Quick question: I'm looking at some of these on Mouser, and is there a voltage which is best? I see something like this one: https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Vishay-BC-Components/D181G39U2JH63J5R?qs=sGAEpiMZZMukHu%2BjC5l7YbySkJvbHFKiRnaHzWVnOD4=

which shows as 100V and then others with different values.

You just need the dinkiest ceramic cap you can find. 50V is fine.

Tayda's got 'em 10 for 10 cents. I have bought electronic parts form them a few times; they are a (mostly) reputable seller with cheap shipping. Buy some other values while you're there in case you want to experiment.

https://www.taydaelectronics.com/10-x-180pf-50v-ceramic-disc-capacitor-pkg-of-10.html
 
Alright, I have one more question, maybe a little more complicated, but I've always wanted to know if this is possible.

I have two LP-style (humbucker-wise is what I mean) guitars now, and my favorite tone is using both pickups with the neck volume rolled back a couple notches.

What I'd like to do on my ZM, is have two volume controls (for each p/u) and then a master volume and tone..so I can control the two pickup tone with one volume knob. I've never seen a wiring diagram for this, so I'm flying blind here. Anyone know if this would be possible? And would it cause any unforeseen issues? Would I still be able to select either humbucker separately if I wanted to?

Thanks!

btw - played my PRS for the first time at a show tonight and got nothing but compliments on how it sounded. Thanks for the info.
 
Alright, I have one more question, maybe a little more complicated, but I've always wanted to know if this is possible.

I have two LP-style (humbucker-wise is what I mean) guitars now, and my favorite tone is using both pickups with the neck volume rolled back a couple notches.

What I'd like to do on my ZM, is have two volume controls (for each p/u) and then a master volume and tone..so I can control the two pickup tone with one volume knob. I've never seen a wiring diagram for this, so I'm flying blind here. Anyone know if this would be possible? And would it cause any unforeseen issues? Would I still be able to select either humbucker separately if I wanted to?

Thanks!

btw - played my PRS for the first time at a show tonight and got nothing but compliments on how it sounded. Thanks for the info.

You can definitely do that. It's sort of a combo between what you already have and the common master vol/master tone setup.

It's a classic Gretsch scheme:

wpc_077d_edgecastcdn_net_00077D_gretsch_support_schematics_wiring_Tone-Pot-Circuit_pdf-2.jpg
 
Ahhh, thanks! That's different than what I envisioned, but looking at it now, it makes perfect sense.
 
Looking to restore an old guitar? Simply a fan of wafer rotaries and sweet switches? This post is for you!

These are all old diagrams from PRS.


First one is slightly confusing with the '85-'94 heading, since it shows only the 85-89 rotary layout, but still super handy.
LCVqZzT.jpg




Another view of the early layout:
r2N0FB5.gif






The three versions of the wafer rotaries. Fidelity isn't super great, but the cap value on the 89-91 version appears to be .001 microfarad (1 nf).
cbcY2af.jpg
Thanks Garrett for this thread. A great resource for information.

I have a question I hope you can help answer. I've searched for this info but have found nothing. I have an '88 Custom with original wafer rotary and sweet switch. I enjoy all the positions except for #9 Power out-of-phase. Hate that sound. I see that I can get a different sound (looks like Tele-like middle position sound) if I convert to the 91-94 version. What I'd like to have is both humbuckers in parallel, like a Les Paul middle position. Any way to get that?

Also, the diagram for the wafer switch is intimidating. What am I looking at, the side of the switch with the three layers? I will study the actual switch and compare and see if I can get oriented with the wires. Looks really fussy to change, but I am willing to try to get five usable positions instead of just four.

Thanks for any help you can give!
 
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