Question for Piezo model owners

[DougGuitar]

I was thinking, that at some point, I'd change the pickups, upgrade the pots, and maybe wire for push/pull coil split and phase switching.

But from what I hear, this might be prohibitively expensive.

Not to mention far easier on the nerves if you tried to fish and solder the wire yourself. (Voice of experience here.)

 

[tdroid]

Not to mention far easier on the nerves if you tried to fish and solder the wire yourself. (Voice of experience here.)

Oh, I wouldn't even trust myself to file the nut or polish the frets. I'll adjust the neck, bridge, intonation, and that's where my tinkering ends.

 

[EEGMan]

Which type of battery holder do you have. The old one where you had the mini thumb screws or the newer one with the pop out holder for the battery.

On my ‘03 HBII I had the old style thumb screw holder and it always took 3 hands to get a new battery in. The wires never broke but they always seemed so fragile. After 20 years the piezo board went poof so earlier this year PRS replaced it and added a fret level/crown. I also got them to change the battery holder to the pop out housing. It feels more secure with the pop out holder.

Can I ask what PRS charged you to replace the original troublesome battery holder on your HBII with the new model?

 

[Jo-]

Can I ask what PRS charged you to replace the original troublesome battery holder on your HBII with the new model?

I really don’t know as I had the piezo board replaced and the fret level. I think the final cost was about $700. The part on the website is $36

PRS Piezo Jack Assembly

PRS Piezo Jack Assembly includes jack-plate, battery clip & mounting hardware.(ACC-4126)

us.prsaccessories.com

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Just thinking outside the box...

But inside the battery compartment eh?

 

[Daryl Jones]

Which type of battery holder do you have. The old one where you had the mini thumb screws or the newer one with the pop out holder for the battery.

On my ‘03 HBII I had the old style thumb screw holder and it always took 3 hands to get a new battery in. The wires never broke but they always seemed so fragile. After 20 years the piezo board went poof so earlier this year PRS replaced it and added a fret level/crown. I also got them to change the battery holder to the pop out housing. It feels more secure with the pop out holder.

Well, the guitar is only a year an a half old so I'm guessing it's the latest style. If I do put a heavier gauge wire in somewhere in the future, the whole board looks to come out with a few screws to remove, but I'll consult with PRS tech support before trying that. It's nice to have that beautiful clean veneer back on the guitar, but an access plate would certainly be nicer for service/repair work. Or maybe it's not that difficult...time will tell.

https://imgur.com/gsZ8z14

https://imgur.com/nV56QBo

 

[banditcosmo]

Ugh, my battery cable just broke off, time to get the soldering iron out.
I found this on YouTube and looks like a good option.

 

[aphantomvaper]

Ugh, my battery cable just broke off, time to get the soldering iron out.
I found this on YouTube and looks like a good option.

A video of a picture is weird.

This is exactly the suggestion when this came up a year or two ago. Thanks for posting the picvid of it! It's definitely the mod I'm making next time I take this axe battery out.

 

[Daryl Jones]

Ugh, my battery cable just broke off, time to get the soldering iron out.
I found this on YouTube and looks like a good option.

You don't mention where the break on your harness occurred, mine was right at the terminal solder joint on the battery holder itself. Not sure what that video/picture shows and I haven't checked YouTube to see if there's any clarification there. If there is a plug that is the repair I can't tell, because the factory harness doesn't come out far enough to be able to attach one. I've never taken the whole control/compartment assembly apart and I don't really want to without first getting some info from either PRS themselves or a luthier/tech that actually has.
As I mentioned previously somewhere, my SE HBII was the first one my L&M store ever sold so Tony (store tech) hadn't taken one apart either. He was the guy that initially looked it over when I had the first electrical issue with the piezo making shorting noises. All he did was fiddle with the harness a bit and it went away. He wasn't a fan of the harness design at all. Plus he's a die hard LP and Strat guy so that made him a bit non-plussed. But told me he thought the guitar was very nice the day he set it up. Which was actually just a slight tweak on the intonation. It could use a more thorough workover now that it's been played a whole bunch. Strings aren't dead at all, but if I'm getting it done anyway, I'll do that while it's there. I still don't do that myself. But I also have a local fellow that is likely just as well versed (was the guitar mechanic at the former AXE store before Long & McQuade bought them out) that I worked with in the dealership for the last 8 years and he did a bang-up job on my SE Custom this summer. I'm just at odds to send the guitar all the way to Maryland and be without it for a period of months if I can get it looked at right here.
Reckon I still need to speak with PRS first and see what their solution/opinion might be. I know there is still a niggle in that harness that needs to be sorted. So far I'm OK with it, but would hate for it to s**t the bed on me when I'm playing in public...that would be rather, em, embarrassing to say the least.

 

[banditcosmo]

Yep, my wire broke right at the terminal solder joint. I'll have to strip the wire as there is no copper left then solder it back. I have no soldering skills but I should be able to do one wire.

 

[Daryl Jones]

It's actually not a hard task. I'm no wizard with the soldering iron either, but my repair looks reasonably neat and clean. Holding the wire end, the solder wire in place with one hand, and the iron in the other is the hardest part. I think I said "rats" or something similar a couple times...