Questions about Singlecut 245

[Ruxster]

Hi all,

Hoping I can get a bit of insight from you guys as you all seem to know your PRS's.

I have the opportunity to get a really nice looking SC245 from 2007. I can't play it first (buying online) so I'm hoping someone can help.I have two questions:

1. How are the PRS 7 pickups?

2. I'm not a fan of the tulip tuners and would prefer to replace them with the Phase III's that come on the McCarty if possible. Does anyone know if they are interchangeable without having to put new holes in the headstock?

 

[markd21]

My current #1 is a 2008 SC245. Mine has 57/08s, but I use the #7s in my S2 guitars. While not made in the US factory, the specs are the same and I will say that I LOVE the #7 pickups.....

1) The #7 has a thick, midrangey sound that is great clean and driven. It sounds great split. I use it for classic metal, classic rock, blues, country, jazz and jazz fusion. It is very sensitive to height adjustments. With the S2 version, people will say the neck pickup is "muddy" - I find most PRS neck pickups need to be lowered to be about level with the ring before they sound "musical". Not sure if these observations will translate to the US version, but knowing how consistent PRS is with their products, I'd be surprised if they weren't the same.

2) My SC245 has the tulip tuners also. They NEVER slip out of tune. I have never considered changing them, so I can't say if the Phase III tuners will drop in or not. I would wager "No" because the shaft on the stock 245 tuners is VERY thin.

I will say that the SC245 is an amazingly great playing/feeling guitar. I was NEVER into singlecut designs so much until I got mine. It's balanced, has great upper fret access...for me, everything "clunky" about the classic "G" has been eliminated with the SC245.

 

[Bowtiefanatc]

I didn't like my 7's so I swapped them and it absolutely transformed the guitar (BareKnuckle Mule/Riff Raff combo)

The tuners can be changed but you do need to increase the size of the holes on the headstock, or so I've been told by other members here.

I absolutely love my SC it's everything that a LP style guitar should be.

 

[horax]

the #7's in my avatar are very nice. VERY diverse and flexible.
they overdrive pretty quickly (which is good) but you need to work the knobs to avoid becoming muddy

 

[bodia]

Don't know anything about the 7s. But, the Phase III I can answer. The shaft is bigger on the PIIIs. You'd have to ream out the hole for them to fit. I'm also not sure if the mount screw hole line up. I didn't get that far. I could not get the old collars out of the headstock, no matter how hard I tried. Not wanting to risk cracking the head stock, I ordered a set of locking Klusons. They look just like the tulip tuners, but lock. Dropped right in.

 

[elvis]

It was an SC245 that got me to start playing PRS. I swapped the pickups (245 bass and treble models, too mellow for me), but other than that, it was a sick guitar. I eventually flipped it for a P245. The 245 models slay!

Stayed in tune and intonation very well with the stock tuners and non-adjusting wraparound bridge.

 

[Callan]

I gigged my sc245 last night, awesome guitar.
So much better to play than my Les(s) Paul.
I wish it had coil splits, but otherwise it's basically perfect

 

[Smitty]

The 2016 245 had the coil splits with the 58/15 pickups. They are good, but still had to get a strat for the proper vibe.

Still have the 245 though and it gets a whole lotta love.

 

[Karan D. Taktawala]

Hi all,

Hoping I can get a bit of insight from you guys as you all seem to know your PRS's.

I have the opportunity to get a really nice looking SC245 from 2007. I can't play it first (buying online) so I'm hoping someone can help.I have two questions:

1. How are the PRS 7 pickups?

2. I'm not a fan of the tulip tuners and would prefer to replace them with the Phase III's that come on the McCarty if possible. Does anyone know if they are interchangeable without having to put new holes in the headstock?

Hey,

1. I'm running an experiment on pickup swaps myself right now but it's going to be a while before I can really commit to giving you a genuine feedback. If you can wait it out till end of October........

2. If you're not a fan for aesthetic purposes then just accept her for what she is.
Changing tuners in my opinion only works well if there is no surgery needed or you're changing from really bad ones to really good ones.
PRS make a good tuner buddy

Once you decide to drill holes there's a good chance of something going wrong with the operation itself or you could wind up with an uneven drill that's leaving things subtly off.
That's going to harm an instrument that prides itself as one of the most stable tuned ones you can find

Hope that helps

 

[deakle]

I put a set of Goto MG Locks in my 09 SC245. They look exactly the same and fit perfectly! I swapped them with a new set of strings in about 10 minutes.

 

[Callan]

I gigged my sc245 last night, awesome guitar.
So much better to play than my Les(s) Paul.
I wish it had coil splits, but otherwise it's basically perfect

I started the morning looking for replacement pickups that would allow me to split the humbuckers in my 245- I like to use the splits in my covers band so I can use same guitar for the entire set. My cu22 excels at this!
I'd incorrectly assumed that my 57/08's could not be split - which is the case with the same pickups I took out of my HBii.

I opened up my 245 this morning and found the extra white wire hanging behind the pickup! #winning!
So I've ordered a pair of push pull pots and will wire it to like my 594 sometime towards the end of September.
At the same time, I'll move the volume controls to where I'm used to.