SE Mods

[John Beef]

The pickup checks out good with the multimeter. 10.35K overall, 5.25 on the screw coil and 5.10 on the slug coil. Now... gotta find the time to install it.

 

[Chris of Arabia]

My SE Korina now sports a Seymour Duncan 'Whole Lotta Humbucker' set, along with a push-push pot under the tone pot to split the HB's, and also has an orange drop in there too.

 

[MisterE]

Installed Grover mini rotomatic locking tuners, replaced pickups with Seymour Duncan JB/Jazz set and installed the pickups in the SD triple shot mounting rings.

 

[MisterE]

SE 245:
US PRS nut
Schaller locking tuners
DiMarzio 36th Anny pups
Schroeder Adjustable Stoptail - TonePros metric locking studs
Switchcratf jack and 3-way switch
10% CTS pots and PIO caps

SE Standard:
bone nut
Schaller locking tuners
Bare Knuckle matched set "The Mule"
Tremel-no
Switchcraft jack and 3-way switch
RS Guitar Works Super pots PIO cap (two volume one master tone)
two mini toggles on/on/on for series-humbucker/split-coil/parallel-humbucker

A few months ago I was thinking of installing the Schroeder bridge in my SE SC but I read somewhere that you might need to buy new mounting studs so I decided against it. Did you get the tonepro's because of this or could you use the existing mounts.

Your guitars look sharp BTW.

 

[CharlieFoxtrot]

A few months ago I was thinking of installing the Schroeder bridge in my SE SC but I read somewhere that you might need to buy new mounting studs so I decided against it. Did you get the tonepro's because of this or could you use the existing mounts.

Your guitars look sharp BTW.

The Schroeder bridge should work fine with the stock studs. I use the Tone Pros locking studs to get rid of any forward tilt on the wraparound bridge, and once you get everything adjusted properly your bridge is locked into place you can take all of the strings off and the bridge won't fall off and the studs won't get bumped or turned.

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

I've got the Tonepros locking studs on my Bernie. No more forward tilt (And it does seem to give a little more sustain) but there's side to side play (Until locked down with string tension) as the Tonepros post is not as wide as on the SE studs. Does the Schroeder bridge eliminate that? If so, it may be next on my list of upgrades.

 

[swede71]

Mikegarveyblues and Chris of Arabia,i love the looks of your guitars.Very cool!

 

[CharlieFoxtrot]

I've got the Tonepros locking studs on my Bernie. No more forward tilt (And it does seem to give a little more sustain) but there's side to side play (Until locked down with string tension) as the Tonepros post is not as wide as on the SE studs. Does the Schroeder bridge eliminate that? If so, it may be next on my list of upgrades.

With the metric Tone Pros studs there is a little side to side play on the posts (non threaded side) with the Schroeder bridge as well.

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

Ah well... Not a biggie once it's al locked down. Do quite like the look of the Schroeder bridge though. Did you have to file the slots to match the PRS radius?

 

[CharlieFoxtrot]

Ah well... Not a biggie once it's al locked down. Do quite like the look of the Schroeder bridge though. Did you have to file the slots to match the PRS radius?

The default radius on the Schroeder bridge is 11" and it comes without notches. They will notch it for you to the correct radius for a 5$ fee or you can do it yourself if you are so inclined. For me it was worth the extra 5$ to have them do it.

 

[MisterE]

The default radius on the Schroeder bridge is 11" and it comes without notches. They will notch it for you to the correct radius for a 5$ fee or you can do it yourself if you are so inclined. For me it was worth the extra 5$ to have them do it.

Thanks for the reply. Right now I'm saving for a tube amp but I really like the Schroeder bridge. Aesthetically though on mine it could make my guitar look like an Italian watercraft.

 

[siore]

My $11 ebay SE pickup came in Saturday so I brought my soldering iron into work for some lunchtime pickup modifications. Unfortunately I forgot my decent camera and my multimeter... d'oh. Not to mention I'm sick with acute bronchitis and on meds and wondering why the hell I'm at work int he 1st place.


Here's the pickup, plus the 2nd unoriented Alnico 5 magnet I got a while back as part of the 2 magnet set from ebay ($6 total).

Open it up, swap the magnet... easy, done.


There's a black wire running to one coil, a white wire running to other other, and a red wire connecting the two. I cut the red wire and stripped the ends.

Then I took another wire (white wire 2) (yes I should have used a different color like green or something), stripped the ends of white wire 2, and solder the 3 together. This is tough because there's hardly any slack on the red wires. Kinda ugly but it should work.

Then taped it off, gently stuffed it in the crevice between the pickup coils, and fed the other end of white wire 2 through the hole in the baseplate.

Et Voila! coil split wire for a previously unsplittable pickup. If only I had my multimeter with me I could make sure all the connections are solid and working. I hope to make it past a radio shack for a 2.2K resistor to wire in the circuit so the coil isn't canceled out entirely (like PRS is doing now on some guitars)

This is hella cool! Been thinking about doing this to my stock pickups, which I'm really fond of. I've read about shunting through a resistor instead of grounding out 1/2 of the humbucker; is this the coil split arrangement of the Sig Ltd's? The owners don't seem to complain about any volume loss going to split mode.

 

[andy474x]

This is hella cool! Been thinking about doing this to my stock pickups, which I'm really fond of. I've read about shunting through a resistor instead of grounding out 1/2 of the humbucker; is this the coil split arrangement of the Sig Ltd's? The owners don't seem to complain about any volume loss going to split mode.

I think the sig ltd's actually split the pickup, and then add additional windings to the active side. But I could be wrong, and the resistor thing is a cool idea!

 

[John Beef]

I don't know about resistors inside the pickup itself, but I did wire this up similarly to the 2012 DGT where there's a resistor between the white split wire and the ground. This way the 2nd coil isn't turned off completely. I dig it, it sounds really good. Since this was in my Baritone with a 5 way blade switch, this is how I wired it up:

 

[andy474x]

Thanks for posting that John, thinking about grabbing another SE and doing something funky with it, that sounds like a good mod!

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

Final mod pics..

BKP The Mule Neck pup
Suhr Doug Aldrich Bridge pup
BKP Custom Audio Taper CTS pots (550k)
New Amber Knobs
Tonepros Locking Studs
Graphtec Tusq Nut
Sprague Orange Drop Cap

Stock:

Mules:

Mules + Aldrich and the other mods. Hopefully finished!!!

 

[garrett]

On my SE Soapbar II, I've done...

Grover mini locking tuners
Bone nut
CTS pots
Switchcraft jack
Tonepros studs
Schaller straplocks
Pickup swaps: first to Vintage Vibe P-90's, then to DiMarzio VP-90/DLX-90, now seriously considering swapping to mini hums

I also bought a USA bridge for it years ago, but probably won't ever bother to put it on.

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

On my SE Soapbar II, I've done...

Grover mini locking tuners
Bone nut
CTS pots
Switchcraft jack
Tonepros studs
Schaller straplocks
Pickup swaps: first to Vintage Vibe P-90's, then to DiMarzio VP-90/DLX-90, now seriously considering swapping to mini hums

I also bought a USA bridge for it years ago, but probably won't ever bother to put it on.

Nice! I had a Soapbar II a few years ago. Real nice guitar and another one of those "Why did I sell that?!"

What do you think of the Tonepros locking studs? I've got them but honestly, had I been able to try them first I would have stuck with the stock ones.

 

[garrett]

Nice! I had a Soapbar II a few years ago. Real nice guitar and another one of those "Why did I sell that?!"

What do you think of the Tonepros locking studs? I've got them but honestly, had I been able to try them first I would have stuck with the stock ones.

I was really excited when they came out with the SE Soapbar II. It's just a stripped down, basic, rockin' machine!

The Tonepros seem to make the guitar acoustically louder and more lively. I don't know that it really translates into any advantage through the amp, but at least the setup won't drift and the bridge won't fall off. Only thing I don't like is the set I have (several years old now) has a very bright chrome finish, so it doesn't match the bridge. But that's nit-picking a little. One of many things PRS got right with the SE series is the soft, nickel-like look of the plating.

I think I could've done without the Tonepros and the bone nut. Those SE nuts are just a hard plastic, unlike the soft "unobtainum" USA nuts. Don't feel like I got much out of that change.

Not going to bother with the bridge swap because the SE and USA bridges look very similar. to the point where I could almost forget which is which. The weights are identical, which leads me to think they're made of similar material and would sound the same.

 

[SE Playa 13]

I just added an EMG Afterburner to my SE Torero and it has made a big difference. It was really easy to install.

For my SE Custom 24 I am going to swap out the pick ups and replace them with Seymour Duncan Hot Rodded Set (JB & Jazz).

I already swapped out the pickups on my SE 245 with Seymour Duncan Distortions and it sounds great. For both the SE Custom 24 and the SE 245, I am also adding a Graphtech Black Tusq XL Nut and Grover 406c Rotomatics locking tuners.

For the SE Custom 24 and the Torero, I am thinking about adding a Super Vee Mag-lok to both of them, especially since the price on those is a lot less expensive now.