SE Santana too bright!

[andy474x]

Hey Mark...

How is it if you roll off the tone knob a touch? Are you left with muddy sounding bass side or can you balance it all out?

If you decide to change the pot(s) you'll need a reamer to enlarge the holes if you go with CTS pots... And probably new knobs. Not expensive or hard to do though.

+1 to that. Mike is absolutely right, some brands of pots are different shaft diameter than stock, CTS being one of them I believe. When I changed out my pots on my SECU22, I had to enlarge the holes, and it didn't go well, took a decent size chunk out of the veneer top. Luckily it was small enough to still be under the knob in the end. That veneer is just so thin, I wouldn't risk messing with it. DO NOT use a power drill with plain ol' drill bits (probably common sense to the woodworking types, but not me). When I swapped pots on my SECU24, I used whatever brand they sell in-store at Guitar Center. Can't remember what it was exactly, but they were an exact drop in, which kept my blood pressure a lot lower, and they seem to be nice pots. Anyways, just don't want you to end up with big flakes of guitar top popping off!

 

[cobrafast1]

Hey Mark...

How is it if you roll off the tone knob a touch? Are you left with muddy sounding bass side or can you balance it all out?

If you decide to change the pot(s) you'll need a reamer to enlarge the holes if you go with CTS pots... And probably new knobs. Not expensive or hard to do though.

If you're changing from a 500 K ohm to a 250 K ohm audio taper, there is no muddiness. The bass would be the same. In the complete rotation toward bass is 0 ohms. In the full treble rotation the resisitance is max 500K or 250K depending on the value of the control. So you would lose the top 250 k ohms of the control, which is the high treble range that you wish to eliminate. The bass range would be unchanged as that is the lower resistance in the RC network for the tone control.

I think you'll be happy with a 250 K ohm control. if not, just change it back to 500K ohms. The cost of the audio taper is about $5. Not a big investment.

 

[Mark]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the ongoing info stream.

Cobra, Thanks for the advice I will barethat in mind but don't like the sound of having to ream out the holes as Mike suggests. I think I will leave the pots for the time being.

John, With regard to the magnets, Im definately going to give this try, can you advise if you use the same type of magnets in each pickup or is it one type for the bridge and one foe the neck. Alaso, do you know what magnets are fitted as standard in the SE Santana model.

Mike, In answer to your question, I have done a bit of tweeking around and I find that if I knock the tone back about 30% on the guitar and increase the middle and reduce the treble on the amp, that seems to be the optimum setting. When set up like this its not bad but Im still not getting the creamy tone I'm looking for. Maybe I am expecting too much of this entry level PRS. I was wondering if this is this a common issue or not, or just the character of the guitar. I have seen a few demos on Utube and the sound tone does not seem to be an issue in any of those..

Cheers Guys

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

Don't blame you for not wanting to enlarge the holes... I was worried that i'd mess it up when I did it but it turned out to be a super easy job. Something to bear in mind in the future if you have any issues with the pots... Although you could get hold of replacement Alpha pots that will just drop right in without the need for any extra work or expense.

I had the SE 245 pups that you have in my Bernie and they where pretty even across all the strings as I recall. I could get the creamy sounds - or at least my take on creamy. I only swapped mine out because I thought the bridge was a little sterile.

What's your setup?

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the ongoing info stream.

Cobra, Thanks for the advice I will barethat in mind but don't like the sound of having to ream out the holes as Mike suggests. I think I will leave the pots for the time being.

John, With regard to the magnets, Im definately going to give this try, can you advise if you use the same type of magnets in each pickup or is it one type for the bridge and one foe the neck. Alaso, do you know what magnets are fitted as standard in the SE Santana model.

Mike, In answer to your question, I have done a bit of tweeking around and I find that if I knock the tone back about 30% on the guitar and increase the middle and reduce the treble on the amp, that seems to be the optimum setting. When set up like this its not bad but Im still not getting the creamy tone I'm looking for. Maybe I am expecting too much of this entry level PRS. I was wondering if this is this a common issue or not, or just the character of the guitar. I have seen a few demos on Utube and the sound tone does not seem to be an issue in any of those..

Cheers Guys

 

[cobrafast1]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the ongoing info stream.

Cobra, Thanks for the advice I will barethat in mind but don't like the sound of having to ream out the holes as Mike suggests. I think I will leave the pots for the time being.

John, With regard to the magnets, Im definately going to give this try, can you advise if you use the same type of magnets in each pickup or is it one type for the bridge and one foe the neck. Alaso, do you know what magnets are fitted as standard in the SE Santana model.

Mike, In answer to your question, I have done a bit of tweeking around and I find that if I knock the tone back about 30% on the guitar and increase the middle and reduce the treble on the amp, that seems to be the optimum setting. When set up like this its not bad but Im still not getting the creamy tone I'm looking for. Maybe I am expecting too much of this entry level PRS. I was wondering if this is this a common issue or not, or just the character of the guitar. I have seen a few demos on Utube and the sound tone does not seem to be an issue in any of those..

Cheers Guys

You might not need to enlarge the holes. Look up Antique Electronic Supply online. They just sent me a Fender pot for my Strat and the label was Fender w/Logo. Look through their online catalog Very extensive with dimensions and specs for controls, etc.

You might find the one you want. They are a great outfit. I use them for my ham radio gear too. They always have those hard to find parts for ham gear back in the 50's and 60's.

Have them send you a paper catalog too. Also, Mouser Electroinics is good too I have their catalog. It's about 3" thick.

Don't give up and settle for just anything. Make the guitar the way you like it. I'm a firm believer in that. Guitars are like cars; you need to have it the way you like it.

Good Luck

 

[vchizzle]

Have you checked the action and the pickup height yet? I commonly find pickup heights on new guitars in stores to be too close to the strings. Sometimes not even set up to the manufacturer's specs.

 

[John Beef]

Hmmm, that HFS looks familiar.. You change the mag or just open it up for demonstration purposes?

I'm sure it does! I had changed the magnet to an Alnico 5 when I was using it (that's where the pics come from), but I re-installed the original ceramic magnet before I put it up for sale. Using it in the bridge of a baritone, the ceramic magnet with the downtuned strings created a serious metal monster. Only, I don't really play metal, so it didn't work for me! It was still pretty aggressive with the A5 magnet.

 

[cobrafast1]

Have you checked the action and the pickup height yet? I commonly find pickup heights on new guitars in stores to be too close to the strings. Sometimes not even set up to the manufacturer's specs.

I agree with that. I had to lower my bridge pickup a bit. It was too bright and lowering also gives you a bit more sustain in the strings too. Just a note: the strong the magnetic field on the strings; the less the sustain.

So many things to think about.