So if everything affects everything...

[juka]

According to Paul in a guitar everything affects everything and by following his own rules of tone he put a lot of effort into changing a lot of things like finish, hardware, pickups,...
Everything? Well, within the electronic cavity a lot of things seemingly stayed the same. He's still using Alpha pots, still ceramic disc capacitors, good industry standard, but there are a lot of (so called?) upgrades out there.

So who did upgrade the electronics and what were your results?

 

[Tag]

According to Paul in a guitar everything affects everything and by following his own rules of tone he put a lot of effort into changing a lot of things like finish, hardware, pickups,...
Everything? Well, within the electronic cavity a lot of things seemingly stayed the same. He's still using Alpha pots, still ceramic disc capacitors, good industry standard, but there are a lot of (so called?) upgrades out there.

So who did upgrade the electronics and what were your results?

I have never tried anything else in my PRSs, and unless someone tells me something specific with sound clips showing the "improvement, I doubt I will. The tone and volume controls on PRSs seem to work perfect for me. LOVE the different shades you get rolling the tone controls up and down. On almost every other brand I have owned, they have to stay wide open, or very close to it. I would also like to hear if anyone messed with the above and found some improvements. Interesting!

 

[Brad737]

I've read where some folks put paper-in-oil caps and Centralab pots in the PRSes, because that's what old Gibsons and Fenders had. But I don't feel the need.

 

[kingsleyd]

Paul, bless his heart, has always gotten the concept that someone might actually want to use the volume & tone controls on a guitar. He got it right in that respect very early on. Even as the PRS pickup winds have evolved, there hasn't been much need to do anything with the pots & caps, especially inasmuch as there haven't been any radical improvements over what they use.

That said, I ended up deciding that, in (most of) my PRS guitars, I liked the volume & tone curves better without the "bright cap" so I snipped 'em. Funny, though, I ended up installing them in a couple of Artingers which benefitted greatly from them.

One of the reasons that people get into the whole PIO caps and vintage (or faux-vintage) wiring/components is that there's a certain way the volume & tone pots work on a late-50s PAF Les Paul which is the standard by which everything else is measured. Here's an example of what I'm talking about. What JD Simo demonstrates here is all the stuff I've learned from owning my own 50s PAF LP:

The thing about PRS is, with the different design of the guitar, the fact that they generally use a single master volume & tone, and the use of more modern amps, to get a similar functionality it actually works better with different components.

 

[kingsleyd]

Here's an example of a bit that demonstrates how well Paul got it early on. Ignore the LP on the cover -- Al is playing his first PRS on this one. Listen to what happens at 2:55 when he rolls the volume from probably about 7 (for the cleanish "mutola" schtick) to full-on (or nearly so). I had this record back then (still own the vinyl actually), and that one little bit was a huge part of what led me to want a PRS.

 

[Richard Lainegard]

I've changed top PIO caps, and Manlius PAF's in one,
marked difference (if its to the better is of course subjective).
I will also rewire my new SC245 to 50's wiring, as I do think
PRS use of the "standard" wiring gives a very muddy roll-off
as it doesn't have a treble bleed.

 

[László]

If memory serves, Chris (CRGTR) of our forum has done some video demos of his PRSes equipped with various caps and pickups.

 

[jfb]

If memory serves, Chris (CRGTR) of our forum has done some video demos of his PRSes equipped with various caps and pickups.

I think he has as well. Chris rules!

 

[Tag]

Paul, bless his heart, has always gotten the concept that someone might actually want to use the volume & tone controls on a guitar. He got it right in that respect very early on. Even as the PRS pickup winds have evolved, there hasn't been much need to do anything with the pots & caps, especially inasmuch as there haven't been any radical improvements over what they use.

That said, I ended up deciding that, in (most of) my PRS guitars, I liked the volume & tone curves better without the "bright cap" so I snipped 'em. Funny, though, I ended up installing them in a couple of Artingers which benefitted greatly from them.

One of the reasons that people get into the whole PIO caps and vintage (or faux-vintage) wiring/components is that there's a certain way the volume & tone pots work on a late-50s PAF Les Paul which is the standard by which everything else is measured. Here's an example of what I'm talking about. What JD Simo demonstrates here is all the stuff I've learned from owning my own 50s PAF LP:

The thing about PRS is, with the different design of the guitar, the fact that they generally use a single master volume & tone, and the use of more modern amps, to get a similar functionality it actually works better with different components.

Like all things, you have to realize what tones will work for you, and what you are going for. The tones in the above video are not anything I could use. They are not bad, but nothing knocked me out anywhere. I think those tones can be had on any decent R8 or R9. A buddy of mine has a late 50s LP, and I would take any of my PRSs over it. In fact, I like his non 10 top McCarty a lot more. I find very few things vintage that live up to the hype. The original 59 bassmans are one of the very few things that I find on a consistent basis sound as good in person as what you read. YMMV, IMO, to my ear, etc etc. :redface: