This 57/08 set is NOT going back to PRS...

[Lewguitar]

Update: All is well. Found the broken wire in the pickup cable so I'll keep them and they're not going back.

But this could have all been avoided with a single piece of paper with instructions included in each box.

Bought 'em brand new in sealed PRS boxes.

No instructions included in either box. No "thank you for choosing PRS" warranty card. No nothing!

Put 'em in my Bernie Marsden last week and found that the stock wiring wouldn't work. No instructions so I just put them in the way the stock Bernie Marsden pickups were wired.

Wrong! The pickups in this new 57/08 set are magnetically out of phase. So I reversed the leads on the bridge pickup and everyting seemed like it was going to be fine.

It's not. Got the new John Mann tailpiece Tuesday and put the guitar all together.

The neck pickup overpowers the bridge pickup!

This new bridge pickup is lower in output than the 57/08 bridge pickups I have in my other Bernie and in my Stripped 58 even though the DCR is about the same.

Out of the guitar, the neck pickup reads 8.23K The bridge pickup reads 9.03. Not much different from my other two sets.

What a hassle.

Further height adjustments are pointless. The bridge pickup is as close to the strings as possible and the neck pickup is backed deep into the mounting ring.

 

[garrett]

Bought 'em brand new in sealed PRS boxes. No instructions included in either box. No nothing!

Put 'em in my Bernie Marsden last week and found that the stock wiring wouldn't work. No instructions so I just put them in the way the stock Bernie Marsden pickups were wired.

Wrong! The pickups in this new 57/08 set are magnetically out of phase. So I reversed the leads on the bridge pickup and everyting seemed like it was going to be fine.

It's not. Got the new John Mann tailpiece Tuesday and put the guitar all together.

The neck pickup overpowers the bridge pickup!

This new bridge pickup is lower in output than the 57/08 bridge pickups I have in my other Bernie and in my Stripped 58 even though the DCR is about the same.

Out of the guitar, the neck pickup reads 8.23K The bridge pickup reads 9.03. Not much different from my other two sets.

What a hassle.

Further height adjustments are pointless. The bridge pickup is as close to the strings as possible and the neck pickup is backed deep into the mounting ring.

These are just going back.

I do have a set of Wolfetone Marshallheads that will be here in a week or two. With alnico 2 magnets they should be similar to my good sets of 57/08's.

Sometime you just get a lemon.

But the lack of instructions is inexcusable.

You measured resistance out of the guitar, but did you measure at the output jack/cable with the guitar all wired up? That's a great troubleshooting step to see if you're getting the full output of the pickup. Could be a bad solder joint or other wiring error. Maybe you did a lot of troubleshooting already, but I'd hate to return the pickups if they're actually okay.

The lack of instructions is really crazy, right? I found out the proper way to wire the limited edition LT pickups via a Sweetwater review where the person had called PRS to get the color codes and then was nice enough to post with their review. I'd worked it out with the multimeter, but still, not everyone has that ability.

 

[Lewguitar]

You measured resistance out of the guitar, but did you measure at the output jack/cable with the guitar all wired up? That's a great troubleshooting step to see if you're getting the full output of the pickup. Could be a bad solder joint or other wiring error. Maybe you did a lot of troubleshooting already, but I'd hate to return the pickups if they're actually okay.

The lack of instructions is really crazy, right? I found out the proper way to wire the limited edition LT pickups via a Sweetwater review where the person had called PRS to get the color codes and then was nice enough to post with their review. I'd worked it out with the multimeter, but still, not everyone has that ability.

Thanks! The neck measured fine through a 3" guitar cord. But not the bridge. It was all over the place but mostly at zero.

The black wire from the 4C cable of the bridge pickup was broken inside the black insulating coating. It was making intermittent connection. It's never sounded right.

So I cut it back until I found the break then cut the cable off at that point and started again with a freshly cut end.

Fortunately I had plenty of cable to work with.

I figured too much soldering and unsoldering might have messed up the volume pot (someone had swapped pickups in this guitar before me) so I replaced it with a CTS 500K.

I went through my box of 500K pots and measured 7 or 8 until I found one that measured high: 523K. I put that one in.

So you know how this is going to end right?

The guitar sounds incredible, right?

Happy ending. It does!

I might replace the neck volume pot with one that reads in the 520K's.

Next week I'm putting a set of Locking Tuners from John Mann on it..

 

[bodia]

Thanks! Fixed it!

It was a combination of things.

Mostly it was that the black wire from the 4C cable of the bridge pickup was broken inside the black insulating coating. So I cut it back until I found the break then cut it off completely and started with a freshly cut pickup cable end.

Too much soldering and unsoldering maybe. Maybe not. It's never sounded right. But fortunately I had plenty of length.

I figured too much soldering and unsoldering might have messed up the cheap volume pot too, so I replaced it with a CTS 500K. I went through my box of pots and measured 7 or 8 until I found one that measured 523K. I put that one in.

So...........you know the guitar sounds incredible now right?

Happy ending... It does!

I might replace the neck volume pot with one that reads in the 520K's.

I even order a set of Locking Tuners for it from John Mann.

Glad to hear it worked out!

 

[Senor Verde]

Glad you figured it out!

 

[DISTORT6]

Nice!
Looking forward to your new thread - “This 57/08 set is going back into a PRS…”

 

[dogrocketp]

You bring up a good point. There isn't anything (other than my car) that seems to come with an owners manual any more. We could argue that it's an effort to cut back on paper use, but frequently, it's a total pain in the ass!

 

[DISTORT6]

You bring up a good point. There isn't anything (other than my car) that seems to come with an owners manual any more. We could argue that it's an effort to cut back on paper use, but frequently, it's a total pain in the ass!

From personal experience, Mesa Boogie and Fryette amps both come with EXCELLENT manuals.

 

[Lewguitar]

Nice!
Looking forward to your new thread -

From personal experience, Mesa Boogie and Fryette amps both come with EXCELLENT manuals.

Done!

My new dishwasher came with a nice instruction manual in several languages.

Did cost just a little more than these pickups. But not much.

And I was able install it in an afternoon!