US SS wiring — are all PRS guitars wired unshielded?

touch33

PRS Virgin
Joined
Aug 22, 2024
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37
Location
Houston, TX
So I opened up my NGD (for me) ‘20 Silver Sky and was a little surprised to find that all of the wiring was single-conductor “point-to-point” unshielded cable, with very little pickguard shielding (pots only). Is this standard PRS construction? I realize the single-coil pups are the major source of EMI interference in any SSS, but I’ve never met a guitar I couldn’t make quieter with some cavity/pickguard copper shielding properly grounded.

Comments?
 
John Mayer wanted it like his 62 , I find mine remarkably quite for the construction .
In my Strat youth I spent hours trying different shielding , wiring , Grounding setups and all have there pluses and minus , I used to have a cassette of the differences in sound between the setups that I would play folks but to keep the post shorter in my experience the more you add shielded wire , shielding ( copper / foil / or paint ) you lose some of the " quack " and bark that Strats are loved for makes them more refined sounding , not a bad thing for some but some might say you lose a bit of mojo , other say it makes a better guitar
 
As the “World’s Okay-est Bedroom Guitarist” I now use a Fractal Axe-FX 3 (great tone w/o having to push a volume level that scares the dogs/cats) and a laptop to control its’ editor — so I’ve got a lot of EMI/RFI to deal with. My more “modern” guitars are fully copper-shielded and it helps quite a bit. My vintage guitars remain as-built and noise can be an issue. My SS is so new to me that I haven’t even plugged it in yet (been de-gaäking it since it arrived) so we’ll see if it needs any shielding work…
 
I use my US Silver Sky in that exact situation and don't have any problem with EMI/RFI. I play sitting just a feet or two from my computer networking rack in which my Axe FX III is installed too. Never had any problem I can remember of.
 
I use my US Silver Sky in that exact situation and don't have any problem with EMI/RFI.
OK — a question: do you have a good electrical ground feeding your gear? I’m in an old house without grounded outlets so my ground “floats” on the neutral, and I’ve often suspected this might be my “noise” culprit. Thoughts?
(Also a US SS, btw.)
 
OK — a question: do you have a good electrical ground feeding your gear? I’m in an old house without grounded outlets so my ground “floats” on the neutral, and I’ve often suspected this might be my “noise” culprit. Thoughts?
(Also a US SS, btw.)
A grounded outlet helps quite a bit. I can't give you any electrical advice but maybe someone else here can suggest a "regional" solution where you may be able to ground an outlet where you are playing. Do you rent or own?
 
Own. Guess I need to put on my big boy pants and call the electrician…
In an older house Neutral and Ground are bonded ( or should be ) for current safety standards a GFI outlet will give you protection and I would then buy depending on your load power isolation , Les mentioned the ones he uses. but yes in my house for the music room every outlet has its own Ground and Natural the only noise I get is from the DC power in my MacBook Pro when I touch the computer and guitar at the same time also tingles a bit so I don't do it much
 
OK — a question: do you have a good electrical ground feeding your gear? I’m in an old house without grounded outlets so my ground “floats” on the neutral, and I’ve often suspected this might be my “noise” culprit. Thoughts?
(Also a US SS, btw.)
I live in Europe and we have pretty clean power here. I wouldn't plug my Fractal to a non grounded outlet to be honest, nor anything that needs to be grounded honestly.
Around here nobody would risk using grounded appliances on non grounded outlets. As an owner, to me it would be a must to put the work or money into the safety/convenience of a good grounding if everything wouldn't be already done in my house. That would go way on top on my list. But that's just me.
 
As an owner, to me it would be a must to put the work or money into the safety/convenience of a good grounding…

100 yr. old houses do not easily lend themselves to electrical rewiring, but your suggestion is well-taken. I design/build recording studios (among other things AV) for a living and am well-versed in proper grounding schemes for same. Short of installing a sub-panel with isolated grounds, I was just curious if another “bedroom rockstar” was experiencing noise issues with their rig in a non-pro/studio AC electrical environment.

Thanks for all of the great replies!

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