Will a loaded Brent Mason pickguard fit into a DC3?

[kenn]

Hello all,
I have a DC3 that I love, maple board, pattern regular neck, seafoam green body....
Love the single coil tone of it, but looking for something with more versatility, without having to change too much (routing/wiring)...
It looks like the Mason and DC3 have the same pickguard, but wasn't sure of any other mods need to be done to the DC3 in order to swap them...
If anyone has done this, or if the PTC offers this, please let me know!!
Thanks,
Kenn

 

[John Beef]

I don't know if the routing underneath will support a Brent Mason pickguard.

Forum member HippieTim had a NF3 routed for a full size 408 bridge pickup by the PTC in this thread. He left the original NF pickup in the neck through. That seems like it would be a bigger job for the PTC than what you're asking. I would think the amount of routing involved (if any) would be relatively minor since the Brent Mason is based on the NF3/DC3 platform.

 

[kenn]

Thanks for the link, John!
I hadn't had the chance to take the pickguard off the DC3 yet, but seeing HippieTim's NF3 without it, it doesn't look like too much routing would need to be done at all...(not that I would trust myself to do it).

 

[justmund]

The PTC most definitely would do this, they did the exact same thing to my DC3 but instead of the 305 SC in the middle I had them add another narrow 408.

Here's the original PTC thread:

http://prsguitars.com/forum/showthread.php?5567-It-seems-whatever-Hans-had-it-s-contagious

I freaking love the guitar, definitely a cold dead hands axe.

Best thing to do is to get in contact with the PTC and get a quote (and keep us posted!)

 

[kenn]

justmund......you JUST blew my MIND!!!!! I hadn't even considered another 408 in there!!!! Now i have to re-think this thru!!! Damn that's a GREAT idea!!!! I love switches and push/pull pots on everything!!
I will keep you posted...and thanks again for the idea!!!

 

[jfine]

I have a Brent Mason, and I've played both a DC3 and a 305. My impression is that the coil-splits on the Brent Mason aren't quite as twangy as the actual single-coils on the DC3--the Brent Mason is just a little bit warmer on the single-coil neck and bridge positions, and of course on the humbucker settings as well.

 

[justmund]

justmund......you JUST blew my MIND!!!!! I hadn't even considered another 408 in there!!!! Now i have to re-think this thru!!! Damn that's a GREAT idea!!!! I love switches and push/pull pots on everything!!
I will keep you posted...and thanks again for the idea!!!

Haha no probs, consider yourself enabled!

One small piece of advice, if I had a seafoam body, I would definitely go a white pearloid guard instead of the plain white. Pretty sure you can use (supply?) any pickguard material you like, and since it would need to be hand cut anyway you might as well go the extra step!

White (or cream) 408 bobbins would look really great too, but I don't think I've seen them anywhere (prob not an option at this stage)

Oh here's some tone samples of my guitar:

http://prsguitars.com/forum/showthread.php?6160-quot-The-624-quot-Demos

 

[John Beef]

The PTC most definitely would do this, they did the exact same thing to my DC3 but instead of the 305 SC in the middle I had them add another narrow 408.

Here's the original PTC thread:

http://prsguitars.com/forum/showthread.php?5567-It-seems-whatever-Hans-had-it-s-contagious

I freaking love the guitar, definitely a cold dead hands axe.

Best thing to do is to get in contact with the PTC and get a quote (and keep us posted!)

Dang!! I don't know why I thought of Hippie Tim's instead of yours, when yours is clearly the better example. My apologies.

 

[justmund]

Dang!! I don't know why I thought of Hippie Tim's instead of yours, when yours is clearly the better example. My apologies.

All good dude

Popped the hood this morning as I was doing a string change for a gig tonight (first in over a year). There's actually a fair amount of routing that needs to be done, each pickup cavity needs to be wider as well as longer, but not deeper. Also the control cavity needed some routing to fit the additional 3 x mini-toggles in.

I'll post some pics when I can, there's a lot of wiring that was needed for the mini-toggles too, each 408 has 4 wires plus a braided ground (5 in total).