Tim, can you make a pickup set like the PRS 513 system?

[crispsandwich]

I'm really intrigued by the PRS 513 pickup switching system, whereby there are 5 individual single coils in a H/S/H configuration and there are 13 available combinations. Do you think this is a good idea? If possible, could you make a similar system with some BKP single coils? It would be more expensive (obviously) but I'd pay for that kind of system if I had a good H/S/H guitar to stick the pickups into.

-Danny :)

[Tim]

If it sounded any good maybe but I personally don't think so

[willo]

I remember reading about the 513 system, it sounds like the kind of thing I'd buy but never bother using....too complicated!

[Peterku]

Singles in series don't really sound like humbuckers.

[PhilKing]

The switching isn't so much of a problem, you can get 13 sounds from a H/S/H configuration with a superswitch and a 3-way 2 pole.  I think I set it out in the Tech forum a while ago.

I think it is basically this:

Bridge - series
Bridge Screw/middle - series
Bridge Screw/Neck screw - series
Neck Screw/middle - series
Neck- series

Bridge - parallel
Bridge Screw/middle - parallel
Bridge Screw/Neck screw - parallel
Neck Screw/middle - parallel
Neck- parallel

Bridge HB + Neck HB series
Bridge HB + Neck HB parallel
Bridge HB/Middle/Neck HB - parallel

That gives 13 sounds, you could get a BK H/S/H set and have it.  Before anyone tells me this is not what PRS do, I know PRS uses tapped pickups for some settings, so that they have full power and lover power sounds, I just used series/parallel to imitate that.

[Ratrod]

If you're going for lots of different sounds, get a fully tricked out BC Rich with the active circuit, coil and phase taps and a rotary tone knob. The possible number of combinations is mind bogling.

[Niall]

I had a 513 on order for a while, then a friend got his in before mine and I borrowed it for a while.  I cancelled my own order not long after and went for something else.  To my ears the 513 sounded really over-compressed in most positions, like some of the life had been squished out of it.  The proposition of the guitar itself, and the spec, makes for great reading and sounds like a great idea.... but in the flesh my own personal opinion was that it's a jack of all trades but master of none.  For the price?  I'd get a humbucking PRS and a decent Strat.

N.

[Tim]

Ditto on that.
Sometimes in the quest to create the all singing, all dancing, the original thread gets lost, ie the tone.It's like the old 'can you make a single coil that sounds like a humbucker' or 'can you make a humbucker sound like a P90' etc, etc.....the real answer is it's going to be a compromise.

[March]

I have two friends that own 513's, I even got to borrow one for two months earlier this year. I agree, on paper it would seem like the perfect guitar - something that provides Strat tones, PRS tones and Les Paul tones, yet the reality is very different.

The single coil sounds good, but far from great. Way too smooth and to my ears they miss the clarity and the punch (although I would put a lot of this down to the Brazilian Rosewood neck and mahogany body combination). Heavy humbucking sounds very muddy. Only the open humbucking tones were to my ears - passable.

I must admit I love the feel of the neck and Brazilian Rosewood does command a price premium these days, but I doubt it will ever command huge premiums or add to the collectable aspects of these particular guitars. Far from it.

I agree with Niall, at the end of the day I would sooner a Strat and PRS (which I do own, so no probs there!). As I said to a friend of mine, one guitar that provides three tones that give you seven out of ten if you are willing to compromise is OK, however, I don't want to. I would sooner own three guitars tonally focussed on what they are good at and give me 10 out of 10. Anyway, if you have that amount of money to blow on a 513 spend it on a Tyler. It's a much, much better guitar.

[Niall]

Only the open humbucking tones were to my ears - passable.

You mean the clear humbucking mode as PRS calls it?  Interesting you should say this, it's exactly what I thought of the guitar.  For me the heavy humbucking was too dead and lifeless and the single coil settings lacked that sparkle and high end that you'd want in a single coil.  The clear humbucking was nice enough but still for me at least not a patch on a good articulate humbucker or a nice fat P90.

N.

[March]

Hi Niall,

That's the one, clear humbucking.

It's a shame as I really wanted to like this guitar, in fact up until playing one I was almost certain I would end up buying one.

I must admit though the Brazilian Rosewood does have a very pleasant aroma to it, however, what's the point of it smelling nice if it sounds awful?!

[telemonster]

all sounds waaaaay to fussy to me, but there you go-i'd rather have more guitars to cover all the bases, rather than one guitar that does it all. and there does seem to be a consensus that you end up compromising, so you're not really ending up with what you set out to achieve anyway....
more guitars-that's the answer!

[38thBeatle]

I agree with Telemonster - you can't have enough guitars. The furthest I would go with a "guitar for all seasons" vibe would be a Strat with a bridge hb.

[big steve]

yep, my main (readly "only usable :lol: ) guitar is an HSS strat and it's great, really versatile. i never liked the bridge single anyway, too skinny and far too trebly sounding.