New pickups for PRS Custom 22, details inside, please, need your advice

[asianaxeman]

...wiring...did u earth the pickups properly, e.g. with a lead from the pots to the bridge / trem i there is one etc

[Telerocker]

...wiring...did u earth the pickups properly, e.g. with a lead from the pots to the bridge / trem i there is one etc

Good call, I was thinking the same.

[Sir_Palomid]

...wiring...did u earth the pickups properly, e.g. with a lead from the pots to the bridge / trem i there is one etc

I did it exactly like PRS pups were wired (according to BKP wiring diagram with lead colours),
so it goes like "earth" wire from both pickups goes to tone pot, them lead from tone pot to volume pot, and from volume to output jack. I don't have trem, it's stoptail version of Custom 22.

By the way - why BKP has 4 wires (black, red, green and white - soldered together) while PRS - only 3 wires (black, red and white)?
What is the "green" one? And if I will wire pickup without green one as PRS does?

I've soldered Artists back to check if it was my solder is bad, or joint... noise is gone  :?

[kevinr]

Keep the green and white together as they are one hot and one cold from each coil that puts them in series! disconnect the green and they wont work! if the Abraxas have a large offset between the coil windings you will experience some noise, I no longer have my Abraxas and can't remember what mine were like for noise, regarding your sound (tone) problems PRS pickups are not scatterwound (from memory) so the BKPs are always going to sound more open than the machine wound pups! some like it this way some don't, it is different and can take some time to adjust to this 'new' sound, I'm not a fan of A4 magnets for high gain I think that AV covers it better cutting though the mix etc! these are only my views as many like them! the change that you have made in pups will really show when you do a live gig, you will know if your happy with your sound then, if not change back to the PRS pups, I still use SDs as well as BKPs and like them both, they are very different.

[Philly Q]

By the way - why BKP has 4 wires (black, red, green and white - soldered together) while PRS - only 3 wires (black, red and white)?
What is the "green" one? And if I will wire pickup without green one as PRS does?

The 4 wires are from the 4 ends of the 2 coils.

Standard wiring for a BKP needs green & white soldered together, then the 2 coils are in series.  For coil-splitting, green & white are connected to a mini-switch or push-pull pot.

PRS joins the same two wires together, but at the pickup end.  Then they have just one wire (the red, I think?) connected to that joined pair, for coil-splitting.

[Sir_Palomid]

Thanks, guy, now I see.
BKP uses almost same colour code as PRS, only green wire is added (wired with green).
I wrote Tim yesterday, and he said that there is no problem to swap pickups for another set.
I think I'll go with Cold Sweat neck (which I dig in my Washburn) and Holy Diver bridge.

Also Tim said that scatter wound is not a reason for additional noise, so maybe it was a soldering, or pickups themselves have such character, dunno.

[asianaxeman]

I've never had noise trouble even with the high output buckers like MM, c-bomb and PK with high gain sounds, when earthed properly they are quiet.

[Telerocker]

I don't know if the Crawler is reckoned to be high output ( I say medium tot high), but I never had a quieter pickup.

[Sir_Palomid]

Thanks for reply, folks!
I've sent pickups back to BKP, let's wait for their decision,
if all will be Ok, I'll swap them for Holy Diver set.

[Sir_Palomid]

Hi, everybody!
Yesterday I've received Holydiver set and installed it,
but I'm not sure I did it right.
I've made my wiring according to this
http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/downloads/schematics/general/humbuckers/5_way_rotary_tone_selector.pdf

So my wires at the switch goes like (from left to right):
Treble pickup - Black\Red\Green+White (PRS was Black\Red\White)
Bass pickup -  Black\Red\Green+White (PRS was Black\Red\White)
(see picture attached)

It means that PRS has same color code as BKP?

But here I've found another scheme
http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=17536.0

It goes
Treble pickup - Red\Green+White\Black (PRS was Black\Red\White)
Bass pickup -  Black\Green+White\Red (PRS was Black\Red\White)

I've made a mistake?
Because I hear more noise in humbucker-only positions, and they sounds more thinner than in-between position of rotary switch (same was with Abraxas).

Please, help me figure out have I made it right or wrong.

Thank you!

[darkbluemurder]

Hmmm - from looking at the switch I cannot immediately see a mistake.

Try the following: desolder the green/white connections of both pickups and temporarily tape them off. Do the straight humbucking tones now sound as they should - I mean loud and full with almost no hum? If no then you need to get out the digital multimeter (DMM) to check the pickup's DC resistance. Measure between red and black. The neck pup should have between 7 and 8 kohms, the bridge between 14 and 15 kohms.

If they sound as they should, add the green/white connection of one pickup. Does that pickup now sound different in the straight humbucking position? If yes, there is something wrong with the switch. Wire the pickup temporarily directly to the volume pot to confirm.
If no, proceed with the green/white connection of the other pickup. Does that pickup now sound different in the straight humbucking position? If yes, do the same check as before.

I have installed a Holydiver bridge and a Cold Sweat neck in my PRS Custom with the modern style rotary switch. The green/white goes where the white wire of the PRS pickup was. Same with the red/black ones. The switch works as intended. BTW: I guess you specified in your order with BKP that the pickups were for a PRS so they came with the correct magnet stagger?

Cheers Stephan

[darkbluemurder]

Do the straight humbucking tones now sound as they should - I mean loud and full with almost no hum?

BTW - the best way to check this is to A/B with another humbucker equipped guitar.

[Sir_Palomid]

Hi, Stephan!
Thanks for an advice!

I just have tried alternative combination I've posted, found here on the forum - and seems that everything worked fine, noise is gone in all positions, switch works as intended. I'll check everything out later one more time.
Maybe PRS changed their switch version over the years, mine is 2004 year of production.
When I've ordered pickups - ordered with magnet flip for PRS.

I've suggested Tim to add another wiring diagram with this combo, so buyers would have an option\solution for different PRS switches.

Have a nice holiday!

Kirill.

[darkbluemurder]

Hi Kirill,

Sounds you have sorted it now.

BTW: how do you like the pickups?

Cheers Stephan

[Sir_Palomid]

Stephan, I'm in the "find the sweet spot" quest yet,
but as far as I can say - Holydivers are "improved PRS Artist" pickups,
clearer, more articulate, with better harmonics, in terms of an EQ they are pretty similar, just HD has more high-end roll off, it's less harsh pickup.
Still looking for a spot which would give me good high output\enough wood in the sound character.

I'll write more as soon as I will finish guitar setup and find the "sweet spot".