2011 PRS 5-way wiring, reverse polarity?

[milenko76]

Hey guys, I want to change out the 59/09's in a PRS 2011 Custom 24 with a 5way blade switch.
Does anyone know if the pups in this model have a reversed neck magnet? I ask because the new 5 way switch allows for both humbuckers in the 3rd position. like this:

    Position 1: Bridge humbucker
    Position 2: Bridge humbucker with neck singlecoil, in parallel
    Position 3: Bridge and neck humbuckers
    Position 4: Neck singlecoil with bridge singlecoil, in parallel
    Position 5: Neck humbucker

Here is the diagram from PRS for this model.
http://www.prsguitars.com/csc/schematics/CU24_2011.pdf

Should I order the Bare Knuckles with a reversed neck pickup? Also how should it be wired?, as I'm not familiar with the PRS wiring scheme.

Thank you for the help guys.

[Philly Q]

I don't know for sure, but I would guess one pickup does have a reversed magnet to allow for hum-cancelling in the "split" positions.

[Twinfan]

I think you're wrong Philly.  The pickups are in parallel, not series, so the hum cancelling isn't possible?

I think you only need the flipped magnet for the out of phase tone(s) you used to get on the 5-way, so I guess the new ones don't have flipped magnets...

[Transcend]

in the ibanez models the neck pickups have the magnets reversed for the split in position 2 and parrallel in position 4

[milenko76]

When I get the guitar in my hands, I guess I'll just pull the pickups out and hold them over one another. I should be able to tell if they are reversed based on if they repel one another or not. I was hoping someone knew for sure. While I appreciate the info on Ibanez models, I'm familiar with the wiring for an Ibanez but I'm looking for which color wires are for what on this specific PRS model.

[Twinfan]

You might want to try over at the PRS Forum - Birds and Moons.  59/09s aren't that common in the wild, but several BaMmers have swapped them in/out.

[Philly Q]

I think you're wrong Philly.  The pickups are in parallel, not series, so the hum cancelling isn't possible?

I think you only need the flipped magnet for the out of phase tone(s) you used to get on the 5-way, so I guess the new ones don't have flipped magnets...

You certainly can get hum-cancelling with single-coils in parallel!  That's what you have in positions 2 and 4 on a Strat with  a RW/RP middle pickup, for example.  I agree that position 2 on the new Cu24 can't be hum-cancelling, because you have three active coils, but position 4 can be.


I don't think any of the positions on a PRS 5-way (rotary) are out of phase, either.  As far as I know all the "split" combinations are in-phase, two in parallel and one in series:

Position 10: Treble pickup
Position 9: Outside coils- deep and clear - parallel
Position 8: Series single coils – Warm version of the "in between the treble and middle pickups"
Position 7: Parallel single coils – Crisp version of the "in between the treble and middle pickups"
Position 6: Bass pickup

Still don't know the answer to the original question for sure though, sorry! 

[Twinfan]

Gotcha!  The old 5-way used to have out of phase selections, but not the new one I see...

[darkbluemurder]

Hey guys, I want to change out the 59/09's in a PRS 2011 Custom 24 with a 5way blade switch.
Does anyone know if the pups in this model have a reversed neck magnet? I ask because the new 5 way switch allows for both humbuckers in the 3rd position. like this:

    Position 1: Bridge humbucker
    Position 2: Bridge humbucker with neck singlecoil, in parallel
    Position 3: Bridge and neck humbuckers
    Position 4: Neck singlecoil with bridge singlecoil, in parallel
    Position 5: Neck humbucker

Here is the diagram from PRS for this model.
http://www.prsguitars.com/csc/schematics/CU24_2011.pdf

Should I order the Bare Knuckles with a reversed neck pickup? Also how should it be wired?, as I'm not familiar with the PRS wiring scheme.

Thank you for the help guys.

Unless you know which of the coils in #4 are active this is impossible to answer.

If you got the guitar in your hands and a spare single coil pickup it is faily easy to check. Hold the single coil over both humbucker coils. You will find that one coil will attract the single coil while the other will repel it. If you find that with one humbucker the screw coil attracts whereas with the other humbucker it is the slug coil then you have one humbucker with reversed polarity.

Cheers Stephan

[Philly Q]

If you got the guitar in your hands and a spare single coil pickup it is faily easy to check. Hold the single coil over both humbucker coils. You will find that one coil will attract the single coil while the other will repel it. If you find that with one humbucker the screw coil attracts whereas with the other humbucker it is the slug coil then you have one humbucker with reversed polarity.

Sound advice!  :D

[darkbluemurder]

Thanks, Philly.

Of course, if you have a magnetic compass (I don't - hence I use a single coil pickup) that would show you exactly which coil has a South polarity and which has a North polarity.

I recently set up a pickguard for a strat type guitar with a HSS configuration and checked the polarity of every coil and also the phasing of the signal before restringing the guitar. What a relief that it worked the first try :)
Checking first can save you a lot of time and trial and error.

Cheers, Stephan

[Andrew W]

Unless you know which of the coils in #4 are active this is impossible to answer.

If you got the guitar in your hands and a spare single coil pickup it is faily easy to check. Hold the single coil over both humbucker coils. You will find that one coil will attract the single coil while the other will repel it. If you find that with one humbucker the screw coil attracts whereas with the other humbucker it is the slug coil then you have one humbucker with reversed polarity.

Cheers Stephan

Would I be right in thinking that it would be best to make sure your single coil is a neck or bridge (if Strat) pickup as the middle one is often reversed polarity to make the in between positions hum-bucking? Just thought that might be a potential gotcha.

[Philly Q]

It wouldn't matter what the polarity of the single-coil was, you're only using it to test the relative polarity of the humbucker coils - you don't need to distinguish whether they're actually "north" or "south".

[Andrew W]

It wouldn't matter what the polarity of the single-coil was, you're only using it to test the relative polarity of the humbucker coils - you don't need to distinguish whether they're actually "north" or "south".

Makes perfect sense. Thanks.