PRS pickup wiring issue - can anyone help?

[PhilKing]

Hi Dave,

I have original T&B pickups and they sound great.  It sounds like there was some mistake in the production of these.  Do you have a polarity detector (Stewart MacDonald make one for a few dollars),  it would be interesting to see if they've got the magnets in the slug coil messed up.

[Philly Q]

Weird!  :?

I predict a "they seem fine to us" situation, unfortunately....

[Twinfan]

It sounds like there was some mistake in the production of these.  Do you have a polarity detector (Stewart MacDonald make one for a few dollars),  it would be interesting to see if they've got the magnets in the slug coil messed up.

Hi Phil - exactly the conclusion I've come to.  Magnet strength-wise, they seem pretty low and as they have magnetic slugs I wonder if they've got the polarity the wrong way round - that would then give a humbucker with coils out of phase with itself.  Which would probably sound really thin and horrible and have low output.

I'm sending them both back to PRS UK to see what they say.

The original SE pickups are now back in and sound fine, so there's nothing wrong with all the other components or my soldering skills!

[Twinfan]

Just to close this off, there was a faulty batch of T&B reissues - probably the first batch made.  Mine is one of 4 faulty sets that came to the UK.  I've sent mine back for replacements which are on their way from the US and I should get them in a couple of weeks.

Sorted  :)

[Philly Q]

So in effect it was a "known problem"?  If they knew there were faulty sets, why didn't they weed them out and return them to PRS?  :?

Good that they're sorting the situation out, anyway.

[Twinfan]

I don't think they knew exactly how many sets were affected.  My theory?  As I mentioned a couple of posts ago T&Bs have magnetic slugs and I think they got the polarity the wrong way round.  Usually slugs are just cold rolled steel so their orientation doesn't matter.  As these are different, I wonder if they weren't labelled up properly and/or not labelled at all so they got thrown into pickups any which way.

If the QC test just checks the DC resistance all looks fine and they get shipped out.  It's only when you install them in a guitar you realise there's a problem.

There's been no issue with an exchange, so it's been a bit of hassle uninstalling them and re installing new ones but it'll be sorted in the end.  Everyone makes mistakes, but as BKP know it's how you deal with customers that's important!

[darkbluemurder]

Fully agree - mistakes can happen. The important thing is how you deal with them.

Cheers Stephan

[Philly Q]

I didn't really pick up on the slugs themselves being magnetic, although you did mention it!

Interesting!  Is that all 12 poles, like a Duncan Stag Mag, or just one coil?  Is there still a bar magnet at the base of the pickup?

[Twinfan]

There's a bar at the base for the screws, but the slugs are magnetic like a single coil.  It was to help with the stratty split tones, and explains why they're bright pickups...

[Philly Q]

I've got a really old Schaller pickup called a "Golden 50s Super" (I think!).  It has 12 magnetic slug poles and, if I remember right, sounded hugely warm and fat (although I was probably using it with a weedy DiMarzio PAF in the bridge position  :lol: ).  Never tried it split, but I assume that's what it was really designed for.