prs swamp ash special owners, a few questions

[teleshred]

Hi, i've been a tele player for most of my guitar playing life, flirted around with the usual classic guitars but always going back to the tele.. recently, being mainly a fender guy who likes maple boards, i picked up my first prs ever, an SAS with the 3 way toggle and McCarty pickups, and i've got a few questions to seasoned owners:

I find the split tones underwhelming though i dig the tones when the push/pulls down..how did you guys find yours? Did a swap of the Duncan to a Fralin(or similar) help?

The volume drop from push/pull down to up is pretty significant..how did you guys work around that, esp on songs where you might be pushing/pulling the tone knob?

Being quite close in specs to my main teles in wood (Light weight swamp ash, maple fingerboard/neck) i expected to be able to get close to some strat or tele sounds, but am left wanting..How did you guys get close to your LP, strat and tele sounds (for those who could get close), would really appreciate approximate settings and pickup positions/settings..

I understand that an LP's an LP and a tele's a tele so pls don't give me a hard time, i do understand that and that's why i have owned them at one point or another..just would appreciate some help as i need a versatile guitar now cos of my current gig..thanks and good day!!

[Chicago Slim]

My SAS was my go to guitar for nine years. Here are some of my observations:

It had more twang than my Tele.

It never did sound like a Strat or Les Paul to me. Although, it still sounds good when you do Strat or Les Paul covers. It's just different.

I found that almost any pickups, sound good in the guitar.

Most pickups sound thin, when split.

Most SAS players, don't like the sound of the middle pickup. They will disconnect it, or screw it down low, and not use it. The middle pickup can add a more raw, bluesy sound (close to a Strat).

I lifted the lead, that would ground out one coil of the neck pickup, for a split coil sound.

I hope this helps. Congratulations, on a great versatile guitar.

[jmoose]

Bought my SAS new in early '05, love it... split pickup tones with the push/pull up have never been quite what I've ever wanted. Would love to get the middle pickup on its own and thought that was easily possible when I bought it. Not so much! Thinking about switching the neck pickup to a Phat Cat/P94 style thing to assist the split.

Its never copped a Tele vibe... I love Tele's and Les Pauls and the SAS is basically my superstrat. Don't have a Jackson, I have the SAS. To me its closer to a Les Paul fill-in then any sorta Fender style thing. Unless its strat with a bucker. YMMV.

[teleshred]

thanks for the replies guys! i was curious as some folks said they could get tele tones out of it..the humbucker mode alone is pretty good for me and i was hoping for bonus useable split tones but they could never satisfy me..has any SAS owners wired it like a McCarty or CE/Custom, ignoring the middle pickup? How did it sound? Thanks!

[Jaan]

I have a 2010 SAS, so it has 3 narrowfield pickups and a 5 way, but no splits. Slight alterations to the volume pot really turn the HB's into a single coil sound. With other PRS I have, I find a compressor (Keeley for me) really help even out the volume loss.

[Blue Light]

Another question: Was there a signifiant change in the HSH version of the SAS when they changed it from a toggle switch to a blade?
My recollection is that there was a wiring or pup change of some sort. Anyway, it's a guitar high on my wish list.

[Chicago Slim]

Originally Posted by teleshred

thanks for the replies guys! i was curious as some folks said they could get tele tones out of it..the humbucker mode alone is pretty good for me and i was hoping for bonus usable split tones but they could never satisfy me..has any SAS owners wired it like a McCarty or CE/Custom, ignoring the middle pickup? How did it sound? Thanks!

When I had the middle pickup disconnected, I could split the neck pickup. That way the split neck pickup had a useful acoustic like sounds. The bridge and split neck (middle position), sounded pretty good for disco-super Strat type sounds. It's easy to do, and change back if you don't like it.

The only pickups that I thought blended well with the SD Hotrail, were GFS Dream 180's (P90 voiced humbuckers). So, yes. I do think that the phat cats/P94's would blend well with the middle pickup. It's just that I would rather have a mahogany guitar, with P90's.

I couldn't make the guitar sound bad. Somethings just worked better than others, for my style of playing.

[teleshred]

So, after a few rehearsals with the SAS i found that i could not live with the split tones..i've been searching the web high and low and couldn't find alternate wiring diagrams for the SAS for similar HSH 3wy/pushpulls...any one has any alternate wiring diagrams? preferably with one position to isolate the middle single coil, which i'm intending to change to fralin blues sp, and the others blended..thanks!

[Eric Pykala]

Try the new version, the SwampAsh Special with the totally amazing Narrowfield pickups. Split HBs always sound like...split HBs. The Narrowfields give you five hum-cancelling sounds. The volume pot is your best friend with these guitars; at 8'ish they sound vintage strat, at 9 they get into P90 territory without the hum, and at 10 they roar. Still honeymooning with mine a bit, but an amazing guitar is still an amazing guitar. I played the original version HSH Swampys and it didn't do it for me. The Narrowfield version made me trade my DGT (gasp!).
Try one.
P.S. Isn't the stock middle pickup in the SAS V1 already a Fralin Blues Special?

[jmoose]

Originally Posted by teleshred

So, after a few rehearsals with the SAS i found that i could not live with the split tones..i've been searching the web high and low and couldn't find alternate wiring diagrams for the SAS for similar HSH 3wy/pushpulls...any one has any alternate wiring diagrams? preferably with one position to isolate the middle single coil, which i'm intending to change to fralin blues sp, and the others blended..thanks!

Isolate the middle pickup... with the vol/tone & 3-way I believe the only real option is to put in a mini-switch which would dump it right to the jack, no volume or tone control. What I've been told anyway. I'd love to make that mod myself... middle single coil is the one sound I use a lot on Strats.

My SAS (2004) had the stock mccarty pickups & vintage rail for a while before I switched the humbuckers, at which point the tech who did the swap royally screwed up the electronics and it took quite a while to sort out. Consequently I haven't done much experimentation since getting it back to 100% order.

Stock wiring splits the neck pickup which sounds kinda weak IMO. In dual bucker guitars I usually prefer to have the bridge split, seems more usable so I'm thinking of making that change on the SAS. Push pull would split bridge, add the middle... and move to a Phat Cat in the neck slot rather then the humbucker I have now. So instead of H/S/H it'd be H/S/90 which should be a wicked combo.

Its a good idea in theory anyway, but since getting it back together I'm really hesitant to rip it all apart again. The instrument was "down" for quite a while after that tech botched the installation...shorts and a burned out volume pot! In the meantime there's enough "fender" in there for what I need when I need it. YMMV.