3-way toggle switch replacement for PRS SE DGT

chucma

chucma

Fractal Fanatic
Looking for some advice please before I start buying switches.

I have had my PRS SE DGT for a couple of months now, and it has been a great guitar for live and home use. However the 3 way pickup selector switch is very, very stiff. I have cleaned it out using a switch cleaner spray, but the improvement is minimal and after a couple of uses it gets stiff again. It also does not feel like it sits in the desired position very well, when playing live I have to look down at the switch to see if it is in the right place.

Does anyone know of a suitable non-PRS (SE) replacement for this? I would rather do it myself than send the guitar away for a few days as I need it for a few projects at the moment. I have seen the PRS custom switches are going for something like £60 which is a bit much I think.

Many thanks,

Adrian.

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David McCarroll said:
Ian is 100% correct - in fact I'll go one step further and say that any guitar without a Switchcraft three way should probably have it replaced with said item as pretty much everything else on the market is problematic (or soon to be problematic) junk.....
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agreed. i recently replaced 2 s2 594 3 way toggles for a friend. Both of them developed issues with losing connectivity but also just cheap junk. The Switchcraft one isnt cheap, but itll last.
 
Vhalen50 said:
agreed. i recently replaced 2 s2 594 3 way toggles for a friend. Both of them developed issues with losing connectivity but also just cheap junk. The Switchcraft one isnt cheap, but itll last.
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I just bought the Switchcraft one for £19, and the PRS equivalent is over £50 (non SE). Am definitely happy with spending the £19.

There are lots of cheaper ones but I don't trust them.
 
chucma said:
I just bought the Switchcraft one for £19, and the PRS equivalent is over £50 (non SE). Am definitely happy with spending the £19.

There are lots of cheaper ones but I don't trust them.
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PRS is proud of their switches, though in this case, it might be the exact same switch you can get elsewhere. Their 5-way switch for the Custom 2-HB guitars is unique to them, but can be adequately replaced with a 4p5t super switch if you know what you're doing. That said, their switch has a little extra on the lever to fit their switch tip, which is more secure than the standard Strat tip, and I ponied up the $$ and used theirs when updating my Studio's wiring....
 
Yeah I was curious about that, I had seen several people comment about the custom switches being slightly different. I wish PRS would be proud of their SE switches too! The rest of the guitar is excellent quality (maybe excluding the push pull tone pot), very different standard to the switch quality.
 
If these are the ones with the contacts being just stamped into the metal, they suck!
I have had to replace 3 of these on EVH guitars and unfortunately Warmoth sells them too.
I have a friend who purchased 2 of them from Warmoth and I had to replace those as well.
Switchcraft is best I have found!
Real contacts in the switch.
 
DoctorJones said:
I've got a Jackson with a turd of a 3-way that could use a replacement. Let me know how your replacement goes, I'm right behind ya!
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Installed and loving it! World of difference! If anything it almost feels too loose, it jiggles a bit when in the centre position, but this doesn't cause any noises and the switching has a very confident feel. Am looking forward to using it live and not worrying about if I actually switched pickups or not now when playing! :D

This only thing is I had to extend some of the wires to reach the switch because the contacts were on opposite positions to the original. But this is easily done with some heat shrink.

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