Rewired the 245 like a Gretsch today....

[skolacki]

Are you sure there are 4 modes for the P-Rails? The product page seems to say there are 3, humbucker, P90, and single coil.

Humbucker can be in series or parallel. The parallel sounds great. It’s not as thin as your average parallel bucker, the mismatched coils make it work. It’s kind of between a single and a P90. That said I use the P90 the most followed by series humbucking.

 

[Dave Merrill]

Humbucker can be in series or parallel. The parallel sounds great. It’s not as thin as your average parallel bucker, the mismatched coils make it work. It’s kind of between a single and a P90. That said I use the P90 the most followed by series humbucking.

Oh yeah right, no reason to just accept SD's stated options.

 

[skolacki]

Oh yeah right, no reason to just accept SD's stated options.

I looked at that. Yeah they don’t seem to push the parallel option. I only use it on lower gain or cleanish tones.

 

[Dave Merrill]

I looked at that. Yeah they don’t seem to push the parallel option. I only use it on lower gain or cleanish tones.

Agree.
I have a guitar with wild wiring, including, in one switch mode, 3 pickups with series-off-parallel switches.
The parallel combinations are nice for cleans. like you say, but not full enough or enough output for gainier stuff.

For 3 P-Rails, I like the simplicity of 3 position toggles for each one, plus a 5 position pickup selector.
And maybe a separate switch to turn on the neck pickup, to add it to bridge alone or bridge middle.
I like having all 7 combinations available, but not the asymmetry of it, or the awkwardness of dealing with that switch when leaving other positions.

Or, if I want to deal with wiring and using it, a Freeway 10 position instead.
But I'm a little gun-shy of complex wiring plans, after a not great and still unresolved issue with my 3 pickup guitar's wiring that I broke...

 

[skolacki]

Agree.
I have a guitar with wild wiring, including, in one switch mode, 3 pickups with series-off-parallel switches.
The parallel combinations are nice for cleans. like you say, but not full enough or enough output for gainier stuff.

For 3 P-Rails, I like the simplicity of 3 position toggles for each one, plus a 5 position pickup selector.
And maybe a separate switch to turn on the neck pickup, to add it to bridge alone or bridge middle.
I like having all 7 combinations available, but not the asymmetry of it, or the awkwardness of dealing with that switch when leaving other positions.

Or, if I want to deal with wiring and using it, a Freeway 10 position instead.
But I'm a little gun-shy of complex wiring plans, after a not great and still unresolved issue with my 3 pickup guitar's wiring that I broke...

Think we hijacked Joe’s thread lol. My Strats kind of like what you describe. P-Rail bridge and singles mid and neck. 5 way superswitch. I have the neck pup switch too. 2 Fender S1 switches for the P-Rail. Makes for a versatile Strat.

If you don’t have parallel on the P-Rail you won’t miss it.

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

Think we hijacked Joe’s thread lol.

No biggie. Not a "topic nazi". It's interesting to see where things go, innit?

My Strats kind of like what you describe. P-Rail bridge and singles mid and neck. 5 way superswitch. I have the neck pup switch too. 2 Fender S1 switches for the P-Rail. Makes for a versatile Strat.

Sounds like a nice setup....

If you don’t have parallel on the P-Rail you won’t miss it.

From the description "halfway between p90 and single coil" it sounds like itends up in staple p90 territory. The Kinman 580 in my SG Special is probably the best sounding neck pickup in any of my guitars, and is their take on the old staple p90. Might be fun at the bridge spot in combination with regular strat singles....

 

[skolacki]

It is interesting when threads meander a bit. I know you don’t mind cause you like modding your electronics and thinking about this stuff. My problem is my hands are a little shaky. Doesn’t affect my playing, but wiring work takes me longer than it used to. It’s tough getting old lol.

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

It is interesting when threads meander a bit. I know you don’t mind cause you like modding your electronics and thinking about this stuff.

Yeah, it's interesting to see what others are building.....

My problem is my hands are a little shaky. Doesn’t affect my playing, but wiring work takes me longer than it used to. It’s tough getting old lol.

 

[Andy Eagle]

The Gretsch wiring is like a Jazz Bass with an added master volume and toggle switch, more or less....

Yes I know but I was just saying this for those who have Gibsons and didn't realise. The Gretsch is one way or a blend pot but I think that is about it.

 

[fuzzydude]

Duncan makes those Triple Shot rings. Easy hook up. The pickups are soldered to pads on a small pcb which is double stick taped to the bottom of the pickup. I hated doing it but I had to carve out a slot under my PRS neck route to get it low enough. They don’t make a middle position P-Rail. Imo the neck is too hot. But if you have a middle then I guess you would use the neck model. With 3 way switches you will sacrifice one of the modes since there are 4.

I wouldn't say it's easy to hook up but definitely easier the OPs wiring. I have a Vintage sunburst SE 245 with the Triple Shot rings and P-Rails in cream. One of my favorites and one of my most versatile guitars. So many different sounds in one guitar.

 

[Dave Merrill]

I wouldn't say it's easy to hook up but definitely easier the OPs wiring. I have a Vintage sunburst SE 245 with the Triple Shot rings and P-Rails in cream. One of my favorites and one of my most versatile guitars. So many different sounds in one guitar.

I've never actually used them, but gut level, I'd think the Triple Shot rings wouldn't be great to operate live. Am I wrong about that?

 

[fuzzydude]

I've never actually used them, but gut level, I'd think the Triple Shot rings wouldn't be great to operate live. Am I wrong about that?

You're right, they aren't the best for live compared to a large toggle. For me it's second nature now to flip the switches but for most I'd recommend to change settings before a song and do a sound check until they get used to it, if they ever do. On the plus side it's much harder to accidentally flip the switches while playing wildly or catching them on anything. No chance of making your wrist bleed with them either unlike a Strat I had who's toggle switch knob came off.

 

[skolacki]

You're right, they aren't the best for live compared to a large toggle. For me it's second nature now to flip the switches but for most I'd recommend to change settings before a song and do a sound check until they get used to it, if they ever do. On the plus side it's much harder to accidentally flip the switches while playing wildly or catching them on anything. No chance of making your wrist bleed with them either unlike a Strat I had who's toggle switch knob came off.

I had problems with hitting the bridge pickup switch, the one closest to the neck. Sanded it down so it’s shorter and I don’t hit it. My P-rail guitars have low bridges so my hand is close to the rings. I play occasional jams but no gigs. But even then switching modes is easy. Not as fast as a 3 way toggle. But it works. Usually I’m going between the P90 and series which is one switch.

 

[rodzimguitar68]

I have the rings on several guitars. When I do a Swiss Army knife wiring project, I always include a blow switch to bypass it all and go straight to bridge humbucker. My guitars with the pickup rings even bypass the ring so I get series humbucker mode. I prefer even my blow switch to pass through the volume and master tone, so I wire them that way. I know a lot of dudes wants a full bypass of everything, but I don’t think our ears, or my gear is used to “seeing” a completely unbridled guitar signal, so I never wire my stuff that way.

 

[madmarcus1960]

Triple shot ring make using PRails, so much easier.

Love PRS SEs, great bang for the buck for mod-ers like us. Both of these have new pickups and Hipshot locking tuners.
The blue SE Custom 22 has BKP Mules and the Zack Meyers has BKP HSP90 Manhattans

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

Triple shot ring make using PRails, so much easier.

Love PRS SEs, great bang for the buck for mod-ers like us. Both of these have new pickups and Hipshot locking tuners.
The blue SE Custom 22 has BKP Mules and the Zack Meyers has BKP HSP90 Manhattans

Nice! What mods are done or are in the works?

 

[madmarcus1960]

The PuP swaps and tuner replacements. I used to pull all sorts of tricks out of push/pull switched and on/off/on and on/on/on switches.
Mostly to see if I could. I do like series parallel switching as IMHO it get close enough in parallel to a coil split w/o the hum, for my use. I have Strats and Partscasters for real single tones.

I own 2 S2's, a Custom 22(wine stain) and a Custom 22 Hollowbody(scarlet red). They both have PuP swaps. The PRS locking tuners work well enough so they stay.

I used to have an old Matsumaku Westone Spectrum GT with 3 toggle switches. I replaced the on/off switches with 3 on/on/on switched for Series/Parallel/Coil cut and removed the 3 way switch and put a rotary switch in for pickup selection. 27 combinations from the 3 toggles plus
a 5 way pickup selector. Too many choices and they all did not sound good!!...LOL I had replaced the pickups with some sort of Dimarzio cocktail of 2 humbuckers and a twin blade single sized humbucker. Great exercise in modding, didn't really make the guitar special. I put it back to original before I sold it off.

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

The PuP swaps and tuner replacements. I used to pull all sorts of tricks out of push/pull switched and on/off/on and on/on/on switches.
Mostly to see if I could. I do like series parallel switching as IMHO it get close enough in parallel to a coil split w/o the hum, for my use. I have Strats and Partscasters for real single tones.

Right there with ya.

I own 2 S2's, a Custom 22(wine stain) and a Custom 22 Hollowbody(scarlet red). They both have PuP swaps. The PRS locking tuners work well enough so they stay.

Been lusting over the Bonnie Pink SE 24 Sweetwater ads have been showing me lately, but don't have a niche to fill with it. Love the 85/15 S pickups. Already have that exact setup in the blue one, tho.

Great color, tho.

I used to have an old Matsumaku Westone Spectrum GT with 3 toggle switches. I replaced the on/off switches with 3 on/on/on switched for Series/Parallel/Coil cut and removed the 3 way switch and put a rotary switch in for pickup selection. 27 combinations from the 3 toggles plus
a 5 way pickup selector. Too many choices and they all did not sound good!!...LOL I had replaced the pickups with some sort of Dimarzio cocktail of 2 humbuckers and a twin blade single sized humbucker. Great exercise in modding, didn't really make the guitar special. I put it back to original before I sold it off.

Yeah, lately, I am about figuring out the sounds that sound good with a particular guitar and making those easy to get at. The 5-way Super Switch Teles are a good example.

Other than the red one, they are all expansions of the 4 way switch that add 1/2OOP. The red one loses the series to make room for middle + bridge, and has a pull switch on the tone pot to make the neck only position series when pulled (default is parallel, the two neck + bridge positions are split). Super simple. The two SE PRS guitars are the most complicated ones, with two mini toggles and a pull switch....