software

Last week I mentioned that I was planning on converting a PRS SE Soapbar II from P-90s to full size humbuckers, having acquired a set of SD Antiquities for the job.

I completed the conversion yesterday night in time to string it up, do a quick set up and make a local open-mic/blues jam last night.

The results are excellent. As you might anticipate the sound changed somewhat, it's not quite as crisp but almost, and there is more bottom and slightly warmer midrange (which may be an illusion because of the reduction in brightness.

While I was at it I changed the pots and jack and CTS and switchcraft respectively and put a pair of chrome dome top Tele knobs on it. I took some photos of the job in progress and finished. I'll upload them asap.

The only issue was that each P-90 route required some wood to be added in two of the four corners so as to have something to screw the HB mounting ring into along that edge. I made the inserts for this from 1/2quot; dowel and glued them in place. My buddy that helped with the routing can make me some mahogany plus for this purpose in the future so that the grain run perpendicular to the screw as itr should for better thread bite. But for now this works fine.

The neck P-90 is mounted up against the fretboard so that route goes right up to the neck. Therefore the neck humbucker's mounting ring is right up against the neck now and the opening for the pickup's body needed to be slightly larger on this pickup than the bridge pickup because of the thickness that the mounting ring takes up along the edge of the fretboard.

When I upload the photos you'll see what I'm talking about.

Bottom line is that Duncan knows how to make a heck of a sweet vintage sounding humbucker. Except for a different body shape this guitar is as close as I'll come to having a 1961 Les Paul SG.

Sounds awesome!

FWIW, my Dad has a '62 LP (SG body shape) and your PRS is probably a superior instrument. It has this god-awful tremelo system, and an extremely fragile neck joint, which adds up to a guitar that won't stay in tune for anything!

Funny story, a few years ago, he took it into a luthier, as the neck joint had started to open up. The next day, Mark (the luthier) calls him and asks if he's had trouble getting it to intonate properly. Now, my Dad bought this guitar at a garage sale in '70 or so, so he's had it for awhile. He replies that yes, it's never really played in tune. Turns out, the bridge and tailpiece were mounted half an inch too close to the nut, throwing the entire scale off! They decided that the best way to fix it would be to remove the neck completely, and *lengthen* it by a half-inch.

half-inch! wow! Trying to tune that was probably enough to send you to the luny bin!

I went to Banko's Music in Ansonia CT ocne back in the mid 80s to see a mid 60s Jaguar that they had there. They handed it to me and I immediately noticed that it had a JAZZMASTER neck! I thought... that can't work can it?

I tried to tune it but the intonation was hideously off. I told them that Jaguas and Jazzmaster have different scales and wondered to myself didn't anyone try to tune this guitar? I suppose if all you do is tune it one open string at a time you might not notice. But play a bar chord half way up the neck and hooo boy!Anyway, I was a little concerned about the neck joint because we needed to drill a quot;wellquot; under each pickup for its height adjustment. At the neck position these wells are almost up against the part of the neck that is seated into the body. But as it turned out not too much wood needed to be removed. (I had visions of the neck suddenly becoming loose in the middle of the wood working effort! )

I'll see if I can get the pics up tonight. The flash might have made so much glare that it might be hard to see. Don't know. Haven't even looked at them myself yet.