#1
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Changing the PU's of my PRS S2 Vela (Semi Hollow Reclaimed Woods)
Dear Forum,
I recently purchased a PRS S2 Vela (Semi Hollow Reclaimed Woods). I like it very much, but I feel like the PU's could be better. The guitar is so outstanding, so light and resonant, brilliant playability... I just think plugged in there could be... MORE. You see what I mean? Now I was thinking about which PU's would be a good match for this guitar, and I think the following two would fit the guitar perfectly: For the Neck a TV-Jones T-Armond Single Coil, and for the bridge a TV-Jones Classic Plus Humbucker. My problem is: I think they won't fit size-wise... the neck pick up which is installed now has the size of a mini humbucker / firebird PU, so I doubt that the T-Armond will fit without a lot of work/tools/shims etc. ... for the bridge PU - I guess the string spacing will be a problem here. What would you do? Do you own a Vela, did you change PU's? |
#2
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Hi Matt,
Just looked at the Vela and the specs. That neck pickup looks larger than a single coil and smaller than a P-90. It's called a "Type D Single Coil". Looks like it might be a bit smaller than a Gibson mini humbucker? Do you have the pickup dimensions? I don't own a Vela but I've changed pickups on many of my guitars. They've always been humbucker or single coil though so never any issues. |
#3
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Well, I've owned two, and I personally thought the pups were outstanding, so I can't offer anything positive.
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#4
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#5
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The Vela neck pickup looks just like the T-Armond. Why not grab a ruler or caliper and take measurements, then write TV Jones and ask them. They are very responsive and knowledgeable and I found them quite helpful. The bridge pickup is humbucker size, which TV Jones also makes. You can measure the string spacing and ask them about that, too.
These two look like the ones you're after, but I'd confirm it with TV first. https://store.tvjones.com/t-armond-d...ount-p231.aspx In the case of this one, you might have to mount it to the pickguard. https://store.tvjones.com/tv-classic...ount-p209.aspx This one looks like it would be a drop-in. |
#6
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+1. If the bridge pickup is the same size I'd throw a SD '59 in the neck, but I guess it depends on the music you'd like to play.
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#8
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Meanwhile I found out, that there is more about the pick ups that bothers me than just their "style"...
Something is not right about the sound of notes played on the high e-string. It becomes most noticeable when the guitar is played plugged in and only the neck pick up is engaged - which is how I play my guitars 90% of time. Compared to notes played on the other strings, the ones played on the high e-string seem a bit dull, life-less, less sustaining and less loud to me. I had some problems of this kind with other guitars in the past, so I tried to solve the problem myself: Since the action was quite low, I thought maybe the string touches one of the frets somewhere on the fretboard causing the sound to abate - so I raised the string action a lot, making sure that the string can swing freely. It didn't help. My second guess was, that maybe the hight of the poles of the pickup had to be adjusted - but then I noticed: You can't adjust the single poles on this pick up. It is so weird: There ARE screws on the poles, but they do not do anything - they turn but don't move up or down... so the hight of the single poles is not adjustable. Now you can bring the whole pick up closer to the strings with the two screws next to the pick up frame. I tried that, too - but it did not help. Since I can note hear the described problem when the guitar is played unplugged or when the bridge pick up is engaged, I GUESS it is a problem about the neck pick up. But I am not sure, maybe it is just me not hearing it in the same way... I could return the guitar to the store - but I really don't want to. I actually really like the guitar: Great playability, great look, quite collectable since it is a very limited run... but I can't live with this thing. Everytime I play a chord I feel like the note on the high e-string slightly stays s behing all the others. Do you think there is any sense in trying a different pair of strings, made from another material than the ones which are currently installed? I think the next step would be to bring it to a tech, but then I fear he charges me 100 bucks for telling me that it is not repairable or so... I mean, it is if the high e-string would be completely dead or so, probably it would not be noticeable if I used a compressor pedal. But I spend a lot of money on this guitar, 1500$ really is quite a fortune for me, as I am a student. So I want it to be perfect... For swapping out the pick up I still didn't find a replacement that fits... and I don't even know, if this particular problem is actually caused by the pick up or if it is something else! I feel really desperate about this... please help? |
#9
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I recommend posting over at the PRS forum. Someone else may have had this issue. Perhaps PRS had a batch of bad pickups (unlikely but you never know). |