Improve the Tone and Clarity of your PRS® Guitar

Upon installation of one of our custom wired assemblies, you will notice an improvement in both clarity and character, coupled with more reliability. This is because we use only the finest components you can put into an electric guitar. In addition, you have the option of adding some versatility by selecting from one of our 3 wiring configurations

Component Specifications

Switchcraft 3-way Toggle Switch (choose between right-angle or short-straight)

Top quality CTS pots and DiMarzio custom taper push-pull pots

All components treated with Caig DeOxit for long trouble free operation

Choice of high-end tone caps including Hovland, Vitamin-Q, V-Cap, and Orange Drop

Vintage style cloth wire

Sound Samples

Listen to these sound samples of a VT-ST harness w/Hovland Musicap installed into a PRS McCarty Trem with stock McCarty pickups. All samples were performed and recorded by yours truly, Andy Rothstein in my home studio. I am playing through an early 1970's Marshall Super Lead.

SRV STYLE (TAPPED) - This sample really demonstrates the Fender like "quack" you can get with the hum-cancelling "smart tap" used on the VS-ST harness. I am playing a SRV style fast blues improv. Both the rhythm and lead guitar parts are using the middle position with the coil tap engaged.

ROCK RIFF WITH SOLO - This second sample is a basic improvised rock vamp. The rhythm guitar is playing in the middle position (un-tapped) and the solo guitar is playing the bridge pickup (un-tapped).

Custom Options

Each assembly is custom wired to your specifications. Select from the following options when using our secure online ordering site.

Wiring Configurations

Choose between the following 3 wiring configurations:

VT-T: Standard with Coil-Tap

Master Volume, Master tone and 3 way selector switch. Includes coil-tap on the tone pot.

VT-ST: Standard with Smart Coil-Tap RECOMMENDED!

Master Volume, Master tone and 3 way selector switch. Includes what we like to call a Smart coil-tap. This is an upgrade to stock wiring and you can read about it below. This is the model we are using in the sound samples above.

VT: Basic with no tap

Master Volume, Master tone and 3 way selector switch. No coil tap on this model. This is a good choice if you don't care for the coil tap option. This is your only choice if you will be using pickups only available in 2 conductor such as Fralin P92's.

A Problem with Stock Wiring

Assuming you have a PRS® at home with either stock wiring, or an upgrade kit from another vendor try the following experiment. First, set your amp reasonably loud and preferably with some gain. Use the 3 way selector switch to select your bridge pickup, then engage the coil-tap by pulling up on the push-pull pot. As expected, you will notice 60-cycle hum. This is totally normal, and to be expected. Cool. Now, disengage the coil-tap by pushing down on the tone pot. Next, select your neck pickup and do the same thing (that is, lift the push-pull pot). Again, you will notice the same 60-cycle hum. Again, this is totally normal, and to be expected. OK, so where is the problem? Now, put your 3-way switch in the MIDDLE POSITION, and engage the coil-tap by pulling-up on the push-pull pot. What do you hear? You hear pretty loud 60-Cycle Hum. That is what we believe to be a problem.There is absolutely no reason to hear 60-cycle hum when the coil-tap is engaged and both pickups are selected via the 3-way switch. The problem is that the coil-tap on stock wiring is shorting coils of the same polarity on each pickup (assuming you are using pickups from the same manufacturer). In other words, when tapped you are listening to two NORTH coils (one from the bridge and one from the neck), or two SOUTH coils (one from the bridge and one from the neck) simultaneously and naturally the resulting sound is not hum-cancelling. FYI, the reason we specify either two north, or two south coils, is because this depends on which brand of pickups you are using.

The Solution - The "Smart Coil-Tap" Option (VS-ST Wiring Configuration)

The Rothstein wiring for PRS corrects this problem by using what we like to call a "Smart Tap" system. The Smart Tap system will short the NORTH coil from one pickup with the SOUTH coil from the other pickup so the resulting sound will still be hum-canceling when both pickups are selected via the 3-way selector switch. For example, when implemented with Lindy Fralin humbuckers (or unbuckers), when tapped the slug coil of the bridge pickup is left "live" with the screw coil of the neck pickup. The resulting combination is still hum-canceling!

Switch

• We use genuine Switchcraft only (accept no substitute). Choose between right-angle and short-straight. Take a look at what you currently have to see which will fit. If your guitar currently has a rotary switch, you will need to expand the hole to 1/2 for the Switchcraft toggle switch.
  

Tone Capacitor

• SBE Orange Drop capacitors will be used at no extra charge, or for an up-charge you may select between Hovland Musicaps, Vitamin Q Paper & Oil capacitors, and the ultra high quality V-Cap TFTF Teflon® Film and Foil capacitors. The price will vary depending upon which capacitor you select. Read about capacitor choices here.
  

Volume Kit

• A volume kit (also know as a "treble retention circuit" or "high-pass filter") is used to prevent the loss of highs associated with lowering the volume on your guitar. We use a 1000 pf Mallory 150 Series Metalized Polyester Tubular capacitor in parallel with a 150K resistor.

Knobs

• Your existing knobs are likely intended for metric pots and will therefore not fit our higher end pots. The knobs we sell will fit our pots and cost $5 for a set of 2. Knobs are available in the following varieties:
  • Gold Speed Knobs
  • Black Speed Knobs
  • Amber Speed Knobs

Will it Fit?

• Yes, although there are a few things to consider when placing the order, so please read the following points:
  • If your guitar currently has a rotary switch, you will need to enlarge the rotary switch hole to 1/2" for the toggle switch to fit. This is a safe procedure, and we recommend using a tapered reamer and NOT a power-tool such as a drill or dremel.
  • Import guitars use cheap pots, which are generally metric, and therefore have corresponding holes drilled for the metric pots. The volume pot provided with your Rothstein kit is a standard 3/8" diameter and will therefore need to be enlarged to 3/8" to fit properly. As far as the tone pot, the absolute best feeling and sounding push-pull pot we have found (by far) is the DiMarzio® custom taper pot. It has a great taper for a tone pot, and a really rock solid push-pull action. These pots will retrofit into your existing hole tone pot hole .
  • As indicated above, metric knobs will not fit either our volume or tone pots, so you will need to replace the knobs along with the electronics.

How Long Will It Take? - please read before ordering

The best things in life are worth waiting for. Each assembly is wired and tested one at a time to your specs by hand. Our services have been getting quite popular lately so our lead time is currently between 1 and 3 weeks. That being said, we always shoot to get your order out as quickly as possible. 3 weeks is a worst case scenario.

Purchase Prewired PRS Assemblies using our Secure Online Ordering Site