NGD - with some frustrations and considerations

[spawnofthesith]

PRS S2 Semihollow Special


Looks, feels, plays and sounds amazing

One major fucking problem though…. The coil split switch for the bridge pickup does nothing. It’s stuck on split coil (which while sounds great is robbing me of 4 out of 12 tonal options on the guitar. And I need a full bore bridge pup lol)


I understand this is probably a relatively easy soldering fix. However I think that’s entirely unacceptable for a brand new guitar of this price point.


I really don’t want to exchange it because otherwise it’s flawless and instantly was in love with this guitar (until discovering the issue)

I’m thinking of maybe trying to get a partial refund from AMS? Anyone had luck with that in the past?


I have some vague soldering abilities but a switching system this complex is definitely out of my wheelhouse. I popped off the control panel and snapped some pics but I didn’t see anything portly soldered or anything jumping out at me. Maybe someone with bwtter skills/eye can see something?

Just at a loss of what to do. Like I said don’t seriously want to send it back and would love to just figure out the problem, but I’d definitely want some sort of partial refund…..


Wish I could be playing this thing all night but if I do end up needing to send it back can’t be having the gig bag collecting an inch of dog hair over night so I bagged it back up and put it back in the box

 

[Jkist7]

Soldering looks fine to me. Might just be a bad switch most likely. Any competent tech can swap it out for like $60 (not including price of the part)

 

[Sleezy E]

If it's new, shouldn't it be warrantied?

Possibly PRS or AMS has a local tech that can fix under said warranty?

Congrats on NGD btw... she's a looker

 

[spawnofthesith]

Soldering looks fine to me. Might just be a bad switch most likely. Any competent tech can swap it out for like $60 (not including price of the part)

I think this would be the best route… if AMS is willing to drum out the cost plus maybe a bit extra for pain and suffering I’d be satisfied lol

If it's new, shouldn't it be warrantied?

Possibly PRS or AMS has a local tech that can fix under said warranty?

Congrats on NGD btw... she's a looker

I’m pretty sure PRS only does warranty work out of Maryland which would still be a pain… would rather have it handled locally


Will type up an email to AMS in the morning…

 

[spawnofthesith]

I’d also like to note, I don’t want it gotten wrong… this guitar is amazing. The switching issue is definitely a bummer and overshadow tho lol

 

[Warmart]

Congrats SOTS, very special guitar, don't worry, it'll be an easy fix!

Definitely concur with others that you should get a partial refund and use the money to get your split fixed!

May you love it long time!

 

[sleewell]

Love the color. Sorry about the switch, that's lame.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Yeah I’m not sweating it too hard as obviously a switch is inexpensive and not the end of the world…

Have an email out to AMS hope we can come to an agreement


Just a bummer cloud hanging over an otherwise awesome NGD!!!

 

[spawnofthesith]

Terrible video but what I sent to AMS as evidence… hopefully sufficient

 

[Alex Kenivel]

Beautiful guitar, hope it works out!

 

[SillyOctpuss]

That colour is amazing. Man I hope they're able to sort this out for you, cause that guitar's beautiful.

Why is the neck pickup in that way round though?

 

[Mikael Dez]

I LOVE my Hollowbody SE - there’s something special about it, I’m sure this is the same. Considering the core HB is like 5k I’ll likely never get one unless I win the lottery lol, but I would be very tempted if they made an S2 version for under 3k. Happy new guitar day! I wouldn’t send it back if it looks and plays beautifully.

 

[gearJunkie]

The wiring and solder joints look ok. Possibly a defective DPDT toggle. Very easy to fix if that is actually the case.

Great looking S2. I hope you find a way to keep it without any ick attached to it.

 

[Eagle]

Looks very good. Have you got a multi meter?

 

[spawnofthesith]

View attachment 48752

That colour is amazing. Man I hope they're able to sort this out for you, cause that guitar's beautiful.

Why is the neck pickup in that way round though?

You mean like the pole pieces on the cover? I'm not sure, I've noticed that they specifically orient the SH specials that way on both the core and S2 versions (but not the SEs for whatever reason?) as well as the swamp ash specials

I LOVE my Hollowbody SE - there’s something special about it, I’m sure this is the same. Considering the core HB is like 5k I’ll likely never get one unless I win the lottery lol, but I would be very tempted if they made an S2 version for under 3k. Happy new guitar day! I wouldn’t send it back if it looks and plays beautifully.

Yeah a core HBII is definitely a bucket list guitar but not in my future anytime soon lol. I've been begging for an S2 HB to come out for ages, I'd definitely jump if they ever do that. The fact that they released the SH special this year gives me hope that they'll continue expanding the S2 lineup in that direction ...

View attachment 48768
View attachment 48767

The wiring and solder joints look ok. Possibly a defective DPDT toggle. Very easy to fix if that is actually the case.

Great looking S2. I hope you find a way to keep it without any ick attached to it.

Thanks.. definitely hoping to keep it around. Hopefully hear something from AMS this morning

Looks very good. Have you got a multi meter?

Thanks! I do somewhere in my storage unit...

 

[JiveTurkey]

This guitar looks fantastic! Should hopefully be an easy fix for you. AMS should do you right at this level of $. These wood library models are sexy af!

 

[DrewJD82]

Man, I’d hate to navigate those switches in a live setting. When I had my SE I put a Madhatter solderless kit in it, using a push/push for the coil tap so when my hand traversed the 7 miles to make it to the tone knob I could just smack it instead of gripping a knob and pulling up on it. If that were mine I’d yank those mini switches out and use those holes for joint holders and get all the switching guts put on the pots.

 

[Byrdman]

Get your meter and test the switches and the continuity to ground going through that resister. If you have a wire with clips on each end handy, (cough, cough, roach clips) bypass those resisters and see if it does anything when you play it. Going straight to ground bypassing the resistor path should be very audible in the difference with out a jumper. If no difference in sound, you can always see if the pad across from the current ground works.

Soldering looks good and rarely, resisters can be bad out of the box. If the ground is not secure it cant split.
This is my understanding but I have never worked on a PRS. Anyone with more experience feel free to correct me

If you have a local PRS dealer, they may test/fix it for you obviously.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

You mean like the pole pieces on the cover? I'm not sure, I've noticed that they specifically orient the SH specials that way on both the core and S2 versions (but not the SEs for whatever reason?) as well as the swamp ash specials

Yeah the neck humbucker just looks weird installed that way for me. I was looking at the core models and noticed they do it too. I'd love to know why tbh.

It's a super sexy guitar though and bonus points for purple dude.

 

[spawnofthesith]

AMS got back to me, doesn't sound like they're going for a partial refund. They said it would be best to do an exchange as a local repair would void PRS warranty..

They said they're getting two more purple ones in stock on the 28th, and that I can continue playing this one til then and then exchange it for a new one when theyre back in stock