DiMarzio Forum

DimarzioForum.Com => The Pickup Place => Topic started by: Trem-o-dust on June 05, 2019, 11:08:33 AM

Title: Questions about installing EJ Customs into a PRS custom 24
Post by: Trem-o-dust on June 05, 2019, 11:08:33 AM
Hi everyone! First post here!

Over two decades of paying and I've never changed the pickups on one of my guitars. However, I've decided I want to give EJ Customs a shot in my PRS Custom 24 (with the rotary switch). I come to you in search of answers to the following questions (I am a neophyte in the field):

1. Will the EJ Customs fit in a PRS Custom 24 without extra routing required?
2. Do they come wired to work with the PRS Rotary switch?
3. Should the bridge pup be F-Spaced?
4. Is it easy to reverse a magnet (as I understand this is required for it to work in a PRS)
5. What is the purpose of life?

Thanks for your help and advice!
Title: Re: Questions about installing EJ Customs into a PRS custom 24
Post by: BluesJam on June 05, 2019, 11:38:12 AM
The purpose of life is great tone and a 1960’s Marshall Stack!  If your PRS is 20 years old, you may want to reconsider.  You may devalue your instrument in the long term.  In any case, I’m not sure how to wire the rotary switch, but I’m confident that any 4 conductor pickup would work.  You may need to get a device/ compass to figure out the polarity of the PRS pickups.  Maybe PRS will tell you.  You should get some calipers to measure both the pickup dimension and the pickup cavity for proper fit. Harbor Freight has stuff cheap.
Title: Re: Questions about installing EJ Customs into a PRS custom 24
Post by: HarlowTheFish on June 05, 2019, 12:35:46 PM
The pickups should fit fine (you may want/need new pickup rings, if anything), and you'll need to get both in 4-conductor (which I think basically every Dimarzio is IIRC), and a reverse polarity neck pickup (which I think you can get straight from Dimarzio if you call and ask), which isn't super hard to DIY as long as you do it gently and don't rush. Just save the old pickups if you ever want to swap them back.
Spacing-wise, PRS uses standard-spaced pickups on all their guitars but some folks have better luck getting the pole pieces to line up with f-spaced pickups, so YMMV, you'll probably want to measure.
And the purpose of life is a nice bed with cushy pillows  ;)
Title: Re: Questions about installing EJ Customs into a PRS custom 24
Post by: darkbluemurder on June 06, 2019, 03:51:58 AM
1. Most certainly no routing is required. However if your stock pickups are the PRS HFS and Vintage Bass, the EJs will sound very different and have much lower output (at least the bridge pickup).
2. Both pickups need a 4 conductor wire to work with the rotary switch. One of the pickups needs a different magnet orientation.
4. Swapping magnets is not that difficult but you have to be careful not to destroy the windings. There are several instructional videos on YT.
3. What Harlow said.
5. This is up to the individual.

Cheers Stephan