The Swamp Ash Special

The Pre-2007 PRS Swamp Ash Special guitar has a very special wiring scheme that I found quite limiting for a 3 pickups guitar. The new models made after 2007 are actually more flexible (with a 5-way blade switch), so I guess PRS realized that the initial idea was maybe not what most guitarists would expect from such an instrument.

This very special guitar has 3 pickups: two McCarty humbuckers and a Seymour Duncan Vintage Rails single coil in the middle position. By default, the 3-way toggle switch works like a regular switch for a 2 pickups guitar, that lets you get Les Paul types of tones:

1. Neck Pickup
2. Neck + Bridge
3. Bridge Pickup

There is an extra push/pull switch in the tone pot that both adds the middle pickup and splits the neck humbucker, so you can get stratocaster-like intermediate tones and more (split neck+middle, all 3 pickups or bridge+middle).

It is however impossible to get the split neck alone, split the bridge pickup, or use the middle pickup alone, so it feels like this monster guitar could do much more with a different wiring. It is actually quite frustrating to have all these wonderful pickups and not be able to select them the way you expect!

The Freeway Switch Mod

To get more capabilities without having to add more switches and modify the look of the guitar, I have chosen the freeway toggle switch in replacement of the good old 3-way switch and changed the wiring of the push pull so that it just splits both humbuckers.

The freeway switch gives you 6 positions instead of 3, and I have chosen the regular 3 single coils pickups wiring, to get the best of both usual 2 pickups and 3 pickups guitars wirings:

1. Neck pickup
2. Neck+Bridge
3. Bridge pickup
4. Neck+Middle
5. Middle pickup
6. Bridge+Middle

With the push/pull in the tone pot that splits the humbuckers, you can get pretty much any type of tone, from a Les Paul to a Telecaster, plus the delicious Stratocaster intermediate positions, with either dual or single coils.

The only combination that you cannot get anymore is the three pickups all together, but that’s not a problem for me as I do not use this type of combo very often.

The Result: A Brand New Swamp Ash Special!

The result is very impressive: the split McCarty humbuckers sound really great (but the drop in volume is not negligible), and the middle vintage rails pickup has a very special sound that is definitely worth having on its own.

Compared to other PRS guitars that have similar capabilities, such as the Modern Eagle V or the PRS Special 22 Semi Hollow, I find that the humbuckers are closer to what you would expect from a Les Paul (more output and less treble), and the middle pickup really has a sound of its own (I usually do not use the middle pickup alone that much, but on this guitar it’s a great tone).

So all in all it’s a very flexible and great sounding guitar, I love it!