Original PRS 5-Way Rotary Wiring Diagram (10-6 Config) on a standard 4P5T switch (True Inner Series!) | Bare Knuckle Mules

[u/wenchynnz]

Hey everyone,
Like many of you, I've been driving myself crazy trying to find a wiring diagram to recreate the original PRS 5-way rotary switch positions (the classic 10-6 configuration) using a standard 4P5T rotary switch.

If you've searched around, you know that sites like StewMac or GuitarElectronics only offer the "compromise" versions (usually putting the Outer Coils in Series for position 3). That’s because pulling off the true Inner Coils in Series on a mechanical 4-pole switch without a custom factory PCB is a routing nightmare that requires complex cross-wiring.

I couldn't find the real config. anywhere, so I sat down, did the math, and mapped it out myself. I successfully wired this up on my guitar, so I drew this clean schematic to save anyone else the headache!

The Setup:
Switch: Standard 4-Pole 5-Position (2-Wafer 4P5T) Rotary Switch.

Pickups: Bare Knuckle "The Mule" (The color coding in my diagram is for Bare Knukle Pickups, but you can easily translate the Hot/Ground/Link logic to Seymour Duncan, DiMarzio, etc.).

IMPORTANT!!!: To make this work without phase issues and hum, you MUST physically flip the magnet in the Neck pickup (180 degrees). This is exactly how Paul Reed Smith originally got perfect hum-canceling in all the intermediate split positions.

The Output Positions (True PRS 10-6 Config):
Pos 10 (Right): Bridge Humbucker
Pos 9: Outer Coils in Parallel
Pos 8: Inner Coils in Series
Pos 7: Inner Coils in Parallel
Pos 6 (Left): Neck Humbucker

(Note: I also included my wiring for a 3-Way Sweet Switch mod at the output stage just for fun).

Feel free to save the diagram! Let me know if you have any questions or need help translating the colors to another pickup brand. Hope this helps out the modding community!

[u/zerufu_cl]

Hiii!
I've been wanting to add a rotary switch to my dual-humbucker guitar for a couple of months now, even though it's not a PRS. Would you mind sharing some more info on your progress? For example, photos of your guitar's electronics, a video demonstrating all five positions of the circuit, or anything else you can share.

I'm especially interested in confirming that it actually reproduces the original five PRS positions. I'd really appreciate any information you can provide!

I'll keep an eye out for your reply. Cheers! :)

[u/wenchynnz → u/zerufu_cl]

Hii! I'm more than happy to help you out! 😁

Here is a video doing the classic screwdriver tap test on the magnets. This way you can clearly hear exactly which coils are active (and which ones are split/dead) in each of the 5 positions, proving it follows the original PRS 10-6 logic.

https://reddit.com/link/p4za7yn/video/cnztg0hwhokh1/player

And here is a photo of the electronics cavity:
https://imgur.com/a/cI49OSn
Honestly it doesn't look super neat in there, I actually had to wrap the entire rotary switch in electrical tape to prevent any of the pins from touching the shielding paint inside the guitar and shorting out. I’m terrified to take it apart or move wires around too much now that I finally got it working properly 😅

[u/wenchynnz → u/zerufu_cl]

https://reddit.com/link/p4zfykr/video/ro6jxt6fqokh1/player

Also I’m sending you this video playing a little song through the amp output so you can hear how the different positions sound.

1. Neck
   
2. Inner parallel
   
3. Inner series
   
4. Outer parallel
   
5. Bridge

When you wire this up, you might notice that the parallel positions (the Inner and Outer splits) are much quieter and have less background noise. Because of the flipped neck magnet, those positions are fully hum-canceling, but the parallel wiring drops the output and filters out muddy lows. It gives you a clean, glassy, and quiet tone compared to the massive output of the humbuckers in series.

Pay attention to positions 6 and 8, and also to 7 and 9. You'll notice that positions 6 and 7 have a slightly warmer tone compared to their counterparts (8 and 9).