Sweet Switch vs. Tone Knob Question

[FrankiePRS]

Okay techies... I just bought that Tune-O-Matic bridged CU24, and I'm planning on breaking it in this Friday Night. Unlike all my other PRS's it has a Tone Knob, something I've become fairly unfamiliar with in a live setting. Should I go ahead and swap in a sweet switch before I play it out (I have a couple of spare switches), or give the knob a shot? If I DO leave it in, what can I expect? Where would you think the knob should be set to equal the "sweet switch off" position, which is how I usually play?

P.S. How funny is it that after 18 years of playing early PRS's, I am now scared of using a tone knob!! LOL "Um... I just figure Mr. Smith knows best. heehee" (doggened new-fangled '92 Custom :) )

[FrankiePRS]

Wow John... that's fascinating stuff! So my fixation with the sound of the sweet switch is validated... I actually CAN'T get the same exact sound from a knob... hmm...

[Big Norm]

Wow John... that's fascinating stuff! So my fixation with the sound of the sweet switch is validated... I actually CAN'T get the same exact sound from a knob... hmm...i personally hate tone knobs and usually disconnect them so they dont work
my fav tone on my prs is the position 4 out of phase sound with the sweet switch on and volume down to about 6... you get a great funky sound. http://forums.birdsandmoons.com/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif

[johnreardon]

Being fairly new to PRS..... why did they discontinue the sweet switch? Lots of people seemed to have liked it.

[FrankiePRS]

Being fairly new to PRS..... why did they discontinue the sweet switch? Lots of people seemed to have liked it.
Real good question John, but I think the answer is simply that most guitarists wanted a tone knob. I remember other guitar players being pretty freaked out when they would see the control setup on my first PRS (for most of them, it was their first contact with a PRS guitar)... I also remember a discussion I had with Paul where he was shocked that I prefer the 'off' position - he always played with it 'on'... I guess it probably came down to marketing to traditionalists. I do find it interesting that they still sell the switches, 12 years after they're discontinuation...

[Joe D. Stortion]

Me and trivia: If I remember correctly it's the loss of treble (the book I read called it "treble roll-off") from using a 40 foot long cord.

I've always wondered about that myself. Anyway, I've never tried a PRS with a sweet switch. I guess somewhere in the future I owe it to myself to.

-Joe

[FrankiePRS]

<<I don't think of the conventional tone control as 'traditionalist', just better - certainly more flexible.>>

John: Let me say that judging by your posts, I have the utmost respect for your knowledge.

I HAVE to agree that the sweet switch is not as "versatile" as a knob (I'd be a moron not to :) ), but IF (like me) you dig the tone it produces, I'm not sure there's any other way to get it, so "better" is subjective here, and for ME.. it really isn't (better). Also, I'm not crazy about the sweet switch through other amps, but I've been playing Boogies (a MKIII & a MKIV) live exclusively since '85, so that's part of the equation too...

Interesting comment about the Pup voicings... do you dislike the T & B's also? Just wondering...

[tibobibo]

FrankiePRS,
Why not check out the push/pull sweet switch. Conventional tone knob in the down position. Pulling it up engages the sweet switch.