The Hub

I'll start by saying I don't post much because it's confusing to know if I should post on this site or the Patreon site, both are hard to navigate, etc. Also, I sent this question to the last "elder" meeting but I have no idea what the outcome was (I thought there would be some answers documented for those that can't attend live). So, with those frustrations out of the way...

I have in my backlog a 1988 PRS Studio. It has HSS pickup config with master vol, master tone, and the first gen 5-way rotary (the stacked version, not the PCB version). All components are original and the wiring/solder points appears unaltered.

When the humbucker is active, the tone is really nice and the vol/tone controls work as expected. When either of the two single coils are active (alone or together), they sound out of phase, very hollow and lacking low mids/bass frequencies. Here's the kicker - the volume works as expected but only cuts about 85% of the volume at full off position, while the tone control acts like a volume control and cuts about 70% of the volume at full off. The tone control has zero effect on high frequencies, only output (volume). When both vol and tone are at full off, the output is cut completely.

By the way, all three pickups are grounded to the same place along with the pots, switch and bridge.

I really want to preserve the original wiring as much as possible, this being in the "vintage" years of PRS. I'm thinking there could be a cut in the coil windings on the single coil pickups. Just to note, these singles did not come with a plastic cover, they are wound, wrapped in tape, and installed... and I can see exposed coils where the tape has worn (come on Paul, you should know better). To have both singles go bad at the same time is something I haven't experienced, and that doesn't explain the tone control acting like a volume control....

I'm stumped.