Bordonbert
Still lovin' that Pie!
Just one final thing to report here. For anyone else contemplating doing this swap there is something to watch for. I wouldn't bother putting in bases for the locking screws on the Gotoh studs to bind against as I did.
When I came to do the setup I got the heights spot on then gently nipped up one of the locking screws, and I mean very gently, and found things moved significantly. The pressure of the locking screw even with the gentlest of twists on the short end of the allen key is enough to force the insert up out of its seating without you even realising it is moving. You would not imagine how soft the whole thing feels when you are locking it up. The thread on the inner lock screw is so fine that it's mechanical advantage is easily enough to overcome the friction of the inserts in the wood without effort.
I've had to just ignore the locking feature completely. In fairness, the stud heads slot closely into the bridge not the other way around as is normal, and the stud head has a groove around it which positively locates the adjusting screw on the back of the bridge so well that I can't see that locking it is really needed. It's a nice refinement but I don't think it is critical. Unless you can get your hands on a different pair of inserts or plug and drill to suit the Gotoh ones as was suggested earlier my method of drilling and putting a base in is a definite no-no. And I stress, I am using the most minute force on the key, so little I hardly know I am pushing it around. The reaction is exactly in the direction we don't want, straight up out of the body, and it's easily enough to spoil things.
That said, I used the end depth gauge of a cheap micrometer preset to the correct clearance to make the job easy. With the tip standing on the 12th fret behind or in front of the string as was required, it was easy to judge the string bottom against the lower edge of the micrometer. Adjusting the micrometer gradually until it lined up with the string gave me a reading as to the current setting and I could then find the difference I needed to adjust to get it where I wanted.
Also knowing that the thread is M8 even made correction a thing you can calculate and get right first time. The stud is M8 so the pitch is 1.25mm which means that one full turn of the key will lift the string by that amount. The PRS settings are 1/16" (4/64") high e and 5/64" low E. This equates to 1.6mm and 2mm in the real world. Say you are trying to set to 2mm and you find it is currently at 1.6mm, you need to lift the string 0.4mm. That would be: ( 0.4 / 1.25 ) x 360deg of turn to the stud, or 115.2deg. A tad back from 120deg would be close enough and is easy to estimate.
So job done now and guitar back in playing condition and - - - - - it feels great! (Now to have a look see if there is a sensibly priced Tronical tuner for the PRS yet as I seem to be the one guy in the world who loves them!)
Thanks for the advice and support, hope this info helps someone else.
When I came to do the setup I got the heights spot on then gently nipped up one of the locking screws, and I mean very gently, and found things moved significantly. The pressure of the locking screw even with the gentlest of twists on the short end of the allen key is enough to force the insert up out of its seating without you even realising it is moving. You would not imagine how soft the whole thing feels when you are locking it up. The thread on the inner lock screw is so fine that it's mechanical advantage is easily enough to overcome the friction of the inserts in the wood without effort.
I've had to just ignore the locking feature completely. In fairness, the stud heads slot closely into the bridge not the other way around as is normal, and the stud head has a groove around it which positively locates the adjusting screw on the back of the bridge so well that I can't see that locking it is really needed. It's a nice refinement but I don't think it is critical. Unless you can get your hands on a different pair of inserts or plug and drill to suit the Gotoh ones as was suggested earlier my method of drilling and putting a base in is a definite no-no. And I stress, I am using the most minute force on the key, so little I hardly know I am pushing it around. The reaction is exactly in the direction we don't want, straight up out of the body, and it's easily enough to spoil things.
That said, I used the end depth gauge of a cheap micrometer preset to the correct clearance to make the job easy. With the tip standing on the 12th fret behind or in front of the string as was required, it was easy to judge the string bottom against the lower edge of the micrometer. Adjusting the micrometer gradually until it lined up with the string gave me a reading as to the current setting and I could then find the difference I needed to adjust to get it where I wanted.
Also knowing that the thread is M8 even made correction a thing you can calculate and get right first time. The stud is M8 so the pitch is 1.25mm which means that one full turn of the key will lift the string by that amount. The PRS settings are 1/16" (4/64") high e and 5/64" low E. This equates to 1.6mm and 2mm in the real world. Say you are trying to set to 2mm and you find it is currently at 1.6mm, you need to lift the string 0.4mm. That would be: ( 0.4 / 1.25 ) x 360deg of turn to the stud, or 115.2deg. A tad back from 120deg would be close enough and is easy to estimate.
So job done now and guitar back in playing condition and - - - - - it feels great! (Now to have a look see if there is a sensibly priced Tronical tuner for the PRS yet as I seem to be the one guy in the world who loves them!)
Thanks for the advice and support, hope this info helps someone else.
