SE Custom 24 Tuning issues
- Thread starter Jon van derlim
- Start date
Bubbalou
New Member
It has a touch less depth and width compared to the stock nut. Graphtech state they're touch wider, deeper and higher than advertised so you can adjust for a perfect fit. I found that on the one I ordered for the SE it was only the height that needed adjusting. It left a (literally) hairs width gap at the back and sides.
It bugged me a bit so I had my tech re-cut and fit one that was designed for another guitar.
It's fine if you don't mind that tiny gap. It was the fact I could feel that slight ridge at the sides that bugged me the most. I think the US nut also leaves a slight gap at the back but looks to be perfect width wise. No need for nut sauce if you use the Tusq XL nuts as they are impregnated with Teflon.
Can you tell me the part number of the nut you used from Graphtech please?
I got my guitar back from Guitar Center, and it's still doesn't stay in tune like my other guitars. It's 90% better than it was, but not 100%. If I just use the trem for a little vibrato, I'm good. But if I try a dive ...out of tune. I don't know man ...I'm done with this guitar. I think PRS just aren't for me. Maybe when I have the coin to drop on an American made I will. I know the higher end one that originally wet my whistle for a PRS didn't have any issues. I just don't have $3500 to spend on a guitar right now. Next year ...this year me and my girlfriend are going on a kick ass vacation! lol
Victek
New Member
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2013
- Messages
- 237
Sorry that didn't workout as well as you had hoped. Did they replace the nut or just file the original? If they didn't replace it consider a Tusq which might get you that last 10% of tuning stability and save you $3500 down the road (for that US made PRS
)Yeah they just filed out the slots on the existing nut - didn't replace with a new one. I'm afraid to mess with it, and I really don't want to spend $70+ to have someone replace the nut with a Tusq. I'll just hang onto it for now. Maybe someone will trade me something for it down the line.
Mikegarveyblues
Cream Crackered
The one in the top photo is:
BLACK TUSQ XL NUT 43X6
Product #: PT-6643-00
If you mean the one my tech cut (In the second photo) I'm not sure but I can find out. Both are Black Tusq XL.
Bubbalou
New Member
Thanks but I guess I am somewhat confused. The lower photo looks like the original Stock nut with the deep thin grooves and the upper photo looks like a nicer new one.
Last edited:
Mikegarveyblues
Cream Crackered
Ahh..
Yep, the out the box nut in the top photo looks sweet. It was just a fraction too small at the back and sides so I wanted to see if my tech could make one from a blank that would be perfect fitting. He used a pre-cut one for another guitar and had to do a lot of sanding and re-cutting for it to fit. The down-side is that it doesn't look as sweet as the first one I fitted.
Tuning is sweet though.
Yep, the out the box nut in the top photo looks sweet. It was just a fraction too small at the back and sides so I wanted to see if my tech could make one from a blank that would be perfect fitting. He used a pre-cut one for another guitar and had to do a lot of sanding and re-cutting for it to fit. The down-side is that it doesn't look as sweet as the first one I fitted.
Tuning is sweet though.
Bubbalou
New Member
Ahh..
Yep, the out the box nut in the top photo looks sweet. It was just a fraction too small at the back and sides so I wanted to see if my tech could make one from a blank that would be perfect fitting. He used a pre-cut one for another guitar and had to do a lot of sanding and re-cutting for it to fit. The down-side is that it doesn't look as sweet as the first one I fitted.
Tuning is sweet though.
"Tuning is sweet though" says it all! While I too love looks, if it doesn't play well it becomes a 'wall hanger'
dogrocketp
I drank the PRS kool aid, and it was tasty!
Norseman, I've changed the nut on just about every guitar I've ever owned. I believe that the factory sets it up for the "average" player, and that a set-up on a new (or new to you) guitar is the first thing that should always be done. We all use different brands and gauges of strings, and they can bind the slots on almost any instrument. I would respectfully suggest keeping the guitar if you like the tone, and taking it to a first rate independent luthier for a set up. It may be another $80 dollars or so, but it can make all the difference in the world. It's pretty hard to find a good neck. If it has one, keep it.
Bubbalou
New Member
+1
why get rid of a beautiful guitar with a lot of potential. There are people who will change a nut for about $40-50 and you would have an awesome guitar. I just spent $74 on Schaller Locking tuners and $30 on a nut. Now I am in guitar heaven
Thanks for the suggestions guys. We'll see. I'm still jammin' on it at home where I can more easily deal with the tuning issue (as opposed to at a gig where it would be a PITA to do it after each song) and getting to know it a little better. If I end up getting attached to it, I'll hang onto it and try a new nut with locking tuners.
I was thinking about getting a Floyd Rose installed, but apparently that's going to cost way more than the guitar is even worth, so that's off the table for now.
I was thinking about getting a Floyd Rose installed, but apparently that's going to cost way more than the guitar is even worth, so that's off the table for now.
I have four se models ,and one american made.amrican made is aswome,u caint put that guitar out of tune ,thamks to the phase 111 lockin tuners.any how i never had a prob with my se models,when u change the quage off ur stings,most likely the neck will bow in either direction.when i put om a new pair off strings,i hold down the the string at first fret with the string bein held down i strecth the string a few times,do this on every string,and see the results.b regards
Bubbalou
New Member
The guitarist we play with has Fenders with Floyd Rose and USA PRS's and he says the PRS trem stays in tune way better than the Floyd Rose. I think if you put a good lubricating nut such as the USA PRS nut or Tusq nut along with locking tuners your problem will be pretty much solved. In my case less than $100 (I installed the nut myself).
greensunsets
New Member
Hello, I have the same problem with my brand new PRS se custom 24 spalted, though I absolutely love the model.
It's my first guitar, as I wanted to broaden my knowledge in music after getting a diploma of piano studies in a french conservatoire, and I wanted to get the best quality over price ratio to start playing (and the model is beautiful).
Yet, the guitar goes off-tune from one day to the other. Some strings go flat (low E low A) other go sharp (G, B, high E). It's very annoying since, as I'm a newbie, and not using the trem, I can't get confident about the trem based system. I've checked how to stretch the strings, and done it, but the situation hasn't improved.
As I just bought it, I wanted to know if having the tuners replaced for locking ones, and the nut checked would be enough. I know what it takes to learn a new instrument and to keep the custom, I'd liked to know if I'm good with the trem, or I'm just better off returning this guitar and getting the SE 245 for its stoptail ? How will the trem system endure the roughness of the years ?
Thank you a lot for any advice, I'm eager to start learning and this problem is quite a downheart for now.
It's my first guitar, as I wanted to broaden my knowledge in music after getting a diploma of piano studies in a french conservatoire, and I wanted to get the best quality over price ratio to start playing (and the model is beautiful).
Yet, the guitar goes off-tune from one day to the other. Some strings go flat (low E low A) other go sharp (G, B, high E). It's very annoying since, as I'm a newbie, and not using the trem, I can't get confident about the trem based system. I've checked how to stretch the strings, and done it, but the situation hasn't improved.
As I just bought it, I wanted to know if having the tuners replaced for locking ones, and the nut checked would be enough. I know what it takes to learn a new instrument and to keep the custom, I'd liked to know if I'm good with the trem, or I'm just better off returning this guitar and getting the SE 245 for its stoptail ? How will the trem system endure the roughness of the years ?
Thank you a lot for any advice, I'm eager to start learning and this problem is quite a downheart for now.
NO non-locking trem system is gonna stay in tune as well as a locker like a Floyd.
It doesn't matter the nut material, name, manufacturer, slot widths (though too narrow will make it worse of course)...if you bend like a maniac and dive like Eddie, they will go out of tune.
You can make it as good as it can be by compensating a bit. Like for me I usually install strings, stretch the living HELL out of them, tune, stretch, DIVEBOMB, tune. stretch, divebomb, rinse repeat.
That way, after you, say bend the heck out of your G string and it comes back flat, all you have to do is hit the whammy bar and it returns to pitch. You can tune it so that it comes back after a bend instead. These methods work but can be a pita for you and your audience/listener.
If you switch from stock .009s on an SE (or the earlier USA models that came with .009s...they were NO different) then of course your nut will need slots widened. The whole nut, neck, or guitar does NOT need replacing. Well unless you need a locking trem...which is what you need if you are going to be pulling "across the board" bends and to the point of flop divebombs and you want it to return to perfect tuning.
Like I said...with an SE running .009s, well...my SE's tuning stability is as good (or bad depending on how you look at it) as my USA PRS trem models. Going to fatter strings than any nut's slots are cut, on ANY brand's guitar is gonna need some work if you don't want the strings to bind in there.
OP you said you were looking for something in between a stoptail and a Floyd. Sounds like you actually wanted something between a Floyd and a Floyd...or, a Floyd. A non-locking trem is not going to ever be as stable as a locker. Nut sauce, widened slots, tusq, bone, Teflon, locking tuners, trem springs, tremol-no.....NONE of that stuff is going to turn a non-locker into a locker.
Now...all that said, with all the (misdirected) complaining about the SE nuts and slots...but, now that I think about it...probably the only people REALLY complaining are a relative handful of us forum members...a drop in the bucket? ...but if the complaints are many, PRS...why not just cut wider slots in the SE nuts? It costs the same $ to run a wider cutting tool through the thing as it does to run a narrower tool through?. If the nut material is different than that on the USA Core models...just CHANGE it to the SAME nuts!! How much could that possibly cost per unit? a few PENNIES? Literally? Or maybe NONE more? If they doubled their order of USA nuts I'm sure their price would come down? And it would be more than double since they sell more SEs than core USA models.
It would: quiet the complainers. improve the SE line. maybe even SAVE the company a few bucks. If they use "inferior" materials making the SE nuts...but say they perform just as well...why not put them on the USA models too?
Personally I think all this (it's in all the forums..prs, fender, acoustic guitars....) nut complaining is overrated. IMO they have NO affect on tone (except MAYBE slightly only on open strings) and if they are of at least decent quality...if they are properly cut..one works as well as the next. Assuming a baseline of acceptable quality. You know...I don't think a soft plastic or UHMW nut would last very long or work best with a trem but...
So PRS...IF there is a decent amount of negative buzz floating around regarding the SEs' nuts...why not just DUMP them and use the USA nuts on the SEs???????? It would quiet all the negative rumblings about PRS (when "civilians" hear people complain about PRS SE nuts they don't know it's just the SE and just the nut..they just hear .."PRS = BAD".
How much would it cost? Wouldn't it be worth it? WHY give the nay-sayers an open doorway? SLAM it in our faces by just equipping SEs with USA nuts...slotted for .010s. People would HAVE to stop saying PRS (SEs) are BAD...and .009s work fine in a nut slotted for .010s.
I must be stupid. Seems pretty obvious.
OR...just keep it up as things are now and keep hearing all the BAD publicity about PRS guitars. WHY wouldn't you (PRS) just put "proper" nuts on the SEs? If it would dig-in to the profit margins too much...pass-on the $.03 to us the consumer. We won't even NOTICE it. Still having trouble understanding how PRS would NOTICE it on a per guitar basis. To me it seems like a VERY good return on investment. PRS spends a couple of pennies per guitar to quiet the (correct in thinking) complainers! Seems like a win win. If they sell ONE extra SE that they wouldn't otherwise have sold, they might pay for EVERY USA nut for an SE for he whole year.
SO...
-NO non-locker is gonna be as stable as a Floyd. Don't expect it to. If you need to go from huge bends to huge bombs...probably get a Floyd.
-The PRS SE nuts are fine. For me they work as well (and poorly) as the USA nuts. IF you go with larger than stock strings though, obviously you need to give the nut some attention.
-PRS, even though the SE nuts are fine quality-wise..why not just go ahead and use the same nuts as on the USA models? It will cost you NOTHING..or NEXT to nothing and it will once and for all put an END to all of this " PRS SE nuts are terrible....PRS SE nuts need to be replaced immediately...blah blah blah blah...". Why do you insist on staying with the "complaint soliciting" inferior SE nuts? Makes absolutely NO sense. AGAIN...surely pennies per guitar. If that's gonna put you in the po house...we'll pay it for you. Heck I'd even pay an extra 5 BUCKS if it would extinguish all the SE nut fires...and it WOULD. Period! Done. End of the SE nut saga for GOOD!
Or just keep putting "inferior" nuts with narrow slots on the SEs so people can keep complaining and "techs" can eat.
Broken record time....NO a USA nut will not actually HELP or be a big improvement. It will function the SAME. And it too will bind if you run fatter strings in it..but it WILL KILL all the negative talk and complaining.
It doesn't matter the nut material, name, manufacturer, slot widths (though too narrow will make it worse of course)...if you bend like a maniac and dive like Eddie, they will go out of tune.
You can make it as good as it can be by compensating a bit. Like for me I usually install strings, stretch the living HELL out of them, tune, stretch, DIVEBOMB, tune. stretch, divebomb, rinse repeat.
That way, after you, say bend the heck out of your G string and it comes back flat, all you have to do is hit the whammy bar and it returns to pitch. You can tune it so that it comes back after a bend instead. These methods work but can be a pita for you and your audience/listener.
If you switch from stock .009s on an SE (or the earlier USA models that came with .009s...they were NO different) then of course your nut will need slots widened. The whole nut, neck, or guitar does NOT need replacing. Well unless you need a locking trem...which is what you need if you are going to be pulling "across the board" bends and to the point of flop divebombs and you want it to return to perfect tuning.
Like I said...with an SE running .009s, well...my SE's tuning stability is as good (or bad depending on how you look at it) as my USA PRS trem models. Going to fatter strings than any nut's slots are cut, on ANY brand's guitar is gonna need some work if you don't want the strings to bind in there.
OP you said you were looking for something in between a stoptail and a Floyd. Sounds like you actually wanted something between a Floyd and a Floyd...or, a Floyd. A non-locking trem is not going to ever be as stable as a locker. Nut sauce, widened slots, tusq, bone, Teflon, locking tuners, trem springs, tremol-no.....NONE of that stuff is going to turn a non-locker into a locker.
Now...all that said, with all the (misdirected) complaining about the SE nuts and slots...but, now that I think about it...probably the only people REALLY complaining are a relative handful of us forum members...a drop in the bucket? ...but if the complaints are many, PRS...why not just cut wider slots in the SE nuts? It costs the same $ to run a wider cutting tool through the thing as it does to run a narrower tool through?. If the nut material is different than that on the USA Core models...just CHANGE it to the SAME nuts!! How much could that possibly cost per unit? a few PENNIES? Literally? Or maybe NONE more? If they doubled their order of USA nuts I'm sure their price would come down? And it would be more than double since they sell more SEs than core USA models.
It would: quiet the complainers. improve the SE line. maybe even SAVE the company a few bucks. If they use "inferior" materials making the SE nuts...but say they perform just as well...why not put them on the USA models too?
Personally I think all this (it's in all the forums..prs, fender, acoustic guitars....) nut complaining is overrated. IMO they have NO affect on tone (except MAYBE slightly only on open strings) and if they are of at least decent quality...if they are properly cut..one works as well as the next. Assuming a baseline of acceptable quality. You know...I don't think a soft plastic or UHMW nut would last very long or work best with a trem but...
So PRS...IF there is a decent amount of negative buzz floating around regarding the SEs' nuts...why not just DUMP them and use the USA nuts on the SEs???????? It would quiet all the negative rumblings about PRS (when "civilians" hear people complain about PRS SE nuts they don't know it's just the SE and just the nut..they just hear .."PRS = BAD".
How much would it cost? Wouldn't it be worth it? WHY give the nay-sayers an open doorway? SLAM it in our faces by just equipping SEs with USA nuts...slotted for .010s. People would HAVE to stop saying PRS (SEs) are BAD...and .009s work fine in a nut slotted for .010s.
I must be stupid. Seems pretty obvious.
OR...just keep it up as things are now and keep hearing all the BAD publicity about PRS guitars. WHY wouldn't you (PRS) just put "proper" nuts on the SEs? If it would dig-in to the profit margins too much...pass-on the $.03 to us the consumer. We won't even NOTICE it. Still having trouble understanding how PRS would NOTICE it on a per guitar basis. To me it seems like a VERY good return on investment. PRS spends a couple of pennies per guitar to quiet the (correct in thinking) complainers! Seems like a win win. If they sell ONE extra SE that they wouldn't otherwise have sold, they might pay for EVERY USA nut for an SE for he whole year.
SO...
-NO non-locker is gonna be as stable as a Floyd. Don't expect it to. If you need to go from huge bends to huge bombs...probably get a Floyd.
-The PRS SE nuts are fine. For me they work as well (and poorly) as the USA nuts. IF you go with larger than stock strings though, obviously you need to give the nut some attention.
-PRS, even though the SE nuts are fine quality-wise..why not just go ahead and use the same nuts as on the USA models? It will cost you NOTHING..or NEXT to nothing and it will once and for all put an END to all of this " PRS SE nuts are terrible....PRS SE nuts need to be replaced immediately...blah blah blah blah...". Why do you insist on staying with the "complaint soliciting" inferior SE nuts? Makes absolutely NO sense. AGAIN...surely pennies per guitar. If that's gonna put you in the po house...we'll pay it for you. Heck I'd even pay an extra 5 BUCKS if it would extinguish all the SE nut fires...and it WOULD. Period! Done. End of the SE nut saga for GOOD!
Or just keep putting "inferior" nuts with narrow slots on the SEs so people can keep complaining and "techs" can eat.
Broken record time....NO a USA nut will not actually HELP or be a big improvement. It will function the SAME. And it too will bind if you run fatter strings in it..but it WILL KILL all the negative talk and complaining.
Last edited:
Completely agree about string stretching - my tech said the same to me - there's nothing wrong with SE nuts as PRS nuts are generally excellent. He showed me how to properly stretch the strings and I tried it on my new SE Navarro and after a few days tuning was very stable. Obviously if you use the trem bar a lot and want super stable tuning then stick on some Phase II locking tuners. I had that done to my SE CU24 2008 & it's an absolute dream guitar now! Adding Dragon II & 59/09 pups also helped ;-) As soon as I have some spare cash the SE Navarro is getting some Gold Phase IIs!!
I have an SE with locking tuners and it never goes out of tune after whammy abuse. I have a guitar with a Floyd and it's less reliable! Nothing wrong with SE nuts people just don't stretch strings properly. I was one of those until I was shown how recently!
toodamnhip
New Member
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2013
- Messages
- 3
Just got the SE custom 24, I cannot for the life of me get it to stay in tune when using tremelo. Checked all factory adjustments and they are fine. Tried pencil in the nut, didin;t work. What about vaseline or 3 in 1 oil? Havent tried those yet, honestly, my bridge is creaking and I think that is the problem. I put a bit of 3 and 1 on the bridge screws like it recommends at prs, didn;t work. I agree that if one has to change the nut to get it to work, that is not right. It should work. I have another question. Is there a way to put a piece of wood inside the tremolo compartment that is just the right size and FREZE the tremolo in a permanent position? I love the guitar and play Joe Pass style jazz on it as well as commercial music. I could always yank the wood out if ever I need a wammy style performance. It would be nice though to be able to use mild trem work like the guitar is SUPPOSED to work.
Similar threads
