SE Singlecut trem skewed?

[Chuck_P]

Hi all. I have an SE Mikael Akerfeldt model singlecut with a strange trem situation. It is a strange and awesome PRS...thick body, wide-fat neck, blingy gold hardware, ebony board, wild logo. Super cool.

Anyway, the tremolo bridge seems to be skewed kind of diagonally. It rises away from the headstock and towards the bass strings like this:

Its movement is not smooth either; it clunks with enough dead play to affect proper usage. Note that I probably have heavier strings on it now than it came with.

Is the solution to slack the strings and tighten one trem claw screw (but not both)? Or is this a more serious issue than that?

Thanks for any insights you might have - and Happy New Year!

Chuck

 

[Ovibos]

Are all of your knife edge screws at the same height?

 

[AP515]

@Ovibos is right on track. Your height is way too high. 1/8 inch or more too high. This happens if the blade of the trem gets out if the 6 set screws and that happens when people try to change the strings without leaving one tight to keep the trem in place. Loosen the strings until the trem is movable and then adjust it until you feel it slide into the grooves in the set screws. Then tighten the bass strings to keep it in place. The trem should be about 1/8th inch above the body and horizontal with it. Yours is high which means it's out of the groove in the 6 screws. Easy fix.

 

[Chuck_P]

Are all of your knife edge screws at the same height?

Thank you so much for your quick response. I don't think they are:

E-A-D-G seem to be uniform height, B looks quite a bit higher, and high E looks a little higher as well.

 

[Chuck_P]

@Ovibos is right on track. Your height is way too high. 1/8 inch or more too high. This happens if the blade of the trem gets out if the 6 set screws and that happens when people try to change the strings without leaving one tight to keep the trem in place. Loosen the strings until the trem is movable and then adjust it until you feel it slide into the grooves in the set screws. Then tighten the bass strings to keep it in place. The trem should be about 1/8th inch above the body and horizontal with it. Yours is high which means it's out of the groove in the 6 screws. Easy fix.

Thank you as well for taking the time to respond. I appreciate your insight.

If I understand you correctly, the six screws that point down at the top SHOULD be in grooves, but they're not, so the bridge is sitting up too high from the top. To fix this, I should:

1) slack all of the strings
2) manipulate the bridge by hand until I can tell the six screws have "found" their grooves, at which point the bridge should settle quite close to the top (and parallel to it)
3) hold the bridge in place by hand while I tighten the bass strings to roughly correct pitch - this string tension will keep the bridge in place
4) tune the guitar normally

...and further...

5) the next time the strings are changed, don't take all of them off at the same time. Leave some tightened throughout the process to ensure the bridge doesn't move from the correct position.

 

[AP515]

Very close to what I intended. About all I would change is that the 6 screws are not in groves, the 6 screws have a groove cut in them. The trem has a knife edge on the holes that the 6 screws go into and the knife edge pivots in the grooves in the 6 screws. When you loosen the strings and move the trem you can see the grooves in the shank of the screws. Just put the trem in the grooves and you will be set.

I can tell from your 2nd photo that you are not in the grooves. You are too high as we first thought. If the trem were a eighth inch lower it would "snap" into the grooves. I think the 6 screws are close enough to the same height to work fine. That "B" one might be lowered a quarter turn.

 

[aphantomvaper]

I concur, Doctor!

 

[bodia]

Follow the procedure in this video. John is the guy that designed the original PRS trem.

 

[alantig]

5) the next time the strings are changed, don't take all of them off at the same time. Leave some tightened throughout the process to ensure the bridge doesn't move from the correct position.

Or get a few business cards or a magazine subscription card folded over. Wrap it in a little painters tape. Slide it under the trem before you loosen the strings. Then you can take all six off at one time. Like the expert does.

 

[Chuck_P]

@Ovibos Loosen the strings until the trem is movable and then adjust it until you feel it slide into the grooves in the set screws.

OK, I had the wrong idea. What I'm hearing:

1. The knife edge screws are securely fixed (into the body of the guitar) - I thought they moved with the bridge
2. the headstock end of the bridge is thin and strong (knife edge) and can slide up and down the screws until it finds the groove in the screws (near the screw head)
3. the trem works by the knife edge of the bridge pivoting/rocking in the grooves of the screws
4. my bridge needs to be un-tensioned, then slid along the screws until it finds the grooves in the screws
5. this will alter the action a bit, which can later be adjusted with the saddles as necessary
6. IF the knife edge of the bridge is in the grooves, but the bridge is not parallel to the top, the tail end of the bridge is raised or lowered with the claw screws attached to the springs.

The grooves on the knife edge screws are visible here:

I'm having a hard time thinking that everything is machined so precisely that the load of the knife edge is spread evenly among 6 screws, but I suppose that's a discussion for another time.

 

[aphantomvaper]

OK, I had the wrong idea. What I'm hearing:

1. The knife edge screws are securely fixed (into the body of the guitar) - I thought they moved with the bridge
2. the headstock end of the bridge is thin and strong (knife edge) and can slide up and down the screws until it finds the groove in the screws (near the screw head)
3. the trem works by the knife edge of the bridge pivoting/rocking in the grooves of the screws
4. my bridge needs to be un-tensioned, then slid along the screws until it finds the grooves in the screws
5. this will alter the action a bit, which can later be adjusted with the saddles as necessary
6. IF the knife edge of the bridge is in the grooves, but the bridge is not parallel to the top, the tail end of the bridge is raised or lowered with the claw screws attached to the springs.

The grooves on the knife edge screws are visible here:

I'm having a hard time thinking that everything is machined so precisely that the load of the knife edge is spread evenly among 6 screws, but I suppose that's a discussion for another time.

Tis true, and what the PRS trem is all about. Machined with a tight spec for excellent stability!

 

[Chuck_P]

Hey I got this sorted out and more importantly learned a huge amount yesterday. Thank you @AP515, @aphantomvaper, @bodia, @Ovibos and @alantig . I appreciate you guys taking the time to help.

 

[bodia]

Hey I got this sorted out and more importantly learned a huge amount yesterday. Thank you @AP515, @aphantomvaper, @bodia, @Obivos and @alantig . I appreciate you guys taking the time to help.

We're here to help! Glad you got it sorted.

 

[aphantomvaper]

Yeah once these babies are adjusted in spec they are super sweet. Glad to help and enjoy!