1st time PRS owner

[Nightwish]

A nice Paul allender SE. Absolute freaking amazing sound and feel

I have some general question as this is my 1st "real" guitar. I been playing on a out of shape ibanez gio for a few years. So this is a big upgrade

1st question. My neck pick up is slightly dropping down on the treble side i read you can shove foam in it. I was wonder how thick of foam?

2nd do you foam your springs in the back?

3rd and main question. I was reading with a tremelo if you downtune you have to adjust the tremelo screws and stuff. I was wondering if i have to mess with that if i stsy in the range of e standard to drop c?

Any other general tips you guys have to throw at me lay it on. Ty! And once again amazing guitar

 

[Dizzyg12]

when you say dropping down do you mean the pickup sits lower in the cavity? You can adjust the height using the two screws on either end to level it out and season the tone to taste.

I don't put any foam in my cavities. That trick is usually to eliminate feedback.

If you are just occasionally tuning to drop C and don't need to be perfectly intonated to play in a band or record, you shouldn't have to tweak the trem springs too much. But if you do want to play mostly in drop C and want to keep it there then some adjusting may be necessary. It's more convenient or easier to set it up for standard tuning and just tune down on occasion If needed than it would be to set it up for drop c and try to tune back up. It would likely sound and play awful in that case.

My Advice: set this puppy up for standard and keep it there. Use be beater for the drop C stuff.

Congrats! How long ya been playing?

 

[Bill SAS 513]

Second this^^^^^^ Use the old Ibanez for the lower tuned stuff, and keep the Allender in standard...or the other way around. Try both ways. One may work better then the other. Also, Dizzy nailed it, with the screws on either side of the pickups. These should raise and lower them to where you'll like it. To most, the neck pickup should be reasonably lower then the bridge, close to even with the plastic pickup ring, for equal volume for both when soloed. Either way, have fun, and congrats on the guitar!! Let us know if this doesn't fix it...

 

[Herr Squid]

About question #3:

Is this your first guitar with a tremolo? If you drop the Allender down to C, the bridge is going to tilt down towards the body, and may even rest on it. You'd need to tighten the tremolo springs in the back of the guitar to compensate for that and make it sit parallel to the body again.

If the Gio has a fixed bridge, it'll take the retuning without needing adjustment. If it has a locking nut, it'll be easier to set up the Allender for Drop C.

 

[vchizzle]

3rd and main question. I was reading with a tremelo if you downtune you have to adjust the tremelo screws and stuff. I was wondering if i have to mess with that if i stsy in the range of e standard to drop c?

Any other general tips you guys have to throw at me lay it on. Ty! And once again amazing guitar

Yeah, that's a large range of tunings to go through without a proper full guitar set up. You can go to drop D or maybe a 1/2 step down without major adjustments as long as you're not recording with other instruments. Much more, you'll need trem adjustments, intonation and probably truss rod.

If the 2 adjustment screws on the pickups don't hold properly, maybe you need a new screw.
Stew-mac has piles of great info for working on guitars if you're just getting started.

 

[Nightwish]

Thanks guys! Yes my 1st guitar with a tremelo. Heck i dont even know how to change the strings on these things

I took it to guitar center and had him adjust the guitar for D standard as thats what i mainly play in. I like to play a lot of cradle of filth stuff. Might save up for another one of these for lower tunings, im loving this guitar a lot. And thanks for posting that video ill watch it here in a minute!

Wow i had no clue that screw adjust the pickup heigh -_- boy i feel stupid, i really do.

I have another question now, on the neck pick up the top has screw holes on it and the bottom of the bridge pick up has screws in it also. What are those for?