Bad Intonation on New Zach Myers

[Andrew Warren]

Got a brand new Zach Myers as my first PRS as recommendation from this community. Love it! But the intonation is all sharp at the 12th fret. I loosened the strings and turned the adjustable stoptail bridge clockwise a few turns but it didn’t help and can’t tell if it’s even moving. Before I screw anything up, how do I fix this? And should PRS be shipping guitars with sharp intonation on all strings?

 

[AP515]

The two large post screws adjust the height of the stoptail, not the intonation. Look on the back of the bridge and you will see two set screws countersunk into the bridge. Adjust these for intonation (they move the bridge forward and backward on the bridge posts). If it's sharp you should screw them out IIRC.

 

[Serious Poo]

Got a brand new Zach Myers as my first PRS as recommendation from this community. Love it! But the intonation is all sharp at the 12th fret. I loosened the strings and turned the adjustable stoptail bridge clockwise a few turns but it didn’t help and can’t tell if it’s even moving. Before I screw anything up, how do I fix this? And should PRS be shipping guitars with sharp intonation on all strings?

 

[dogrocketp]

Have you changed the strings or the string gauges?

 

[Andrew Warren]

Yes i

The two large post screws adjust the height of the stoptail, not the intonation. Look on the back of the bridge and you will see two set screws countersunk into the bridge. Adjust these for intonation (they move the bridge forward and backward on the bridge posts). If it's sharp you should screw them out IIRC.

yes I know. That’s what I did but it didn’t help.

 

[Andrew Warren]

Have you changed the strings or the string gauges?

No. I liked the factory strings. Do I need to do that to fix it?

 

[CandidPicker]

https://prsguitars.com/support/setup

 

[Ovibos]

Your dealer shipped it with bad intonation. They buy the guitar from the manufacturer and are responsible for the condition you receive it in.
Take it up with the dealer.

 

[dogrocketp]

No. I liked the factory strings. Do I need to do that to fix it?

I always recommend changing the strings, simply because we never know where and how the guitar has been stored. Your guitar should have come with 9-42’s. I use D’Addario, but any brand you like will work. They are originally strung with D’Addario. When you say the intonation is sharp, do you mean that when you press down the strings it is sharp, or that the 12th fret harmonic is sharp? If the notes are sharp when you press the strings down at the twelfth fret, it may be that the neck has come out of adjustment. The dealer should be able to take care of that while you wait, if raising or lowering the bridge studs hasn’t given you a second problem. If you’re in the DMV, send me a PM and this can get fixed quickly. I’m guessing you haven’t done too much setup work.

 

[CandidPicker]

This is gonna sound strange. It's a simple maintenance job, like a custodian would do for a school. If you make a practical application of what knowledge you learn, you gain wisdom. The PRS website has support pages that describe how to perform easy maintenance you can do with simple tools that won't cost a lot.

Compare that to a college education where you get high marks so you can find a high paying job.

(For this, you don't need a college education, nor a high paying job.)

You've heard the phrase, "Give a man a fish, he eats for a day, teach him to fish, he eats for a lifetime"?

Hope you'll take the time to learn and practice good maintenance.

 

[Ovibos]

You've heard the phrase, "Give a man a fish, he eats for a day, teach him to fish, he eats for a lifetime"?

I prefer:

“Give a man a fire, he’s warm for a night. Set a man on fire, he’s warm for the rest of his life.”

 

[Andrew Warren]

This is gonna sound strange. It's a simple maintenance job, like a custodian would do for a school. If you make a practical application of what knowledge you learn, you gain wisdom. The PRS website has support pages that describe how to perform easy maintenance you can do with simple tools that won't cost a lot.

Compare that to a college education where you get high marks so you can find a high paying job.

(For this, you don't need a college education, nor a high paying job.)

You've heard the phrase, "Give a man a fish, he eats for a day, teach him to fish, he eats for a lifetime"?

Hope you'll take the time to learn and practice good maintenance.

I guess I should have clarified in my original post. I of course researched how to fix the guitar on google, youtube, and PRS own website before posting in the forum. I'm a big DIYer and wasn't able to fix it with the instructions on the PRS site, so I created the post. Please keep in mind the instructions on the website aren't that great. First of all, the video is for a different bridge. The PRS adjustable stoptail support page doesn't tell you which way the screws should go to sharpen or flatten intonation, if the strings should be loose when doing this work, and when to move each string saddle vs. moving the entire bridge back and forth, etc. It's not exactly perfectly intuitive for a novice.

 

[Victek]

Look on the back of the bridge and you will see two set screws countersunk into the bridge. Adjust these for intonation (they move the bridge forward and backward on the bridge posts). If it's sharp you should screw them out IIRC.

To make the note less sharp I believe he needs to lengthen the string, meaning he has to move the bridge away from the bridge pickup.

 

[CandidPicker]

I guess I should have clarified in my original post. I of course researched how to fix the guitar on google, youtube, and PRS own website before posting in the forum. I'm a big DIYer and wasn't able to fix it with the instructions on the PRS site, so I created the post. Please keep in mind the instructions on the website aren't that great. First of all, the video is for a different bridge. The PRS adjustable stoptail support page doesn't tell you which way the screws should go to sharpen or flatten intonation, if the strings should be loose when doing this work, and when to move each string saddle vs. moving the entire bridge back and forth, etc. It's not exactly perfectly intuitive for a novice.

Understood. The PRS Website provides baseline instructions which can be extrapolated. The next step is researching YouTube videos which provide a clearer view of what you're working with.

You've raised a good point regards what direction the set screws should turn. The 1st thing I'd personally check would be if the entire string set intonation is off. If that's the case, the bridge set screw should receive an adjustment. If it's only a couple strings, the string saddles should receive the adjustments. The PRS website describes intonating an S2 guitar with both set bridge and tremolo; these instructions work the same for SE guitars since they're structurally similar parts.

I think the instructions leave this up to you to discover (though intuitively, clockwise might mean tightening/increasing, whereas counter-clockwise might mean loosening/decreasing). I think the way to test this is to sound the string once you've either tightened the set screw, or loosened it, and checking the intonation at the 12th fret with a tuner. You'll either hear or observe the direction the set screw should turn once you made a couple adjustments trial or error.

The only caveat is your tolerance and patience for working with the guitar. There may be a slight time when you might experience minor frustration because things aren't going as smoothly as you'd like. Realize that this, too, is temporary and success will depend on how resilient you are.

 

[dogrocketp]

Gentlepeeples, I had a conversation with Andrew, and we sorted out the problem In a hurry. His guitar is now intonated properly, and he’s on the way down the slippery slope to PRS addiction.

 

[CandidPicker]

Awesome. Will be waiting tomorrow morning standing in briefs, t-shirt and moccasins, holding the morning paper under my arm on my front porch, waving to the mailman as I dart back indoors.

Will be waiting with baited breath to hear Andrew's lavish praise of his recent purchase.

Off to clean the kitchen, wash up, and read before bed. My apologies for not staying up with you folks, tomorrow is yet a new day we'll need to face. Have a sparkling day tomorrow.

 

[bodia]

Gentlepeeples, I had a conversation with Andrew, and we sorted out the problem In a hurry. His guitar is now intonated properly, and he’s on the way down the slippery slope to PRS addiction.

Way to go!

 

[vchizzle]

Gentlepeeples, I had a conversation with Andrew, and we sorted out the problem In a hurry. His guitar is now intonated properly, and he’s on the way down the slippery slope to PRS addiction.

Awesome news!

 

[Alnus Rubra]

I prefer:

“Give a man a fire, he’s warm for a night. Set a man on fire, he’s warm for the rest of his life.”

Don’t forget he’s got a few days of BBQ food to keep him full as well!

Gentlepeeples, I had a conversation with Andrew, and we sorted out the problem In a hurry. His guitar is now intonated properly, and he’s on the way down the slippery slope to PRS addiction.

Nice one @dogrocketp

 

[sergiodeblanc]

I prefer:

“Give a man a fire, he’s warm for a night. Set a man on fire, he’s warm for the rest of his life.”

I like it!

Fish are f@cking gross.