CE24 Neck Twist?

LandShark1

New Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2023
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I have a new CE24, and I’m having some trouble getting it set up. I’ve been setting up my guitars for a long time, and I don’t usually have any trouble unless there is an issue with the guitar. This is a brand new, sealed from the MD factory CE24, but I didn’t buy it locally so I don’t have much help from the dealer.

The problem is there is a lot of buzz on the 3rd through 6th strings, and I’m having issues fretting cleanly and with getting clean sounding slides around the center of the neck (between the 7th through 12-14th frets). The 1st and 2nd treble strings seem fine. The 6th string has buzzing and clanking, but it’s almost acceptable. It’s the 3rd, 4th, and especially 5th strings that are the issue. I can occasionally get it to sound clean and somewhat ok, with a decent tonality and sustain, if I pick extremely lightly and be absolutely precise with my finger placement in order to get clean notes without choking. It seems like it has to be pressed in exactly the right spot. But I don’t have to be anywhere near this precise with any of my other guitars in order to get clean notes, making this very difficult to play.

I know PRS guitars like having perfectly straight necks, and I set up my other PRSs as straight as possible. I have the guitar within PRS relief specs, with about .10mm of relief at the 8th fret (measured with capo on 1st fret, and fretting last fret). I’ve tried slight rod adjustments in both ways, and it only gets worse, so I come back to about 0.10mm. I would go slightly straighter if I could. I normally set my action around 1.75mm at the 12th fret, but i can’t get this guitar below about 1.9mm due to the aforementioned issues. It’s currently set at about 1.9mm, which is high and I still have the issues. I can get the 1st and 2nd strings down to 1.6-1.75mm, and I can get the 6th string down to about 1.8 with normal buzz, but these strings don’t seem to have the playability and tonal issues of the others. I’ve used a fret rocker and see nothing unusual. The trem is even and parallel. The nut looks fine, and capoing the first fret to take the nut out of the picture doesn’t help the issues either. There are new 10-46 D’addario strings. Pickups are currently set right at PRS height specs.

Normally, I don’t have issues with setup unless there is a problem with the guitar. Which makes me wonder if there might be a slight neck twist or hump in the middle of the fingerboard that I can’t see. As I mentioned, the relief on the 6th string is about 0.10mm, yet it’s higher at about 0.25mm on the 1st string. Is this normal for bolt-on PRS, or is this indicative of a neck twist? I measured my other set-neck guitars (I don’t have another bolt-on here to measure at the moment), and the relief was basically the same between the bass and treble sides. If there was a difference, it was imperceptible. Would PRS typically replace the neck under warranty in a situation like this if the neck is twisted, or is there an “acceptable level” of twist that they try to pass off?

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what might be causing this, and what I might try to rectify it? Or if it’s likely a twisted neck, if PRS would be likely to replace it under warranty?

I have a local luthier I have used for fret and electronics work, but I don’t want him working on it and trying to file frets down to fix it, when it’s brand new and if there might be a warranty issue. And if it’s a neck twist, he’s not the person to be dealing with warranty issues anyway. If so, I’d prefer to go directly to the PRS tech center.
 
If the wood is twisted, fret leveling is the workaround, not the fix.
The luthier should be able to at least tell you if it's the fingerboard or frets.
 
If it’s brand new as you say but not bought locally then the dealer should be able (and be the first call) to give guidance on which path to follow. Next an email to PRS customer service should get you answers. I wouldn’t mess with it as from what I can understand of your statement this is most likely a warranty issue. My .02 is it’s a fret(s) issue but I’m not going to fix it for you and they’ll be a hundred counter opins to that guess. Good luck.
 
I'm in the camp it's frets or the like as a worse case. Neck twist seems like a pretty extreme leap. On a new guitar I'd be contacting the dealer to follow that path regardless of where they are located. New is new and CE are a dime a dozen.
 
Fret Issue, Nut Issue Or Both Is My Quick Thought.

You Mention You Have Been Setting Up Guitars For A Long Time...Do You Have The Tools To Measure Nut Slot Depth, Fret Level, Neck Relief, Strait And Or Notched Edge Rule To See If The Board Is True, Etc?

I Have A Difficult Time Thinking The Neck Is Twisted Although The Weather From Where You Are And Where It Came From Could Play A Bit Of A Role Temporarily If They Are Radically Different. I Still Think Your Place To look Is Frets And Nut. If It isn't Right, Send It Back For An Exchange. No Need To Go Through A Million Hoops Like This On A Brand New Guitar Unless It Is Something You Will Never Find Again, Etc. Good Luck And I Will help Further If I Can. :)
 
Is it normal for there to be such a large difference between the bass side and treble side relief measurements? More than double? Everything I can find says this is not normal, and generally indicative of a neck twist, especially when it’s the treble size showing more relief. I suppose it’s possible the frets are really unlevel and causing this, but they would have to be really off to make such a difference and I’m not seeing that. I would think frets that were that off would never get out of QC.

I do have many of the tools to do measurements and check things myself, but not all. The nut slots seem fine. Also, capoing the first fret should take the nut out of the picture theoretically, and all of the issues are still present.
 
Guessing you don't have a notched straightedge...

Can you make accurate, or at least good enough measurements of the relief measured from string to fretboard? Same difference?
 
I don’t have a notched straight edge. I do have StewMac measurement tools and feeler gages.

The relief on the bass side is .12mm or 0.005.” On the treble side, it’s slightly more than .25mm/.010 to the fret.
 
Contact PRS Customer Support with those measurements. Get PRS' opinion and recommendations before having someone level the frets. If it is a twisted neck on a new guitar it should be replaced, messing with the frets before contacting PRS could lead to warranty issues with the dealer or PRS. PRS might have you send it back to the mothership for evaluation, repair or neck replacement.

 
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