DGT Bridge Mod?

[Tim Chipman]

Well for better or worse (hope not) I set that bridge down on the body. I followed instructions from PRS and it wasn’t too bad. I’m also going to drop a piece of hardwood in the cavity for more stability and sound ( maybe ) it’s funny that I had to screw the bridge screws down all the way, and the claw screws all the way in to get it to sit on the body. A sheet of paper still slides under the back of the bridge.

 

[Tim Chipman]

got a nice little piece of mahogany to fit in the cavity ..............no more tuning problems. Thanks to everyone. This is a great forum.

 

[Tim Chipman]

I just wanted to update you all on my very interesting journey with the patented floating tremolo! PRS support gave me very specific and clear instructions on how to "deck" the bridge. I did that very carefully. I played like that for a few days and it was very stable as far as the tuning goes. I could still here strings dropping off when I bend another string and I just couldn't get my mind off that little cavity behind the bridge, so like I said before I slowly formed a piece of mahogany to fill it snuggly. I don't know but maybe it's just that I want to believe it, but the guitar itself seems a bit more resonant and sustains better (which I love). Now there's no strings dropping off when I bend! I bought a little kit from Nomad Music with feelers, radius gauges, and a very nice string height adjustment thingy (saw it here on the forum first) My wife helped me do all this, of course, so I didn't forget steps! (I am an old guy after all, my first "battle of the bands" was in 1969) That same year I bought a brand new 69 Les Paul gold top with the mini humbuckers. The only Les Paul I ever owned that I wish I could have back!
After all that I just want to say that this is the kindest and probably the most helpful forum I've ever been on. (the Pro tools forum is a close second) but not everyone there loves Pro tools there. Here I think most people love the product! I do

 

[bodia]

I just wanted to update you all on my very interesting journey with the patented floating tremolo! PRS support gave me very specific and clear instructions on how to "deck" the bridge. I did that very carefully. I played like that for a few days and it was very stable as far as the tuning goes. I could still here strings dropping off when I bend another string and I just couldn't get my mind off that little cavity behind the bridge, so like I said before I slowly formed a piece of mahogany to fill it snuggly. I don't know but maybe it's just that I want to believe it, but the guitar itself seems a bit more resonant and sustains better (which I love). Now there's no strings dropping off when I bend! I bought a little kit from Nomad Music with feelers, radius gauges, and a very nice string height adjustment thingy (saw it here on the forum first) My wife helped me do all this, of course, so I didn't forget steps! (I am an old guy after all, my first "battle of the bands" was in 1969) That same year I bought a brand new 69 Les Paul gold top with the mini humbuckers. The only Les Paul I ever owned that I wish I could have back!
After all that I just want to say that this is the kindest and probably the most helpful forum I've ever been on. (the Pro tools forum is a close second) but not everyone there loves Pro tools there. Here I think most people love the product! I do

It is a great place with some great peeps!

 

[Boogie]

Sorry to hear about your struggle with the DGT. After almost 10 years as a DGT owner, I’ll admit that there’s been a bit of a tuning stability issue that popped up here and there. Almost always, it was a binding nut. Using Big Bends Nut Sauce has been a routine most of these years (on the nut and bridge knife edges) and it has done a great job, but it doesn’t replace nut slot maintenance. You’ve got to have the right files and the right technique to keep things smooth.

During shows, I’ve developed a technique to reset intonation on the fly that works really well. There’s a crappy video of our last show that illustrates it in action that I’ll post up. Just a slight trem bump down seems to do it.

*EDIT*
Go to 3:50 and wait for me to swing the trem arm down for the adjustment at about 4:00. You can hear the weird warble before and corrected triad after. I really use the trem, so this stuff goes with the territory. I can’t totally blame the guitar.

 

[Tim Chipman]

That’s cool. Someone told me to yank up on the bar and it might correct. It worked......... sometimes, but should a person have to do that? Especially not me because in 50 plus years of playing I’ve never been enamored with the sound of a tremolo. Now it’s rock solid. I love playing it. The 11’s are great. (Stringjoy) I went to a heavier pick and I think it helps articulate longer speedy phrases. Am I crazy?

 

[Boogie]

That’s cool. Someone told me to yank up on the bar and it might correct. It worked......... sometimes, but should a person have to do that? Especially not me because in 50 plus years of playing I’ve never been enamored with the sound of a tremolo. Now it’s rock solid. I love playing it. The 11’s are great. (Stringjoy) I went to a heavier pick and I think it helps articulate longer speedy phrases. Am I crazy?

Nope. I played 11s on almost everything for about 8 years but recently went back to a lot of 10s. Thick picks, big strings, and a heavy hand were my thing but now I do a different thing with this band. It’s cool how these things can influence so many aspects of making music. After 40+ years of playing, these things don’t surprise me anymore.