Downtuning a Core Custom 24 with Gen III Tremolo...?

[Rowjah]

Hello Everyone,

Just recently bought my first PRS and it's a 35th anniversary Custom 24 with the tremolo. I absolutely love it. I was wondering if anyone has ever successfully downtuned this beast to C (C-F-A#-D#-G-C) without fully disabling the trem?

I know it's not ideal to downtune guitars with a floating bridge, however, I'm a player that sits right in between listening to stuff like Marcus King, John Mayer and can switch on a dime to listening to Periphery and Alter Bridge (both of which use heavy gauges and extreme tuning). I know I can't switch on a dime between standard tuning on 10's to C tuning on 52's without properly adjusting bridge saddle height appropriately each time—I would like to know if it's even possible to successfully downtune a Core 35th anniversary Custom 24 and maintain proper bridge alignment without any tuning problems at all?

If anyone has any experience with this i'd love to hear from you and any advice you have. Thanks a bunch!

 

[Black Plaid]

Just balance the spring tension against the strings to keep the bridge level and you should be golden.

Might want to go with just 2 springs to keep the tension higher per-spring which will help with stability.

More springs = less tension per spring = softer trem action.

 

[Rowjah]

Cool, thanks for the reply Black Plaid! Still haven't decided if this is the direction I will go with the Custom 24. I spoke to a Sam Ash tech and he seemed weary of downtuning a floating bridge that low but it seems like it's definitely possible when done correctly.

Do you anticipate any issues with the nut slots being too thin and perhaps needing to widen them?

 

[Black Plaid]

Do you anticipate any issues with the nut slots being too thin and perhaps needing to widen them?

The nut could def be an issue, but it's generally not a hard fix.

You might want to make sure your chosen low E fits through the bridge correctly before you do anything though. That's going to be tougher to deal with if it's a problem.

 

[Utkarsh]

So I have tuned down a 2018 DGT to C standard (same scale length, same tremolo). Definitely the tremolo spring tension and possibly even the truss rod will need adjusting but it's fine. I keep the trem active and it stays in tune.

The nut in the DGT can ccomodate up to a 56 gauge, but given the DGT comes with thicker strings as standard, it's possible that its nut slots may be slightly larger than a custom 24)

Net I would recommend you go for it and worst case, get a reputable tech to slightly widen the low e string nut slot

 

[Utkarsh]

So I have tuned down a 2018 DGT to C standard (same scale length, same tremolo). Definitely the tremolo spring tension and possibly even the truss rod will need adjusting but it's fine. I keep the trem active and it stays in tune.

The nut in the DGT can ccomodate up to a 56 gauge, but given the DGT comes with thicker strings as standard, it's possible that its nut slots may be slightly larger than a custom 24)

Net I would recommend you go for it and worst case, get a reputable tech to slightly widen the low e string nut slot

And to add, the 56 fits on the bridge but just barely

 

[Rowjah]

So I have tuned down a 2018 DGT to C standard (same scale length, same tremolo). Definitely the tremolo spring tension and possibly even the truss rod will need adjusting but it's fine. I keep the trem active and it stays in tune.

The nut in the DGT can ccomodate up to a 56 gauge, but given the DGT comes with thicker strings as standard, it's possible that its nut slots may be slightly larger than a custom 24)

Net I would recommend you go for it and worst case, get a reputable tech to slightly widen the low e string nut slot

Hopefully this is the case with the nut. I'd rather not have to widen the nut slots at this particular point in time.

And to add, the 56 fits on the bridge but just barely

This is great. Thanks for your experience with a very similar setup! Gives me confidence for sure. I actually use 56's (was considering going up to 60's), however, knowing this I'll stick with 56's.

 

[Utkarsh]

Hopefully this is the case with the nut. I'd rather not have to widen the nut slots at this particular point in time.



This is great. Thanks for your experience with a very similar setup! Gives me confidence for sure. I actually use 56's (was considering going up to 60's), however, knowing this I'll stick with 56's.

Yup do just buy a set of 56s and 54s and check for clearances on the bottom E string before you start any work. I also keep a 513 in C# with 54s and that works out very nicely