Drop "D" on my 2001 Custom 24 without having to lock down.

Archiguitarchi

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Dec 23, 2017
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North Alabama
One of the sweet things about the tailpiece on this guitar is that it is "barely floating", not full floating. The trem affect is natural because of the slightly up and down motion. The down side has been that I could not drop the low E string to D or have a string let go without going out of tune. Well, I have discovered a fix that does not require additional hardware or altering the guitar in any way, retains the "slightly floating feature", is such a simple fix anybody can do it, and it is totally reversible with no sign anything had been done. It works so well that I'm going to add the mod to my 1017 Custom 24 SE as well.
Because I'm new to the form I am not sure how to go about posting pictures of the procedure, so if somebody can give me some guidance on this I'll put something up.
 
Good luck with the mod.
You might need a couple more posts to be allowed to post photos. Then host them somewhere and press the mountain icon and enter a link to the photo location.

Welcome to the forum
 
Good luck with the mod.
You might need a couple more posts to be allowed to post photos. Then host them somewhere and press the mountain icon and enter a link to the photo location.

Welcome to the forum
The mod works. I've been using it for a couple of days. I could not have been more surprised at how well it works. I've got full divebombing, bi-directional tremolo, and the option to play in drop D.
 
Can't wait to see it, even though I prefer installing an ESP Arming Adjuster on all my floating trems.
 
Yeah, to post photos you have to link to a third party site like Imgur. No uploading of images to the forum.

You grab the direct link to the photo, and insert, as veinbuster said, using the Image tool.

Your link should look like this when you grab it, without spaces (I did that so it wouldn't automatically normalize to a full URL):

http :// thehostingsite.com/blahblah/subblah/image.jpg

The Image tool (with mountains) put "IMG" tags around that so it appears properly in your post.

Some sites like Imgur can provide you with links that have the IMG tags already in the link, so you can just copy that straight in without the tool.
 
Yeah, to post photos you have to link to a third party site like Imgur. No uploading of images to the forum.

You grab the direct link to the photo, and insert, as veinbuster said, using the Image tool.

Your link should look like this when you grab it, without spaces (I did that so it wouldn't automatically normalize to a full URL):

http :// thehostingsite.com/blahblah/subblah/image.jpg

The Image tool (with mountains) put "IMG" tags around that so it appears properly in your post.

Some sites like Imgur can provide you with links that have the IMG tags already in the link, so you can just copy that straight in without the tool.

I have a YouTube channel. Maybe the thing to do is wait until after the holidays and produce something to post there.
The fix is really, really simple, and as simple as it is, the visuals are pretty necessary. I'll think on this some more and see what I can come up with.
 
Looking forward to seeing what you have come up with. I pretty much quit using trem equipped guitars because losing a string( however rare) completely blows the tuning.

I have my ESP Arming Adjuster set tight enough where I can pop the high E through D string and it will stay in tune.
 
Okay, here is what I did:
I cut a strip of ⅛" thick soft, red felt that would fit under at the arse end of the tremolo plate on top of the guitar body pushed up to the spring block, no more. I depressed the wiggle stick and shoved the felt under there on top of a defunct credit card, traced the edge, and cut it out. Then I applied glue to the top of the felt, put the felt on top of the credit card, and gently pushed it to the spring block and released the wiggle stick, clamping everything down for the glue to cure. The trem plate on the core guitar was only about 3/32" above the top of the guitar on both the treble and bass sides. Functionally, the felt cushions the underside of the tremolo plate just enough to keep the guitar in tune when dropping low E to D. That's it. A strip of soft red felt glued as mentioned below, felt like you'd find on a felt hat brim. It works for me, it's easy to do and undo, and with no damage to the guitar.
I set up my backup custom 24 SE with 10's, so I had to adjust the tremolo springs (of course) and lower the bridge. I got the action to exactly match my core guitar without touching the truss rod. What a GREAT Korean-build series guitar!
The fix worked on my 2001 Custom 22 for two reasons: First, the underside of the tremolo plate was really close to the top of the guitar (3/32") on both the bass and treble sides, and secondly, it has locking tuners. I applied the same fix to the SE but it's not going to work as effectively until I get locking tuners on it. I lowered the tailpiece as much as I dare but it's still up about 5/32" above the wood on the treble side and about right on the bass side. So, it ALMOST works as well, but not quite. Locking tuners are a big factor in the equation along with the thickness of the felt. The adhesive I used to adhere the felt to the underside of the tailpiece is a Locktite product, "Vinyl, Fabric & Plastic flexible Adhesive".
But, the most revealing aspect of this experiment is that I got the action on my SE to match my core guitar. I could not be happier. The difference between the 58/15 clone pickups and the core guitar will not be an issue. They are a tad brighter and lack a bit of the mids, but I don't care. The two fingerboards feel the same, even with the difference in fingerboard radii and frets. I did add nickel covers to the pickups on the SE.
My 2017 Custom 24 CE is a real sweetie. Yes there are a lot of differences between the 2001 and it, but nothing serious serious if, like me, you're looking for a number two guitar. I can enumerate the differences if you like. Just let me know.
PRS RULES!
Hope this helps somebody. Happy New year!
 
I just ordered Vanson locking tuners through eBay. They're coming from England. The reviews are quite promising and they are a direct drop-in for the SE, so I'll install them and post a report on how well they work.
 
I just ordered Vanson locking tuners through eBay. They're coming from England. The reviews are quite promising and they are a direct drop-in for the SE, so I'll install them and post a report on how well they work.

I can now report that the Vanson locking tuners I got on eBay are a genuine direct drop-in replacement for the stock tuners. No mods of any kind are required as they are a perfect fit, but you will need to use your original screws because the Vansons are too small in diameter. Trust me, this is not a deal breaker. The chrome finish on the washers and nuts is not the same super bright finish as the stock tuners, but that doesn't bother me one bit. They look like highly polished stainless steel and they lock like they're supposed to. These are terrific locking tuners for the cost.

Installing them did not improve the tailpiece staying in tune but dressing the nut to fit the 10's (strings) is working and will ultimately get me where I want to be. I'm taking the filing slow for obvious reasons. The D string was binding at the nut worse than any other string, which is not surprising since the nut was meant for a 9 set.

I would have installed locking tuners anyway because the quick string change is always totally worth having them. All my guitars do except my old Les Paul.
 
I have been looking for options to tune se cu24 to drop D. I don't mind retuning the other strings if that's a requirement. I just don't want to damage the tremolo or the too of the guitar. I'll try a couple of these options.
 
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