Evertune Bridge DIY on a PRS SE Custom 24

[ThePod]

I was never fully happy with the tuning stability of my PRS SE Custom 24. Despite changing the nut and doing all the tricks on this forum. However, I do really like the feel and look of the guitar so I decided to take a shot at installing an Evertune bridge. They seem to get good reviews on many of the youtube channels. What could possibly go wrong!

Here is the guitar in it's native form. It's the sexy one on the left next to the sexy one on the right.

2018-10-25_09-33-16 by ThePod, on Flickr

All the hardware off and taped up for safety.
IMG_20210228_152102826 by ThePod, on Flickr

This mod is not for the faint of heart and is irreversible. So here we go. I watched and re-watched the video on the Evertune website before making any cuts.
I used these bits from Amazon and borrowed my friends router.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085T27P3Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I bought the routing templates as well as the bridge straight of of the Evertune website.

These are the top templates. I drilled the four large holes after making sure everything lined up nice and straight.
IMG_20210307_184813633 by ThePod, on Flickr

Missed a photo here, but I drilled and chiseled out a little section of the base of the top wood (red square) and glued it in place to fill the area not be covered after the bridge was installed.
51018413821_0e21a31741_o by ThePod, on Flickr
IMG_20210307_185123765 by ThePod, on Flickr

Then I began to fully route out the top to a depth of 1 inch. I spazzed a little here and made an oopsie, not a problem because this will be covered under the bridge.
IMG_20210307_191311885 by ThePod, on Flickr
Opposite side view
IMG_20210307_191319009 by ThePod, on Flickr
After a few choice words I routed the top out to a depth of 1 inch.
IMG_20210307_195926799 by ThePod, on Flickr

Chamfer cut was needed here. I used my Dremel. Need to leave about 1/4 of an inch and Dremel to a depth of 1/2 inch. It's looks short, but trust me it's 1/2 inch.
IMG_20210307_202600684 by ThePod, on Flickr
IMG_20210307_203413751 by ThePod, on Flickr
IMG_20210307_203429968 by ThePod, on Flickr

On to the back. Using the four drill holes from the front side, I lined up and drilled the 6 small holes on the back. Difficult to see here because the template are clear.
IMG_20210307_204134439 by ThePod, on Flickr

Moving on, I added spacers to either side (following the Evertune youtube video) and then placed the thick bottom router template.

The six small drils 1/16 inch are used for indexing the back template. But you must sink them below the template or the router will not move across the template smoothly.
IMG_20210307_205356787 by ThePod, on Flickr

Also hard to see here but the drills are below the routing template. I then routed this area to a depth of 1/16 of an inch.
IMG_20210307_210541127 by ThePod, on Flickr

part 2 coming

 

[ThePod]

Part 2

On to the large route on the back. First I did a prelim route and then was able to remove all the routing templates and use the routed wood sides as a guide.
IMG_20210307_211855443 by ThePod, on Flickr
IMG_20210307_212021362 by ThePod, on Flickr

This is routed to a depth of 1 inch from the FRONT of the guitar.
IMG_20210307_212552650 by ThePod, on Flickr

This part gets a little confusing in the pictures here, but the last routing template uses the same 1/16 drill bits and indexing holes, but the bits are too long to fit flush with the route template and not penetrate the front of the guitar (or a least too close for my comfort). I cut some indexing pins out of a thick paper clip
IMG_20210307_213421767 by ThePod, on Flickr

IMG_20210307_213708185 by ThePod, on Flickr
They fit flush with the routing template.
IMG_20210307_213714676 by ThePod, on Flickr

This route is 0.9 inches which is 0.85 inches from the FRONT of the guitar.
IMG_20210307_215038281 by ThePod, on Flickr
IMG_20210307_215352665 by ThePod, on Flickr

The last route cuts the remainder of the wood to the left of the black mark to a depth of 0.25 inches from the FRONT of the guitarIMG_20210307_215652156 by ThePod, on Flickr

Finished all the routes
IMG_20210307_220552585 by ThePod, on Flickr

Without the tape
IMG_20210307_220827959 by ThePod, on Flickr

IMG_20210307_220833705 by ThePod, on Flickr

Test install, so far so good.
IMG_20210307_221621939 by ThePod, on Flickr
IMG_20210307_221644179 by ThePod, on Flickr

Here's the hunk of wood I used as a filler. Not sure I would do this again, but it doesn't look too bad.
IMG_20210307_221636029 by ThePod, on Flickr

Strung up and ready to rock!!!
IMG_20210308_204332462 by ThePod, on Flickr

Final impressions. Very pleased with bridge thus far. Hopefully it stays in tune like all the reviews say. As far as the install is concerned, it's a little technical and tricky but if you can use a hand router you can do it. It's certainly cheaper than having it shipped off to have someone else do it. Again, I watched the videos on the Evertune site several times and used their templates As with most installs, the second time would be much faster. This particular one took me about 5-6 hours including prep time and gluing in the wood block.

 

[Fram]

Nice job, looks really good

 

[WEDGE]

Big balls

 

[DISTORT6]

Nice work!
The next question is “Are you going to do this to the guitar on the right?”.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Did you say this was a bridge installation, or that you were converting your SE Custom into a hollowbody?!

Stellar work!

 

[BrianC]

BIG balls....

 

[bodia]

Hell yeah! OWNER in the house!

 

[ThePod]

Nice work!
The next question is “Are you going to do this to the guitar on the right?”.

No, I stupidly sold the one on the right.

 

[Uncle Bob]

I suppose an SE is the one to try it on, but fair play to you that looks excellent. Been looking at a LTD TE-1000 with evertune but active pickups were a bit of a deal breaker for me.

Well done!

 

[ThePod]

I suppose an SE is the one to try it on, but fair play to you that looks excellent. Been looking at a LTD TE-1000 with evertune but active pickups were a bit of a deal breaker for me.

Well done!

I'll post back with a week or two of follow up after playing with it. Currently it's tuned to E standard with 9-42 strings. I usually like to tune to Eb with the same strings but I can't with the current set of saddles on the Evertune. The B string saddle would need to be swapped out for a low tension saddle ($40 from Evertune). Alternatively, I'll just put 10s on it and tune down a half step with those, no problem there, but I wanted to play it and didn't have a set of 10s.

The LTD TE-1000 looks nice. I like actives, but others don't. There is a Fender Tele on the Evertune site for sale. Same price as the LTD TE-1000 FYI

 

[Going Modal]

Damn! That's a lotta wood gone missing. On the other hand, it looks like you know what you're doing. And that little spare piece of "filler"--dude, it's not even noticeable in your final picture. Gotta say... well done.

 

[Ovibos]

I suppose an SE is the one to try it on, but fair play to you that looks excellent. Been looking at a LTD TE-1000 with evertune but active pickups were a bit of a deal breaker for me.

Well done!

I would throw out there that changing actives to passives is a teeny bit easier than @ThePod 's legendary mod here.

 

[Uncle Bob]

I would throw out there that changing actives to passives is a teeny bit easier than @ThePod 's legendary mod here.

Of course it is, however I’m not inclined to spend the extra money on it.

 

[ThePod]

Damn! That's a lotta wood gone missing. On the other hand, it looks like you know what you're doing. And that little spare piece of "filler"--dude, it's not even noticeable in your final picture. Gotta say... well done.

Thank you. It worked out well. I agree the wood filler piece is small and hardly noticeable. Next time I do this (I won't ever do this again) I'll make sure to align the wood grains. It just irks me when I look at the picture that I put the little wood piece in 90 degrees to the direction of the wood grain on the top of the guitar. Arg!!!

 

[ThePod]

Ok, I've spent a couple of good solid days with this bridge and I can tell you it is everything I hoped. It is quite stable! Very pleased overall. A few issues I have noticed with the 25 inch scale of PRS instruments. If I play 9-42 strings in E standard, the Evertune standard saddles can handle that no problem. However, I typically like to play in Eb tuning so in order to do that with 9s I would need a low tension saddle (an extra $40 from Evertune) for the B string. If I want to play drop D tuning starting with an Eb tuning (low E string tuned to Db) I would also need another low tension saddle. Even if I go up to 10-46 strings I would still need a low tension saddle for the low E string to play drop D tuning if I'm in Eb. So all told, I may have to throw another $80 at the problem to play in Eb tuning with option of using Drop D.
For now, I have no plans to do that as I am happy playing this guitar in E standard, but it's worth nothing I think.
Super happy with the bridge and the install other the issues noted above. It's expensive, but solved the tuning problem of my SE!

 

[lumbeecheraw75]

Thanks for this and great job. I just signed up to search for a post just like this. Braver man than me. I am planning this same thing but I will just send my guitar to Evertune to install, I'm afraid. Looks like it would be easier to hide the wood repair on a solid color. I am planning to buy a CE with a Satin Black finish. I own a Core 24 with a Floyd but I want the option to Drop tune as well

 

[QuiltTop319]

Beautiful guitar and great job. I wouldn't have the balls to try this.

 

[lumbeecheraw75]

Even if I go up to 10-46 strings I would still need a low tension saddle for the low E string to play drop D tuning if I'm in Eb

Evertune's calculator shows that with 10s you could tune to D with the Standard Tension saddles. Maybe I am reading it wrong tho.

 

[lumbeecheraw75]

Bleh nm, I overlooked

if I'm in Eb

Color me dumb. Better swap to 11s, they can handle Db