Evertune Installation

[Apollo_Sam]

I am seriously considering purchasing a used 'Players Grade' CE24, DW CE24 or CU24 and getting an Evertune Bridge installed. I have a few ESP and ESP LTD guitars with an Evertune installed from factory and I LOVE the functionality of it, but none are on the level of play or sound like a PRS. Soooo why not just combine the two, Evertune in a core PRS! I've kicked this idea in my head for almost a year but I'm concerned if there would be a loss of tone, feeling, ETC. I know there is typically a slight loss of sustain but I'm fine with that. Has anyone taken the plunge and done it?

 

[SteveGlitch]

I am seriously considering purchasing a used 'Players Grade' CE24, DW CE24 or CU24 and getting an Evertune Bridge installed. I have a few ESP and ESP LTD guitars with an Evertune installed from factory and I LOVE the functionality of it, but none are on the level of play or sound like a PRS. Soooo why not just combine the two, Evertune in a core PRS! I've kicked this idea in my head for almost a year but I'm concerned if there would be a loss of tone, feeling, ETC. I know there is typically a slight loss of sustain but I'm fine with that. Has anyone taken the plunge and done it?

We have alot of guitars that come stock through the shop. They are really nice bridges but it's A LOT of work to do to a guitar that doesn't have a Floyd sized bridge on it. There would be heavy modification but once it's done, it's done.

I don't really have any advice except, it's far from a typical bridge so I'd just make sure you know it's what you want. As far as my personal guitars, I thought about it and then decided ultimately not to do it. However, I wouldn't mind buying a guitar that comes stock with one. It would be really cool and nice to own!

 

[Apollo_Sam]

My main for playing out the last 3 or 4 years is an ESP E-II Eclipse with Evertune from factory, so definitely know the ins and outs of the bridge. I play Pop Punk so not alot of bends or complicated riffs, just showing energy and jumping around on stage.....Evertune is perfect for this as it stays in tune when fretting not 100% on pitch due to the above ha. I know its a huge chunk of wood they'd have to drill out and there is no going back, that's why I'm thinking find a players grade PRS to try it out on. I've just not found anyone that's had it installed on a PRS so far and curious if someone has had the experience.

 

[pwrmac7600]

I own a bunch of guitars with evertune and I love them. That being said, I once debated doing this to a Les Paul standard. but ultimately in the end chickened out. lol
I would say if you can find a core for the right price to make it worth it, then go for it. Seems lately there are a lot of good deals to be found out there, especially on the early 2000 models.
Obviously, you know already that if you don't like it, it will have most likely killed the resale value for the vast majority of people that would be looking to buy a PRS, but, if ya found that niche buy who was looking for just that you could probably get most of your money back.
I think it will most likely change the feel of the guitar a little, as all of my evertune guitars feel a little different than my non evertune guitars.
But yeah, if you can find one for the right price, I say DO IT!

 

[Deli6505]

I'm probably going to be the lone voice of opposition here but I recently acquired an LTD SH-7ET (Brian Welch Signature Model) that had an Evertune bridge and Fishman Fluence pickups. It was an amazing guitar (aside from the annoying volume knob being placed too close to the bridge pickup) but this is where the happiness ends and the storm clouds appear. I knew from the get-go that being a first time ET user, there was bound to be a bit of a learning curve but it turned out to be a massive struggle for me. Now I can re-string and setup a Floyd Rose in under 20 mins but trying to get the hang of an Evertune bridge really knocked me for a loop. It took me half a day including watching countless YouTube tutorials that never seemed to properly educate me. For those who are not familiar with them, the Evertune bridges operate on a "Zone" scenario with the tuning keys. For example, Zone 1 is the initial tune up to whatever key you wish to set it up in (mine was G#~D#~G#~C#~F#~A#~D#), Zone 2, the pitch will remain the same and when it suddenly changes, that's Zone 3 and then you back it slightly down to pitch so you can do bends and vibrato. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a problem with the high E string because I kept breaking them. I went through about 4 of them before i ran out of them and had to run down to the local music store and bought a $h!tload of single .010s and ended up breaking 3 more before I finally got it somewhat right. Adjusting the intonation and string height proved to be a headache as well. I lived with this guitar for about 2 months and it never stayed it in proper tune despite what the hype would have you believe. I also was not crazy about the Fishman pickups either. They were way more compressed than EMGs to my ears and since I prefer passives anyway, I went back to playing my old PRS SVN and actually preferred that more. Long story short, I went to Motor City Guitar with the LTD and did a straight up trade for a Mark Holcomb SE SVN (2020) model and I have been more than happy with my choice. Anyway, I'm sorry if I may have soured a few of youse on Evertune bridges but I wanted to at least bring a cautionary tale to the table. All my guitar playing buddies were singing it's praises to the nth degree but ultimately, they just weren't for me. Way too complicated and problematic for this old dog.