Floating trem lower on treble side

[guitarguyvic]

Hello,

New to the forum and hoping someone can help me with this issue that cropped up for me after adjusting my floating trem bridge. Here's the story:

So recently I've gotten into learning in greater detail how to set up my own guitar. I decided to give my PRS SE EG a look and one of the things I noticed was that the bridge looked like it was floating too high off the body. My intuition was right because when I measured it it was much higher than 1/16" off the body as the PRS specs specify it should be. So I put into practice everything I learned up to that point - removed the strings, adjusted the six brass screws carefully so that the notches were in correct position and as even with each other as possible, made a 1/16" thick wedge with business cards to ensure I tightened the springs in the back appropriately, etc. Well everything looked great at first...until I noticed that for some reason while the bass side of the bridge is floating parallel 1/16" off the body, the treble side is significantly closer to the body.

Does anyone know what might be causing this? Did I not set the six screws properly (even though they appear to be level with each other as needed)? Did I damage something? Any help I can get to figure out what's wrong or how to fix it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[kipkohl]

Is it possible the knife edge isn't in the screw pockets correctly?

 

[guitarguyvic]

Is it possible the knife edge isn't in the screw pockets correctly?

I've considered this but it seems like it's correct just eyeballing it. How can I know for sure?

 

[Wakester]

It looks to me as though the trem screws are definitely too low on the treble side. There is a uphill slant in the screw heads, as though it was done intentionally. The screw heads should all be the same height off the body for the trem to work properly.

 

[Rider1260]

I don't think anything is damaged the bridge is actually pretty tough to hurt.
Your screws are not level. when correct your saddles will have a nice 10" radius ( I gauge is nice to check with but not 100% needed )
Take off the strings , remove the trem springs , set the bridge on the body , measure between bridge and screw head with 2.5mm allen key.
put on springs , line up bridge with grooves , put shim between back of trem and body , string guitar , reset saddle height.
Tune , adjust trem springs , tune repeat then jam on.

 

[gush]

This is really odd. I can see your bass side saddles are set really high and treble side saddles are set low to compensate for trem not being set correctly.

If it were me, I'd order new trem screws because it didn't come from the factory that way so somebody did that and probably set it that way under tension.

I also see the trem screws aren't set so knife edge is iin groove on screws. I'd bet trem screws have some damage that will keep trem from working properly.

 

[guitarguyvic]

So I basically started over...removed the strings and the springs and followed the steps in the video posted above. It turned out more level than before, but it still was lower on one side. I decided to loosen the treble side screws only a bit at a time (that’s the side that was closer to the body) and that worked...the bridge is perfectly parallel and straight to the body now. The thing that throws me off is that the screws themselves don’t look like they are all at the same height, as everyone says they should be. Or maybe it’s just my eyes deceiving me?

Either way the bridge looks right now. And I don’t think the knife edge is misaligned with the screw grooves. The Trem seems to work properly, no weird sounds and it’s smooth. I do have some tuning issues, although I have that even when I just bend the strings excessively. Not sure if that’s a known issue with this model?

Someone mentioned that the saddle on the bass strings is high. I set them that way because after I lowered the bridge to the manufacturer suggested height of a 1/4” the action became way too low. The way the saddle is set up how the action is set right. Even now that I’ve straightened the bridge the bass string saddles have to be set high in order for the action to be right. I suppose maybe I put the bridge too low but as I said I put it at manufacturer’s setting. Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

Thanks for the help everyone. I’ll post an updated pic when I have a chance.

 

[scott_]

Sounds like you mostly fixed it. My recommendation: get a $10 action gauge, disconnect the trem springs, adjust 6 bridge screens to factory specs. The bridge should float all around at about 1/16" inch or 1.6mm from the body. Sometimes I use a penny, which is 1/16 to check my bridge height in areas where I cannot fit a gauge. Once you have the 6 screws perfect, never touch them again. Also, I solved some tuning instability issues by using NYXL strings, factory gauge or lighter. Good luck.

 

[Maxime Bousquet]

Hello,

New to the forum and hoping someone can help me with this issue that cropped up for me after adjusting my floating trem bridge. Here's the story:

So recently I've gotten into learning in greater detail how to set up my own guitar. I decided to give my PRS SE EG a look and one of the things I noticed was that the bridge looked like it was floating too high off the body. My intuition was right because when I measured it it was much higher than 1/16" off the body as the PRS specs specify it should be. So I put into practice everything I learned up to that point - removed the strings, adjusted the six brass screws carefully so that the notches were in correct position and as even with each other as possible, made a 1/16" thick wedge with business cards to ensure I tightened the springs in the back appropriately, etc. Well everything looked great at first...until I noticed that for some reason while the bass side of the bridge is floating parallel 1/16" off the body, the treble side is significantly closer to the body.

Does anyone know what might be causing this? Did I not set the six screws properly (even though they appear to be level with each other as needed)? Did I damage something? Any help I can get to figure out what's wrong or how to fix it would be greatly appreciated.

So I basically started over...removed the strings and the springs and followed the steps in the video posted above. It turned out more level than before, but it still was lower on one side. I decided to loosen the treble side screws only a bit at a time (that’s the side that was closer to the body) and that worked...the bridge is perfectly parallel and straight to the body now. The thing that throws me off is that the screws themselves don’t look like they are all at the same height, as everyone says they should be. Or maybe it’s just my eyes deceiving me?

Either way the bridge looks right now. And I don’t think the knife edge is misaligned with the screw grooves. The Trem seems to work properly, no weird sounds and it’s smooth. I do have some tuning issues, although I have that even when I just bend the strings excessively. Not sure if that’s a known issue with this model?

Someone mentioned that the saddle on the bass strings is high. I set them that way because after I lowered the bridge to the manufacturer suggested height of a 1/4” the action became way too low. The way the saddle is set up how the action is set right. Even now that I’ve straightened the bridge the bass string saddles have to be set high in order for the action to be right. I suppose maybe I put the bridge too low but as I said I put it at manufacturer’s setting. Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

Thanks for the help everyone. I’ll post an updated pic when I have a chance.

Hi ! just visually the screws are not level!! if your tremolo is well at 1 1/6 on the bass side try to find a template to reproduce the same distance under the head of the screw to the body, after a straight piece that is narrow enough to go between the two inner sides of the trem but long enough to sit on all the screws! you see what I mean! and check the slightest deviation !! good luck!