Help with CE 24 semi hollow tuning stability...

[johnguitartoday]

I bought one, but it is the least stable guitar I've ever owned as far as staying in tune.
I've taken it to a couple of repair people and they were surprised that such a "high end" instrument would be so hard to keep in tune.

I've tried... new strings and very hard stretching of each set.
I've tried lubricating the nut with graphite.
The most recent repair person widened the nut slots a bit and it didn't help.
Also, mentioned that the PRS tuners are not so great... maybe replace them?

Just for an example, if I bend the note D, (7th fret) on the third string up a minor third and release it, the string detunes to about 30 cents flat.
I can get it close to back to normal if I wiggle the whammy bar a couple of times.

I'm assuming this isn't normal for this guitar.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Stephen J.]

Could be the bridge is not properly seated on the knife edge slots of the screws or the locking screws on your tuners are not tight enough. I would think that either of those would be spotted by the people who have already looked at it.

 

[rpoce24]

Surprised, mine is super stable. I can not play it for days and pick it up and it is in tune. My LP on the other hand.

 

[dogrocketp]

If it hasn’t been abused, there’s nothing wrong with the tuners. That’s just an excuse. If it’s a new guitar, send it back to the factory. My old 2003 CE24 wouldn’t stay in tune no matter what (bought used). Turns out that the trem claw was mounted incorrectly. I had that fixed, and no problems since. I don’t know where you are, but PM me if you’re in the DMV. PRS are notorious for STAYING in tune. Also, is your trem parallel to the guitar body? If it is not, that’s the problem.

 

[johnguitartoday]

Thanks for the replies.
It is a new guitar, so I can still return it.
The problem is that I've been playing it for hours and love the feel and sound.
Not to mention the beauty of it.
The tuning issue makes it a deal breaker.
Found one more repair place to check it out next week.
Wish me luck.

 

[24Semi]

Just curious, did you get the tuning issue sorted out?

 

[johnguitartoday]

Thanks for asking.
The repair guy did numerous tweaks on the bridge and some nut work.
It is much better.
I wouldn't take it to a gig, but it is now functional as a practice guitar.
I think I'm going to keep it because it inspires me and sounds great.

 

[ViggoP]

Thanks for asking.
The repair guy did numerous tweaks on the bridge and some nut work.
It is much better.
I wouldn't take it to a gig, but it is now functional as a practice guitar.
I think I'm going to keep it because it inspires me and sounds great.

You should really take it to another tech. There is always a reason a guitar doesn’t stay in tune. And there is always a way to fix the problem. The hard part is usually to find the problem and if your tech can’t do that, you should try somebody else. Once you know what the problem is, it should be easy to fix. It might be a faulty tuner, a nut that isn’t cut correctly, some kind of problem at the bridge (saddles, trem, bridge screws etc) or maybe something else but there is a reason (or sometimes several reasons) a guitar doesn’t stay in tune and it can always be fixed.

 

[24Semi]

I'd second what ViggoP said. A second set of eyes can never hurt.