Help with my PS CU24 Trem

[Alessandro]

Ya and on my 2nd look at it I also don’t see it touching so if that’s your worry I don’t see it causing damage except maybe to the knife edge over time at the angle it’s in. The bridge is designed to sit parallel no doubt.

 

[Deadgrateful]

Ya and on my 2nd look at it I also don’t see it touching so if that’s your worry I don’t see it causing damage except maybe to the knife edge over time at the angle it’s in. The bridge is designed to sit parallel no doubt.

So, as long as the bridge doesn’t touch the top (say 0.25mm above) and the back is lowered to be parallel, it should all be ok?

 

[JasonE]

Cool, I’ll definitely level it out then. My goal is to have a playable action without the front of the trem rubbing the top which it seems to be at the moment!

I typically set mine to .050" (50 thousandths of an inch) at the 12 fret with about .005 (5 thousandths of an inch) of neck relief and tweak from there. I have only had to adjust the pivot screws on one of my trem PRS models. I have adjusted a decent number of them for other people to get the action where they wanted it. Like I said, it is a delicate thing but very doable to get it adjusted to where you will like it.

 

[JasonE]

So, as long as the bridge doesn’t touch the top (say 0.25mm above) and the back is lowered to be parallel, it should all be ok?

Yep.

 

[Deadgrateful]

I typically set mine to .050" (50 thousandths of an inch) at the 12 fret with about .005 (5 thousandths of an inch) of neck relief and tweak from there. I have only had to adjust the pivot screws on one of my trem PRS models. I have adjusted a decent number of them for other people to get the action where they wanted it. Like I said, it is a delicate thing but very doable to get it adjusted to where you will like it.

That’s pretty much how I like the action on most of my guitars (PRS and Gibson at least).
I’ve followed all the advice given here by yourself and others (very helpful so thank you!) and have raised the trem slightly so it’s about 1mm off the top of the guitar at the front, and is parallel with the strings at the back. With the saddles decked down, this gets me to about 1.5mm at the 12th and slightly higher at the 17th. I’d like it a margin lower (not a problem on my other PRS) but it’s not possible without either decking the trem or shaving the saddles… bit of a shame considering this is supposed to be the cream of the crop.

This is still a way off factory specs but is playable at least. I wonder if saddle heights varied over the years. A set of slightly thinner saddles does seem like a good solution, unless I’m missing something.

 

[MWebster]

One thing to note is the PRS PTC mentions now that the bridge should parallel with the strings. Not the body. So when I got my 10 top it actually came with the bridge in line with the strings but it was well off the body and I could whammy to my heart's content. I'm really confused with what's going on there good sir.

 

[MWebster]

From my observations of your photos that looks too close at the front. More than I would be comfortable with.. like you said. Should be perfection. I know you've probably paid a pretty penny for it but if you're continually stumped by it and not wanting to do hand to hand combat on an instrument that blingy to maybe get it right. Look at boxing it up and sending it to the PTC, noting your concerns and get a full setup. That guitar deserves nothing less. It should be perfect.

 

[Glide-bpm]

Definitely don't want a slightly diving tremolo (back kicked up)!

Level makes for a much better behaved and in tune tremolo system!

 

[Deadgrateful]

Does anyone know if the MannMade saddles are exactly the same thickness than the gen 2 PRS ones? If they were a little thinner that would solve the problem. I’ve got the trem floating nicely now but would like another 0.25mm lower action And it’s not achievable currently

 

[Alessandro]

Does anyone know if the MannMade saddles are exactly the same thickness than the gen 2 PRS ones? If they were a little thinner that would solve the problem. I’ve got the trem floating nicely now but would like another 0.25mm lower action And it’s not achievable currently

Not sure about the Mann saddles but you should reach out to him by email he might be able to steer you to what you want.

Technically only the saddles for the e strings need to be reduced a bit because of the radius the others should be able to come down some more. Couldn’t be too difficult to take a mm off the bottom of 2 saddles. Worst case you can always order more of those.

 

[JasonE]

That’s pretty much how I like the action on most of my guitars (PRS and Gibson at least).
I’ve followed all the advice given here by yourself and others (very helpful so thank you!) and have raised the trem slightly so it’s about 1mm off the top of the guitar at the front, and is parallel with the strings at the back. With the saddles decked down, this gets me to about 1.5mm at the 12th and slightly higher at the 17th. I’d like it a margin lower (not a problem on my other PRS) but it’s not possible without either decking the trem or shaving the saddles… bit of a shame considering this is supposed to be the cream of the crop.

This is still a way off factory specs but is playable at least. I wonder if saddle heights varied over the years. A set of slightly thinner saddles does seem like a good solution, unless I’m missing something.

If you are not getting string buzz from it try tweaking the truss rod a little bit to straighten the neck a little more. That will bring it down some. Since you are close go a little at a time. Depending on how hard you pick, you could run it pretty much straight.

Does anyone know if the MannMade saddles are exactly the same thickness than the gen 2 PRS ones? If they were a little thinner that would solve the problem. I’ve got the trem floating nicely now but would like another 0.25mm lower action And it’s not achievable currently

John is on here and he is pretty responsive to emails from his web site.

 

[frankencat]

From the pics that bridge does not look like it’s sitting correctly. I wouldn’t go messing around with the 6 studs unless you are certain you know how to adjust them - it is not like other guitars. Also you can also damage the knife edges if you adjust it under tension. I normally set these bridges up with no tension from the strings or springs.

That said…
One thing i have seen happen is that sometimes the bridge will jump off of the detents and slide down slightly on the studs. This sometimes will happen when you take all of the strings off and maybe you flip the guitar over and rest it on it’s face for some reason like cleaning etc. You can check this by giving a tug upwards on the bridge and it should make a pop sound as it slides back into the detents. You could also loosen the strings and do the same thing without the string tension, this is probably the better way, just make sure it stays in the groove/detent (it should) while you tune it up.

if all else fails find yourself a good local tech or luthier who has experience with PRS guitars, this should be a simole fix for an experienced person. There are plenty of us around and outside of that, as has already been said, you can always send it back home to papa.

 

[Deadgrateful]

From the pics that bridge does not look like it’s sitting correctly. I wouldn’t go messing around with the 6 studs unless you are certain you know how to adjust them - it is not like other guitars. Also you can also damage the knife edges if you adjust it under tension. I normally set these bridges up with no tension from the strings or springs.

That said…
One thing i have seen happen is that sometimes the bridge will jump off of the detents and slide down slightly on the studs. This sometimes will happen when you take all of the strings off and maybe you flip the guitar over and rest it on it’s face for some reason like cleaning etc. You can check this by giving a tug upwards on the bridge and it should make a pop sound as it slides back into the detents. You could also loosen the strings and do the same thing without the string tension, this is probably the better way, just make sure it stays in the groove/detent (it should) while you tune it up.

if all else fails find yourself a good local tech or luthier who has experience with PRS guitars, this should be a simole fix for an experienced person. There are plenty of us around and outside of that, as has already been said, you can always send it back home to papa.

I think it's just the bridge sitting so far up at the back making it look like it's not seated correctly. It's now raised up about 0.85mm from the guitar top and sitting parallel to the strings. Works fine but there is definitely limited adjustability. If I want to lower the action at this point, I'd need to shave some saddles. Will see what PRS thinks from my pics and I'm going to get in touch with John Mann to see if his saddles might help.