How to Lower Action on SE Cu24 ?

[Woodfin]

Replaced the nut on my SE Cu24 with tusq. That went well after a LOT (!!!) of sanding the nut down. Judging from the PRS specs they released (at bottom), I have the string heights at the correct height near the nut, but more than double that height near the 12th fret.

So I've done a lot of research on this, trying to learn. It seems like the only answer is : check the neck relief. I can guarantee that's not the problem - there is about zero bow in the neck; can barely pass a piece of paper under the strings at 7th or 8th frets when holding down 1st and last frets.

I cranked the truss rod the other way (towards treble) just to see if I was misunderstanding something,
and that made the problem much worse, so I returned the truss rod setting.

I changed the string gauge to .10s, but that shouldn't matter, right ?

I've learned to definitely not mess with the screws on the bridge.

At this point I figure if I'm going to haul it in to a tech for a set-up I ought to at least mess things up some more, trying to learn something.

Any advice please? Thanks

• Bass side string height 1st fret: 1.5/64”
• Treble side string height 1st fret: 1/64”
• Bass-side string height at 12th fret: 2.5/32”
• Treble-side string height at 12th fret: 2/32"

 

[Woodfin]

No replies. I guess I'm screwed on this, LOL.

Makes very little sense to me; I've got the nut sanded down to where the action at the first fret feels good and is EXACTLY where the PRS specs say it should be......and the action at the 12th is now about exactly DOUBLE what their specs say it should be. Incidentally, the action on the 1st fret is the same as it was with the old nut I replaced. So how does this make sense; a new nut sanded to approximately the SAME level as the old one greatly increases the action way up the fretboard?

I guess I can go Zoolander monkey and spend some more time cranking the truss rod back and forth, maxing it in each direction to see if anything changes.

The closest thing I can find to any guidance on this anywhere is this video called "Adjusting Your Action - Tips from the Tech Center - PRS Guitars."

The tech, Skitchy, talks about adjusting the action at the saddle at the 1:25 mark, and references adjusting the "two screws on the saddle." However, my guitar doesn't have these two screws, it has six. And they're so tight as to have the saddle perfectly flush on the left side (closest to the headstock.) Skitchy apparently felt like the video would be better if he did NOT use the camera to show these two screws (or how this is done). I guess that would have been difficult to briefly reposition the guitar or camera on a tutorial video. Thanks, Skitchy - super helpful !!!!

Maybe I can call PRS on Monday before I squander some money on a setup. I guess the joke's on me for trying to learn this simple set-up operation.

 

[Wakester]

Listen to Skitchy, he is one of the best.

 

[bodia]

This is a good video on setup.

 

[Draconomics]

My dos pesos...

So, on the string guage...it wont affect your ability to have a nice action with 10s as oppose to anything else, but the thing to keep in mind is bigger strings need more room to vibrate. Its my rule of thumb that if you want big strings, you may need to raise action a hair.

The figures you had for action are reasonable and pretty much PRS spec. I have never gotten a guitar to play without any choking with action lower than 3/64" on the treble side and 4/64" bass. I would need to know what it is now to figure out how bad the problem is.

Btw, the nut will affect action....very, nominally. It pretty much only dictates action around the first several frets, and thats it. I'm wagering a guess too that the new strings are placing more tension on the bridge, pulling it up and the action along with it. If you are going from a lighter to heavier set, the trem claw will need adjusting.

Two thing to not do are: mess with the bridge screws and the truss rod, if your goal is to affect action. Typically when you adjust two post bridges, we are talking about floyds...typically. Some strat bridges are like this too. PRS bridge action adjustments are done at the saddles. The only reason I mess with the bridge screws is if I want more "float" on the trem.

Truss rod should never be used for action adjustments. Its sole purpose is to fight string tension. Ergo, the strings want to make the neck into a banana, the truss rod tensions in the opposite direction, maintaining a straight(ish) neck. You want just a small amount of relief at the 8th fret, between .005-.010" when you capo the first and depress at the last fret. I cant stress enough, do not go zoolander on the truss rod! You could do some irreversible damage!

 

[Woodfin]

My dos pesos...

So, on the string guage...it wont affect your ability to have a nice action with 10s as oppose to anything else, but the thing to keep in mind is bigger strings need more room to vibrate. Its my rule of thumb that if you want big strings, you may need to raise action a hair.

The figures you had for action are reasonable and pretty much PRS spec. I have never gotten a guitar to play without any choking with action lower than 3/64" on the treble side and 4/64" bass. I would need to know what it is now to figure out how bad the problem is.

Btw, the nut will affect action....very, nominally. It pretty much only dictates action around the first several frets, and thats it. I'm wagering a guess too that the new strings are placing more tension on the bridge, pulling it up and the action along with it. If you are going from a lighter to heavier set, the trem claw will need adjusting.

Two thing to not do are: mess with the bridge screws and the truss rod, if your goal is to affect action. Typically when you adjust two post bridges, we are talking about floyds...typically. Some strat bridges are like this too. PRS bridge action adjustments are done at the saddles. The only reason I mess with the bridge screws is if I want more "float" on the trem.

Truss rod should never be used for action adjustments. Its sole purpose is to fight string tension. Ergo, the strings want to make the neck into a banana, the truss rod tensions in the opposite direction, maintaining a straight(ish) neck. You want just a small amount of relief at the 8th fret, between .005-.010" when you capo the first and depress at the last fret. I cant stress enough, do not go zoolander on the truss rod! You could do some irreversible damage!

Thanks for the reply. All of this makes sense. Much of this is what I've recently learned by reading up in other places too.

You had asked : the action on the 12th fret is about 7.5/64ths and 7/64ths on the bass/treble strings. I still can't figure out how to get it lower. It's a meat-grinder. On the first fret it's right on the specs - somewhere around 1.5/64ths on each string.


I'm just putting it all aside for a while, bond with the Les Paul for a while.

Maybe the next move is to put the old nut back on, maybe put .09 strings back on, see what it looks like. I know that doesn't seem to make sense, but none of it really does. Cough up some dough for a set-up, I guess...




thanks again

 

[Draconomics]

Thanks for the reply. All of this makes sense. Much of this is what I've recently learned by reading up in other places too.

You had asked : the action on the 12th fret is about 7.5/64ths and 7/64ths on the bass/treble strings. I still can't figure out how to get it lower. It's a meat-grinder. On the first fret it's right on the specs - somewhere around 1.5/64ths on each string.


I'm just putting it all aside for a while, bond with the Les Paul for a while.

Maybe the next move is to put the old nut back on, maybe put .09 strings back on, see what it looks like. I know that doesn't seem to make sense, but none of it really does. Cough up some dough for a set-up, I guess...




thanks again

Right, so...7/64 is hot caca. I had a hunch that your axe was setup with 9s, as pretty much any factory setup PRS SE will, and is still setup for 9s. Take a look at the trem. She might be pulled up by the extra tension and giving you bad action. Check to see if the trem plate is parallel to the guitar body. If its pointing up, that could be your problem. I wouldnt touch the nut, the 1st fret action amounts look ok. I dont think your problem is there.

Im gonna be a Columbo...just one more thing. On the truss rod, adjust in 1/8 turns max at a time. SE rods are very sensitive, which is a good thing. However, that also means you can do damage easier. Do a turn in the direction you want, then stop. Let the guitar sit for 15-20 min to settle before going at it again.

 

[alex1fly]

I am confused, and maybe this has been solved already. Does your bridge not have adjustable saddles? The standard SE trem bridge has six screws that act as a pivot point for the bridge - don't adjust these screws - and then each saddle has two little hex screws to adjust the height and angle of the saddle. Adjusting the saddle height is what you want for your action, and the saddle angle can be adjusted to dial in your string spacing.

A photo of your bridge may illuminate what needs to happen.

 

[Woodfin]

Thanks for the replies - wanted to get back to those who helped but it took a while.

My problem was that when I added .010 strings, the tension was so much greater that it was pulling the floating bridge a LOT. I needed to adjust the screws for this from the back of the guitar....a LOT.

That lowered the action from the bridge.....but revealed that I had sanded the nut too low, so I needed a new TUSQ nut. Major delivery issues, but great service from SW, and I got that taken care of. After that the video from Cesar on setting up a PRS Cu24 was all the info needed. Took the opportunity to install locking tuners also.

Was a bit of an ordeal, but plays like a dream now.

Thanks very much for all the advice!!