Intonating Singlecut Wraparound With Thinner Gauge Strings

A

Adam Read

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Oct 24, 2020
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Hey Guys,

I wanted to run 9-42 on my 06 Singlecut but there is not enough adjustment to intonate.

Put the 10’s back on which intonate fine, and there is less than one full turn of the grubscrews left for adjustment (just to give you an idea of how close it is to running out of travel stock)

Is there another bridge I can buy to intonate the 9’s or is there some thing I am missing here ?

Thanks in advance
 
9's will intonate fine. That was the stock gauge for many years.

Less than one full turn in which direction? Towards neck, or away? I'm guessing someone adjusted it too far in one direction or the other.

As a starting point, I use a tape measure and from inside of nut to saddle I set the low E at 25 1/8" and the high E at 25". Adjust forward or back from there as needed.

Always a good reference: https://www.prsguitars.com/index.php/support/article/prs_stoptail
 
garrett said:
9's will intonate fine. That was the stock gauge for many years.

Less than one full turn in which direction? Towards neck, or away? I'm guessing someone adjusted it too far in one direction or the other.

As a starting point, I use a tape measure and from inside of nut to saddle I set the low E at 25 1/8" and the high E at 25". Adjust forward or back from there as needed.

Always a good reference: https://www.prsguitars.com/index.php/support/article/prs_stoptail
Click to expand...

They will not intonate fine on this guitar. There is no travel left. The bridge needs to go further toward the neck, but it can't as the screws have been backed off all the way already. The screws aren't even engaged anymore, the bridge material itself is touching the posts. It literally can't go any further unless you start machining material out of the bridge slots.

To help you understand the problem, this guitar as it is has a lot of room to intonate bigger sets of strings, but no room to accommodate smaller sets of strings than 10's.
 
Must be that guitar. I have 9s on all of my wrap tail PRS (5) and don’t have problems with intonation on any of them. I did have problems with a set of 7s and the wrap tail piece. I had to install the adjustable saddle bridge. Problem solved.
 
Adam Read said:
They will not intonate fine on this guitar. There is no travel left. The bridge needs to go further toward the neck, but it can't as the screws have been backed off all the way already. The screws aren't even engaged anymore, the bridge material itself is touching the posts. It literally can't go any further unless you start machining material out of the bridge slots.

To help you understand the problem, this guitar as it is has a lot of room to intonate bigger sets of strings, but no room to accommodate smaller sets of strings than 10's.
Click to expand...

Then give my suggestion a shot. It left the factory in 2006 intonated with a set of 9's on it.

My One was like your guitar when I got it (used), bridge almost all the way forward. Moved it back considerably to get it intonated.

FWIW actual string length on my One is 25 3/16" low E and 25" high E. As set by a pro who does fantastic setups.
 
garrett said:
Then give my suggestion a shot. It left the factory in 2006 intonated with a set of 9's on it.

My One was like your guitar when I got it (used), bridge almost all the way forward. Moved it back considerably to get it intonated.

FWIW actual string length on my One is 25 3/16" low E and 25" high E. As set by a pro who does fantastic setups.
Click to expand...
 
I don’t think you’re understanding my issue man. My bridge needs to move toward the nut, there is no adjustment left. The grub screws are loose, meaning that the bridge is resting on the studs.
 
Adam Read said:
I don’t think you’re understanding my issue man. My bridge needs to move toward the nut, there is no adjustment left. The grub screws are loose, meaning that the bridge is resting on the studs.
Click to expand...

I understand perfectly. If you go too far forward it won't intonate. Period. I learned this the hard way on an adjustable bridge guitar a long time ago.

In the case of my One, I moved the bridge BACK about 1/16" from where the previous owner had it. That's a looong way in terms of setting intonation.

Did you measure actual string length yet? That's step 1.

If you're determined to throw money at the issue, take it to a skilled tech to sort it for you. Or, I wouldn't talk you out of a Schroeder, MannMade USA, or PRS adjustable unit. They're all very nice.
 
garrett said:
I understand perfectly. If you go too far forward it won't intonate. Period. I learned this the hard way on an adjustable bridge guitar a long time ago.

In the case of my One, I moved the bridge BACK about 1/16" from where the previous owner had it. That's a looong way in terms of setting intonation.

Did you measure actual string length yet? That's step 1.

If you're determined to throw money at the issue, take it to a skilled tech to sort it for you. Or, I wouldn't talk you out of a Schroeder, MannMade USA, or PRS adjustable unit. They're all very nice.[
Click to expand...

How can I move a bridge that has no adjustment left ? Moving the studs is not something I’m comfortable doing. I wouldn’t mind putting on a bridge with adjustable saddles, and I think that’s my only ticket out short of moving the bridge posts.
 
Adam Read said:
How can I move a bridge that has no adjustment left ? Moving the studs is not something I’m comfortable doing. I wouldn’t mind putting on a bridge with adjustable saddles, and I think that’s my only ticket out short of moving the bridge posts.
Click to expand...
What Garrett is saying is move the bridge out, farther back, and start from there. He is speaking from personal experience since he had an issue just like yours.
 
I agree with Garrett on this one !!!
I have worked on several guitars that folks said could not be intonated.
I would ( and have ) run the guitar thru its full travel and found a spot where the guitar would intonate fine ( perfectly ) I have had guitars that would intonate in two places on some strings.
Franky one of the hardest guitars for me was a 594 that ended up intonating in a really funny looking spot.
Couple of things I have found with the PRS wrap bridge.
I have had the best luck and lowest action keeping the studs very close to level with each other.
Check that there isn't any of the wrapping from the ball end interfering with the string over the bridge, when over wrapping on some LPs I have worked on I used an extra ball end so the wraps did not get on top of the tail piece.
If all else fails contact PTC for some advice or Get a Mann Made adjustable bridge
Best of luck.
 
Thanks for your replies guys. I will measure with a tape to begin with and then try winding the bridge back before starting. It doesn't make sense to me but hey I will give it a go. Thanks again.
 
A good quality steel rule will serve you better than a tape for accurate measurements.

This video may be of some help.

Apologies if I’m telling you what you already know.

 
Alnus Rubra said:
A good quality steel rule will serve you better than a tape for accurate measurements.

This video may be of some help.

Apologies if I’m telling you what you already know.

Click to expand...

I don’t have a steel rule of that length otherwise I would give that a go. Makes sense. Thanks for the tip. This is the first guitar i have had with a fixed bridge. I have a Gibson Les Paul and a Fender Strat as well that obviously intonate easily with the adjustable saddles. I have never measured anything before as those guitars are easy to intonate without having to measure.

Measuring tapes are pretty accurate if you start on a line instead of using the end, which is what I will do.
 
Adam Read said:
I don’t have a steel rule of that length otherwise I would give that a go. Makes sense. Thanks for the tip. This is the first guitar i have had with a fixed bridge. I have a Gibson Les Paul and a Fender Strat as well that obviously intonate easily with the adjustable saddles. I have never measured anything before as those guitars are easy to intonate without having to measure.

Measuring tapes are pretty accurate if you start on a line instead of using the end, which is what I will do.
Click to expand...

Hope all goes well.
 
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