Major problem with SE 245 - Please Help!

Joe Henry

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Feb 2, 2017
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8
Hello all.

I'm pulling whats left of my hair out with a problem here guys - I hope somebody can shed some light on this.
Changing PUPs on a PRS SE245 - but something is drastically wrong with the neck!

Guitar plays absolutely fine beforehand. I have taken all of the strings off to change out PUPs - strings have been off for about a week as I couldn't get to it all at once. Job now done and putting the strings back on.

The string tension does not pull the neck back into position anymore. Putting tension on the strings - but the strings hit the neck at the first fret they pass and there is a break angle that goes back the way down the neck to the tuners. It seems as though either or some of:

1. The neck angle has shifted as though the neck is coming out of its pocket
2. The neck is so stiff that the string tension isn't enough to pull it into shape
3. Somehow the bridge height has lowered.

I really cannot understand what on earth is going on here because:

1. There is no visible sign of the neck shifting in the pocket - no cracks in the finish or obvious signs of movement.
2. The truss rod was adjusting absolutely fine before and has not been touched in the process (cover was on all the way through.
3. I taped off the bridge so that it wouldn't move during the PUP change.

I am totally stumped by this - never seen anything like it. I need to get some thoughts on this guys and some measurements if anybody can help me with that. Would be very grateful as this guitar has gone form great to absolute nightmare in a very short space of time.

Can anybody give me a photo of what an SE 245 looks like from the top edge - as though you are looking down at the string/neck/pick up rings from the switch edge while playing. Also - can anybody tell me what is the distance from the very end of the fretboard to the body of the guitar if you have one - I need to check to see if this neck has begun to pop out of the body.

Does anybody have a tech support number for PRS (I'm in the UK - I believe that there's a PRS UK but not sure if it does tech support)

Thanks for any help guys - this one has got me completely stumped.
 
First, check the neck bow. Fret at first and last fret, and see what the relief looks like. If there's no relief (while tuned to correct tuning, of course), then you need to adjust the relief with the truss rod.

However, the very first thing I'd do is to let it sit for a day or two tuned up half a step. Or at standard tuning a week.
 
When you say, "the strings hit the neck at the first fret they pass", you're referring to the 22nd fret, not the first fret (by the nut), right?

I would guess the bridge height has lowered. The screw-in posts that hold the bridge can very easily be loosened or tightened when the strings are off. You probably inadvertently tightened them. I do not know off-hand what the correct height should be but I'd bet someone else on this forum does.
 
I second the opinion to let it sit at tension for a few days before doing anything else. Either it will come back to normal, or you have a defective guitar, in which case PRS will replace it (if you bought it new). Making any adjustments before it settles may just throw it off later.
 
Guys - thank you very much indeed for your replies - really appreciate you coming to the rescue.

However - I am delighted to announce that the panic may be over. When I tell you what I've done - you'll see simultaneously what an idiot I am and why I was in such a panic.
During the week that these strings were off - I only went and forgot that this is a TOP WRAP TAILPIECE!!!!!!

I called into a local guitar store to see if they had an SE 245 that I could look at to compare. The great guy there mentioned the top wrap and the penny dropped - thank god.
It had totally and utterly slipped my mind that this was a top wrap. I have not put it back together yet - but this explains everything.

Really sorry to have bothered everyone and thanks very much indeed guys for your inputs.
What an idiot I am!

All the best

Joe
 
Ha! Glad you got it sorted out. You're not the first person to do that.
 
I know I'm late, but hope I'm not too late to help.

What I suggest is this. Stick your strings in the wrong way, pointing down at the end of the guitar instead of up towards the neck. Pull them all the way through, then bend them around over the top of the bridge towards the neck. Then put them in the tuners and tune like normal. If this doesn't work, line the top of the bridge with pennies as this will raise the string height. If this doesn't work, you'll need to raise the action at the other end of the neck as well, so grab a 1/4' dowell rod and put it right by the nut.

If this doesn't work, call Sergio. He won't fix it for you, but he'll send you something to ease the pain! :D

(Glad you got it figured out. Should be a really cool guitar! ENJOY!!!) Oh, and the SE 245 supposedly has some pretty good pickups in them stock. What did you replace them with?
 
Brilliant guys - thanks for your comments. Jeeze I was worried about that - what a relief (excuse the pun) it was when the penny finally dropped.

I've put a set of Bareknuckle Abraxas in - not had a chance to get my ears around them properly yet.
Will report as soon as I have formed an opinion on the BK's.

Cheers again
 
Brilliant guys - thanks for your comments. Jeeze I was worried about that - what a relief (excuse the pun) it was when the penny finally dropped.

I've put a set of Bareknuckle Abraxas in - not had a chance to get my ears around them properly yet.
Will report as soon as I have formed an opinion on the BK's.

Cheers again

I've got them in my SE Bernie Marsden. Love them!
 
You seem to suffer from the same medical condition that I do. I believe the technical name for it is "Cranial Rectitis". Seems to happen to me at least two or three times a week. Glad you got it figured out and got your guitar back together....
 
I've put a set of Bareknuckle Abraxas in - not had a chance to get my ears around them properly yet.
Will report as soon as I have formed an opinion on the BK's.

Cheers again

I hope that they work out for you. I think that it is good that you are taking your time to evaluate them. Sometimes when I swap out pickups the difference can be noticeably considerable immediately, for better or worse. Other times the change is not so evident and I might question why I spent the time and money. I find that it is only when I quit going through each permutation of the selector switch/pots and get my head out of expecting to hear something widely different and just play normally, that their true character will become clear.
 
Been there, done that. No t-shirt to show for it, though. Looking forward to hearing about the Abraxas pups.
 
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