Maxed out Trem Claw?

[littlebadboy]

Hello, everyone!

I have been staying away with tremolo-equipped guitars because of their complexities. However, the PRS bridge design matched with the locking tuners convinced me to try it out again. The system is easiest for me! But I took out 1 spring leaving 2 springs as 3 of them were too tight for my liking. I have already maxed out the screws for the spring claw and the bridge is still just a tiny tad off from being parallel to the body. Is this acceptable? If not, any solutions? Is there a shorter spring claw that I may consider? Anybody else using just 2 springs for the tremolo?

Thanks in advance!

 

[RickP]

The trem needs equal force on both sides to balance in the fulcrum edge. Sometimes, you can actually loosen them by adding a spring. The Silver Sky has 4, for example. It is, very literally, a balancing act!

 

[bodia]

The trem needs equal force on both sides to balance in the fulcrum edge. Sometimes, you can actually loosen them by adding a spring. The Silver Sky has 4, for example. It is, very literally, a balancing act!

Rick speaks the truth

 

[littlebadboy]

Thank you all!

 

[littlebadboy]

It looks like this right now.





If it's too much trouble, I'll just put the 3rd spring on.

 

[Fro]

You need to install a lighter gauge string set if you want lower tension.

 

[DISTORT6]

Does John Mann make a shorter spring?

 

[Broseph]

I would go with 3 springs. One straight and 2 diagonal. No idea why but that’s how I set up my Strats. Did you play at all with the screws that keep the plate down? If they are too tight than it will cause the back to lift up as well.

 

[RickP]

I forgot to mention, when you put the center spring back, move the other 2 to the outer claw hooks. It will slightly lower their tension if they are straight rather than angled. Remember to slacken the claw screws with spring 3 in place.

 

[John Mann]

The bridge is NOT setup correctly.
They come from the PRS factory with 4 springs, which is my preference. You should have a minimum of 3 springs installed. Install them straight from bridge to claw.
The bridge should be parallel, above the body 1/16", unless you want to pull notes sharp by more than 1-1/2 steps.

Check out my install video

FYI... we do not make shorter springs.

 

[littlebadboy]

The bridge is NOT setup correctly.
They come from the PRS factory with 4 springs, which is my preference. You should have a minimum of 3 springs installed. Install them straight from bridge to claw.
The bridge should be parallel, above the body 1/16", unless you want to pull notes sharp by more than 1-1/2 steps.

Check out my install video

FYI... we do not make shorter springs.

Thank you, sir. The bridge is actually one of yours. It's a PRS/Mann. It's an excellent piece.

 

[Rider1260]

something to remember about springs is the more tension that is on them to start the more it will take to move them, ( Springs are progressive ) by adding springs the trem will get easier to use I had an SCT that I had all 5 springs in and it was killer easy , I run 4 springs in all my PRS at the moment.

 

[swede71]

I use 2 springs with 9s on my DGT.I wanted my tremolo to feel softer so i started with 3 raw vintage springs.Worked great but still wasn’t 100 percent satisfied with the feel of it.After trying the Vega trem (with 2 springs) on my strat i was amazed with the feel of that system so i took the medium tension springs from that package and tried it on my DGT and it feels great.I also tried the soft tension Vegatrem springs but ended up like you with a maxed out tremclaw and bridge tilting forward.What string gauge are you using?

 

[littlebadboy]

I use 2 springs with 9s on my DGT.I wanted my tremolo to feel softer so i started with 3 raw vintage springs.Worked great but still wasn’t 100 percent satisfied with the feel of it.After trying the Vega trem (with 2 springs) on my strat i was amazed with the feel of that system so i took the medium tension springs from that package and tried it on my DGT and it feels great.I also tried the soft tension Vegatrem springs but ended up like you with a maxed out tremclaw and bridge tilting forward.What string gauge are you using?

I am using 10s with a 56 on the 6th coz I always tune to drop D. I am considering using the same gauge and tune down to drop c.

 

[swede71]

PRS springs are soft.You have too much stringtension if you want the bridge parallel above the body.There’s nothing wrong having the bridge tilting forward as in your pictures.If it works it works!So if you want to setup bridge with your string gauge as PRS recommends you need springs with more tension.As an experiment you can try tuning down a half step.Check out fu-tone for information about how to tune a floating bridge with the springs.Perhaps they also have the springs you need for a 2 spring setup.

 

[cjlloyd]

The relationship between the extension of a spring and the force applied to it is perfectly linear within the spring's elastic limit. As such, your theory that using fewer springs would yield a "looser" feeling action is correct; the fewer springs you have, the smaller the force required at the trem arm to move the bridge through a given angle. If you could find springs which are shorter but with the same spring constant, then you would achieve the effect you're after. Finding them would be the hard bit though.