New Cu24 WL feels stiff

[316ms]

I apologize if this has been covered numerous times, got brand new guitar last week, I can not for the life of me understand why the guitar feels so stiff. The trem seems to sit somewhat level with the body( space between p/us portion) checked the nut, checked the relief. It's not dead straight but its decent. .007 at the 8th fret. Someone I believe purchased the guitar and then returned it. Had some odd wraps around the pegs when none are needed. Also had the thumbnail screws torqued into submission. I've always been able to look them with my hands. No tools needed. The high E and B string I use a t shirt to support my grip when tightening and always hold perfectly. So I am concerned maybe someone jacked up the set up possibly..I know the guitar didnt leave prs with the strings wrapped around the pegs, and if the dealer had a tech donut and he just made a mistake until he realized he did it wrong and correctly did the other 4 strings, maybe. But why it would be sent out to a customer like this is trying to put it mildly. I just want the guitar to play as it should, its brand new and wasnt cheap. I've owned prs cu24s since 1994 so I am familiar with the feel. Possibly this is just one that's tougher to take. No 2 guitars will feel the exact same but I am not convinced it should feel this stiff. Any advice /help is greatly appreciated... I've watched all the vids in set ups and searched thr forums for any advice research on stiif feeling set ups. Its stiffer than my tele which is 25.5 scale. All same string same brand..helppp

 

[toothace]

Contact your dealer

 

[316ms]

Contact your dealer

Not to sound smart.. what is a dealer going to do besides have me return the guitar and he have it set up correctly, if they even know what that is. Or maybe he/they spot damage and fix it or compensate with another guitar? I'm not convinced they would anything other than accept a return. As u are thinking, dont except a faulty nee guitar.. I agree 100% but I am not certain it is faulty.. why risk it I guess.. thanks for your reply sir...

 

[garrettb]

Not to sound smart.. what is a dealer going to do besides have me return the guitar and he have it set up correctly, if they even know what that is. Or maybe he/they spot damage and fix it or compensate with another guitar? I'm not convinced they would anything other than accept a return. As u are thinking, dont except a faulty nee guitar.. I agree 100% but I am not certain it is faulty.. why risk it I guess.. thanks for your reply sir...

You got three things going on:

1. "Someone I believe purchased the guitar and then returned it."

2. "So I am concerned maybe someone jacked up the set up possibly."

3. "Had some odd wraps around the pegs when none are needed."

"I know the guitar didnt leave prs with the strings wrapped around the pegs, and if the dealer had a tech donut and he just made a mistake until he realized he did it wrong and correctly did the other 4 strings, maybe. But why it would be sent out to a customer like this is trying to put it mildly."​

These are all dealer issues and it is their responsibility to make it right. If you don't have confidence in the dealer, return it and move on to a better dealer. There are plenty of GREAT dealers out there who give every guitar top of the line treatment.

 

[316ms]

You got three things going on:

1. "Someone I believe purchased the guitar and then returned it."

2. "So I am concerned maybe someone jacked up the set up possibly."

3. "Had some odd wraps around the pegs when none are needed."

"I know the guitar didnt leave prs with the strings wrapped around the pegs, and if the dealer had a tech donut and he just made a mistake until he realized he did it wrong and correctly did the other 4 strings, maybe. But why it would be sent out to a customer like this is trying to put it mildly."​

These are all dealer issues and it is their responsibility to make it right. If you don't have confidence in the dealer, return it and move on to a better dealer. There are plenty of GREAT dealers out there who give every guitar top of the line treatment.

Thanks, I wouldn't disagree with your thoughts. Maybe that's the best option. I will try PRS CS and see what they suggest as well.

 

[toothace]

Thanks, I wouldn't disagree with your thoughts. Maybe that's the best option. I will try PRS CS and see what they suggest as well.

Bet you a dollar they say contact your dealer.



Just sayin'...

 

[toothace]

That's exactly the kind of knowledge I was looking for, man you are are helpful. Funny they responded and asked for a couple of photographs of the bridge from different angles. Of course if dealers knew more about properly setting up prs guitars than prs support does maybe they would have a gamebeling department instead of customer support and technical support. Do you understand why those departments exist? Those are jobs for people at a corporation to actually do. Nice trolling bud

Sorry dude...we get a lot of first posts here that are " I got a PRS and I think it's broke..." Instead of contacting where they bought the guitar from they jump on here and start griping about it. So I guess I'm guilty of profiling as well as trolling. My bad. I hope you get your issues sorted out.


As a footnote, pics or you bought a Hello Kitty.

 

[316ms]

No worries man, yea I know what ya mean about people ranting instead of researching a little bit 1st. Honestly to justify your response I wanted to contact the dealer and say hey this guitar isn't right" but that means I send it back and they fix it and send it back or another guitar or I go elsewhere and possibly have another blemish of sort. Honestly it's best to play the guitar before purchasing but a gazillion online dealers and hardly any local sales prs except for used it's hard to find the perfect sale. Anything is possible so I can give them the benefit of the doubt starting out. Now if prs says yea the guitar has issues then yes I will be contacting the dealer. Or I may send it to PRS if need be. It's an awsome guitar and things happen. I doubt it's broken worst case is they swap out the trem but hopefully not. Not sure how to post images on here..have imager but it seems to just post an adress with no pic... thanks man. Good rockin 2 ya

 

[toothace]

To post your pics use the "Direct Link" on the image page on Imgur, and paste it into the slot after clicking the image icon above


Oh...PM me your address and I'll send you that dollar

 

[Boogie]

If it plays jankey, it’s not a great guitar. Make the dealer make it right. Period. It should make your pants tight right out of the box. Thats why we're all here.

 

[Rider1260]

Hmmm
If it plays stiff and it looks strung incorrectly have you measured the string gauge or changed the strings to your gauge ?
( I have a buddy that plays 11s but tunes down a step for his band but he tunes to pitch when we jam guitar sounds killer but its tough to bend ( CU24 )
I would try tuning down to Eb and see if the guitar feels more normal to you if so thinking the guitar has a bigger gauge string than you are used to.
How many springs are on the trem and how tight is the claw. I had a SCT that felt better with 5 loser springs than 4 tighter springs.

 

[Micky!]

I had a SCT that felt better with 5 loser springs than 4 tighter springs.

Same here, I do not explain why... The trem of my CE22 with 5 springs, feel smoother than the one of my SCT with 4 springs, they are both tuned in E standard, with 10-46 Elixir strings. I may try to add a spring to the SCT to compare

 

[316ms]

To post your pics use the "Direct Link" on the image page on Imgur, and paste it into the slot after clicking the image icon above


Oh...PM me your address and I'll send you that dollar

 

[316ms]

Hmmm
If it plays stiff and it looks strung incorrectly have you measured the string gauge or changed the strings to your gauge ?
( I have a buddy that plays 11s but tunes down a step for his band but he tunes to pitch when we jam guitar sounds killer but its tough to bend ( CU24 )
I would try tuning down to Eb and see if the guitar feels more normal to you if so thinking the guitar has a bigger gauge string than you are used to.
How many springs are on the trem and how tight is the claw. I had a SCT that felt better with 5 loser springs than 4 tighter springs.

Guitar has 10s, and I installed new ones, same brand I always use. It could be minor adjustments, I will possibly try a few. Its scale length wont change with any adjustment and that's where most if not all the tension comes from. Could be simply raising the action and adding a tad of less tilt to the trem. I will try this to start. Not sure what else to do. I had hoped someone tried this and had results, the trem is ok. Springs could be set to a claw with 3 vs 4 springs, maybe worth a try..anyone? Thanks for all the replays, all a dealer is good for is me returning the guitar, I'm not shipping a guitar to have them set it up if I am not there to experience the results it seems as it's a headache shipping a guitar back and forth. Ymmv

 

[toothace]

Beauty!



Sweet top!

 

[316ms]

[QUOTE="toothace, post: 469338, member:
Tried to post another image, now it won't work. Followed same instructions as previous pic.. wth....

 

[BrianC]

I have 3 CU 24's they each have their own feel. Not super drastic though...

 

[316ms]

I have 3 CU 24's they each have their own feel. Not super drastic though...

Yes my 3rd one, starting back in 1994. Last one was a a WL korina neck with patern regular. So I ordered this guitar based on that experience, it was the perfect feel. I could understand a slight difference, but the strings feel tight even grabbing them by the bridge. It's not something I would post this thread over had I not had previous cu24 experience with expected results.

 

[Boogie]

Show a profile shot of the bridge.

 

[bodia]

//imgur.com/gallery/TS8sPRs

That looks just like it should.