New PRS Studio arrived today with a poor setup is this normal?

K

KennyoFatoBoiyo

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Hey guys so I just bought a brand new 2024 Core PRS Studio in Black Gold wrap and she's a beauty:

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PRS Guitar

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But was has seriously concerned me is the setup on this thing. The action is super super low to the point I have fret buzz around the 7th and 5th frets. I've owned PRS guitars before and thought they come from the factory perfectly setup but this one is not.

Is this a normal setup for for the PRS Studio?

I bought it from Long and Mcquade online and was brand new in a box, but it did have a card from Long and Mcquade inside saying it was tested by them.

Just seems odd for such an expensive guitar to not be setup perfectly out of the box.

Thoughts?
 
Other thing to mention is bending the strings is definitely harder than it should be just seems harder to pickup the strings and bend them with the action so low
 
Do you feel comfortable loosening the truss rod a bit....I suspect that will be the fix....weather's been crazy in NE not sure where you're located...will also make the strings slinking with more relief in tge neck....
 
Russ73 said:
Do you feel comfortable loosening the truss rod a bit....I suspect that will be the fix....weather's been crazy in NE not sure where you're located...will also make the strings slinking with more relief in tge neck....
Click to expand...
The guitar shipped from Toronto to Vancouver Island.

Maybe that's it. But yeah I was expecting perfection like I always do with PRS but yeah doesn't feel anything like my two Custom 24s I had before which were perfectly setup.
 
gush said:
Strings being harder to bend probably means heavier Strings than what you're used to.

Lighter gauge strings and spring claw adjustment should cure that.
Click to expand...
Nah man these are 10 gauge exactly what I always play. It's the fact the strings are so close to the neck is making it hard for me to lift and bend them with bottoming them out and getting caught.
 
KennyoFatoBoiyo said:
The guitar shipped from Toronto to Vancouver Island.

Maybe that's it. But yeah I was expecting perfection like I always do with PRS but yeah doesn't feel anything like my two Custom 24s I had before which were perfectly setup.
Click to expand...
OP I've been setting up guitars for 30 years...im sure it was great when it was shipped but I suppose the neck moved...turn a touch on the truss and your golden...
 
I'd take the truss rod over messing with those tremolo screws, too!

Like the others said, it's probably not going to take much percentage of a turn to fix it.

Might be strings that have been on the guitar for a longer time and stiffened/hardened up!
 
Russ73 said:
OP I've been setting up guitars for 30 years...im sure it was great when it was shipped but I suppose the neck moved...turn a touch on the truss and your golden...
Click to expand...
Ok thanks for the vote of confidence.

I'll give that a whirl.

The guitar other than this sounds amazing. The neck pickup in particular really sounds incredible clean and strat like but fatter. The bridge is great too can get down and dirty but definitely sings more and less muffled than some other PRS pickups.

Have only been playing it through the Katana so far but my Tone King Imperial MK II is on the way should be amazing.
 
Yep, depends greatly on weather and climate/temps from shipping location to destination.
Probably was in proper setup spec in Toronto. I had recently moved from the Northwest to the desert Southwest and I had to adjust every guitar I have.
Go thru it and give it a good setup and it should be fine from here on out.
 
Russ73 said:
Do you feel comfortable loosening the truss rod a bit....I suspect that will be the fix....weather's been crazy in NE not sure where you're located...will also make the strings slinking with more relief in tge neck....
Click to expand...
Or raising the bridge, depending on how strait or out of whack the neck is.
It was the dealers responsibility that when that guitar left the shop, it should have been set up correctly .
 
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24Fretter said:
Usually they show up with lap-steel action, so showing up low is odd.
Click to expand...
Not going from central Ontario to a coast. I had to loosen the truss rod on all my guitars after moving from Ottawa to PEI this summer. Every single neck moved significantly. The difference in natural humidity is huge.
 
Low action and backbow are two different things. Backbow makes the guitar unplayable at the lower frets; low action does not.

My point was that PRS "factory spec" is absurdly high for most people.
 
Getting a guitar shipped and it arriving perfectly to your spec is a miracle really but it happen pretty often with PRS but I always tweak the setup on all my guitars.
Go thru the set up step by step but like others have said likely a truss rod tweak will get it sorted for you.
 
Rod/ said:
Or raising the bridge, depending on how strait or out of whack the neck is.
It was the dealers responsibility that when that guitar left the shop, it should have been set up correctly .
Click to expand...
DO NOT DO THIS !!!!!!!!!!
Never adjust the bridge mounting screws in an attempt to adjust string height (action).
It is okay to adjust the saddle height, as desired.

HOWEVER....

I will bet it's going to be a simple truss rod adjustment...
The neck is most likey too straight and just needs a little relief.
Turn the wrench towards the bass side of the neck 1 quarter turn at a time, retune, inspect. Wash rinse repeat...

From PRS support - https://support.prsguitars.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408303058459-PRS-Double-Acting-Truss-Rod-Adjustment
 
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