NGD: 594 HBII Charcoal Cherry Burst

[ducmike]

I usually don't post NGD, but I wanted to get the forums advice.

Got home from my buisness trip yesterday to find this sitting in my studio/office. I was so excited when I ordered it and when Cindy sent me a text telling me it had arrived at the house.

Amazing guitar, I love the feel, playability and tone. Plus, not hard on the eyes at all, pretty nice for a non 10 top.

Now the sad part. Take a look at the close up of the bridge. I noticed as while playing that the bridge stud extend about a 1/4 inch over the bridge. And that the thumbwheel is all the way to body, no way to lower the action. I checked and the action is right on spec, but I'm out of luck if want to go lower. I have reached out to the dealer and sent the close up pics. I also looked at every image online I can find of the 594 and I all have the bridge stud around level with the bridge and plenty of space under it.

Wanted to get opinion on this from others and if y'all think could be problem down the road. I know the dealer (and PRS if needed) will make it right. I have always had great experiences with both.

Any, to the porn!!!

 

[ducmike]

Sorry, I can't seem to figure out the embedded pics.

https://imgur.com/a/JkHR8ri

 

[docteurseb]

 

[docteurseb]

The action being right on spec and having no adjustment range left is not a good spot to be in. It also matters whether the action is currently to your liking.

I find it odd odd for it to be sticking out a lot more on the treble side than bass side.
I would expect to see only action differences. Maybe it's just that they use thumbscrews of different lengths, otherwise that's a red flag.

I wouldn't expect this to get worse over time (no top/neck movement like on an acoustic), but it's definitely concerning and I would reach out to the dealer to let them know ASAP.
Then I would have the dealer reach out to PRS for advice, they usually have a faster channel than emailing PRS' customer service yourself and it's the proper route anyways for warranty concerns.

Then decide what to do.
If there is any reasonable explanation/fix I would keep it, otherwise it'd be an immediate return at that price point however good looking the guitar is (and that one sure is beautiful).

 

[vchizzle]

Mmmmm. That's a bummer. That guitar LOOKS insane. One of the nicest tops for not being a 10. Yeah, contact the dealer/PRS and hopefully it will be rectified quickly.

 

[ducmike]

Thanks for the feedback.

Yeah, that’s what I figured, was just hoping someone has seen this before and might be an easy solution. I contacted the dealer and they will contact PRS Monday.

It sounds great too. Nice low end “growl” I don’t get with my solid bodies.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Congratulations on the stunning guitar. Sorry to hear about the issue. Hope you get a good solution.

 

[RickP]

Had to go look at mine to be sure. The pins stick through about a 1/16 above, with about 1/8 space under, on both sides. While I don’t expect a problem at this moment, if you need to adjust later you’ll be on your own. I’d deal with it now. It is a great looking guitar, though!

 

[ViperDoc]

Try adjusting the truss rod for proper neck relief.

 

[toothace]

Congrats on the new axe...agree with the others...let the dealer/PRS know what's up.


Sweet top!

 

[bodia]

Curious to see what the dealer hears from PRS.

 

[MichaelS]

Thanks for the feedback.

Yeah, that’s what I figured, was just hoping someone has seen this before and might be an easy solution. I contacted the dealer and they will contact PRS Monday.

It sounds great too. Nice low end “growl” I don’t get with my solid bodies.

I've only seen this on the very first guitar I've built back in the 90s. PRS can do better than that.
Hopefully they fix and not replace cuz that top is indeed sweet.

 

[ducmike]

Dealer said they are reaching out to PRS, but I haven't heard back since mid morning.

I did double check the action at the 12th since it felt like its fretting out in the 17-22 fret range. I guess I looked at the ruler wrong (my old eyes aren't what they used to be), cause I thought it was at 2/32 the other day. Remeasured today and it is actually 1/32, so I raised it to just under 2/32 line on the ruler and plays better and now a bit of a gap ( about.010) under the thumb wheel. Wondering if the studs just weren't set as deep as they should be. The relief is at .005, so pretty much on spec. Feels Like it use a little more, but waiting to hear back before I mess with anything.

I checked my Santana today just for fun, and everything is dead on PRS spec, so I guess I love the factory set up since this has been my main ax for 4-5 years. Only occasional truss rod adjustments for the seasonal changes.

 

[László]

Gorgeous guitar.

 

[bodia]

Dealer said they are reaching out to PRS, but I haven't heard back since mid morning.

I did double check the action at the 12th since it felt like its fretting out in the 17-22 fret range. I guess I looked at the ruler wrong (my old eyes aren't what they used to be), cause I thought it was at 2/32 the other day. Remeasured today and it is actually 1/32, so I raised it to just under 2/32 line on the ruler and plays better and now a bit of a gap ( about.010) under the thumb wheel. Wondering if the studs just weren't set as deep as they should be. The relief is at .005, so pretty much on spec. Feels Like it use a little more, but waiting to hear back before I mess with anything.

I checked my Santana today just for fun, and everything is dead on PRS spec, so I guess I love the factory set up since this has been my main ax for 4-5 years. Only occasional truss rod adjustments for the seasonal changes.

Cuz Santanas rule!

 

[sergiodeblanc]

I checked my Santana today

Not even listening anymore. Why TF are you surprised it’s not as good of a guitar? Every guitar is trash that isn’t Santana shaped.

Cuz Santanas rule!

We keep telling them over and over…

 

[Herr Squid]

Dealer said they are reaching out to PRS, but I haven't heard back since mid morning.

I did double check the action at the 12th since it felt like its fretting out in the 17-22 fret range. I guess I looked at the ruler wrong (my old eyes aren't what they used to be), cause I thought it was at 2/32 the other day. Remeasured today and it is actually 1/32, so I raised it to just under 2/32 line on the ruler and plays better and now a bit of a gap ( about.010) under the thumb wheel. Wondering if the studs just weren't set as deep as they should be. The relief is at .005, so pretty much on spec. Feels Like it use a little more, but waiting to hear back before I mess with anything.

I checked my Santana today just for fun, and everything is dead on PRS spec, so I guess I love the factory set up since this has been my main ax for 4-5 years. Only occasional truss rod adjustments for the seasonal changes.

My guess: that bridge ain't machined right on the treble side. It's just not right for the stud to be sticking up that far. None of my 594s do that. If it's too thin where the treble stud passes through, that'd explain both the thing sticking up like that, and the action being lower than expected.

 

[bodia]

Not even listening anymore. Why TF are you surprised it’s not as good of a guitar? Every guitar is trash that isn’t Santana shaped.



We keep telling them over and over…

Deaf ears, and all that jazz…….

 

[ducmike]

Update Time

Turns out that for some reason the bridge posts were not set all of the way down from the factory. The dealer (Sweetwater) was very helpful and had one of their techs reach out to me Monday. He asked some questions and had me remeasure the specs. After he checked with PRS, they offered to have me take to a local dealer and have it set up. I convinced him I was capable of setting it up myself to my liking.

On closer inspection, the original action was at about 1.5/64, super low for me and not that playable higher up the neck. I also noticed that the trebel post is higher overall than the bass post. Not just over the bridge, but relative to the bass post top. It plays great once I adjusted it up to 2/32, plus plenty of room to lower the thumb wheel if needed. I also gave it a little more relief to .007 (I might drop that down a little). I usually don't measure when I set up a guitar, but needed the numbers for them. So, I will lower the post at my next string change with the instructions I was given. Really only a cosmetic issue at this point, and a very small one at that. The only issue will be if the holes were not drilled deep enough, then it will have to go to the PTC.

I have been playing the crap out of it, and it feels great. I am loving the tone, so different than my other guitars. It has this great low end growl but with clarity. Chords ring out beautifully and I can hear each note in the chord. I demoed one awhile back, and have played several solid 594 and I really like the 58/15LTs. They are lower output than the BB1/BB2 set in my LP (the only other PAFish pups I have now), I have to turn the LP down to 7 compared to 10 on the PRS. Though I never play my guitars on 10, and usually around 7-8 for setting up my tone.

I wish I could edit the thread title to take the sad part out.

Thanks to everyone for your help and replies. I'm super happy I get to keep this one and it turned out to be a simple fix and not a serious problem like a neck set/angle being off.

 

[bodia]

Update Time

Turns out that for some reason the bridge posts were not set all of the way down from the factory. The dealer (Sweetwater) was very helpful and had one of their techs reach out to me Monday. He asked some questions and had me remeasure the specs. After he checked with PRS, they offered to have me take to a local dealer and have it set up. I convinced him I was capable of setting it up myself to my liking.

On closer inspection, the original action was at about 1.5/64, super low for me and not that playable higher up the neck. I also noticed that the trebel post is higher overall than the bass post. Not just over the bridge, but relative to the bass post top. It plays great once I adjusted it up to 2/32, plus plenty of room to lower the thumb wheel if needed. I also gave it a little more relief to .007 (I might drop that down a little). I usually don't measure when I set up a guitar, but needed the numbers for them. So, I will lower the post at my next string change with the instructions I was given. Really only a cosmetic issue at this point, and a very small one at that. The only issue will be if the holes were not drilled deep enough, then it will have to go to the PTC.

I have been playing the crap out of it, and it feels great. I am loving the tone, so different than my other guitars. It has this great low end growl but with clarity. Chords ring out beautifully and I can hear each note in the chord. I demoed one awhile back, and have played several solid 594 and I really like the 58/15LTs. They are lower output than the BB1/BB2 set in my LP (the only other PAFish pups I have now), I have to turn the LP down to 7 compared to 10 on the PRS. Though I never play my guitars on 10, and usually around 7-8 for setting up my tone.

I wish I could edit the thread title to take the sad part out.

Thanks to everyone for your help and replies. I'm super happy I get to keep this one and it turned out to be a simple fix and not a serious problem like a neck set/angle being off.

Awesome! Glad to hear you got everything sorted out.