bodia
Authorities said.....best leave it.....unsolved
Sweet axe, my friend. I'd say likely wiring problem with 2 & 4. Mine had a similar issue. I remember being at Rider's house with Sergio and Mike playing it. They both commented that they thought it sounded weird. I ended up selling it to @dkilpatrick . He thought something was wonky, as well. He sent it back to PRS and they fixed it. Can't recall if it was the switch or if something as just wired wrong.
Tucson Thump
Mint Heavy Relic
Indication that something is amiss, Holmes. It should just be middle pickup, but if it sounds good you need to make sure that whomever does the rewiring can give you the quack of 2 and 4 but the "bridge and neck" for position 3.
And once that happens share the schematic.
Alnus Rubra
Loving nature’s wonders
Congratulations H, sweet looking guitar. Hope you get things fixed and can rock out to your hearts content.
Plus I heard that Julie prefers white guitars!
Plus I heard that Julie prefers white guitars!
D
Deleted member 5962
Guest
My update tonight is both great, and disappointing.
I have said for a few years now, that the only guitar’s I’d confidently buy online (without playing them first) is PRS and Taylor. I admit that I never plugged this guitar in at the shop I bought it from, assuming after all I’d heard, that the pickups were great and the rest is, well, it’s PRS! That, too me, means you don’t have to worry about certain things. Anyway...
I’ve always been confident in my ability to “feel” things on a guitar. I’ve known since the first day I picked this guitar up that one issue was that things were TOO slinky. I knew it had 9s, and I have 9s on a couple guitar so that alone was not the issue. I also knew that “things” were messed up by removing a spring and having the bridge pulled up off the deck. So I changed to 9.5s, added the spring, reset the vibrato screws, tuned to pitch and waited for 2 days to make sure the neck had stabilized. My last posts were after all this, so...
Fast forward to now. Tonight, I started eyeballing all the string heights, knowing some were too low and that was probably the cause of all the buzzing. I got out the tool I use to measure string height and sure enough MOST strings were too low. I have no idea what “stock” is without posted specs, but I know enough to start with all 6 radius’d and at 4/64” as a general setting, at the 12th fret. 5 of the 6 strings were below this, several were half, so I loosened them all and set them all to 4/64”. I did check relief, and I still think I remember Paul saying in a video that it needed to be really straight for bends to work on this neck due to the radius... but all the string buzz was gone. So, I have not yet messed with the truss rod.
So now here is where we are. Neck pickups sounds GREAT. Middle (neck/bridge) sounds great. Bridge sounds good. 2 and 4 both sound weak and not acceptable, but I believe the middle pickup is reversed and that can be fixed.
My issue... every time I use the vibrato “ping” “ping” “ping”... I mean every time. It’s not the nut, it’s the bridge. So I look to the break points of the strings... looks like smooth polished metal too me... I know I use too many ... but I’m not a Roads Schooler.
Sorry had to try to make myself smile...
I got a bright flashlight out. Shined it down the saddles. What it looks like is that the windings of the strings are going over a sharp edge, on the body of the vibrato. The wound strings appear to have windings hitting this edge. The unwound strings appear to have their bottom windings hitting it! As of now, that’s the only thing I can find that’s “catching” and causing the constant pings... and complete lack of tuning stability.
I’m now above my luthier skill level, and don’t know what to do. This thing is close. If all the pinging was the nut, I’d polish it, but it’s the bridge. I will check it out, see where I can put “lube” and maybe update this thread again. Otherwise, it’s time for the professionals.
I have said for a few years now, that the only guitar’s I’d confidently buy online (without playing them first) is PRS and Taylor. I admit that I never plugged this guitar in at the shop I bought it from, assuming after all I’d heard, that the pickups were great and the rest is, well, it’s PRS! That, too me, means you don’t have to worry about certain things. Anyway...
I’ve always been confident in my ability to “feel” things on a guitar. I’ve known since the first day I picked this guitar up that one issue was that things were TOO slinky. I knew it had 9s, and I have 9s on a couple guitar so that alone was not the issue. I also knew that “things” were messed up by removing a spring and having the bridge pulled up off the deck. So I changed to 9.5s, added the spring, reset the vibrato screws, tuned to pitch and waited for 2 days to make sure the neck had stabilized. My last posts were after all this, so...
Fast forward to now. Tonight, I started eyeballing all the string heights, knowing some were too low and that was probably the cause of all the buzzing. I got out the tool I use to measure string height and sure enough MOST strings were too low. I have no idea what “stock” is without posted specs, but I know enough to start with all 6 radius’d and at 4/64” as a general setting, at the 12th fret. 5 of the 6 strings were below this, several were half, so I loosened them all and set them all to 4/64”. I did check relief, and I still think I remember Paul saying in a video that it needed to be really straight for bends to work on this neck due to the radius... but all the string buzz was gone. So, I have not yet messed with the truss rod.
So now here is where we are. Neck pickups sounds GREAT. Middle (neck/bridge) sounds great. Bridge sounds good. 2 and 4 both sound weak and not acceptable, but I believe the middle pickup is reversed and that can be fixed.
My issue... every time I use the vibrato “ping” “ping” “ping”... I mean every time. It’s not the nut, it’s the bridge. So I look to the break points of the strings... looks like smooth polished metal too me... I know I use too many ... but I’m not a Roads Schooler.
Sorry had to try to make myself smile...
I got a bright flashlight out. Shined it down the saddles. What it looks like is that the windings of the strings are going over a sharp edge, on the body of the vibrato. The wound strings appear to have windings hitting this edge. The unwound strings appear to have their bottom windings hitting it! As of now, that’s the only thing I can find that’s “catching” and causing the constant pings... and complete lack of tuning stability.
I’m now above my luthier skill level, and don’t know what to do. This thing is close. If all the pinging was the nut, I’d polish it, but it’s the bridge. I will check it out, see where I can put “lube” and maybe update this thread again. Otherwise, it’s time for the professionals.
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dmatthews
Dave's not here
From post 2512 in the huge SS thread...
PRS Tremolo
Tuning and Setup Hints
Set up For Silver Sky tremolo bridge
The Silver Sky model utilizes a slightly different approach to the bridge set up. Here is some insight regarding the Silver Sky bridge adjustments.
If you are unfamiliar with making these adjustments, we recommend that the guitar be taken to a qualified repair center.
PRS Tremolo
Tuning and Setup Hints
- If the guitar is not returning to pitch after using the tremolo arm, put a little lightweight machine oil under the head of each screw (do not loosen the screws). This will effectively oil the knife-edge of the tremolo.
- The correct adjustment of the six brass screws, which act as a pivot and anchor the tremolo system, is level with each other so the bridge floats 3/32" off the body. These 6 screws are factory adjusted and you should not have to adjust them at all. If it becomes necessary to adjust the 6 notched screws, make sure the guitar is detuned or you will ruin the knife-edge. Adjust the screws incrementally so the notches under the screw heads are fitted with the corresponding hole in the bridge. These holes serve as the knife-edge on which the tremolo unit rocks. Again, this is a very tricky adjustment and could ruin the knife-edge if done improperly. Do not adjust these screws while the guitar is tuned to pitch.
- The Bridge saddles should be adjusted so that the height of the string at the top of the 12th fret to the bottom of the string is 2/32".
- If the tremolo bridge is not floating 3/32" off the body, remove the tremolo back plate. Adjust the claw screws about 1/4 turn at a time until the bridge floats perpendicular to and about 1/16th off the body. Tune to pitch and check, re-adjust until the bridge sits properly.
- The intonation may be adjusted by moving the 6 phillips head screws facing the tail end of the guitar in and out with a phillips head screwdriver. Match the octave (fretted) note of all six strings with their corresponding 12th fret open harmonics by shortening or lengthening the strings with the adjusting screws.
- Remember to tune and retune until the process is complete.
Set up For Silver Sky tremolo bridge
The Silver Sky model utilizes a slightly different approach to the bridge set up. Here is some insight regarding the Silver Sky bridge adjustments.
- The back of the bridge should stay flush to the top of the guitar body, but the front edge of the bridge should kick up (as shown).
- Measuring from the top of the guitar to the bottom of the front edge of the tremolo. Adjust the six fulcrum screws as necessary until the measurement is 4/32" all the way across (as shown)
If you are unfamiliar with making these adjustments, we recommend that the guitar be taken to a qualified repair center.
dmatthews
Dave's not here
Also look at post 2554 for the bridge pics
D
Deleted member 5962
Guest
Heading out of town shortly, but I’m going to start looking down into the string path of the bridge with a bright light when I get home. After all the pinging last night, and seriously NO tuning stability when using the vibrato, I got discouraged to find what looks like an edge that the string windings would catch on.
After posting that, it occurred to me that every SS would be that way, and nobody else has mentioned this problem. These are PRS strings and I put them on myself, so I know it’s done correctly. But if there really is an edge down below the saddles that’s catching string windings, others would be having this problem.
More research to do.
After posting that, it occurred to me that every SS would be that way, and nobody else has mentioned this problem. These are PRS strings and I put them on myself, so I know it’s done correctly. But if there really is an edge down below the saddles that’s catching string windings, others would be having this problem.
More research to do.
BrianC
more toys than talent
classy
dogrocketp
I drank the PRS kool aid, and it was tasty!
Take any old wound string, da heavier da bettah. Remove the string currently on the guitar and put the used wound string inside in the trem string hole. Putting one hand on either end, run the wound string back and forth several times to smooth the sharp edge. My personal belief is that when a hack starts “fixing “ the guitar, they also trash the nut. That’s not a big deal to have a good luthier replace. I’ve had to have it done on most of the used PRS I’ve bought. I’ll never understand why some people think they can work on a guitar when they don’t have any experience or knowledge.
D
Deleted member 5962
Guest
I’ve moved forward quite a ways since my initial post. Should have done all those before I even posted. But I have it playing great now, and no string buzz. But the 2 and 4 positions are whacked (convinced the middle pickups has been reverse wired by previous owner) and it WILL NOT stay in tune. I can play it a bit without the vibrato bar, but if I bend too much, it’s out of tune. But bend that bar even a little and ping ping ping... at least 3 strings are sticking down in the bridge somewhere.
I played it every night for the last week but finally decided to take a break and play my Custom 24 last night. You can’t MAKE that thing go out of tune. I will get this thing figured out/fixed.
watelessness
Member
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2012
- Messages
- 2,542
sounds like this guitar is pulling you under. be not afraid.
DOH!!! Man some people need to be banned from the tool box!
You'll get her there my man!
Daniel Elam
New Member
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2020
- Messages
- 116
I got my 2019 used with .09s on it. Everything was out of spec. Even pickup height. I set it up with.10s to PRS spec and it’s perfect for me. But I have zero tuning issues with it. Does the bridge plate kick up towards the front? If not, it should. Only the back of the plate should be touching the body. I wonder if the noise is from the knife edge getting chewed up from being misaligned or something. Those 6 screws need to be perfectly aligned height wise too. I’m sure you probably already know that but it’s worth mentioning.
sergiodeblanc
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2012
- Messages
- 27,380
You just need to swap the pickups.
I’ll trade you my DC3 electronics.
I’ll trade you my DC3 electronics.
D
Deleted member 5962
Guest
The bridge tilts up at the front, as it's supposed too. But I have no way of knowing if he messed with the 6 screws. I would have checked the height of each already to make sure they were perfectly matched, but with the pick guard coming right up to them, there is no way to get a measuring device in front of them without removing the pick guard. I do intend to at least get a magnifying glass and make sure they "look" even, and lube the screws.
However, looking down in the string path, you can see an edge, and I'm guessing that's where the string windings are catching and pinging. Still having a hard time with that though, as every single one made should be the same as this so it's not quite registering with me.
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John F
Here for the party
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2020
- Messages
- 390
Take a look at the springs, are they the source of the noise? Are the springs moving smoothly when extended? Perhaps the springs are rotated end to end before they were stretched and mounted to the block/hook? That might make them rotate as they stretch and cause noise. They should sit straight and all be parallel without any rotation before hooking. Move the bridge block with your fingers from the back. Is it easy to move? If the springs are too loose they may not be firmly holding the bridge plate against the body. It should be firmly against the body and not easily lifted. A floating bridge where the bridge is above the body has opposing matching forces on the springs and strings. That makes it easy to move in both directions. If your bridge is almost floating it may look like it is hard to the body when it is not. That will cause problems returning to tune after use of the tremolo.`
Rod/
Vibrato & String Bender
Yes.. the 6 new Silver Sky’s I’ve played all sounded incredible in positions 2 and 4.. Actually in all positions…. But it was at John Mann’s store and his setups are impeccable
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