PRS CE - upgrade or not

[musicroom]

Seeking feedback from players who own the CE and have upgraded the bridge. My dilemma is this - I have a John Mann 2000NOS bridge in another PRS that I will be removing soon to sell that guitar (SE Cu22 semi). My new CE sounds great with the current import bridge, long sustain and stable - not sure whether to change out to the 2000NOS or leave well enough alone. If there's more goodness hiding in that guitar I want to know.

Love to hear from folks who have switched to the Mann bridge on their CE's. -- Thanks!

 

[DISTORT6]

Nothing wrong with changing it and changing it back if you don’t like it.
You already have the Mann bridge to experiment with.
I’ve only changed out a stoptail Mann bridge, btw.

 

[WEDGE]

The PRS trem is so simple to setup it is almost sacrilege not to try. You won’t do anything irreversible.

 

[musicroom]

Thanks - I've thought about just trying out the mann bridge in there. Probably will. Just wanted to know who has done this and what did they think about the change.

 

[dogrocketp]

My number one rule is that I don’t change anything I like the sound of. I also don’t relieve myself in the wind.

 

[Simon Says]

Everything I changed in my Custom 24 I put back to stock in matter of weeks. Same time my the only thing original in my Standard 24 is the wood. If it doesn't work for you - change it. Just give it a try first and use your ears

 

[Em7]

I replaced the stock trem on my 2019 CE24 with a Mann 2040 trem. I like the guitar much better with John's bridge than the stock bridge, but the 2040 is made from a different type of brass than the 2000. The 2040 is made from yellow brass whereas 2000 is made from red brass, so your mileage may vary. For me, the stock trem left a lot to be desired. The difference in build quality between one of John's trems and the imported trem is like the difference between day and night.

 

[Aahzz]

I'm a long time believer in "if it works, don't fix it". The one you have in there is stable, sustains wells and sounds great - why mess with success?

 

[Uncle Bob]

If the current one works well and ‘sounds’ good too then why change it?

Don’t fall into that trap...

 

[musicroom]

I think my primary wondering is will I pick up a little more mid freq push (which could be good or bad) from the 1-piece mann bridge. Otherwise, all good points here and I greatly appreciate all of you taking the time to help.

 

[cjlloyd]

I have a brass trem block in mine now and it seems to me to be a bit more balanced. It's naturally a much brighter sounding guitar than its mahogany necked counterparts and the brass block has tamed that somewhat.

I have the machined saddles from John Mann on mine as well. They're a tighter fit than the stock moulded ones so there's less opportunity for them to shift from side to side or sit out of kilter. That would be a potential source of tuning instability, but if you're not having any issues in that regard then I suppose the saddles aren't a concern.

 

[Em7]

I have a brass trem block in mine now and it seems to me to be a bit more balanced. It's naturally a much brighter sounding guitar than its mahogany necked counterparts and the brass block has tamed that somewhat.

I have the machined saddles from John Mann on mine as well. They're a tighter fit than the stock moulded ones so there's less opportunity for them to shift from side to side or sit out of kilter. That would be a potential source of tuning instability, but if you're not having any issues in that regard then I suppose the saddles aren't a concern.

John is a mechanical technologist. Everything he machines is higher tolerance than production bridges.

 

[Fats]

I see this is an older string, but for the record, I too swapped out my CE 24 bridge for a Mann Made 2040 Nickel- Hybrid. After reviewing John’s video, I did the install and while it went in just fine I was looking for some guidance on saddle adjustments, height and pitch, so (being in NH) took it by his shop. John not only took the time to make the adjustments gratis, but gave me quite a lesson on bridge and saddle adjustment. He was not only generous with his time, but was genuinely delighted to see a customer happy with his product. A treasure here in the Granite State to be sure.