PRS Hollowbody SE II with Flatwounds - Fretted G String Buzzing

[mikecg]

Hello all,

I have a PRS Hollowbody SE II, which I believe is a 2021 build. It has all stock hardware, including the adjustable stoptail bridge.

I put some flatwounds on it(10-48 D'addario flatwounds), but now the wound G string buzzes majorly when fretted. Up until now, I've only ever strung it with a roundwound D'addario 10-46, with no wound g string.

I took to it what I believe is a qualified tech, and he has told me that he cannot find a way to get that wound g-string to stop buzzing aside from raising the action to an unreasonable level. He seems to think it has something to do with an inability to generate a sufficient amount of tension for the string on this guitar.

Does anyone have any advice? Could a thicker gage set of flatwounds work better? Is this an issue with the guitar that could be covered under warranty? Should I find a better tech? Has anyone successfully got a flatwound G string working on this guitar?

Thanks!

 

[Greywolf]

I go up a gauge , which is common on HB's

 

[mikecg]

Thanks! Do you have the same guitar and that gauge works for you? Each string set I try is obviously going to cost me money, so before I instruct my tech regarding next steps, I am trying to gather some data on what has worked for people.

 

[Greywolf]

Well yes ... it's an Artist HB II

40 years as a luthier tells me it works better .. so grain of salt in hand ..
give it a try as the other option hasn't been fruitful. If you're having a tech change strings , then have them check the truss rod

11's are not atypical for HB's .

 

[mikecg]

Thanks again. Would you say this is something I should worry about regarding the guitar (like maybe there is something structurally damaged or defective), or is it expected for guitars (even a somewhat expensive one like this) to be incompatible with certain types of strings?

 

[mikecg]

I followed your recommendation and the tech installed the Jazz Lights and, was able to get what he called a medium action setup without the buzz, but that any lower and it would buzz. I will measure it at some point and post the measurements here.
I plan on taking it to another luthier to get a second opinion because I find it difficult to accept that a supposedly high quality hollow body guitar is not compatible with flatwound strings and a low actions. If that ends up being the case, then I must say I am not a happy PRS customer.

 

[blin]

I recently bought a used SE HB2 Piezo (2022 model) that came with the round-wound 10-46s. Just installed a set of Magma's 11-50 (GE160SF) on it. No problem with the wound G string. The set comes with both wound and unwound G strings. I had to adjust the intonation on G and low E, a bit of truss rod and action height - was relatively straightforward. The action is now at 1.25mm low E and a bit over 1mm on high E at the 12th fret. The only problem I am having now is that the A string sounds a bit brighter/more metallic than the rest. Not terrible but annoying. That is through the pups, and not through the piezo. Couldn't find the reason so far. hope it will mellow down a bit with time. If the time doesn't fix it will try the Thomastik's JS111 next.