PRS McCarty 594 Thinline String Heights too High - Bridge Decked Out

[Dwardom]

Hey all,

I recently bought a PRS McCarty 594 Thinline, and I'm loving the sound and feel of it. However, the bridge hardware is limiting my ability to set it up how I'd like, so I wanted to share with the community here and see if you all have any recommendations for how to go forward.

For starters, I haven't adjusted the neck relief at all and it's right in line with the PRS factory specs (0.005" - 0.010"). However, the PRS factory specs for string height are just a touch high for my preferences (about 0.070" on the bass side, 0.060" on the treble side). I'd like to take the bass side down to about 0.060" and the treble side down to 0.050" (essentially, 0.010" off of the setup I've currently got), but the bridge is already decked out against the body on the treble side. One thing that's crossed my mind is maybe filing down the saddle slots until they're at the string height I want, but then I'd be worried about screwing up the radius. I could also possible grind down 0.020" off of the bridge itself, but I really would prefer a way to do this without taking material off. Any suggestions?

Thanks all!

 

[Dwardom]

Update: I put a bit more relief into the neck (was previously at about 0.005" and is now at about 0.010") which allowed me to drop the bass side string height down to 0.060". Now I've got a uniform string height of about 0.060" across all strings without any buzzing up and down the neck, and I'm pretty happy with how it's feeling. Still would love to hear any recommendations for squeezing a bit less string height out of this bridge - thanks!

 

[JCefalu]

I’ve noticed these guitars are now shopping with a different saddle design. I wonder if this is related to your issue. The original Thinlines had the same saddles (low/wide) as the Core 594s, now, they seem to be sporting higher saddles with a more narrow saddle at the apex. Anyone?

 

[bodia]

I’ve noticed these guitars are now shopping with a different saddle design. I wonder if this is related to your issue. The original Thinlines had the same saddles (low/wide) as the Core 594s, now, they seem to be sporting higher saddles with a more narrow saddle at the apex. Anyone?

The new saddles took the place of the old ones as stock ran out. The original launch video of the 2020 had the newer style, as did the guitars that Tim Pierce and Howard Leese played in their video pick up shoot out.