PRS trem, Floyd Rose, Tremonti, etc.

boardn10

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Hey guys!

Huge PRS guitar fan. I've owned six PRS guitars, including an older McCarty and Custom 22. My current two that I love and feel I'll never sell are a 1994 CE22 and I believe to be a 2008 SC250. I am not certain of the year.

Do you guys who own the SC250 and also the Tremonti, find a huge difference? I'm not a big trem user, but I will wiggle a bit now and then or do a dive bomb. I rarely pull up sharp. I know they also make the Tremonti hardtail. Sucks they are so expensive, but I feel part of the price is for his name. Debating if I'd benefit from a Singlecut trem, Tremonti with trem or hardtail.

Seco fly, what do you think of the PRS trem and the Floyd Rose? I haven't used a Floyd Rose since my custom Ibanez/Anderson in the late 80s, early 90s, along with my Ibanez with Edge tremola.

I'm not a huge fan of floating trems due to setup, and the fact that I like to change tunings and drop tune now and then. Even on my CE22, I have the trem locked down so it doesn't budge (It's not blocked) and I can drop tune, make changes and still do little team wiggles and dives without issue. Any huge benefit for a Floyd?

I like the Dustie Waring guitar but not a big fan of 24 frets and worried the Floyd would give me fits.

Any comments or experiences with any of this?

I am probably getting another guitar this spring or summer. Looking at PRS Singlecuts, SC250s, Tremontis and Gibson Les Paul's.

Thanks!

Rich
 
No experience w/a PRS with a Floyd. I have a couple guitars w/Floyds (Jackson and an EVH). They don't give me any particular fits. The string changes are slower, and there's maybe a little more tweaking after a change (especially w/the D-Tuna on the EVH), but that's about it. They haven't been the maintenance problem I'd been led to believe. To me, the big difference is you can get some different sounds out of a Floyd than w/the regular PRS trem. It does that little gurgling sound when you flick the bar a bit easier than the PRS does. It seems to slack a little differently if you dive compared to the PRS, but since I rarely do that, not a big point either way.

As for the Tremonti, I have one of those. The only real difference in my mind is that it has a rout so you can pull up on the bar much further than you can w/a standard PRS. I don't notice any real difference with the downs. If you don't like floating trems and you have no desire to pull up, then the electronics are the only real draw for you.
 
No experience with a SC250 or Tremonti, but Floyds aren't all that bad to deal with, I currently have two - one PRS DW CE24 and one ESP LTD. Honestly, they are my two best guitars for tuning stability and fine tuning is the best there is, imho.

@alantig is spot on, they are a bit slower to change strings - a little patience and not being very picky the first several times tuning the strings helps to speed things up (i.e. just get in the ballpark and move to the next string until you finally start a new round and it's close to pitch).
 
Thanks, that is helpful.
Sounds like I'd save money by going with a standard SC with hardtail or trem.

The only stuff I typically play that may have some trem work are some Van Halen tunes. My originals, I never even touch the trem. I go more for left hand vibrato. It's just more my thing.
 
If you aren't super into doing vibrato bar techniques, I would opt for the regular PRS trem or hardtail.

I had a Custom 24 Floyd a couple years ago. I figured that just maybe I would dig a Floyd on a PRS, even though I absolutely hated them on other guitars I had tried. Nope. Hated it. Lol! I remember thinking to myself that they ruined a beautiful Charcoal Custom 24 with that Floyd! The biggest issue to me is not so much the string changes, but in the actual tonality and feel; I always find there is an inherent...mmm....plinki-ness in the top end that is always there which influences the way the guitar responds under the fingers.
 
I have a singlecut with adjustable hardtail and love the simplicity.
I like my CE22 but rarely use the trem and I hate that I have to adjust each string's height individually.
That said, it's fun to break out some vibrato or a little dive now and then.

I think I hear that plinki tone in strats too.

I had a Tele I liked but I sold it and ended up usually playing my PRS guitars and LPs. Even my SGs got sold.

I prefer LPs, CE22s, Custom 22s and Singlecuts. I prefer hardtails too.

Once in a while I use my CE22 trem.
 
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he biggest issue to me is not so much the string changes, but in the actual tonality and feel; I always find there is an inherent...mmm....plinki-ness in the top end that is always there which influences the way the guitar responds under the fingers.

Amen to that.

Unless you're a full-time all-the-time shreddin' stunt player - or have the chops for the flowing liquid legato of Vai or Holdsworth - a Floyd (except pink ones; pink Floyds are OK with me) seems to me a Rube Goldberg masterpiece of unnecessary engineering looking for a purpose (and collecting a tax in tone degradation whether you use it or not).

For 15 minutes or so in the 80s, I fancied I had just enough of a foot in the shred camp to justify a locking trem. It did (and does) some tricks, and I suppose I got my money's worth back in entertainment. I felt like a rock godling for a second or two. But then the guy who designed the system said "yeah, but I really still prefer the tone of the 6-point Strat trem we put on the guitar before." So I listened to the two guitars back to back - the same model, same pickups, one with a conventional Strat trem, the other with the locking system - and he was right. The older, simpler design sounded warmer and richer, and the locker's tonality was subtly shifted in a honky direction, with the aforementioned plink.

Lesson learned.

I do like that flick-gurgle, and used it in a 1987 studio track where it's pretty effective. I haven't used it much since - but I find I can get it without a full Floydian locking trem, with a well-balanced two-point Strat-type. I have Hipshot's on my hollow aluminum Strat, and it does that shimmy pretty well.

The fewer parts in a bridge, the better I like it. The one I market has ONE part. I started counting parts in a Floyd, and it seems to me it was around 112. Gosh, I don't think all those bits of metal stuck together between your strings and the body of the guitar could possibly affect your tone, do you?

Anyway, I don't think Jeff Beck uses a locker - and no one gets more expression and color out of a trem than he does.
 
What's the hipshot? I briefly looked at it but what's it do, lock down the trem?

I loved Blackmore's trem work.
 
No, no locking - just a really well designed, engineered, and quality-controlled Strat-type 2-point trem. Kinda PRS-y, actually, in appearance and quality. Hardened steel for the posts and plate that mates with them, so very low friction and great energy transfer there. If the whole guitar is "tight" and unitary enough (and an all-aluminum Strat certainly is), it kinda becomes one with resonant properties of the whole instrument. It feels very alive.

Yes, Blackmore too. Pretty slinky work, all with a standard Strat trem.
 
Have a Tremonti Signature and like the trem. Dont have to do any wild stuff with it. But on a more theory note, the great thing about them is stopping on a note that is sharp or flat and using the trem to hit the note. Adds a new dimension to playing leads, etc.
 
Have a Tremonti Signature and like the trem. Dont have to do any wild stuff with it. But on a more theory note, the great thing about them is stopping on a note that is sharp or flat and using the trem to hit the note. Adds a new dimension to playing leads, etc.
Yes and Tremonti I believe just used the standard PRS trem like what's on my CE22. Works fine for my needs.

I think the Tremonti guitar is actually routed however so that the bridge floats.

So you say you can stop on a note. You mean that with the locking Floyd Rose, you can use the trem to pull up or drop to a note and stay there?

You can't do that with any trem, or does it drift?

I know the Floyd uses a locking nut and possibly the bridge locks? I forget.
Anyway, my PRS guitars all have locking tuners, which I assume accomplishes the same as the locking nut. No?

Either way I don't think I personally would ever need a Floyd Rose. I love the simplify of a hardtail and at most, a vintage style PRS strem.
 
Yes and Tremonti I believe just used the standard PRS trem like what's on my CE22. Works fine for my needs.

I think the Tremonti guitar is actually routed however so that the bridge floats.

So you say you can stop on a note. You mean that with the locking Floyd Rose, you can use the trem to pull up or drop to a note and stay there?

You can't do that with any trem, or does it drift?

I know the Floyd uses a locking nut and possibly the bridge locks? I forget.
Anyway, my PRS guitars all have locking tuners, which I assume accomplishes the same as the locking nut. No?

Either way I don't think I personally would ever need a Floyd Rose. I love the simplify of a hardtail and at most, a vintage style PRS strem.

The Tremonti does use the standard PRS trem, but much like Pennywise, they all float (unless they're decked like the Mayer). The difference between the Tremonti and other PRSi (like the DGT or CU24) is that the Tremonti is routed so you can pull up much farther than the standard setup.
 
Got it!
I set mine up so it is so tight, I can't really pull up. Makes string changes easier and tuning.
 
I have 3 Custom 24 Floyd models (and another one on order!). I love these guitars like no other I have played. They are amazing sounding and playing machines and for me, the most comfortable guitars to use live, recording and everywhere I go. The three I have all are a bit different and unique sounding so all good. Love the stock \m/ pickups and all of the tones available. One of the few guitars that I have not wanted to change pickups on at all.
 
just picked up a 2018 PRS CE DW floyd - swapped the strings to
my fav gauge and reset the bridge. i own 6 floyd guitars, 2 fender trems, 1 prs custom 24 trem - the floyd is by far the best trem and i don’t use my custom 24 because of the trem.

i also own tune o matics, tele, thru body schecters and floyd wins

the DW is now my fav guitar for playability, tone, tuning stability and feel. love the volume knob placement as well.

this thing is great!
 
just picked up a 2018 PRS CE DW floyd - swapped the strings to
my fav gauge and reset the bridge. i own 6 floyd guitars, 2 fender trems, 1 prs custom 24 trem - the floyd is by far the best trem and i don’t use my custom 24 because of the trem.

i also own tune o matics, tele, thru body schecters and floyd wins

the DW is now my fav guitar for playability, tone, tuning stability and feel. love the volume knob placement as well.

this thing is great!
Hot d@mn, yes! The DW is an amazing guitar, congrats!
 
Floyd’s are dumb. Allen wrenches are for IKEA furniture (which is also dumb).

It’s a damn shame there isn’t a PRS SC without a trem (that doesn’t have a W/T neck or a thinner body).

My dream has always been a PRS SC with a whammy. The September GOTM shoulda been a Core model already!

Neil Schon blew it, Alex Lifeson blew it, Carlos Santana blew it, and now all that’s left is for Mark to get older, get arthritis and change his neck profile and scale length.
 
Entering a conversation way over my head. I was hoping to add a tremolo to my PRS S2 594 McCarty but was told by PRS Customer Service, "You would not be able to change the type of bridge to a tremolo due to the different neck angle needed for the style bridge." Is this really true? I mean, I can survive without a tremolo, but if I had one, I'd definitely use it. Anyone have experience adding a tremolo to a S2 594? Specific brand?
 
I do love fat necks.
Thin necks give me cramps.
A buddy of mine is tiny wirh little hands and he likes the DW a lot.
To me signature models you often pay extra for the name. For a Tremonti, I'd rather just get an SC250 or for the DW, get a CE24. I just don't like 24 fret guitars however.
 
I do love fat necks.
Thin necks give me cramps.
A buddy of mine is tiny wirh little hands and he likes the DW a lot.
To me signature models you often pay extra for the name. For a Tremonti, I'd rather just get an SC250 or for the DW, get a CE24. I just don't like 24 fret guitars however.

A DW is based on s CE but a different beast due to the floyd alone. Then there's the control placement and maple board too. Having both 85/15 and DW Tomahawks I'd also take the DW over the 85/15. Both great guitars but I wouldn'tr onsider I was paying for the artist name with a DW.
 
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