PRS Tremolo Float?

[LJD]

Does the Carl Verheyen technique of setting up a tremolo work on a PRS trem? It involves loosening the claw screws so the trem range widens and gives you room to whammy up a half step on the high E, hole step on the B, and a minor 3rd on the G. It's a very useful, musical use of the trem. On a strat the bridge comes up quite a bit, was wondering if it works on PRSi.

 

[justmund]

AFAIK, there's only a limited amount of adjustments you can make to a trem:

-6 x trem screws (trem height)
-Saddle height (action)
-Saddle screws (intonation)
-Trem claw screws (spring tension/trem angle)

PRS have come up with the optimum settings for these, measurements available on their site. Some adjustments have a flow on effect to others e.g. trem claw screws also affect intonation and action.

There's nothing saying you can't go outside these parameters, for example raising the trem but lowering the action (or vice versa as per swede71s mod of screwing the trem down flush with the body and putting in longer saddle height screws to get the correct action).

Best thing to do? Experiment, see if you can get some angle on the trem (giving you more range on uptrem) and then still get your action and intonation right (with truss rod adjustment too, possibly). Personally this would mess with my calm as the trem would be at a funny angle for my palm to rest on. Could be a fun exercise tho

 

[Sage]

I assume you're referring to this:

It's a really cool setup but I haven't ever tried it on a PRS. I'm not sure if it would work. The thing about the PRS trem is that because of the arched top, the trem floats in its natural neutral position, and that's probably not enough clearance to get the effect you're looking for. You might have to loosen the springs a bit to let the trem come up more, and even then you're talking about pulling up on the trem, while playing, to the point where it hits the body, and... I'm not keen on that idea myself.

 

[maxtuna26]

Personally I think it's okay to do so, just imagine the PRS trem as a six-screw equivalent of the Fender Am Std two-pivot trem. The PRS trem system has the pivot grooves on the screws, just like the trem pivot studs on the Fenders, and most Am Std that I saw, came set-up with the bridge slightly tilting forward. I have no idea if setting the trem to tilt will have any side effects, but I used to set my SE that way and there was nothing wrong with it, but later on I blocked the trem because I had no use for it. YMMV.

 

[jfb]

I assume you're referring to this:

It's a really cool setup but I haven't ever tried it on a PRS. I'm not sure if it would work. The thing about the PRS trem is that because of the arched top, the trem floats in its natural neutral position, and that's probably not enough clearance to get the effect you're looking for. You might have to loosen the springs a bit to let the trem come up more, and even then you're talking about pulling up on the trem, while playing, to the point where it hits the body, and... I'm not keen on that idea myself.

Great video. Thanks for sharing. I wondered how Carl and Scott got those setups to work so well and this is excellent insight to that. Awesome!