SE- Bridge Slipped Off of Screws

[Moose6]

HELP! I dive bombed my bridge and it slipped down off of the 6 screws holding it up. It is now flat on the body instead of floating about 3/32 above the body. I've removed the strings and springs but I can't get the bridge back up where it should be. It looks like the 6 holes are so precise that the bridge has to be lined up perfectly for the holes to get up on the screws. I just can't get it lined up. Please help. THIS IS FRUSTRATING!!!

 

[justmund]

This sounds really weird. There should be heaps of clearance around the screws for the trem to be able to be moved up and down (away and towards the body) with ease. You should just be able to lift it up, and get the knife edge of the trem to sit in the recessed slots in the screws, put the springs and strings back on and you're all good.

If it really is stuck somehow (?), then perhaps push (or use something to push) gently on the trem block from the rear. Give it a little wiggle too.

Also, watch the John Mann video on how to set up a PRS bridge properly, it's on YouTube somewhere. Just need to make sure all the trem screws are the right height, maybe that's contributing to your issues.

 

[vchizzle]

Sorry I can't help as I'm not a trem guy. I'm sure someone will be on here. John Mann is the original PRS trem designer and could help. http://www.mannmadeusa.com/support/

 

[Michael_DK]

Can you post some detail pictures of the situation? That might enable us to help better.

 

[WEDGE]

I had this happen on a CE i had and it was not adjusted properly. If any of the six screws are not even it can pop off. Search John Manns video on setting up a bridge and start from scratch and i bet your good after.

 

[vchizzle]

 

[Moose6]

Thanks for the video. That is exactly what I needed. It was a bad setup.

I bought this guitar new in June and I never use the tremelo. Well yesterday I decided I'd use it and when I dive bombed the trem it slipped down the screws flat against the body. Not until I took one of the screws out did I realize there is a groove cut in all of the screws for the knife edge of the trem to fit into. That is when I realized what happened concerning the original setup. Apparently when it was built, the screws where screwed into the body so deep that the groove in the 6 trem screws was BELOW the knife edge of the trem. The top surface of the trem was right below the top of the screw head. When I dive bombed the trem, the knife edge finally slipped down into the groove cut in all of the screws. Well then my bridge was too low and slightly too far forward. After watching the video I set the screw height using the allen wrench as a feeler gauge (technical note: the video said to use a 2.5mm allen wrench. In the absence of metric, 3/32 is almost identical which is what I used). I still need to adjust the saddle height and intonation, but not nearly as much as I thought I would.

Thanks again for the help. I love this forum... and these guitars!!!!

 

[John Mann]

Moose6 - 3/32 is fine... that puts you only .005" below... no biggie. B-)
The real key is to get them all the same.

Here is another tip for setting up the screw heights... I find that it is actually easier to rought set the mounting screws lower and than adjust up, which allows the wrench to slide under the screw head when you reach the correct gap.

easy brezzy...