SE245 buzzing truss rod cover

[AAT]

Don't know if anyone else has ever seen / heard this problem...

My first PRS is an SE 245 in Vintage Yellow which I bought a few weeks ago. Through an amp, every note sounds great... But after a few days I noticed an apparently intermittent buzz when played unplugged. It was usually around the 5th fret on the G string. I checked the relief and it looked good, checked for high frets and all seemed fine... I was in the verge of taking it back into the shop when I worked out what it was: the truss rod cover buzzes.

On these SEs the truss rod cover (and the covers for the electronics on the back) are made of a very cheap flexible black plastic. Since the TRC is only held by one screw, if you hit the right frequency (it's apparently tuned slightly sharp of C, so a hint of choke on 5th fret G string sets it off!) it buzzes like crazy.

Anyone else seen this? Any suggestions for a cure? For now I have gone for a folded bit of paper behind the TRC which does the job... I might change it for a bit of Elastoplast!

If if I buy a new SE TRC from the PRS store, will it be just the same (frankly, crappy) plastic?

(BTW I just want a solution for now... I may come back and moan about how this cost cutting isn't really in keeping with PRS's standards or the tremendous quality of the rest of the guitar later... Oh, wait, I just did...)

 

[DogPhishHead]

Yes, the piece is cheap plastic. I have two TRCs and both look, well...cheap. I'm thinking have getting a nice custom wood from this ebay source:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/True-Custom...848?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20f7df9e30

 

[AAT]

Thanks BeerBatteredPhish -- that looks a nice option.
I'm tempted by a rosewood one to match the fingerboard. Anyone else here tried something from this seller?

 

[László]

These are nicer. http://crazyparts.de/sports/trussrod-covers/index.php

 

[sergiodeblanc]

I always take 'em off.

 

[AAT]

@LSchefman - those do look good, and are nearer for shipping for me... but I don't see SE TRCs listed there. I might contact them to see if they can do an SE TRC though.
@sergiodeblanc - taking the TRC off seems an extreme solution, and not the most aesthetic! I'll keep that for a last resort.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

@LSchefman - those do look good, and are nearer for shipping for me... but I don't see SE TRCs listed there. I might contact them to see if they can do an SE TRC though.
@sergiodeblanc - taking the TRC off seems an extreme solution, and not the most aesthetic! I'll keep that for a last resort.

The regular PRS sized covers are just a bit shorter than the SE ones, but they still work well enough... Leaving them off isn't the most elegant looking solution for sure, but I'm always tweaking the truss rods.

 

[László]

It's hard to compete in today's musical instrument market; the pressure to keep the price down is immense, especially at the SE end of the market, and every penny counts.

If I were an SE buyer I'd rather have them save a little on the Truss Rod Cover than somewhere else on the guitar.

 

[AAT]

@LSchefman - agreed, I'm just being picky -- as I said, the guitar overall is amazing quality and value for money. Compared to the Epiphone Les Pauls - which have solid 3-ply plastic truss rod covers with 3 screws, no less! - this SE245 is easier to play (the action on some of the Epis was horrible, and none of them has as comfortable a neck profile), the finish is better, and the pickups match any of the Epiphone Burstbuckers. The only thing I really had to compromise on at all was giving up the coil-tap options which most of the Epis have, but to be honest I wasn't that impressed with their single-coil or parallel-coil sounds anyway.

I might try a standard PRS TRC if you reckon it fits, I will check the sizes.

I see the same people do fancy knobs too... I can't decide if that's tempting or not!