Setting up my PRS studio trem for .11-52.'s

[AmelBedel61904]

Has anyone done this their PRS? I'd have no issue doing it with a hardtail guitar, but I don't have much experience with floating trem bridges. Is it something that's easy to do at home or should I take it to a good repair shop? I'm comfortable intonating it and adjusting the truss rod. Just not sure about setting up the trem correctly. I've also heard that the slots in the nut may not be wide enough for 11-52s. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[sleary]

I had to get my nut cut to accept the bigger gauge . Term was still pretty straight forward and easy to set up. One thing I've noticed though. I switched brands from prs to d'addario ny xl (10's) and the tone to my ears sounds like 11's....just a thought

 

[Bowtiefanatc]

It's not that bad, just takes some time and patience. My Standard 24 came strung with 12'a from the previous owner with the trem decked. I swapped to 11's and recently undecked the trem. Now it's floating with 11's and the playability it still really nice.

 

[jimistephen]

What I would do is shove something in behind the trem so it doesn't move. Restring the guitar with what you want and tune it to what you need it to. Now you know that when the trem is level you're in the correct tune. Remove the block, the higher tension strings will pull the bridge up and make the strings flat. Adjust the screws in the back until the trem is level again. You'll have to make minor adjustments afterwards, but it's not that big of a deal. People really make this a lot harder than it needs to be.

Also, you should have the nut recut or do it your self to make sure the strings fit right.

 

[Dizzyg12]

I did my own adjustments - it's a skill worth learning. I put skinny top heavy bottoms on my floating trem. Bought the tools from stewmac to file down the nuts and took my time to widen them and make it ever so slightly deeper for the thicker strings. I set it up for drop c so the trem didn't need a lot of adjustments. The thicker strings compensated for the lesser tension. I installed a tremol-no though and keep it locked primarily but with it unlocked it still floats and works just fine. You're basically looking as some saddle adjustments and possibly tightening trem claw screws at minimum. Possibly a truss rod tweak but not likely. And 100 % sure on a nut filing.