Spring claw adjustment

[M3ta99]

Hi all,

I have a '04 PRS Custom 24. I have always used 10-46 D'Addario strings but recently I wanted some more tension on the low E so I am trying the 10-52 D'Addario light top/heavy bottom set. I was a little surprised by just how much more tension these strings have. There was quite a bit more resistance on the tuning peg to bring it to pitch in E standard tuning. The added tension was causing the bridge to tilt forward so I I adjusted the spring claw to bring the back of the bridge back down to the 1/16th of an inch recommended by PRS.

My question is: Is it typical to have to nearly bottom out the spring claw screws when using heavier gauge strings? My spring claw has 4 springs (not sure if this was original or if some tech along the way added more). Should I add more neck relief? Their is just a slight bit of neck relief currently. Action is good only a little buzz on the low E when fretted around the 15th fret. I like my action pretty low.

I adjusted the neck/action/intonation and the guitar plays well. I'm just surprised it takes the entire claw travel adjustment to make these strings work. Do I need stiffer springs?

stringtensionpro.com rates this set on a 25" scale guitar at 115.03 lbs of total tension which is less than an 11 set.

Thanks!

 

[swede71]

Prs DGTs comes with 11-49 strings and use five springs.I prefer the feel of the Prs tremolo with 10-46 strings and 4 springs.

 

[cosmic_ape]

Raising the saddles a little bit helps you reduce spring tension. It's a balancing act until you find the sweet spot, but it can be done.

 

[Thirdjeff]

There is nothing wrong with tightening the spring claw all the way in if you need that much extra spring tension to level the bridge. Is it typical or normal to have to tighten the claw this far? Sure, but every guitar is different and won't always need this extreme of an adjustment. If you tighten the claw all the way and still need more spring tension, then you either need to add a 5th spring and/or use stiffer springs.