Stiff feel and general bridge setup questions.

[StSpider]

A bit of background, I've been playing guitar for a long time and do most of my setups myself, I just don't mess with fret dressing or refretting etc.

I recently bought a 91 CE and I'd like to tweak the setup a bit.

THE GOOD: the neck is very straight, action is low and there's no buzz whatsoever.

THE BAD: strings are quite stiff and the bridge leans forward. I am also not certain that the 6 pivot screws are set at the right height if the bridge was set properly parallel to the top.

The seller advertised the guitar as setup with the bridge decked, I asked him to set it floating before shipping (I bought it from a shop) but I guess all they did was relaxing the claw screws.

First and foremost I want to deal with the stiffness. I generally like 10s and would rather not drop a gauge, I really like the neck setup and would not want to mess with the truss rod right now. Also the tuning holds beautifully so the nut clearly likes 10s. I wonder if the guitar feels stiff because the bridge is not properly set up right now.

Next I want to get the bridge parallel anyways, it is my understanding that I have to remove string tension, adjust the pivot screws so that the bridge sits 1/16th above the top and then adjust the claw screws under tension so that the bridge is parallel.

How exactly to I measure the pivot screws being at the right height? I didn't find some very clear resources on this.

Thank you.

 

[AP515]

Good questions. The answers are in the video. He is replacing the bridge but the set up is the same even though you are not replacing the bridge. Just start at the set up. John Mann is a PRS guy with a lot of history here. It's his bridge on your CE.

 

[StSpider]

Yeah I had stumbled upon that video a while back but was unable to find it today. Thank you.

So basically I have to relax the springs and with the bridge sitting on the body I have to set the screws so that between the underside of the head and the top of the bridge there's 2.5 mm.

Do I have to entirely remove the springs in order to do it or is it enough to relax the claw with the two screws underneath? I've never installed-removed the springs and I'm afraid it might be tricky.

 

[AP515]

You can check the height of the 6 screws before you start. They may be set already. Just use the claw screws to make the bridge parallel with the body and then check to see if the 2.5mm Allen wrench will fit under the bridge. If it will not go under or is super sloppy then you need to reset the 6 screws. If you don't want to try to set the 6 screws under tension you should take the strings off and the claw screws out, or back them off until there is no tension on the bridge. You can set it under tension but you have to know your screwdriver is the right one for the 6 screws. It's easy to scar them under tension. Once you set them at 2.5mm you are ready to string it and then set the claw screws. Just make sure the trem is in the grooves of the screws when you tune up.

 

[StSpider]

Thank you! But if I understand correctly, with the screws at the right height the gap between the bottom of the bridge and the top of the guitar is not 2,5 mm, it should be less..

 

[AP515]

You are right. It's better to remove the strings and set the bridge on the body to set the 6 screws. You can push the bridge out of the groove and at the top of the screws you can get the Allen wrench under the bridge but you have to be careful not to scratch the finish. It saves breaking down the set up, but it's risky. You can also just measure the height off the bridge off the body when it is level. 1/16th of an inch.

 

[StSpider]

UPDATE.

So, I took some time to redo the whole setup of my CE. I tried following the Mann guide but with the 2,5 mm allen as a feeler gauge between the bridge and the bottom of the screws the bridge ended up WAY too high. Don't know why, maybe it doesn't work with the bridge or the screws that came in 1991.

I redid the setup using a 1.5 allen key as a feeler gauge and it seems better, but I wonder if the bridge is still too high. I tried to measure it and it looks to me about 2 mm from the top.

Is this too much? I also wonder if it's parallel or not, I'm not sure, it seems to me, looking from behind, that the bass side is a little higher than the treble side.

The bridge feels good to operate and stays in tune, action is as it was before (after resetting it ofc), saddles have plenty of room to go higher or lower.

Strings are not stiff anymore.

I wonder if my setup is ok and I'm just being too anal because it looks a bit weird (maybe it's just my impression). It's the first good guitar with a vibrato unit that I've owned and the first one that I've cared to do the whole bridge setup thing properly so this is all new to me.

 

[StSpider]

 

[StSpider]

 

[AP515]

Sounds like your getting closer to the correct set up. Good job. I can only see the last photo, but from that, it looks like the trem is still a little high. It should be 1/16 off the body. That's about 1.6mm if you have that scale. When you set the 6 screw heights, did you have the bridge flat on the body and no strings or claw screws on the guitar?

 

[StSpider]

Sounds like your getting closer to the correct set up. Good job. I can only see the last photo, but from that, it looks like the trem is still a little high. It should be 1/16 off the body. That's about 1.6mm if you have that scale. When you set the 6 screw heights, did you have the bridge flat on the body and no strings or claw screws on the guitar?

Thanks you! Yes it was completely rested on the body, springs off the hooks and all that. In fact. tightening too much the screws on the allen key would raise the trem just like in the video.

I'll measure the current height carefully in the weekend. I think right now it's higher than 1/16th

For some reason the upload of the other picture keeps failing. Maybe this will work https://imgur.com/a/V6DOGod It looks to me like there's bit of a tilt.

I'm not too eager to redo the whole setup once more to set the right height, since now it feels pretty good to play. I do want to get it "just right" eventually tho.

Am I risking anything by having the bridge too high?

 

[AP515]

Am I risking anything by having the bridge too high?

Nope. Play her all you want. When you want to tweak it a little she will be ready for you.