Permanent Waves
New Member
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2021
- Messages
- 120
I know the PRS Guitar Setup Specs call for the tremolo bridge to be about 1/16 inch off the body, and parallel to the body (floating). This gives space for upward tremolo bend of about half a tone or so. There's a certain amount of variance based on the model types and years as there seems to be differences in top thickness and the setting of the neck in the pocket.
I have 3 early 90's CE24 models (90, 92 and 95) where the bridge is laying perfectly flat on the body (NO gap or room to bend up). This allows me to get the action as low as I like it, but the low and high E saddles are set as low as they can go. There is no way to get the bridge off the body as per spec without making the action too high for me. I'm fine with this setup as I don't use the tremolo much and don't care if it is floating.
The only other tremolo PRS I have is a 93 CU24. That one has the bridge off the body by about 1/16 inch as per spec and floating parallel to the body with a little room for upbend. I recently had to do a truss rod adjustment detailed in another thread and wasn't too happy with the bridge floating that much. It is much more sensitive to pitch variations when the palm rests on the bridge, and the whole thing goes out of tune if I break a string.
I found that I much prefer the stability (and apparent increase in sustain?) with the bridge laying flat on the body like my CEs, but I cannot do that on the CU because the saddles are already pretty high and would likely not be able to make up the difference if I lowered the bridge by 1/16 inch.
Other than blocking the bridge, which I did not want to do that modification now, I decided to tighten the claw screws to increase spring tension and bring the bottom of the bridge resting on the top of the guitar (no more upwards bend movement). I know this is not spec but I don't like floating bridges (I barely use the tremolo bar) and I found this increases stability and sustain. It also keeps the guitar in tune if I break a string and prevents the "bridge bite" from damaging the finish if it comes down suddenly. If I started to use the tremolo extensively though, I would probably need to loosen the claw screws as it is pretty tight now, but I rarely have the bar in at all.
I was wondering if other players had any experience or input on this approach? Do you prevent the bridge floating by tightening claw screws and are there risks or drawbacks with this "out of spec" approach?
I have 3 early 90's CE24 models (90, 92 and 95) where the bridge is laying perfectly flat on the body (NO gap or room to bend up). This allows me to get the action as low as I like it, but the low and high E saddles are set as low as they can go. There is no way to get the bridge off the body as per spec without making the action too high for me. I'm fine with this setup as I don't use the tremolo much and don't care if it is floating.
The only other tremolo PRS I have is a 93 CU24. That one has the bridge off the body by about 1/16 inch as per spec and floating parallel to the body with a little room for upbend. I recently had to do a truss rod adjustment detailed in another thread and wasn't too happy with the bridge floating that much. It is much more sensitive to pitch variations when the palm rests on the bridge, and the whole thing goes out of tune if I break a string.
I found that I much prefer the stability (and apparent increase in sustain?) with the bridge laying flat on the body like my CEs, but I cannot do that on the CU because the saddles are already pretty high and would likely not be able to make up the difference if I lowered the bridge by 1/16 inch.
Other than blocking the bridge, which I did not want to do that modification now, I decided to tighten the claw screws to increase spring tension and bring the bottom of the bridge resting on the top of the guitar (no more upwards bend movement). I know this is not spec but I don't like floating bridges (I barely use the tremolo bar) and I found this increases stability and sustain. It also keeps the guitar in tune if I break a string and prevents the "bridge bite" from damaging the finish if it comes down suddenly. If I started to use the tremolo extensively though, I would probably need to loosen the claw screws as it is pretty tight now, but I rarely have the bar in at all.
I was wondering if other players had any experience or input on this approach? Do you prevent the bridge floating by tightening claw screws and are there risks or drawbacks with this "out of spec" approach?