Tremolo bushing issue

[Mincer]

Hi all, new forum member here. You might know me as the admin for the Seymour Duncan Forum, or a member of a lot of other forums. I have a new PRS SE Custom 22 Semi Hollow...a beautiful instrument. It breaks me out of my comfort zone of Music Mans and Warmoths. When I got it, it didn't come with a trem bar in the bag, but I ordered the correct aftermarket one for the SE, 4.5mm in diameter.

Well, when I went to try it, it only went in the bridge about 1 cm. I completely took out the tension screw to see if that was affecting it, and same result. I eventually took the bridge apart and saw that the bushing itself was misshapen and even with some pretty firm taps with a rubber mallet (outside of the guitar, of course), that arm wasn't going in the bushing at all, even with the bushing completely removed from the block.

There are a few older threads on this forum with a few people complaining about the exact same thing (and several YouTube comments), but no resolution.

PRS Customer Service correctly identified this as a bushing issue, and not a bridge issue. Thing is, they don't sell bushings by themselves. I can buy blocks with bushings, or entire bridges, or the accessory kit with a bushing and brass screws, but just not the bushing, and PRS themselves doesn't keep spares. They recommended to slightly ream out the bushing with a drill bit or a straight shank reamer. So, after the gigs this weekend, I figured I'd try. I don't have a straight reamer, but I have drill bits and a hand crank drill.

Anyone else have this issue and resolve it?

 

[bodia]

Hi all, new forum member here. You might know me as the admin for the Seymour Duncan Forum, or a member of a lot of other forums. I have a new PRS SE Custom 22 Semi Hollow...a beautiful instrument. It breaks me out of my comfort zone of Music Mans and Warmoths. When I got it, it didn't come with a trem bar in the bag, but I ordered the correct aftermarket one for the SE, 4.5mm in diameter.

Well, when I went to try it, it only went in the bridge about 1 cm. I completely took out the tension screw to see if that was affecting it, and same result. I eventually took the bridge apart and saw that the bushing itself was misshapen and even with some pretty firm taps with a rubber mallet (outside of the guitar, of course), that arm wasn't going in the bushing at all, even with the bushing completely removed from the block.

There are a few older threads on this forum with a few people complaining about the exact same thing (and several YouTube comments), but no resolution.

PRS Customer Service correctly identified this as a bushing issue, and not a bridge issue. Thing is, they don't sell bushings by themselves. I can buy blocks with bushings, or entire bridges, or the accessory kit with a bushing and brass screws, but just not the bushing, and PRS themselves doesn't keep spares. They recommended to slightly ream out the bushing with a drill bit or a straight shank reamer. So, after the gigs this weekend, I figured I'd try. I don't have a straight reamer, but I have drill bits and a hand crank drill.

Anyone else have this issue and resolve it?

Maybe try reaching out to John Mann at John Mann’s Guitar Vault. He created the original PRS trem. Best to call him. He’s not the best with e-mail, but is more than willing to take the time to help out.

 

[Mincer]

I forgot to mention that I had sent him a message, and was very helpful! He didn't have bushings, either, but offered to see if he could modify a USA one to fit the SE bridge.