Tuning a PRS 513

[CVS]

Yesterday at band practice, we were playing the song called The Weight by a band called The Band. I was using a PRS 513 and was playing electric guitar fills & some chords. The studio version of this song is in the key of A. As we were playing the song, I noticed that the C# note that is one of the 3 notes that comprise the A major chord sounded sharp to me (the B string). Needless to say, to the A chord is played rather often in this song. No other chords that I played sounded out of tune to me. I tried lowering the pitch a bit on the B string while we we playing the song but then other chords did not sound "right".

After the song ended, I tuned the B string and then played an A chord on the 2nd fret. I left my tuner on and then plucked the C# note on the B string and it was in fact slightly sharp. I then plucked an open B string and the tuner showed that the string was in tune. Then I took a very close look at how I was fingering the A chord thinking that perhaps for some reason I had started bending the B string when I played the A chord - nope - ruled that out.

Has anyone ever run into this problem? I have been playing guitar for years and never has this issue crop up before (or at least not enough to have it bother me). Maybe I am putting too much downward pressure on the strings when I finger the chord???

Comments appreciated.

 

[RowanSE]

Check your intonation or get it checked. I had a very similar issue that turned out to be a string too short causing a sharp note even when tuned properly.

 

[The Viking Gangster]

This type of thing drives me crazy. I'm a stickler for sweet sounding chords and having sharp notes (especially the 3rd) bothers me to no end.

You may not be bending it up or down, however, pressing hard will make a note go sharp too. But, if it plays sharp with a light touch, then it's the intonation or nut slot height being too high.

PRS guitars seems to do well with "Cowboy" chords. That is, they usually play with good intonation as compared to Gibson (IMHO). I'm incline to say that it's the intonation or pressing too hard , or the nut slot is too high.

 

[watelessness]

If it's not intonation, or nut stickiness, then it's finger pressure. I have similar issues but only on some of my guitars, not all. At times I think it's limited to trem models, other times it seems to be action height, but basically, it's me, not the machine.

 

[Dancing Frog]

It's not intonation. If your low positions are out, it's a neck adjustment. Check that you're under 0.010" relief at the 8th fret. If your high positions are out after the neck adjustment, that's intonation.

It's what I always say that if PRSi were American muscle cars, the 513 would be a Ferrari. More sensitive to everything than a regular PRS. I usually have to adjust the necks once a season for this reason. You make the adjustment and most of time your intonation is just fine or really close, unless the trem springs have stretched a bit.

 

[andross182]

I have noticed that same thing on my custom 24 and Tremonti as well. Any sort of excessive pressure on the b string will cause it to go sharp, I have to fret the chords by literally just touching it to keep it in tune.

 

[Jazzedout]

Adjusting intonation, lowering action a bit (if possible) and better technique usually work just fine!!

 

[CVS]

Thanks for all the tips - I think as a few of you mentioned above, the problem is related to finger pressure, so I will have to watch that going forward. I might even save some fret wear & tear.

 

[Dancing Frog]

Guitar tuning is always a compromise. The frets are not actually in the right places precisely for perfect tune; but honestly, you shouldn't have to adjust your technique to play an open A or D in tune if it was fine a couple of months ago.

Intonation is also proportional with the greatest effects of the adjustment occurring around the 12th fret and least at the first fret. If you're not noticing your chords high on the neck are out worse than ones lower than it's not intonation. You can check that with a tuner. I've had 513's where the intonation was out, but you could play open chords that sounded fine. However, a D chord at the 10th sounded like crap.

Your best bet is to get it set up with a good luthier if you're not confident about doing it yourself; and if they tell you have to adjust your finger pressure, then they are not a good one. I have had music store hacks tell me that kind of stuff before when I was trying to chase down a tuning issue on a Modern Eagle. Then, I found John Ingram. It turns out that that guitar had a problem with neck angle that was screwing up tuning stability. The side benefit was that I learned a lot from watching him set up my axes. There is a video online showing him doing a complete setup on a PRS that's worth watching. It's really not that hard to do. All you need is a set of allen wrenches, a capo, feeler gauges, a couple of screw drivers, a machinist's scale, the truss rod tool, and a decent tuner. CruzTools puts out a set in a nice zipped pouch.

 

[CVS]

Intonation at the 12th fret is fine & I am not having any tuning type issues when I play chords up the neck. I think the issue is related to finger pressure

 

[Dancing Frog]

Intonation at the 12th fret is fine & I am not having any tuning type issues when I play chords up the neck. I think the issue is related to finger pressure

Have you checked neck relief? Because of their longer scale lengths, 513's, 305's, Brett Mason's, and DC3's are more sensitive to relief issues than the typical 25 inch scale PRS.