What's the deal with PRS tremolo springs?

[dsn]

I recently got a used CE24. The previous owner foolishly shoved some oversized (Fender) tremolo springs into the bridge which were a real pain to remove. I ordered some PRS tremolo springs and was confused to find that the hooks on them are half angled.

I've seen straight hooks and angled hooks, both of which insert smoothly into the tremolo block, but these don't want to go in much farther than the angle break. As a result they're raised like this:

Now, is this an intentional design choice or am I doing something wrong? I don't want to force them in if they're not supposed to sit flat for whatever reason.

Any help is appreciated!

 

[garrettb]

By design, you gotta really press them in there and they'll sit about as flat as any other trem springs. They're a b!tch to remove.

 

[docteurseb]

By design, you gotta really press them in there and they'll sit about as flat as any other trem springs. They're a b!tch to remove.

I second that. I refinished my Silver Sky recently and in order to remove the bridge it was way easier to unscrew the base plate than trying to remove those damn springs...

 

[Rider1260]

I tap them in with a punch or a screw driver handle if they don't go in

 

[Tony M.]

The design locks them into the block.
They can't shift and that contributes to the excellent
"return to pitch" characteristics of the entire PRS tremolo apparatus.

(I just made this up but it seems to make sense.)

 

[Perry]

Yep, the ‘kink’ in the spring claw is designed to make sure they stay put. I have a strat which periodically tries to ‘eject’ one of its springs. Getting a PRS spring out is damn near impossible without distorting the spring in one way or another.