Why is this happening??

[Andrew Paul]

You’ve got a screw loose.

I know, but it was too hard to resist.

You’ve got that right!!

 

[Andrew Paul]

Something is definitely wrong, certainly in your picture you have almost all of the saddles too far up. the saddles are hitting the tremolo mounting screws. There should be at least 3 or 4 mm before your saddle hits the tremolo screw.
Once the saddles Have moved as far forward as possible the screw Spring will definitely have no tension on it. And then it will easily back out, especially if you reduce tension but a lot of divebombing.

It seems to me like it needs a fresh set up, Take off all the strings move the saddles To the center position, it should be pretty much set up in the middle of their adjustable range to begin the setup. Restring it then tune, Level the tremolo correctly, if the tremolo is not leveled it can require an oddball saddle adjustment to get it intonated. it looks like it's been adjusted multiple times over the years it needs to start back to original factory middle-of-the-road settings, I think it might be a case of fine-tuning after fine-tuning after fine-tuning till it's really far out of whack. Those look like really extra heavy gauge strings too. those 11s? Your low E string is about correct near the middle of the saddles travel range. reset them all somewhere around that point.
These are all just guesses the picture doesn't have all the right angles for a full judgment.

Thanks for advice, I’ve actually readjusted the intonation. Saddles are now in better position. I agree with your observation the bridge height probably needs to be set back to factory. I changed strings to 9’s , what is in photo, must just be an optical illusion that they are thicker. It had 10’s on it. Funny thing is when got this guitar it had a receipt in the case for a setup, I don’t think they knew what they were doing.

 

[Dancing Frog]

If it keeps backing out after you've centered things, then PRS has installed the wrong saddles. That happened to me once, but I don't see the tell tale signs that one saddle is the wrong type. It would have to be all of them.

Your eyes do not deceive you on the picture of the 513 Swamp Ash below. The saddle on the high E string is indeed a different finish, and it was wider than the adjacent saddles. There was enough friction between the errant saddle, the trem block, and saddle next to it that it relieved enough spring tension on the intonation screw to allow the screw to back out and get lost. When this picture was taken, I hadn't noticed the problem yet. I found out about it when the intonation spring departed the assembly.

 

[Andrew Paul]

If it keeps backing out after you've centered things, then PRS has installed the wrong saddles. That happened to me once, but I don't see the tell tale signs that one saddle is the wrong type. It would have to be all of them.

Your eyes do not deceive you on picture of the 513 Swamp Ash below. The saddle on the high E string is indeed a different finish, and it was wider than the adjacent saddles. There was enough friction between the errant saddle, the trem block, and saddle next to it that it relieved enough tension spring and intonation screw which caused the intonation screw back out and get lost. When this picture was taken, I hadn't noticed the problem yet. I found out about it when the intonation spring departed the assembly.

You can see the screw starting to back out of your 513. Interesting, i wonder what different saddle was put in. Aren’t all phase III saddles the same?

 

[Dancing Frog]

You can see the screw starting to back out of your 513. Interesting, i wonder what different saddle was put in. Aren’t all phase III saddles the same?

One would hope so, but there are a lot of factors at work in a screw up. Parts are out of tolerance. Parts from different suppliers accidentally mixed together. Suppliers not exclusively PRS, so orders are screwed up. Human factors issues.

 

[Andrew Paul]

One would hope so, but there are a lot of factors at work in a screw up. Parts are out of tolerance. Parts from different suppliers accidentally mixed together. Suppliers not exclusively PRS, so orders are screwed up. Human factors issues.

Good points.... I’m feeling a bit naïve regarding PRS quality control

 

[jjhookemup]

The screw or saddle is definitely a little stripped. I had this problem on my Stripped 58. A properly fix is new saddle and screw. I know it sucks, but there’s no other proper way to fix it.

 

[Ironwolf]

ohhhh! that's what they mean by a stripped 58... all the screws are stripped. that seems like bad idea.

 

[LARGTR]

Hi all! I'm glad I found this thread. A couple of months ago I noticed the intonation screw on my high E string (custom 24, gen III trem) had backed itself almost all the way out. What a mystery?!? So I screwed it in an set the intonation, realizing it is a long (too long) screw and it would actually touch the back of the string when set right! I bought a new set of hardware and was going to use a shorter screw - haven't done it yet; however, what is up with this? Should I contact PRS? Is there an actual technical service bulletin on this? Seems somewhat unacceptable for the price paid for the guitar. Thoughts? Thank you.

 

[AZGiant]

As other have mentioned I would try plumbers tape. Very forgiving if you mess up and you just reapply it