RVA Posted January 17 Report Share Posted January 17 Mates, I have 2 PRS with a non-adjustable stop tail where the strings will not touch the frets even with the bridge screwed all the way down. I think this is mainly due to the shallow neck angle on PRS. Now, the strings do get plenty low, but I would prefer a tad lower. I don't know of any bridges out there with less height than a PRS non-adjustable stoptail that fit a PRS (even the so called Golden Age low profile bridge from Stew Mac, which has adjustable saddles and is likely thicker/taller). Also, PRS has the rather unique 10" radius. There is very little to the base of the studs, so shaving them down is not really an option. I had a talk with John Mann today (MannMade bridges), who told me he noticed the same issue. His studs have .003" less mass at the base than PRS for this reason. Helpful gain, but not much. John Mann suggested what I was also thinking...file the string slots down to taste. He advised that all PRS string slots are 1/16" (or about 1.5mm). In that regard, I found a very helpful set of round files. See link below. https://www.riogrande.com/product/micro-shaper-round-diamond-file-set-240-mesh-set-of-4/114814GP/?code=114814 I presume you could also use a nut file @ .056" or .065" I ordered the round files and will report back my results. If anyone else has noticed this, please let me know. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted January 18 Report Share Posted January 18 Have you checked the neck for straightness? If you've got too much forward bow/relief, then that will raise your action and straightening it out with the truss rod will make it more playable. I have to adjust the rod in my Core Mira from time to time, it usually bows a bit in winter. The golden age wraparound bridge from stewmac might actually be a hair lower than the PRS Stoptail bridge, I haven't got anything to measure to hand but I've got a PRS here and one of my guitars with the golden age and it looks slightly lower by eye. Re 12" radius issue, all you need to do is file the saddle slots for the outer strings down slightly and you can tighten that radius. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RVA Posted January 18 Author Report Share Posted January 18 (edited) 29 minutes ago, ADFinlayson said: Have you checked the neck for straightness? If you've got too much forward bow/relief, then that will raise your action and straightening it out with the truss rod will make it more playable. I have to adjust the rod in my Core Mira from time to time, it usually bows a bit in winter. The golden age wraparound bridge from stewmac might actually be a hair lower than the PRS Stoptail bridge, I haven't got anything to measure to hand but I've got a PRS here and one of my guitars with the golden age and it looks slightly lower by eye. Re 12" radius issue, all you need to do is file the saddle slots for the outer strings down slightly and you can tighten that radius. Yes, thank you for the suggestion. I have the neck dead straight and the wraparound bridge decked. Since the Golden Age low profile is adjustable, I would presume it may have more height than the non-adjustable PRS wraparound as measure from the saddle notches, but since nobody ever provides that spec, I would need to measure to be sure. Which PRS bridge do you have? Great thought about filing on the 12" radius. Thank you. As I sit here and play it, I will say that it is plenty low enough for my taste. And it is buzz free with a dead flat neck. I might not even want it any lower, but IMHO you should be able to bottom out the strings to the frets and I want to KNOW I don't want it any lower. Concern for these details could be how many of us landed on this forum in the first place, I imagine! Edited January 18 by RVA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted January 18 Report Share Posted January 18 There was some discussion in another thread about the radius of the bridge being different to that of the fretboard. The conclusion was that the difference is measurable but it's fractions of a mm which many players may not even notice. Yet sometimes even the tiniest inconsistency may make the guitar less pleasant to play - just think about compensating the string thickness on the nut! So yes, filing the radius may be worth the effort but I'd recommend baby steps with a week of playing in between to find out whether it's for better or worse. As I don't have access to a PRS this idea may not be applicable: Do the threaded inserts have collars? If so, countersinking them might give some clearance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted January 18 Report Share Posted January 18 6 hours ago, RVA said: Yes, thank you for the suggestion. I have the neck dead straight and the wraparound bridge decked. Since the Golden Age low profile is adjustable, I would presume it may have more height than the non-adjustable PRS wraparound as measure from the saddle notches, but since nobody ever provides that spec, I would need to measure to be sure. Which PRS bridge do you have? Great thought about filing on the 12" radius. Thank you. As I sit here and play it, I will say that it is plenty low enough for my taste. And it is buzz free with a dead flat neck. I might not even want it any lower, but IMHO you should be able to bottom out the strings to the frets and I want to KNOW I don't want it any lower. Concern for these details could be how many of us landed on this forum in the first place, I imagine! I have both the non-adjustable wraparound on my Mira and I also have the PRS adjustable stoptail on one on my builds. If the neck is straight and the bridge is decked and you can't get good action, then the only real solution to fix it properly is to do a neck reset. It's actually quite simple to remove a neck, especially if it's a double cut model like cu22. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RVA Posted January 23 Author Report Share Posted January 23 FYI: Info that I could not find on the internet PRS non-adjustable wraparound is .48" (12.2mm) thick at the center / tallest point - this is my measurement The Golden Age low profile bridge per Stew Mack is "...0.533" (13.54mm) high at the highest saddles (G) from the bottom" ---- BUT here are some lower profile intonatable wraparound bridge choices Wilkinson (compensated G and D only) 12.75 mm https://www.amazon.com/Wilkinson-Adjustable-Intonated-Wraparound-Tailpiece/dp/B08P1K7B5G?th=1 Schaller Signum - 12.9 mm https://schaller.info/en/bridges/529/signum?c=52 Pigtail - 13.08 mm https://www.stewmac.com/parts-and-hardware/all-hardware-and-parts-by-instrument/electric-guitar-parts/electric-guitar-bridges-and-tailpieces/non-trem-electric-guitar-bridges/pigtail-aluminum-wraparound-bridge/ Hope this helps someone. If not, at least I know where to look when I forget! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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