Stock PRS Tremolo v Wudtone PRS LR Upgrade - SHOOTOUT

andypwudtone · December 2015

So we finally got to A/B test the stock PRS trem with the Wudtone PRS LR Upgrade on a nice PRS Custom 22.

Great guitar and so amazing results from de-compressing the guitars dynamic. its been fun.

SO HOW come there is such a huuuge difference?

Well the stock PRS bridge has very limited ( hardly any really) contact with the guitar and so when you change that level of contact ( as the Wudtone PRS LR trem does) , you completely change the dynamic response of the guitar . Anyone who likes PRS guitars may find it makes their PRS guitars a whole load more everything , but especially fatter, alive feel and way more fun. As usual with any Wudtone Hardware product, if you are not 100% blown away, delighted, return for full refund.

I've seen very little love for PRS guitars on here , well I say this, anyone who has kinda left PRS guitars, maybe because you have felt that they lack character, etc compared to Les Paul/ Strat, check this out.

Go grab a cu22 ( leave the cu24's the neck pickup is in the wrong place, (it isn't under the 24th fret harmonic, so no sweet harmonised tones ), they are available around for the 1- 1.2k mark and your unlikely to see much more depreciation at that. Try the Wudtone PRS LR trem upgrade and we guarantee it will be a game changer for you to perhaps enjoy a nicely made mass produced guitar finally with some good dynamics/character.

thomasross20 · December 2015

Woah, serious? The first one sounded like there was a blanket over it, sound-wise. Big improvement!

andypwudtone · December 2015

thank you @thomasross20 , it surprised us with this guitar just how much difference there was.

When you consider how much trouble PRS go to to get everything else right , the dry woods, fret glueing etc maybe it isn't so surprising.

When you create an easier way for the energies the player puts into the strings to loop with the body, the change in dynamics are that much greater because other aspects of the guitar are really good as well. I also think the hardened steels, and cold steel materials we are using in the bridge plate and block really are unbeatable and out perform the PRS brass stuff , particularly for detail and clarity and this is in part what you are hearing, why it suddenly seems the stock PRS bridge has less detail.

In terms of bridge engineering there is a similar difference between the way a Strat dynamic and tone changes from the newer two pivot post bridge ( except the PRS has six smaller pivot posts if you like) and a vintage body connected bridge. We did the same A/B kinda test with an American deluxe strat here

some time ago.

quite exciting , has certainly caused a stir in the PRS community. A complete PRS purist who has a collection of 80's PRS is gigging with one this weekend on his no1 guitar so it will be interesting to hear how he gets on.

kind regards

thomasross20 · December 2015

I'm going to post this on the PRS forum (they've likely seen it).

Difference is massive!

Do you have links to where this has been discussed in the PRS community?

The difference is so stark... I totally didn't expect that!

Have PRS been missing a trick all these years... why would they not do this themselves?

Is this a patentable idea (if so I assume you've patented it)..?

Deijavoo · December 2015

Have you got any independent reference review? Sorry to sound cynical Andy because this looks like it could be an excellent upgrade, but independent demos and reviews tend to hold more sway with me personally, so I'd assume it would with others too. Or, Thomas you get one first and I'll see if I need one later on.

andypwudtone · December 2015

Hi @thomasross20,

feel free to share and please pm me the links on the PRS forum ( I am not a member as yet, but will join follow any discussion etc )

and links, discussions are on a couple of facebook groups I am a member of with buddies ( some who have used the product eg th eguy who wrote the review here http://www.wudtone.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Tommy-Platt-review.pdf and the collector who is gigging with it.

the design is patented. (Patent GB1314545.3)

PRS have their own bridge design which they patented in the (correction) 80's, and they have stuck with it. All the designs patented in that era, including the Fender two post, Ernie Ball Luke etc share a similar approach with indentations in the fixings ( in the case of PRS it is the grooves in the screws)

to be granted a patent you have to have novelty etc , here is the patent lawyer speak about the

The CP (constant pivot ) trem invention.

1st gen plates,( as per the original Leo Fender patent) with a flat top surface only pivot by loosening the fixings (this allows the plate to slide up and down the fixings). This type of plate provides a desirable tone but causes tuning to be unstable. 2nd gen plates ( e.g. Fender 2 post, PRS grooved screw, and Ernie Ball Luke) use indentations in the fixings ( 2 or 6) so ‘float’ above the guitar body. Stable but the tone generated by guitars using these bridge plates is considered to be inferior to the vintage plates.

The Wudtone CP technology (Patent GB1314545.3) overcomes the problems of the two types of plate described above. It provides stable operation and a desirable tone through the use of: recesses formed around the fixings on the top side of the bridge plate; an arc on the underside of the bridge plate to ensure constant contact with the guitar body.

So we have created a version to apply that invention to a PRS and the video aims to show how simple it is to fit and the differences in use. The simple key to the dynamic changes is the fact that the whole bridge plate is effectively banging on the body (whilst being engineered to pivot correctly, keep tuning), plus the high spec materials we use. Shove that on an extremely well made mahogany / maple cap guitar and you get a transformation.

Thank you in advance for sharing any info. I think a lot of folks will find it hard to believe that such an improvement can be made to a PRS guitar, but we have the proofs now and real PRS purists , enjoying using it. It certainly does transform a PRS guitar into a much more alive, dynamic and enjoyable guitar to use. Over time that is all that matters.

kind regards

Deijavoo · December 2015

Will it fit all PRS that currently have one of their bridges?

andypwudtone · December 2015

Hi @Deijavoo, no worries,

yes it will fit any PRS trem fitted guitar.

re independent reviews, have a read of Tommy Platts review http://www.wudtone.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Tommy-Platt-review.pdf . I hope you will agree Wudtone's hardware, service and integrity has a great reputation around here.

Plenty of thefretboard members have fitted our bridge design/materials to their Strats and reported their delight in terms of tuning stability as well as tone/dynamic differences. The application on an extremely well made PRS guitars is quite new, it has exactly the big impact as shown in the video. As usual , any one investing in Wudtone Hardware can have a full refund if they are not completely satisfied.

We have been going a few years now and I'm pleased to say, not a single piece of hardware has ever returned other than to vary string spacing. cheers

Deijavoo · December 2015

Excellent, my never ending shopping list could increase again!

GuitarMonkey · December 2015

andypwudtone;64012" said:
Go grab a cu22 ( leave the cu24's the neck pickup is in the wrong place, (it isn't under the 24th fret harmonic, so no sweet harmonised tones )

How does that work? Given that most players often play fretted notes, so shifting the position of the harmonic.

andypwudtone · December 2015

I agree with the basic premise of shifting harmonics etc , yet "a sweet spot" for neck pickup placement has been an established for a long time, no doubt as a result of many complex , harmonic, nodal, finger placement maths etc etc, along with the basic fact that the pickup is placed further forward. Had both cu24 and cu22 here, the sweeter harmonised tones are in the cu22 , indeed IMHO it makes for a much more versatile ( tonally) guitar.

andypwudtone · January 2016

Deijavoo said:

Have you got any independent reference review? Sorry to sound cynical Andy because this looks like it could be an excellent upgrade, but independent demos and reviews tend to hold more sway with me personally, so I'd assume it would with others too. Or, Thomas you get one first and I'll see if I need one later on.

Hi @Deijavoo , news on independent demos, and some in use live reviews / how folks get on with the product will, I suspect, hit this thread http://forums.prsguitars.com/threads/wudtone-bridge.16130/ first on the official PRS forum as we have product being used in the UK and about to be delivered to folks in the USA.

meanwhile another video with sound sample, and with some testimonial content.

kind regards

stonevibe · January 2016

Can you fit these to a PRS SE?

andypwudtone · January 2016

Hi @stonevibe, thank you, yes they will fit any PRS with a trem.

kind regards

the_jaffa · January 2016

@andypwudtone, do you offer any deals for fretboard members on your products?

andypwudtone · January 2016

of course, best to mail me via mail@wudtone.com let me know roughly what your after, I can organise a coupon code for use with out shop.

kind regards

the_jaffa · January 2016

Excellent, cheers. I'm after one of your CP VT trems.

I'll send an email over.

thomasross20 · January 2016

Interesting thread here:

http://forums.prsguitars.com/threads/demo-of-wudtone-bridge-versus-stock.16387/

andypwudtone · January 2016

Hi @thomasross20 , thank you for the initial post, I think that thread is going to get very interesting. kind regards

thomasross20 · January 2016

I'm guessing "A" is the Wudtone - thought it was interesting 8)

andypwudtone · January 2016

I have no doubts. You can easily recognise the differences in tone character, extra detail/ clarity.

"A" starts to deliver some decent bite when the player digs in a little ( as Joe Walsh says, it is all in the right hand). SO all consistent re tone character, detail and clarity.

Re dynamics , it is a very different test and always hard to show the differences in audio samples, especially given the path has none of the bits that are driven by, dependant on and then delivering dynamics, e.g. valves, speaker cones, waves through air, microphone.

If you really want to know the full dynamic, tone benefit differences, sit by your valve amp, plug straight in, and play hard and soft etc

The video/ tests we did was the guitar into small Rivera combo and Plexi clone, 2 x12 v30's cab at the end, zoom h2 single point mic.

The only effect used into the amp was a slight add of diablo overdrive on the ACDC riff at the end. None on the before after bits

Be interesting to see what greiswig has to report back about the de-compression and girth to the tone, playing experience that is hard to hear with compressed audio , mp3 ( whereas the higher end stuff is more discernable) etc.

kind regards

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Stock PRS Tremolo v Wudtone PRS LR Upgrade - SHOOTOUT

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