Neeeew Guitaaaar!

SimonC

Last pro set-up I had, I dropped off the guitar about noon, went for a walk and a coffee and picked it up again about 2 - o'clock.

1 - 2 week turnaround sounds a bit much - he must be setting up hundreds of guitars.

richardhomer

@thomasross20 - my experience is that PRS guitars hold their tuning exceptionally well.

Just a couple of obvious things to check before taking it back.

- are the strings properly locked at the machines? I had a Suhr with Sperzels which occasionally needed tightening.

- do you always tune 'up' (ie from below the desired pitch, rather than 'down' from above)?

Hope these suggestions don't sound patronising.

If these things are okay, the problem is likely to be the nut - which is unusual on a PRS. They are normally cut perfectly. Unless you have done nut work before, I would recommend you let the dealer sort this out.

BloodEagle

thomasross20 said:

Made contact regarding a (proper) set-up of the PRS but it's a 1-2 week turnaround - is that normal? 

I'm thinking about just getting the standard set-up kit off StewMac (radius gauges and everything) and doing it myself. 

Dude - it was a £3000 guitar - it should be set up perfectly straight from the shop, forget buying a setup kit and forget a 1-2 week wait. Let them know that if it doesnt play properly (which for a top spec PRS it doesnt sound like it does) you'd like to return it for a full refund there and then, then see how fast they can get it set up.

SimonC

thomasross20 said:

Gah - everything about this is still great BUT.... I noticed tonight that if I do a lot of bending or whammy use, some strings go sharp/flat by 1-3 notches on a Snark tuner. It's enough that I can notice it. The strings are the ones from the shop and in decent condition, I think.. Maybe I should change the strings and try some "nut sauce" but I didn't think that'd be needed with such an expensive instrument with the Phase III locking tuners! Other than that, it's still a joy - but this is a niggle!!

From the PRS setup guide:

Tuning and Setup Hints
If the guitar is returning sharp after using the tremolo arm, put a little lightweight machine oil under the head of each screw (do not loosen the screws). This will effectively oil the knife-edge of the tremolo.

 

ThePrettyDamned

thomasross20;363010" said:

Right. I'll do it.I'm at a loss as to what it could be, though, to make the tuning go out (it's not major, but slightly noticeable)!

I'd expect a 200 quid squier to hold tuning. A 3k guitar needs to be flawless.

It's almost certainly a nut job, or the strings are not stretched in, or are old. Get your wallet out and play a class tech. It's miles better value than another 3k guitar that'll still need a set up before it holds tune as well as a well set up squier.

thomasross20

Just to be clear - it holds tune well, but shifts maybe one or two cents on a Snark tuner after whammy usage - I don't know if that's good enough or not. Yep, always tune up The strings are old, to be fair... I'm reluctant to demand a setup from the shop because I pointed out the same guitar on another website was £2650 not £3100 and got it for the cheaper price. Turns out the £2650 version wasn't 10 top (though the competitor's ad said it was) so I got a great deal and can't imagine they'd be happy and have found out by now! An honest mistake but you can see where I'm coming from...

It's not going massively out of tune by any means - is a few cents normal?

ThePrettyDamned

thomasross20;364738" said:

Just to be clear - it holds tune well, but shifts maybe one or two cents on a Snark tuner after whammy usage - I don't know if that's good enough or not. Yep, always tune up The strings are old, to be fair... I'm reluctant to demand a setup from the shop because I pointed out the same guitar on another website was £2650 not £3100 and got it for the cheaper price. Turns out the £2650 version wasn't 10 top (though the competitor's ad said it was) so I got a great deal and can't imagine they'd be happy and have found out by now! An honest mistake but you can see where I'm coming from...



It's not going massively out of tune by any means - is a few cents normal?

If you can't hear the difference on chords, probably fine.

But I wouldn't expect the tuning to move a great deal at all to be honest. If the strings are a few months old, change them, and stretch the new ones in. If it's still doing it, and it's audible, the nut needs sorting.

noisepolluter

thomasross20 said:

Gah - everything about this is still great BUT.... I noticed tonight that if I do a lot of bending or whammy use, some strings go sharp/flat by 1-3 notches on a Snark tuner. It's enough that I can notice it. The strings are the ones from the shop and in decent condition, I think.. Maybe I should change the strings and try some "nut sauce" but I didn't think that'd be needed with such an expensive instrument with the Phase III locking tuners! Other than that, it's still a joy - but this is a niggle!!

Definitely put some fresh strings on and make sure they're fully stretched in. I tried nut sauce and found that actually, a little pencil graphite worked better. 

So long as it's strung properly, even a strat with an old fashioned trem and non-locking tuners shouldn't give much tuning trouble unless you're really giving it proper welly on the bends and dive-bombs

ThePrettyDamned

noisepolluter;365170" said:

thomasross20 said:

Gah - everything about this is still great BUT.... I noticed tonight that if I do a lot of bending or whammy use, some strings go sharp/flat by 1-3 notches on a Snark tuner. It's enough that I can notice it. The strings are the ones from the shop and in decent condition, I think.. Maybe I should change the strings and try some "nut sauce" but I didn't think that'd be needed with such an expensive instrument with the Phase III locking tuners! Other than that, it's still a joy - but this is a niggle!!





Definitely put some fresh strings on and make sure they're fully stretched in. I tried nut sauce and found that actually, a little pencil graphite worked better. 

So long as it's strung properly, even a strat with an old fashioned trem and non-locking tuners shouldn't give much tuning trouble unless you're really giving it proper welly on the bends and dive-bombs

A prs uses basically the same trem system as a strat anyway, really, normally just more springs out of the box to make it feel stiffer.

It does sound like either old strings or the nut needing a file. My Ltd does the same occasionally when I bend the high b, it just gets caught a tiny bit and winds up a touch sharp. Not a big deal, and not a reflection of the quality of the guitar, but this stuff should have been done already, especially for the price paid.

Of course, it might just be old strings. In which case, get some d'ads on it and hammer out some Metallica till they're worn in

thomasross20

Tuning problem "sorted"....

I contacted PRS and their head tech guy replied to me. Here is his reply:

"The tuning fluctuations you are experiencing are very unlikely to have anything to do with the nut or tuners not working properly. The PRS system works in such a way that any flattening of strings due to bending can be reversed with a wobble or sharp dive of the trem; you can hear this clearly for yourself if you do a big bend on the G string at the 12^th fret – the G string will go slightly flat and some of the other strings may go very slightly sharp to maintain equilibrium. Give the trem a quick wang and it should all return to somewhere near perfect. For this reason any time you re-string your guitar you should stretch each string, give the trem a wobble, tune, stretch, wobble & tune again. The golden rule is always to tune (if necessary) after wobbling and not after bending. Have a look at this clip of John Ingram, one of the original factory techs, talking about setting up the PRS trem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jfakcKV_2A

So I wouldn’t bother with nut sauce, just get used to the way the system works and you should be fine. Having said all that, if the six pivot screws at the front of the trem aren’t properly adjusted it can cause the trem to behave erratically. This is a different scenario to the one above but basically the guitar should hardly go out of tune at all when you use the trem without bending; if it does then the pivot screws might need adjusting slightly – best not to attempt this yourself unless your very confident with fine adjustments to mechanical systems.

Please let me know how you get on or if you feel that it’s not behaving as I have outlined above."

So I tried this tonight, and he was right!!! When I bend a string, that goes sharp/flat while the others go the opposite way, just a few cents. Tap the bridge (probably happens naturally anyway) and it goes back to perfect tuning! And when using the whammy.. well I've yet to try that again but given it's in perfect tune now and I haven't tuned it for days and have whammied since... I'm guessing there's no whammy issue!

So! I was right in that it was going a few cents out... but it looks like it doesn't stay like that for long. Is this the same for other tremelos? 

MrSwanson

How are you getting on with this? I'm leaning towards something PRS once I sell some of my gear and one of these takes my fancy

thomasross20

Absolutely amazing. Have you tried one? I'm not just saying this... it's the best guitar I've ever played (although I eventually bought the Suhr Pro S4 this PRS really was killer compared to it - for me) and my absolute favourite. 

I also got a purple one I thought of selling (just because I have practically two of the same guitar and I could use funds for a car) but not sure as used prices aren't so great. The orange one is my fave  - the 57/08s are killer, the satin neck feels great and I love ebony fingerboards... pattern thin is JUST right for my hands - it feels like a well worn in guitar. Looks the biz. Sounds amazing. Feels sublime. Defo check out pattern thin satin maple necks with ebony fingerboard and 57/08 combo! @jalapeno has a very similar one!

I bought new with a small discount - I saw one used one on eBay in about a year so it would have been a long wait. I think World Guitars still has the blue version and I actually considered buying that as the orange one is so good. 

How'd you find this thread - quite old!?

85/15s in the new models are meant to be the BEST. Here is one that's fairly similar (different neck materials) to my purple one but no 10 top so you don't pay over the odds:

http://worldguitars.co.uk/violet-pattern-thin-219714

Some stunners on that site for good prices. Check this out!!!!!!!

http://worldguitars.co.uk/nf3-rosewood-2919

 Tried to find the other Experience 2013 model but not there. 

HOWEVER it looks like you may be able to pick up a blue second hand one soon for a real good price:

http://www.soundaffectspremier.com/pre-owned-c101/custom-24-2013-experience-ltd-edition-in-blue-fade-pre-owned-p1621

thomasross20

You can see it in action here lol:

http://tommysixstring.com/pics/

MrSwanson

I remember this thread from ages ago, and one popped up on my eBay radar locally that has been on there a while now so hopefully some wriggle room on the price....

Thanks for the links and opinion.

I have far too many pedals and thought that I'd rather have a nice guitar than some metal boxes sat within other card boxes!

I'll keep my eye out for that blue one, but the orange does look fab.

thomasross20

No probs - if you do get it, please do a NGD post and let me know how you like it!

MrSwanson

Will do, can't imagine it being any time soon though, just weighing up my many options!!

thomasross20

No probs!!

Close-ups lol:

firks91

reaaallllly like that purple 24, wish i had money laying around. i have to try some proper PRS guitars some day. one of the few brands ive never owned. 

thomasross20

I strongly recommend just going to a shop to try them out lol...

I always remember when somebody off here said the purple one looked like a "hooker's handbag".....!! It's different to the other violet ones though - I like it.

There are some STUNNING green ones on the official PRS forum:

http://prsguitars.com/forum/showthread.php?14394-NGD-Custom-24-30th-Anniversary-quot-JADE-quot-and-the-family-pic