MannMade Bridge Upgrade for PRS

[Jarick]

You can get brass third party blocks for the SE that are decent quality and do improve the tone over the sintered zinc stock one. I generally only have a problem with the tone of sintered zinc . It is dull and quit different sounding to a liquid poured zinc block.

Any brand recommendations? Looks like FU tone makes one.

Are the saddles worth replacing?

Gonna stick with the Mann on the CE-24 but wouldn't mind trying out upgrades on my S2.

 

[Eagle]

There are a few , just check the length. The quality of the ones I have seen is pretty much identical so don’t over pay for Fu. With saddles I would see if you like the effect of the block first.

 

[Jarick]

Looking forward to your thoughts once the replacement is in...


Currently trying to turn my tele into a CE24

What’s the details on your guitar?

 

[spawnofthesith]

What’s the details on your guitar?

It’s a Wildwood thin skin nitro AV ‘55 tele. I’ve had a love hate relationship with it for the last 3 years since I got it. Finally decided life is to short to ever even have periods of “hate” with a fancy guitar. I have it listed for sale and floaters on a few CE24 trades lol. I have a good feeling about one coming to fruition this weekend…

 

[Jarick]

It’s a Wildwood thin skin nitro AV ‘55 tele. I’ve had a love hate relationship with it for the last 3 years since I got it. Finally decided life is to short to ever even have periods of “hate” with a fancy guitar. I have it listed for sale and floaters on a few CE24 trades lol. I have a good feeling about one coming to fruition this weekend…

Oh I thought you meant mod it lol

The newer CE24 is awesome. The neck is a tiny bit thin but not too bad. Guitar is well made, electronics are solid.

Only real drawback is the bridge but it’s not bad per se, just a bit cheap compared to the rest of the guitar.

 

[Eagle]

Oh I thought you meant mod it lol

The newer CE24 is awesome. The neck is a tiny bit thin but not too bad. Guitar is well made, electronics are solid.

Only real drawback is the bridge but it’s not bad per se, just a bit cheap compared to the rest of the guitar.

The old one is far better and some people like the first version with an alder body. Personally I like the late 90s early 2000s.

 

[Jarick]

The old one is far better and some people like the first version with an alder body. Personally I like the late 90s early 2000s.

Yeah I know but core PRS has gotten so expensive. A decade ago you were finding them for $1000 sometimes, now they are well over $2000.

I dunno how the CE24 today compares to $4k guitars because I can’t afford those and don’t bother shopping for them. But it competes very well in the $2000 price range. Thats what I care about.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

I dunno how the CE24 today compares to $4k guitars because I can’t afford those and don’t bother shopping for them. But it competes very well in the $2000 price range. Thats what I care about.

I still kick myself for not picking up a second ce 22 a few years ago when you could find them used for £700.

 

[OrganicZed]

There was a core (early 2000s) PRS CE24 that came up on my local Craigslist about two years ago for $500. It was in great condition. I saw the listing 5 hours after it had been posted and immediately messaged the seller saying I wanted to buy it. He messaged me later that day to say that it had already sold and that he had received a lot of interest from other potential buyers. Man, I wish I had snagged that one. The guy obviously had no clue it was easily worth 2-3X what he was asking for.

 

[Eagle]

I still kick myself for not picking up a second ce 22 a few years ago when you could find them used for £700.

And older ones have all USA parts.

 

[Jarick]

John personally inspected the tremolo unit and determined everything was within spec, outside of the tremolo arm which they fixed and is now working properly. Everything has been shipped back.

I reinstalled the bridge and it seems overall to be working and sounding a little better. The tremolo is very smooth and the tone is not quite as bright.

However the saddles are still clearly misalined and I'm still unable to properly intonate a couple strings. I'm not sure if that's a guitar setup issue or tremolo issue. For instance the G string saddle has been moved as far back as possible and is still 8-10 cents sharp on the 12th fret compared to open.

So I'm not as excited about this as I wish I was. Really was hoping to be wowed but it's just okay.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

John personally inspected the tremolo unit and determined everything was within spec, outside of the tremolo arm which they fixed and is now working properly. Everything has been shipped back.

I reinstalled the bridge and it seems overall to be working and sounding a little better. The tremolo is very smooth and the tone is not quite as bright.

However the saddles are still clearly misalined and I'm still unable to properly intonate a couple strings. I'm not sure if that's a guitar setup issue or tremolo issue. For instance the G string saddle has been moved as far back as possible and is still 8-10 cents sharp on the 12th fret compared to open.

So I'm not as excited about this as I wish I was. Really was hoping to be wowed but it's just okay.

That seems really far out for there to not be an issue somewhere. I've not heard of anyone else with this problem with the Mann made bridge though.

 

[Eagle]

Try a different tuner , lower the pickups and press down on the strings just in front of the saddle before you start to make sure the strings are vibrating properly from the point of contact. Also measure the scale length and start with the saddle there.

 

[itchyfingers]

Would you have the proper string length if you were to cut a new nut, or maybe install one of those compensated nuts?

 

[Eagle]

Would you have the proper string length if you were to cut a new nut, or maybe install one of those compensated nuts?

Shouldn't be necessary.