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Hello, I need to replace the six bridge screws of my PRS SE Custom 22 2019. PRS doesn't sell the originals screws of the SE bridge separately, only the bridge kit, but they told me that the Gen II USA screws fit just fine.

Did someone try to mount the PRS Gen II screws with SE bridge on a SE Custom 22? I want to be sure those match perfectly with the SE bridge, and I'm a bit worry because the USA screws are a bit longer then the SE screws, and actually I need to set the bridge a bit lower than the stock setup.

Thanks.

You should realize that within certain limits - screws are screws. They don't have to be PRS screws to work. You can find plenty of screws that will work on eBay or Reverb, ordering from Allparts or other supplier. My guess is some Fender screws will work fine. Heck - through the decades I've even sourced lots of hardware by going to Ace Hardware. I repaired a PRS SE a couple years back (broken peghead) that arrived with no vibrato system. I fitted a Wilkinson unit that looked stock and worked as well as stock. My nephew is still playing it.

Just measure carefully, and don't be afraid to try something slightly different - or if you've got the skills, a LOT different. Make it work, don't expect it to come to you.

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

as Chris points out, screws are screws...pretty much end of discussion...with some effort one can find a matching version somewhere on this planet (hell depot, lowes, ace, local bolt suppliers, etc.)...now, if you want to start talking about screws that are given a certain finish by the manufacturer then you might have a problem, but I can't think of any guitar manufacturer that takes a brass screw and puts a rose gold finish on it

OK...as opposed to editing a post, I'll just leave that up and have to eat my words...

those are some interesting wood screws...with a specific detail just under the pan head...so yeah, you'll need to get them from PRS or a supplier that carries a matching product...if PRS says gen II screws work then I'd trust them considering it's their design...I suspect the screws are the same and it's the bridge that's changed..

Linde--

I'm not trying to chase you off of this part of the OLF, but I thought I would mention that there is a forum here on the OLF dedicated to electric guitars and basses. You might catch the eyes of more people who know the sorts of things you are asking about in that forum than in this one.

But welcome, nonetheless!

As mentioned. the PRS screw design has a recessed area machined into the screw just below the head where the base plate of the bridge pivots, so not really an option to use common hardware as a replacement. There are three generations of PRS tremolo bridges, and if memory serves, and no real differences between the screw designs that I recall, so perhaps order the Gen II replacements, compare to your existing screws, and install/return.

I also suspect that PRS heat-treats these screws for hardness, as they are prone to snap rather than bend, so even if you might be able to find made-in-China knock-offs, I would still opt for the actual PRS article from a reputable vendor.

Also - make sure to get those recesses lined up properly on installation...if in doubt, take it to a shop that handles PRS jobs on a routine basis.

_________________
We have become a civilization that elevates idiots, prostitutes, and clowns. Am I still to defend it? Yes, for its principles. Yes, for what it was. Yes, for what it still may be.

-Mark Helprin, The Oceans and the Stars: A Sea Story, A War Story, A Love Story (A Novel)

As someone told, yes, I think those screws are a bit different from other screws and those are designed for the PRS tremolo system.
I wanted an opinion by someone that faced the same problem: replace the bridge screws in a PRS SE Custom without change the tremolo.

Yes, PRS factory US said that the Gen II fit just fine, but I didn't contact directly the PRS factory. I ask early to the PRS Europe web site, and at the beginning the guy told me that the Gen II and the Gen III fit only with the US guitar with compatible bridge. Then, thanks to another person, the same guy asked to the factory US and told me he was wrong: the Gen II will fit fine. But I have still some doubts in case some misunderstanding. The Gen II fit in the guitar body or fit with the tremolo? I don't want to write him to ask the same thing for the third time.

Anyway, the Gen II are a bit longer then the SE screws. Are the Gen II fit anyway? The worst thing is to drill a bit deeply the holes. But if the PRS screws fit, somehow, in the body, and they don't fit with the tremolo and I need a PRS USA bridge... I can't afford it, and I don't want to buy the original SE bridge (111 €) just because I can't find six screws, nor to buy another kind of bridge.

I have to order the Gen II screws within a few hours, but I don't know if I can return them back. I hope those will fit.

Honestly, I tried to research this topic in the forum, but the search system found hundreds of pages just because the "PRS" word (or vice versa, probably), but rarely the "screws" word. I'll search again, while I wait for somebody else can answer to my question more precisely.

Thanks for helping me.

Fitting the screws into the body should not be a problem. If you need deeper holes then drill them a little deeper. If the screws are a little loose in the existing holes, add a toothpick and a drop of wood glue. These are normal issues when dealing with hardware.

I am not a real luthier, I used to play around electronic with the guitars (actually I build pedal effects). I just enlarge some pot holes, but that's it.
This kind of things where I have to use glue, wood... I have no experience, I don't have tool and it could be a problem. I just hope the PRS screws fit well. Maybe I have to drill deeper, but I'm not sure if I have to do with the electric driller, if it will work I try the use the drill with the hand.



The screws shouldn't be thinner, and I hope not fatter.
The PRS Gen III screws are better then the Gen II even because are fatter to have more surface in contact with the body or something like that, so I don't guess the cheaper bridge screws SE are fatter then the Gen II.

What if the new PRS Gen II screws will be too fat for the hole in the body? The risk is to brake the head. (I know about one guy in the PRS forum that broken one screw because the hole wasn't deep enough.)

To keep from breaking screws just have your pilot hole properly sized. For an existing hole that is too small, ream it out with a drill bit that is about the size of the solid part of the screw that below the threads. If you don't have a drill, you can do it by hand but that will be tough. But you should really buy a drill. I am sure you will find other uses for it. A bit of bee's wax on the threads will help the screw go in easier.

some rules of thumb for pre-drilling for screws:

the size of the screw/64" is the typical pilot hole...for example for a #8 screw the pilot hole is 8/64"=1/8"...if going into a real hard material try a 9/64" pilot hole...the one thing you never want to do is to snap a screw off as it almost always breaks right at the surface of the material as opposed to above that and leaving you room to get a pair of pliers on it to back it out, so pay attention to the pilot hole size

for wood screws that for whatever reason have a length of smooth shank below the head you will need to do a counter bore at a depth equal to the length of what's unthreaded, otherwise you're tickling the dragon and just asking for either the screw to break or the wood to split...obviously said bore is of the size of what's unthreaded and its depth is rather critical because if you go too deep the threads won't have anything to bite on

these days there are impact drivers that most people use to drive screws...they can create there own issues because every time it does its impact thing that is putting more stress on the screw (both the shank and the indentation of the head for the driver)...point being be extra careful when using a clicker drill (as I typically refer to them)

For most screws, the shank is 75% of the diameter of the thread diameter.

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Thanks guys.
Actually, I have a drill, just I''m not sure if I want to use because i afraid to break something.
In Italy we use millimeter, so inch measures give to me some confusion.
Anyway, all this seems a bit complicated, if the hole are already perfect I'll be very glad.

I bought the mounting screws bridge Gen II. Well, it looks like my old one, and not like the PRS USA screws (in the image above). Is that weird?
At least it fitted well without modify the holes.

I mounted the bridge with the new screws, but I solved just in part the issue I had, so it doesn't solved.

For a mistake my original screws has been worn, and the bridge didn't return in position after I used the bar, and it was unstable even if I just push or lift it up by hand, the bridge keeps bit the position I give to it moving it.

The new screws keep it to return i position if I lift up the bridge with the bar, but if I push, even very slightly, the bridge it doesn't flat, anymore, but slightly pushed down, and this increase the pitch of the strings. I can't stay never in tune, like that.

It may be that at least one or two of those screws are not perfectly aligned with the others. This alignment issue results in the trem base plate edges making contact with the screw recesses at different points.

While we always adjusted the screws by eye, I found it helpful to get a measurement from top of screw head to the trem plate using a digital caliper, set to equal distance, then tweak based on observing whether the trem shifts on climb/dive. Using a short straight edge across the screw tops also works for getting the rough alignment done. A fret rocker can be repurposed for this work.

_________________
We have become a civilization that elevates idiots, prostitutes, and clowns. Am I still to defend it? Yes, for its principles. Yes, for what it was. Yes, for what it still may be.

-Mark Helprin, The Oceans and the Stars: A Sea Story, A War Story, A Love Story (A Novel)

I adjusted the screws height, of course without strings and springs, with a hex Allen key. I used a 1.5mm (instead a 2.5mm for a stock height) because I need a lower action, about I had before the misadventure that I'll tell you later that ruined the original screws.
Then the screws seems almost perfect by eye. The treble side is about 0.05mm lower the the bass side.

I adjusted in the past those screws to set the bridge height without too much accuracy, and I didn't had all this trouble with the bridge.

To be honest, to solve a G string pitch up after a single heavy use of the bar (now I know a probably nut issue), my luthier turned the original bridge screws with strings tension, in front on me. When I tried the bar all the string pitched down if I push the bar and pitched up if I pull back the bar.
At home I pulled out the bridge screws and I see all the screws with the notched ruined and enlarged. This is the reason I needed new screws.
But if that doesn't work much better either I'm thinking about even the bridge is ruined.

Linde - I don't see how the bridge could be ruined. I've been working on whammy equipped instruments since the 70's and most (not all) tuning problems are in the nut. A properly shaped nut with the angles and slots made right go a long way towards tuning stability.

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Well, the nut is still the same. The tremolo bridge worked fine enough (except the G string after one heavy use of the bar) until my luthier acted on the bridge screws (with string tension, things that PRS say don't do it) and after the bridge didn't return in position anymore, even if just push softly up or down the bridge.
The notch screws was ruined, but now I replaced all, and the thing is a bit better.
I'm sure enough it's the bridge issue, but I don't know what's the problem. Setting? Holes in the bridge for the screw ruined? Bridge surface bent?

What Chris said and I'll add that trems are notoriously awful for returning to tune, all of them..... They simply suck if you are very motivated to play perfectly in tune all of the time.

In the Fender world Strat users know that setting their trems flat reduces turning instability well over 50% and it's immediately noticeable. In the Floyd world licensed trems made of lessor metals routinely wear groves in the posts and then never return to neutral reliably.

Even in the bixby world a guaranteed return to the exact same neutral position is not something that happens in the real world every time.

Trem use is a tradeoff for may and others greatly benefit from blocking the dang thing off and not using it.

FYI as well one of the things that we will do when someone reports trem issues that it won't stay in tune is if all other possibly culprits as Chris suggested have been addressed we either suggest blocking off the thing, setting flat or that the client will receive no guarantee from us that the thing will stay in tune and that if they want us to proceed it's without any guarantee.

That's how common trem issues are but I also wanted to mention if they want us to rebuild the trem with no guarantee and see if things improve we make sure there are no grooves in the posts, that's often the point where they fail and even polish the posts to be mirror shiny. The saddles are also polished to eliminate any burrs and ease a strings movement though them.

Nonetheless we have springs that may or may not always result in the same tension and all manner of mechanical BS that all has to work perfectly or our guitar may not return to perfect tuning after a big arse dive on the whammy bar.

Trem use is a compromise. I'm personally someone who demands a guitar be not only perfectly in tune but perfectly intonated too. Every trem on my fleet of guitars is set flat, blocked and none of them are used. I would rather play in tune.

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Ann Arbor Guitars

To echo Mr. Breakstone's sentiments, tremelo adjustment is not so much a 'works/does not work' sort of thing, but instead a 'works well/works as expected' repair task. All trems have some friction, and thus, some error in return to pitch. Highly predicable behavior in terms of return to pitch seems at least as important here as minimizing that error. This allows competent players to make further corrections after a large pitch change without an increase in conscious effort (e.g., that slight push or tug of the bar/lever after a big dive...watch for it...it's there with good players on even the best-adjusted trems).

Also...as the gentlemen in the shop explained early on, some trems - just like certain of my neighbors - demand a set amount of time and attention to minimize their bad behavior. The book adjustment process is a point of departure, versus anything close to an end state for some guitars.

They also told me to avoid admitting I could work on F-R trems if ever employed in a shop with a large repair staff... mostly because of the exposure to the fumes of low-quality hair care products preferred by mediocre cover band guitarists, but also because of the never-ending parade of overly pointy Dimebag Darrell model slime green or battle flag Deans that would surely pile up beside my bench.

_________________
We have become a civilization that elevates idiots, prostitutes, and clowns. Am I still to defend it? Yes, for its principles. Yes, for what it was. Yes, for what it still may be.

-Mark Helprin, The Oceans and the Stars: A Sea Story, A War Story, A Love Story (A Novel)

I understand a tremolo can't be super perfect, but before it worked really really fine.
Pushing down the bar heavily the bar I had just a minor issue with the g strings. I thought it was a nut problem, maybe the g string didn't slide back after the release by the bridge. But after a bend of that string the g strings back in tune, while the other strings was already ok.
Instead, after my luthier acted on the screws (with the string tension) the bridge it's a mess. For some reason I have the g string problem with all the strings, now, but the strings seem back in tune enough after a bend, while the bridge don't back in position if I push it down, and to put it parallel to the body I have to pull it up, and the string back in tune. But in this way it's very hard to play in tune.

Is the bridge ruined? Is it a setup problem? Is the height of the bridge? I tried to rise up a bit, but the higher strings side seem stay a bit lower though the screws are in line. I noticed this even with the old screws when the bridge was messed up.

I can't find another liuther, and the only solution could be fix the tremolo with a pair of wood block, but my heart bleeding if I only think about it. I liked the tremolo bridge of guitar better then my Stratocaster (that is good, too), but now I can't play it, anymore.

Yeah those DimeBag guitars we hate em too.... Even the stinkin cases won't fit on our shelves so they dominate the floor in a corner while in our shop.

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Okay, Linde - In the 80's I was considered pretty much the whammy guy because of my articles in String Instrument Craftsman about Fender type trems, Floyd Rose (pieces of crap), and the almighty Kahler (angels sing). Even Dan Erlewine gave me a tip of the hat in his guitar repair book.

PM me your email address and I'll send you the first 3 issues of SIC in PDF format, containing my articles about whammy systems. They should help you understand what's going on, why, and what you can do about it. I should mention that since the 80's my techniques have been fine tuned, but the major change I'd suggest is when lubing your friction points - don't use light oil. I now recommend plain old Chapstick. It doesn't run under any cracks or holes in the finish, and it basically stays put. Easy to apply with a toothpick, too - better control than a drop of oil.

And finally - are you SURE it was intonated correctly after all your adjustments? If not - then this would be why you are chasing your tail.

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Thanks guys.
Chris Pile, if with "intonated" you mean the guitar is in tune (EADGBE), yes. If the guitar has the octave at 12° key intoned, yes, perfectly. Is the only thing I didn't touch, though I set screws height and screws springs several time.
I'm using a pedal tuner.