PRS tremolo experts?

[CoolerKing]

How are the stock PRS tremolos compared to a Floyd rose model? I am not a big dive bomber but staying in tune without having to make constant adjustments a la Stratocaster is a must….

[drtedtan]

My PRS trem stays in tune as well as a Floyd Rose unless I really abuse it (think Eddie Van Halen style animal sounds and similar). Part of that is having properly cut nut slots and locking tuners that eliminate most points of friction or slipping.

But you should be fine through Jeff Beck style trem usage.

[Dru Edwards]

PRS has great tremolos but you're not going to dive bomb like a double locking Floyd Rose (FR). My BC Rich Warlock I bought back in 1989 has a FR and I can dive bomb that completely to where the strings are super loose and it always comes back to tune. Not that I would ever do that in a song but it shows how well it stays in tune.

I'd have no concerns with PRS though by what you're looking to do.

[KevWind]

I don't use a lot but like mine and it stays in tune --- CE 24

[CoolerKing]

Thanks y’all!

[guitararmy]

I understand they are some of the best non-Floyd tremolos out there.
The nut material and the knife edges on the trem contribute to their stability.

[Rick Jones]

I have a trem-setter on my '93 CE24, as I was never using the bar anyway, but it's always been one of the most in-tune guitars overall that I've ever owned or played. I used to 'palm wobble' the bridge for slight vibrato before I locked it with the TS and it never budged. I gigged it every night as part of a resident cover band on a cruise ship one year, and it hardly ever went out full-stop. The straight-pull headstock helps a ton. They are amazingly designed instruments.

[pieterh]

I personally feel that the PRS bridge is one of the best whammy bar setups there is! We have two at home, an S2 and an SE. Both of them are excellent and very stable with no issues. As Snorse says the relatively straight pull of the strings through the nut slots will be partly why.

The Core models have a similar bridge though it is milled rather than cast which makes it more expensive - whether it makes any difference in tone or not I can’t say.

[maxtheaxe]

To start, I don't really think there's much of a comparison between Rose and more traditional designs. Admittedly, I'm not a fan of Rose trems because they go out of tune if you just stretch strings with your fingers, rather than using the trem...all but useless to me. I also dislike the locking nut, frankly.

The PRS trem on my 'Studio' 57/08 is very similar to the Wilkinson six-screw trem with the nice radiused corners (I forget the model number); I put one on a Frankenstrat build I did a while back and I love it.

If set up correctly they stay in tune very nicely, even under aggressive divebombing; I set mine up with just enough 'float' so that the bridge doesn't smack the top of the guitar when I release it. It's mostly set up for 'dive' with just a small bit of uptrem, and I can bend strings with my fingers without the rest of the strings going out.