Raising LP\PRS stop tail piece?

Stratman68

Stratman68

Axe-Master
So, being a life long Strat\Tele guy and NOW the owner of a nice PRS Se McCarty 594.
I have been researching tailpiece height.
First, most discussions I found were about les pauls, but still apply, imho, to any tune-o-matic type bridge and stop tailpiece.
First
I found many guys saying, deck it or you lose your sustain. Then I saw videos where this was not TRUE at all.
curious what you folks think about this.
ME, I want the best playability first, I think sustain is easy enough to get these days, especially with the gear we have here.
NO, I have NOT raised the tailpiece on the SE McCarty, but I sure am looking into it. Also found I may have to adjust the neck if I raise it.
But I don't think so because if I did raise it would only be a little bit (maybe 1/4" off the body), it is decked now.
Also the string wrap over seems cool but I don't think I can do that with the SE stop tail piece.
EDIT: I did get and install the locking tuners-even looks cooler. Also put in the strap lock buttons I use.. :)
 
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I'm in the "on the deck" camp! Tried it both ways less pressure on the saddles makes it feel a little different under the fingers but also prone to slipping off the saddle if you go big on your bends.
 
I've got a few guitars that I've tried both ways. Given a preference, I'd rather deck the tailpiece because I (unscientifically) think that it does increase sustain at least a little. However, like @Joe Bfstplk says, it's the angle of the strings over the saddle that matters. If the angle is too high (which can happen if the tailpiece is decked), the strings can bind on the back of the bridge and cause tuning issues. Also, the higher the angle, the higher the perceived tension (feel), as @Sixstring pointed out. If the angle is too low, the strings can pop out of the saddles and won't have enough tension to efficiently pass vibrational energy to the body, which will dampen sustain.

FWIW, I just checked my 594 and it's decked. Kinded difficult to capture the angle of the strings over the bridge, but there's at least approximately 1mm of clearance.


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Churchhill said:
I've got a few guitars that I've tried both ways. Given a preference, I'd rather deck the tailpiece because I (unscientifically) think that it does increase sustain at least a little. However, like @Joe Bfstplk says, it's the angle of the strings over the saddle that matters. If the angle is too high (which can happen if the tailpiece is decked), the strings can bind on the back of the bridge and cause tuning issues. Also, the higher the angle, the higher the perceived tension (feel), as @Sixstring pointed out. If the angle is too low, the strings can pop out of the saddles and won't have enough tension to efficiently pass vibrational energy to the body, which will dampen sustain.

FWIW, I just checked my 594 and it's decked. Kinded difficult to capture the angle of the strings over the bridge, but there's at least approximately 1mm of clearance.
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Mine fall in a range. The Bigsby guitars are on the lower-angle end of the scale, along with the Ricky. None are terribly sharp angles....
 
Most people want the strings clearing the back of the bridge via stop bar break angle. Once thats done, choose your gauge and setup for the tension you prefer.

I just took my les paul custom from decked to clearing bridge and the tone changed to sounding much more like my standard reissue. It sounded great decked, I just wanted to see how it plays with the different setup.

Lightning guitar bridges lets you deck the stop bar with the high break angle to avoid top wrapping.
 
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