The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    I have a PRS Hollowbody 2 with piezo PUs. The action is higher then I like (even though it is at PRS specs). It did not bother me until I placed on some flatwounds.

    I was thinking that I could replace the bridge and drop the string height a bit. Is there a thin one piece bridge out there that would work. I can give up the piezo if necessary. Could I get someone to build a wooden one piece bridge? Would that even work? How would that intonate? That is probably a crazy idea anyway.

    Any ideas are welcomed. Thank you

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  3. #2

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    Quote Originally Posted by st.bede
    I have a PRS Hollowbody 2 with piezo PUs. The action is higher then I like (even though it is at PRS specs). It did not bother me until I placed on some flatwounds.

    I was thinking that I could replace the bridge and drop the string height a bit. Is there a thin one piece bridge out there that would work. I can give up the piezo if necessary. Could I get someone to build a wooden one piece bridge? Would that even work? How would that intonate? That is probably a crazy idea anyway.

    Any ideas are welcomed. Thank you
    You are talking about the big one-piece piezo bridge/tail, correct? I had one, and I agree, PRS default height is a bit high, especially if you use heavier strings than the rock-n-rollers. If you are really ready to give up the piezo, there are many options, some might drop right in. (But as always, measure twice!) Some are preset for either a wound or plain G, so be careful about that. I upgraded to a Custom 24 Piezo because I use the piezo a lot.

    guitar stop bridge - Google Search

  4. #3
    Thank you Woody Sound for your insights.

    A question I have is: why not use a tailpiece and a wooden bridge?

  5. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by st.bede
    Thank you Woody Sound for your insights.

    A question I have is: why not use a tailpiece and a wooden bridge?
    Now you're confusing me. Does your model have a separate tail and bridge, or one-piece?

  6. #5

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  7. #6
    Again thanks. Sorry for the confusion. It has a one piece, but I am thinking if I could safely replace the one piece bridge, with a tailpiece and wooden bridge. If possible I might be able to, one: reduce string height. Two: move sonically away from blues/rock tones, and into more jazz-ish tones. Three: it would look different ... That could be cool or not?

    It would be cool to be able to get more of a jazz tone out of the guitar. The flatwounds helped but the action is not ok now.

    Thank you again.
    Last edited by st.bede; 09-02-2021 at 09:36 PM.

  8. #7

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    Well I hate to give advice that people don't want to hear, but if you are talking about converting a one piece piezo stop tail into a two piece stud tail and new bridge by drilling new holes...

    Sell the guitar and get another one.

  9. #8
    I value your thoughts. Thank you

  10. #9

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  11. #10
    Thank you... This bridge also looks interesting BabyGrand Guitar Bridge – Hipshot Products

    I am pretty sure the neck is straight but I am having a tech check. Theoretically, I might have to have the neck reset. I do not think that is the problem.

  12. #11

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    FWIW, I think you are going through way to much trouble for this guitar.

  13. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by st.bede
    Again thanks. Sorry for the confusion. It has a one piece, but I am thinking if I could safely replace the one piece bridge, with a tailpiece and wooden bridge. If possible I might be able to, one: reduce string height. Two: move sonically away from blues/rock tones, and into more jazz-ish tones. Three: it would look different ... That could be cool or not?

    It would be cool to be able to get more of a jazz tone out of the guitar. The flatwounds helped but the action is not ok now.

    Thank you again.
    It's highly doubtful that this would actually work on that guitar since it's neck angle is much more shallow than on a model that is meant/built for a higher bridge assembly.
    The "more jazz-ish" tone you're after will come from playing with different types/brands of strings, picks, maybe pickups (I wouldn't go down that rabbit hole) and - most important of all -
    your picking technique. I have owned and played both a PRS Hollowbody McCarty (the thin one) and the full depth version (Archtop ?) and while both guitars had an overall pleasing
    sound and were quite versatile they somehow lacked character, regardless whether I played them clean or with overdrive. YMMV .... both are gone and I don't miss them. My Tele is just as versatile,
    light weight and really capable of even more different tones.

  14. #13

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    Maybe reach out to PRS? They might actually like to help you solve this; they are supposed to be a very guitarist friendly company still.