PRS SE Custom 24 Setup - Action, Intonation, More!

Do you own a PRS SE Custom 24 (or similar guitar?) This video shows you how to set it up like a PRO. It's a little long, but you can skip to whatever section you want.
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Table of Contents
00:01 - Intro
00:32 - Restringing Discussion
01:21 - Setting Neck Relief
05:39 - Trem Discussion
07:18 - Setting Action
13:05 - Checking the Nut
15:14 - Setting Pickup Height
18:57 - Setting the Intonation
22:36 - Clean and Polish
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[@xcentrixtv9402]

finally someone who shows you how to WITH CLOSEUPS! its amazing how few of these tutorials have close ups so you have to kinda figure it out yourself... thank you!!

[@Lovell93]

PRS has come a LONG way with the SE series. The 2021 and up SE's are fantastic! Just bought a PRS SE Custom 24-08 in Faded Blue. It is an amazing instrument. I enjoy playing it more than my MIA Strat and Les Paul.

[@journeytree]

Very true. I have a core PRS with a Tremonti Treble pickup and it sounds virtually the same as my SE with 85/15 pickups. Most noticable difference is that the volume and tone controls sound much better when they are lower than 100%.

[@pmarciano1717]

I buyed a se custom 24 but my strings are so high how can i lower them without risking Breaking it ?

[@hmausolf]

Thank you ever so much. I have searched for an instruction to setup my PRS for quite a while, but nobody went into detail like you did. This is very helpful.

[@jeepdude67]

I recently got a 35th Anniversary PRS SE in blue burst and it by far is the nicest sounding and playing guitar I have ever owned. Your video helped me set it up properly. Thank you.

[@apsldkfjgh]

Well done. Technical enough to get a professional result while remaining clear and accessible.

[@ElectricMizzalu]

I have now perfectly set up my guitar thanks to this video after a few years of relying on luthiers I can now do it myself. Thank you!!!

[@Firas-R]

Great tutorial. Love the close up shots and detailed explanations. I used this video along with the PRS factory specifications to setup my PRS SE Paul's Guitar and it feels great to play now. Thank you!

[@michaeltihon3485]

Your video helped me a lot. I use the same method on all my guitars now for neck relief (0.010 in the middle of a pressed string at 1 and 22/24) and it's absolutely fantastic how consistent my setups are on all my guitars. Thanks for sharing :)

[@beedlebshuy6046]

Have this same guitar. Thanks for going out of your way (dif. Camera angles, explaining things well, etc.) best video and most helpful I’ve seen!

[@budgetguitaristcom]

Thanks! I appreciate it. :).

[@michaelmorales5234]

A+ your sense of humor made the video a real joy . Thanks for tuning my guitar 🎸 by your example .

[@budgetguitaristcom]

Thanks! I'm glad you liked it. I need to make more of these kinds of videos.

[@1TSVP]

The best setup video I've seen. Thanks

[@chascoppard]

Excellent video. Very to the point!

[@andydaley1372]

This video was extremely helpful so thank you! You explain things perfectly.. at least for me. Just bought a semi hollow custom SE and I'm trying to get it to play a little better. Absolutely beautiful guitar and I love the sound, the action is just a little high. Advise from friends "just adjust the truss rod" but you just explained why it doesn't always need adjusted. So again, thank you for the video! I plan on watching more from your channel

[@jamesrai4557]

Thanks. Helped a ton.

[@HRpuffnstuff23]

Thank you- This helped a great deal

[@harisuno3295]

Congratulazioni molto utile. Grazie

[@calebbenjamin6248]

Awesome video!!

[@daviddowney7174]

Very funny at the end! Thanks for the tips. this will save me some money and aggravation. Knowledge is power!! - cheers from Upper Michigan

[@donciseau]

Great video!

[@yourbore]

Thank you for the video. I have a 24 08 and my strings sure were buzzing. Thank you for the close ups and all the info. I don't know how long it's been since I actually intonated my guitar.

[@pavlepaja7642]

Clean, thanks man🕺🏻

[@budgetguitaristcom]

Thanks for watching!!!

[@chasejones7329]

Awesome video man helped out a lot

[@budgetguitaristcom]

Thanks! Glad you liked it.

[@stevebooth2934]

Awesome video

[@dadmadforgot4050]

Cheers buddy, excellent vid 👍🤩

[@budgetguitaristcom]

Thanks! Much appreciated.

[@Dave---M]

Great video! Very well explained, thanks. Tony rocks!!

[@budgetguitaristcom]

Thanks, Dave!

[@shawnriffninjareacts7316]

Wow, I would love to have you setup my guitar haha. Hard to find a good guitar tech near me so I been learning how to do this stuff myself.

[@budgetguitaristcom]

You can definitely do it! It's not too hard - the only thing to be careful of is the truss rod. With that, if you have to go more than a quarter turn, you might have an issue.

[@threeleggedman]

I run my finger under the D string up and down. If I feel dents from the frets, it's time to change strings. If not, then I wipe the strings down with alcohol to remove dirt and oil and keep playing.

[@danielbudzinski3741]

I was enjoying the video casually while playing a game. Then the muppet showed up and I'm dead lol

[@rocker4056]

great video. can you advise though the size of the truss rod wrench you used for the SE. cheers

[@iancurrie8844]

PRS calls for a relief of 0.005-0.010. I find that 0.007 is the number for me. Their bridge is pretty high and unless you plan to lower the bridge screws (the ones going into the body) your best bet is to just follow their relief range - right in the middle. That is, if you like a fairly low action. This is all assuming you've got the bridge parallel with the body, which you should. Tuning stability is not an issue with this bridge design, when properly setup.

[@markq23]

Great video!👍😉 Maybe a very dumb question so apologies for this, but how do you screw the trem flat like you show in the video? Do you skrew the 6 pivot skrews all the way down?

[@qayyumyumz4190]

i have some prob after low the string action only first fret buzzing . thats mean my neck to straight or uneven fret ?

[@1otisoti]

Hi Richard-Followed your great advise and guitar is playing nicely. I took your advise and installed the Pearly Gates too. Only problem is that in middle position,the tone is thin and pretty much unusable. Any advise on how to get the two to play nice??

[@budgetguitaristcom]

The pickups are probably out of phase, but the fix is simple - swap the hot and ground (positive and negative) wires on the Pearly Gates. That should fix it.

[@edmackey570]

what size screw driver to raise the pickup height ? My small philips does not sit well in the screw and I dont want to strip it...cause it does not want move with the driver I have ...thanks

[@filipporestivo977]

hi, how much is the wrench to adjust the truss rod measuring in inches or millimeters

[@mcmenace9]

what size was the truss rod wrench)

[@Synergy4375]

HELP needed …..Wonder if you could give me any advice on the best way to check my pick ups are all receiving/making the tone intended. Such a badly worded question however I’ve not long bought a PRS mark Holcomb svn and despite being metal and overdrive focused amp settings when the switch is a certain way it goes from mental to clean as a fender with clean amp settings which to me is rather odd as I’ve never encountered this with my Ibanez. I have had dead pick ups before however this still produces the sound it just becomes a totally different tone drastically.

[@budgetguitaristcom]

One thing you can do is check and make sure all the coils are working. While the guitar is plugged in, switch to the neck pickup and use a coin or anything metal (screwdriver) to very gently tap on each of the two coils. You should hear the tap through your amp. If one coil makes a sound when tapped and the other one isn't, there's an issue with the pickup. NOTE - the tone pot on your guitar has a feature where you pull up on it and it reduces the output of the pickup, so make sure it's NOT pulled up. Do the same thing with the bridge pickup. Another idea is take the guitar into a guitar store that has the same model, play them both through an amp and see if they sound the same. That's not always possible.

[@zedzero77]

I don't believe you saw him 3 times..hahaha..jk. good video man!

[@dividedbytimestudios]

Do you have anything on blocking a PRS bridge? I’m not a fan of floating bridges

[@budgetguitaristcom]

I don't, unfortunately. But I have blocked Strats a ton of times, and while it's not the easiest method, the best way to do it is to make a block of wood the exact same width as the space behind the block when the springs are cranked up. Second best alternative is to just tighten the screws as tight as you can get them. It'd make a good future topic.

[@mattbryant2447]

I set my relief to .010 but my string height is still to high my saddles are all the way down. any tips on what i should do?

[@roofkorean6948]

Same. I'm about to try lowering the bridge to see if that resolves it but I'm afraid I'll mess it up somehow because I've never had to re-level one before. It's my first floating bridge lol.

[@adamragland5685]

Do you have a link for that setup kit you used?

[@budgetguitaristcom]

I did a video on the Wera kit. It's a tad pricey but it's top quality. I think the link is in the video description: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z5SsioV9e7FrfNE

[@Dark0ne2099]

I change my strings once per week on my work guitar, and once a year or two on the ones hanging on the wall 😂

[@Lovell93]

Dang! I change my strings probably once every 1-2 months on all my guitars lol. Sometimes sooner than that, mainly on my daily driver. I couldn't let them go that long.🤣

[@Dark0ne2099]

@@Lovell93 I barely touch the guitars I don't use daily so really can't justify that..

[@Cinestudi0]

Acording to the website the prs se 24 custom radius is 12"

[@budgetguitaristcom]

It might be now. It wasn't when I bought mine.

[@npaisible]

What is the size of the truss rod wrench you are using?

[@LibertyDIY]

7mm

[@johngonzales8224]

good closeups ups but there are better tools for setting up relief.

[@kimbeerguitar]

Could you just do this for me?

[@tperki2322]

Good tutorial, but please, don't whistle.

[@nuthapollakanapan1991]

I don't know what model of guitar your guitar has, what size capacitor it is. I need to modify the capacitor. Can you give me some advice? i m capa no.aj333???? I need stronger capacitors and good, cheap Simua Duncan pickups.

[@mang3139]

Outstanding! Just what I needed. I have never set up my own and I happen to own that same guitar so I'm feeling fairly confident. TY

[@budgetguitaristcom]

You are very welcome!!!