Hardtail PRS wraparound bridge question

I was checking out PRS guitars and noticed that the hardtail versions have a wraparound bridge that has no adjustment for intonation.

This seems very odd to me, though I guess it's not much different from an acoustic guitar with a compensated bridge. Every other electric guitar I've seen has intonation adjustments at the bridge.

Should I be concerned about this if I buy a PRS? I don't plan on doing any alternate tuning, perhaps just put 10-46 strings on it if it doesn't have them on it already.

Check out this thread:

http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/showthread.php?12695-PRS-Intonation

Thanks. This echoes what I've read in other threads I found, though now I see what the advantage is supposed to be. I've seen people (Joe Bonamassa being one of them) wrap their strings around the bridge on a Les Paul. Apparently you can get better tone.

The idea behind it was that it gave better sustain... Loads of LP players do this, like you said.

The science behind it is that you have more of the string making contact with the guitar bridge which creates a more stable seat for the string while giving more vibrational translation, thus richer tone... In a way, it's one of those things that people say "sounds better" but the average ear will never know the difference... Along with that, a guitar that is slightly out of intonation will never really alarm the ear of an average player/listener. But if you have a good ear it can be a great annoyance. Hence why Steve Vai has some of his guitars fitted with the Earvana intonated fret system...

Hi, I am a huge PRS fan and think their reputation is well deserved. You absolutely can adjust the intonation, though the adjustments are somewhat more limited than a guitar with 6 individual bridges. That said, if you don't have a strobe meter this bridge actually makes it much easier to set the intonation IMHO

Intonation can be adjusted using the two allen set screws facing the tail end of the guitar. A strobe tuner or other electronic tuning device should be used. Match the octave (fretted) note of the first and sixth strings with their corresponding 12th fret open harmonics by shortening or lengthening the strings with the adjusting screws using the allen wrench provided. Start with the treble side and then go to the bass side, return to the treble side for one last check. The other four strings are present and will intonate correctly provided a conventionally gauged string set with a plain third (G) string is used. Use of a wound third string is not recommended with this bridge.

Good luck! daveo

Thanks daveo. As it turns out, I ordered a custom 24 s2. I tried one the other day and loved it. The trem didn't cause the problems my strat trem did. It played like a fixed bridge.

I would have bought it right then and there but it was a mess from being played sooooo many times in the store and suddenly the sales guy was too busy. I ordered from sweetwater. A great experience so far.