How easy is it to pull bridge studs?

quite easy. One note. Make sure you can see the entire top of the stud, no finish on top. If htere is, score it with a razor blade so the stud comes out clean.

Put a towel on the top so you dont marr the finish.
Put a block of some sort (wood, a tin of mints, something) on top of the towel to use as a cantilever. Grab the stud thats inserted into the insert with pliers, and pry the stud out rocking the pliers on the block. work around it in a circular fashion

boom

Max said:

quite easy. One note. Make sure you can see the entire top of the stud, no finish on top. If htere is, score it with a razor blade so the stud comes out clean.

Put a towel on the top so you dont marr the finish.
Put a block of some sort (wood, a tin of mints, something) on top of the towel to use as a cantilever. Grab the stud thats inserted into the insert with pliers, and pry the stud out rocking the pliers on the block. work around it in a circular fashion

boom

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Dead wrong. Never use pliers. Use a clawhammer, put it in the groove on the stud, and use the towel/wood thing Max mentioned(the correct part of his post :lol: ) The hammer will allow it to be pulled out quite easily, it'll be very straight forward.

Putting them in shouldn't be too tough either. I use a drill press, but if you don't have access to that, use a hammer and a block of wood, and just tap them in, don't do crazy hits, just taps.

Ok, actually, that wasn't so hard at all.

Problem #2 - the original studs are actually a fair bit larger than the new ones. what are my options here? the at-home fix that springs to mind is to line the edges of the hole with toothpicks, glue them in, and then trip them flush and push in the new studs, but I think this could possibly cause problems with ovaling if the wood from the tooth picks is softer than the mahogany body.

Is it not even worth doing the swap unless I can plug the hole with a hardwood dowel and then have it redrilled?

I ended up doing a variation of something a google search turned up. Someone recommended putting either a small screw or a couple washers into the bottom of the hole, and then using a screwdriver screw the insert back in. The washers will hit the bottom way before the stud and start applying upwards pressure, so by continuing to screw you'll actually lift the insert right out of the body. I ended up trimming off the ball end of four or five strings and used that. Easy as pie.

Drew said:

Ok, actually, that wasn't so hard at all.

Problem #2 - the original studs are actually a fair bit larger than the new ones. what are my options here? the at-home fix that springs to mind is to line the edges of the hole with toothpicks, glue them in, and then trip them flush and push in the new studs, but I think this could possibly cause problems with ovaling if the wood from the tooth picks is softer than the mahogany body.

Is it not even worth doing the swap unless I can plug the hole with a hardwood dowel and then have it redrilled?

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Doweling would be the only way to do it. I'm curious if there isn't a different version with larger studs? Will the TonePros bridge itself not work on the stock studs? I thought the bridge locked on the actual bar, not the studs themselves....

Elysian said:

Dead wrong. Never use pliers. Use a clawhammer, put it in the groove on the stud, and use the towel/wood thing Max mentioned(the correct part of his post :lol: ) The hammer will allow it to be pulled out quite easily, it'll be very straight forward.

Putting them in shouldn't be too tough either. I use a drill press, but if you don't have access to that, use a hammer and a block of wood, and just tap them in, don't do crazy hits, just taps.

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I dunno what the fuck clawhammer you have that fits studs that big :lol:

Good questions, Adam. The studs actually lock the bridge in place. I can still use the bridge without locking it on the existing studs, and the ability to intonate it still makes it worthwhile, but it'd be cool if I could pull it off somehow.

Max said:

I dunno what the fuck clawhammer you have that fits studs that big :lol:

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Both of my clawhammers will fit those studs Drew has(trust me, I'm the one who shipped him the bridge :lol: )

I think I'm just going to press the original stud back in and string it up with the new bridge on the original studs for the time being. I don't have access to the sort of a drill I'd need to redrill the holes after dowling it and whatnot, so I think for now I'm just going to run with it, and then contact TonePros and ask them if there's a different set of studs or anything they have available. I'll try to measure the studs before I reinstall them though.

you shipped him the bridge that was factory installed on his guitar?

He just pointed out, the ones you shipped him are smaller than the ones it came with

I use my framing claw for pulling smaller studs too, fwiw, cause its way easier to do without damaging the old ones, but ive never had luck pulling tonepros studs with a clawhammer

anyways though, drews method seems by far the most elegant :lol:

Max said:

anyways though, drews method seems by far the most elegant :lol:

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IT was super easy, too. I actually took a video for the picstory I was making of the swap, before I hit this second roadblock. :lol:

And yet there is one more way to remove a stopbar/wraparound bridge. Use the block & cloth method as mentioned (block on the cloth underneath piece to be removed), then just tighten the screws. Since it won't be able to move down it will force the stud inserts out. No hammers or pliers necessary.

:bump:

After contacting Tone Pros, one of their distributors got back to me and offered to swap me the correct threaded studs for the ones I have. Both sets are currently in the mail as I type this. :yesway:

Thanks are in order both to Brian at Marquis Distribution, and Tom (Riffer here) from PRS for pretty kickass customer service. :metal:

I figure this bridge swap is just another elaborate excuse for why you haven't recorded your album.

Drew said:

:bump:

After contacting Tone Pros, one of their distributors got back to me and offered to swap me the correct threaded studs for the ones I have. Both sets are currently in the mail as I type this. :yesway:

Thanks are in order both to Brian at Marquis Distribution, and Tom (Riffer here) from PRS for pretty kickass customer service. :metal:

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Nice.

Matt Crooks said:

I figure this bridge swap is just another elaborate excuse for why you haven't recorded your album.

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Pretty much. :yesway:

Erm, I mean, no, whatsoever do you mean, Matt? *whistles innocently*

Elysian said:

Nice.

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...and also for Elysian for hooking me up in the first place (sorry bro :wub. :metal:

Ha.

Ordered the TonePros bridge for my PRS Korina, and I'm having the same problem :lol:. I also see that my new studs are smaller than the originals. So, TonePros has inserts with the proper thread to mate to the original studs?

Leon said:

Ha.

Ordered the TonePros bridge for my PRS Korina, and I'm having the same problem :lol:. I also see that my new studs are smaller than the originals. So, TonePros has inserts with the proper thread to mate to the original studs?

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They have two versions of the bridge: one with studs designed for the SEs and one with studs designed for the USA PRSes. You probably ordered the wrong bridge.