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History of the PRS Tremolo System

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The Original PRS Tremolo

Back in 1984, Paul Reed Smith was granted a patent on his tremolo system. The design elements are simple and resemble the traditional fulcrum tremolo but with some important differences.

  1. In the front of a PRS tremolo bridge, the six mounting screw holes are counter-sunk from underneath, providing six brass knife-edge fulcrums. These rest against the six notched brass body mounting screws. This knife-edge set-up ensures that the bridge will return to pitch during use.
  2. The pocket in the PRS tremolo bridge keeps the six individually adjustable saddles from moving sideways, thereby eliminating another traditional cause of tuning instability.
  3. The tremolo block is drilled out so the ball ends rest right up under the bridge base plate. This leaves less string behind the bridge saddle so there is less chance of detuning.
  4. The PRS tremolo bridge is designed so that there are no rough edges, for maximum comfort while playing.
  5. The bridge is made of brass, a metal that rings beautifully. The block, intonation screws, height-adjustment screws, and the string slots on the saddles are all left un-plated for increased sustain and fidelity of tone.
  6. The unthreaded tremolo arm fits into a hard plastic sleeve staying where you put it, via a small set screw on the back side of the bridge that faces the tail end of the guitar (where the intonation adjustment screws are located) therefore it will not wobble or break off in the block.

Molded Vs. Machined

PRS features two different builds of the same patented design: Molded and Machined. 

The Molded tremolo system utilizes a cast steel tremolo block with a brass plate and brass saddles. This type of tremolo can be found on the SE, S2, and CE models that feature tremolo bridges.

The Machined tremolo system utilizes a solid machined brass block, brass plate, and brass saddles. This type of tremolo can be found on Core and Private Stock tremolo-equipped models. This tremolo can also be found on CE models built prior to 2016.

The Tremolo Timeline

I. John Mann bridge (Gen I)

Approximate years in production: 1985 – 1995.

II. PRS Patented Tremolo (Gen II)

Approximate years in production: 1993 – current.

III. PRS Gen III Patented Tremolo

Offered in Core production via the "58/15" limited run in 2015.

IV. PRS Gen III Patented Tremolo with locking saddles

Offered through the Private Stock program beginning in 2011.

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