Floyd Rose Problem

danteXXI

I have a problem with the Floyd on my LTD.
Every time I pick it up it has to be re-tuned. I thought this is what Floyds were made to prevent?
It's never anything huge...usuallly the high e is way out and fine tuner is already twisted to it's full capacity, and the other five strings are out by just a bit.
Anybody have any idea why this is happening?

-=al=-

new strings? are they stretched accordingly when u restring it?

Voodu Child

STRETCH, STRETCH, STRETCH!

Ok, tbh, it could be any number of things, it could be worn knife edges, it could just be a poor quality trem, but for now, i'll just assume its the way youre setting it up.

1) Stretch the strings. I mean really stretch them. When you put on a new set of strings, as youre tuning them up, have the guitar sat on your knee (or wherever), and grap the string in the middle, and give it a really good stretch. Tune it back up to pitch & keep repeating until it stops going flat when you stretch it. The wound strings stretch most, and are also the sturdiest (they wont snap). Go easy on the high E and B. THey dont stretch a huge amount anyway, and you will snap them if youre not careful.

The important point to note, is you should be afraid of snapping them, thats how vigourously you need to stretch them

2)Set the trem level. Level means the knife edge meets the post at 90 degrees.

I usually get a month out of a set of strings (although I play a few guitars, so i would get less if I just had one). Between locking the nut for the final time the day i put new strings on it, I almost NEVER have to open the nut again, for the full month. Mostly thats down to setting it up properly, and stretching the bejaysus out of the strings.

-=al=-

g string is the worst for staying in tune, its a son of a bitch :mad:

feel free to make all the g string jokes you like

Voodu Child

-=al=- wrote:

g string is the worst for staying in tune, its a son of a bitch

Probably something wrong with your guitar in that case, the high E is actually the worst, (because it has the lowest mass per unit length, the pitch is affected more by small changes in tension).

-=al=-

well i mean just in general, i find that its a bitch on all of me guitars!

Voodu Child

-=al=- wrote:

well i mean just in general, i find that its a bitch on all of me guitars!

ive heard people say it before, ive no idea why it would happen, but it could be true.

Alls I know, is ive had tonnes of floyd guitars and if I ever need to open the nut to re-tune, its always the high E that has run out of travel on the fine tuners.

Johnny Storm

G string is usually the problem one for me too. EDIT: not on a Floyd guitar.
AFAIK G strings on modern lighter gauge strings are pushing the limits of how big an unwound string should be. IE they would have better tuning stability if they were wound. OTOH I seem to remember from prehistoric times that wound G strings wear out very quickly.

Voodu Child

Well, the core of a wound G string is smaller than either the high B or E, so that was why they were more prone to going out of tune.

Cant think of why an unwound G would be less stable, if that was the case, the B would be less stable than the E, and the E would be most stable of all the unwound strings.

Doesnt make any sense to me, but i dunno, could be true. Not too pushed about it anyhow.. :cool:

!_Brian_!

Yeah I find the G sting cam be a bit of a bitch as well when your fretting it on the G# or the A notes. Can sound like the intonation is off, dunno why those too particular notes but obviously there must be something to it as you have the likes of the Earvana Compensated Nuts on the market now or there was another crowd (cant remember who) actully split the 1st and 2nd frets and had the frets on the G sting slightly farther away from the nut than the rest

Alucard II

voodoo_child wrote:

Probably something wrong with your guitar in that case, the high E is actually the worst, (because it has the lowest mass per unit length, the pitch is affected more by small changes in tension).

actually i find the G to be a **** as well. its the worst, the B is next worse. apart from that, the high e goes out sometimes, but yeah, G string = whore

Voodu Child

!_Brian_! wrote:

Yeah I find the G sting cam be a bit of a bitch as well when your fretting it on the G# or the A notes. Can sound like the intonation is off, dunno why those too particular notes but obviously there must be something to it as you have the likes of the Earvana Compensated Nuts on the market now or there was another crowd (cant remember who) actully split the 1st and 2nd frets and had the frets on the G sting slightly farther away from the nut than the rest

Theres a whole other thread behind the explanation of this. Its an inherent problem in the guitar. Its never going to be in tune in all keys or in all positions in the fretboard. It doesnt have anything to do the problems the OP (ie tuning stability /strings going out of pitch after they have been tuned already)

actually i find the G to be a **** as well. its the worst, the B is next worse. apart from that, the high e goes out sometimes, but yeah, G string = whore

Cant think why that would be, but like I said to Al, ive heard it said before. Id be (vaguely) interested in an explanation. Id wager its a badly cut nut, or the break angle over the nut, and nothing to do with the string itself.

Is it a floyd?

!_Brian_!

voodoo_child wrote:

Theres a whole other thread behind the explanation of this. Its an inherent problem in the guitar. Its never going to be in tune in all keys or in all positions in the fretboard. It doesnt have anything to do the problems the OP (ie tuning stability /strings going out of pitch after they have been tuned already)

Oh I know yeah, I was just sayin

fourmations

hi all

i'm having string breakage on the high e
but i think its pretty obvious why,

the string has gone three times at the bridge (floyd type)
I assume i could just file down the edge of the
bridge a touch?

whats the best thing for this,
i have 600 and 1200 sandpaper
will that do it?

I was also losing tune and decided to stretch the bejasus
out of them and the high e popped again (ddarrio xl 9's)

rgds
4

feylya

Wrap the 1200 around the edge of a credit card and lightly rub the saddle where the string meets it so it's nice and smooth.

Voodu Child

fourmations wrote:

hi all

i'm having string breakage on the high e
but i think its pretty obvious why,

the string has gone three times at the bridge (floyd type)
I assume i could just file down the edge of the
bridge a touch?

whats the best thing for this,
i have 600 and 1200 sandpaper
will that do it?

I was also losing tune and decided to stretch the bejasus
out of them and the high e popped again (ddarrio xl 9's)

rgds
4

Sandpaper wont file down the bridge.

Before you do anything - how often are you breaking strings? If youre playing 9s and bending a lot, its pretty common to break the high E. If it is your only guitar and you play it alot, i wouldnt count on getting more than a month out of a set.

Secondly, is the saddle visibly sharp? ie are you sure thats the problem? If you are, then have a look into replacing them. Depending on the exact trem, you might be able to use graphtech or similar saddles.

In relation to stretching strings, there is a learning curve unfortunately. You will eventually learn how much you can stretch each string. I used to buy a brand with an extra high E (rotosound i think) just for that reason, and I still break a high E the odd time while i'm stringing a guitar.

fourmations

thanks guys

i will proceed with caution and have a good look

i am breaking on extreme bends, not general play
or whammy antics

(any good sites about floyd maintenance?
this guitar is from 89 and the
floyd (licensed job) needs love in general)

rgds

4

Voodu Child

If you go ahead and use sandpaper (i wouldnt be mad about it, its too bulky and awkward IMO, id use a microfile), just take it very easy and make sure you know what youre trying to achieve.

Dont forget to string your guitar backwards. Leave the ball end at the tuning posts, and cut the strings an inch or two past the point where it locks down at the bridge. Then with the high E, let it run four or five inches before cutting it, so if it breaks while youre stretching them, you can just wind a bit more slack on from the tuning post.

Johnny Storm

As an alternative to sandpaper or a micro file to smooth out any burrs on the saddle you can use a length of an old wound string. Just run it back and forth in the channel where the string goes on the saddle.

!_Brian_!

fourmations wrote:

thanks guys

(any good sites about floyd maintenance?
this guitar is from 89 and the
floyd (licensed job) needs love in general)

rgds

4

The Floyd Rose website! lol

http://www.floydrose.com/originaltremolo.html#basic_topic_3