Need help with my first "floyd rose"

[Jivin]

Howdy,

I posted a while ago on a different matter relating to this guitar ive just gotten recently (cort x series, superstrat styley). Coming from a very les paul style fixed bridge background with guitars, this is my first ever guitar ive owned with a floyd rose trem. This is definitely a licenced SINGLE locking floyd rose (im assuming from looking at it that means it doesnt lock at the bridge, only at the nut), and its probably a pretty crappy one at that.

Now, before i ask my questions, ill just say i am getting a book by Dan Erlewine (sp) about guitar repair and maintenance which ive skimmed and seen it goes into some detail on living with a floyd, and if necessary, i plan to take a trip to the guitar shop to speak/have this thing looked at by their tech.

ook then!

it came with the strings loosened, so with a bit of mucking around, i tuned the strings as accurately as i could with the tuners, then locked the nut, and thetn fine tuned it with the fine tuners on the trem. all good. ok so i go to play, and i notice obviously now that the strings are tensioned, the back of the bridge has lifted itself out of hte cavity... cool. but when i go to use the trem, it doesnt operate in both directions... as in, i can use the tremolo arm to raise the pitch of the strings, but when i go to push down and lower the pitch (which is what i would consider to be the more important of the directions ), it is really really stiff and just doesn feel right. Obviously for fear of damaging something i havent pushed hard, but its obvious ive stuffed something up somewhere

if pictures are needed, i can provide, but i cant at the time of posting, cause my sister has just had a beautiful baby girl a week ago so she has my camera

Thanks a lot

PS; also... the strings feel so loose like the guitar sounds right, but the stings are like so bendalicious! im used to 22 fret necks.. this is a 24... could that have something to do with it?

- Dan

[nonamemx]

Floyd roses can be difficult to set up right.

What guage strings are you using?

If the bridge is lifting up, you need to de-tune the strings untill they are almost limp, open the back compartment, find the 2 screws that hold the "claw" onto the body, and tighten those screws a little. It will move the claw closer to the body, pulling the springs tighter, and lowering the tremolo back down.

Tune the strings back up and check your progress. It may be a bit annoying. If you dont feel like messing with it, just have a pro have it professionally intonated.

And with a FL trem, its best to choose a string guage and stick with it, so you dont have to make any more adjustments when you change strings.

also, when you change strings, change them ONE at a time. Dont take them all off at the same time. Take the old E string off, put the new one on, tune up, take the old A string off. . . . .

[Jivin]

Thanks for the help, but i opened the back up and sure enough, the person i bought it off had chocked the back of the cavity up with cork.. he obviously didnt like using the trem!

That fixed, im a bit frustrated with how hard it is to tune. Im happy to go through the right steps, but it seems like the strings fall out of tune very quickly... as in, in the time it takes me to reach for the allan key to lock down the nut, the strings have fallen out of tune at least a halfstep! so wheni lock them down, they are so far out of tune the fine-tuning screws cant adjust far enough

and then after that, when ive eventually got it locked down and tuned, it still falls out of tune, sometimes without even using the trem! It just doesnt make me confidant at all i can even lightly use the trem and stay in tune. I mean, I know it would be a crappy trem, and it is single locking which cant help, but this is less than i expected.

One thing though, and this is the kicker.. the strings feel new... could it be the strings are just breaking in and that is why its losing tune so much.. im aware of issues with holding tune for a new set of strings on a hardtail, and it makes sense it would play havoc even with a locking setup - ???

- Dan

[Guest Litchfield Custom Gutars]

All my floyds are blocked for bend down only. That seems to help.

[goth_fiend]

since were on the subject of floyds, which would be better, original floyd, schaller floyd or gotoh floyd?

[Guest Litchfield Custom Gutars]

Personally, I say OFR

[Hardball]

It is important on a FR to "stretch" the strings once you have them in tune using the tuners when the strings are new.

Gently pull the string up till it puts more tension on it than normal and let it "pop" back. Once this has been done several times the strings will find their natural "length", stop bouncing out of tune when you let it pop, and you can then lock them down once in tune with the fine tuners doing their job.

I have been playing Floyds for a long time now and every time I change the strings I spend about five minutes on each string until it no longer "stretches" while tuning.

Setup on the FR is not that difficult if you understand the mechanics of them. There is a balance between string tension and spring tension that has to be met. Sometimes it may be necessary to actually stretch the springs, or change to a lighter set of springs to enable the trem to balance with whatever guage string you are using.

I personally have used Ernie Ball Super Slinky .09's for at least 15 years, maybe more. They seem to stretch faster, and are easier to keep in tune with the Floyd.

[Jivin]

Thanks a lot for the help guys

- Dan