I greatly dislike floyd rose floating bridges

[wreckd504]

When you release the string tension the springs need to be recalibrated(?)

When you're tuning it will get to a certain point then it will slip down, like the springs lose tension, driving me crazy.

So to counter it, I wedged two erasers on either site of the floating thing thats in the back to stop the springs from taking the tension.

I could just buy a guitar that doesn't have a floating bridge, but I really like my Talman. Do you think this is weird?

[Slowrider]

The fastest way to get used to a Floyd, is to remove all strings and set-up from scratch. I showed a couple of students that, now they love the Floyds.

[cusebassman]

Nope - people lock down tremolos all the time when they either aren't using them or like a guitar that they didn't want a trem on, but it incidentally has one.

I used to play an Ibanez electric that had one of the cheap Floyds on it, and I don't use a trem, so I did essentially what you did, except I cut a piece of wood that was thick enough to place between the trem block and the little wall of the cavity, under where the springs are suspended. Then I tightened the springs so that the bridge would stay where it was whether there was string tension on the guitar or not.

Worked wonderfully. I'd imagine this is a similar situation for other guitarists as well, who might have purchased a guitar with the intent of using the tremolo, and then decided they didn't need it, or, as I said, just like to switch back and forth every so often. I agree though, it is a pain to keep the thing balanced, etc., especially when you don't even need it - it is much more annoying having to deal with problems on an instrument that don't, in the end, offer any advantage to your playing.

[TheRockDoc]

Originally Posted by wreckd504

I greatly dislike floyd rose floating bridges

I greatly agree with you...

[metalhead28]

Yes, there is a certain way you have to approach tuning a Floyd equipped guitar if it is full floating. You just have to get used to it. When you tighten a string, of course it pulls on the springs and in turn, the other strings can fall out of tune.
Try taking each string above pitch as you're tuning to offset those effects. As you get them all closer to pitch the others will come back down and even out your tension.
Once you get used to dealing with one, all of that stuff becomes no big deal. I can restring and tune my guitar in just a few minutes, it's second nature.

[amra]

I agree with Metalhead but I would also like to add that having the right amount of spring tension for your string gauge/set up is also critical.

Also, when you are tuning a floyd and get it close - quickly tune the first two strings, and then lock those two. Then tune the next two and lock those, and so on. The trick is to be quick...

[Tadpui]

I spent about 10 years with a full floating Floyd Rose and I really got to hate it. I understood how to adjust it and everything, but who wants to spend the time and effort? And doing a drop-D or other alternate tunings? Forget about it!

I went to the opposite end of the spectrum when I rebounded from the Floyd: Tune-O-Matic!

[metalhead28]

Originally Posted by amra

I agree with Metalhead but I would also like to add that having the right amount of spring tension for your string gauge/set up is also critical.

Also, when you are tuning a floyd and get it close - quickly tune the first two strings, and then lock those two. Then tune the next two and lock those, and so on. The trick is to be quick...

If you lock down 2 strings before you tune the others, don't you end up knocking them out of tune when you tune the others? That's my experience anyway. I get the whole thing balanced and in tune before I lock anything down.

And to the OP, remember that the whole thing is just a balancing act between the strings and the springs. Lower tuning or lighter strings = less spring tension to counter it. And vice-versa. Raising the pitch of one string will pull harder against the springs and the other strings will go slack.
Also, when changing strings it's smart to change them one string at a time so you don't have to go through the whole act of getting things balanced again.

[metalhead28]

I encounter alot of floating bridge hate around here!

You can do awesome things with a Floyd Rose, that makes it worth the (tiny bit of) extra effort.

[Micter]

If you do a little research you can find some you tube clips that go through a step by step on setting up a Floyd Rose. It isn't a big deal. Most people don't like Floyds out of ignorence. If you take the time to learn about your instrument it won't be a problem to change strings/tune.

[Ironklad Audio]

If you lock down 2 strings before you tune the others, don't you end up knocking them out of tune when you tune the others?

i do the same thing...but the E and A strings cause the most change in tension, so if you lock those down 1st, the change in the others won't affect them all that much

the trick i use is to let the fine-tuning screws at the bridge most of the way out...that way, when you tune from D-E and the 1st two strings get knocked out of tune, it can be fixed with a couple of turns of the screws

now if you want to talk a REAL pain in the ass...i had to set the intonation on a floyd bridge the other day, and that sucked more than anything.

[Jouni]

The biggest fuck-up of the design is, that when you break a single string for example, on a gig... The whole tuning is shot, rendering the instrumen totally useless, until re-strung.

[capnkid]

my floyd is to hard to push down, I would like it effortless. How can I accomplish that?

[Zaphod B]

A Floyd Rose isn't any different than any other full-floating trem with regard to tuning, string changes, and having your tuning going to hell in a handbasket when you break a string.

All of them (as far as I know) are balancing spring tension against string tension.

That said, I once played with a guitarist that retrofit his LP with a FR, and he was very fast with string changes, and once he got his strings stretched, tuned, and locked down, his tuning stayed rock solid.

[ggunn]

Originally Posted by Jouni

The biggest fuck-up of the design is, that when you break a single string for example, on a gig... The whole tuning is shot, rendering the instrumen totally useless, until re-strung.

It's not a design fuckup, it's the tradeoff. If you think you can design a truly floating bridge assembly that doesn't do that, go ahead. You'll be a wealthy man.

[Zaphod B]

Originally Posted by ggunn

It's not a design fuckup, it's the tradeoff. If you think you can design a truly floating bridge assembly that doesn't do that, go ahead. You'll be a wealthy man.

That's what I've been trying to think of, off and on, for the last couple of years - and a surface mount to boot.

I'm not wealthy yet.

[amra]

Metalhead, it does throw them off a tiny bit, but nothing you can't fix with your fine tuners.

[Nicole_Rose]

i've owned two ibanez guitars both with floyd rose trem's on them. i LOVED how it would stay in tune pretty much no matter what i played or how. dive bombs and all. but yes they did take a little extra effort.

[GONZO-X]

some guys just struggle and struggle with floyd roses.


other guys, play the hell out of them, and never have a problem.

go figure.

[Ironklad Audio]

i think the real trick, like someone mentioned above, is really to strip one completely apart, and do an entire setup from the ground-up...change strings, adjust spring tension, set action/intonation, then tune and lock

as soon as you can go through the entire process once, it's all cheddar from there

[rokinrandy]

Somebody probably left a post like this one here for you already but I didn't read them all.. And you may know how to set up a bridge..but give this here a a shot..

This is the way I like to do my Floyd roses. Someone may disagree with me and want to talk shit and blah, blah ,blah .But Fuk'em......
I have zero trouble And it works....OK here it goes....



I Have 3 Floating floyds and I love them.. They are time consuming to properly set up, but worth the trouble...
I have the best results when I;

First after properly winding my strings at the machine heads I set my fine tuners in the middle for future play after lockdown!

One of the basic tricks is to Go back and forth with all the strings in repetition during tuning the instrument with the floating bridge...And you must do this while keeping the bridge level with the guitar body at the same time..
sometimes the springs need adjusting with a screw driver with even tension to level the bridge...



on my first tuning pass I atleast get it close to tune..on the first pass I just want the tension to hold the bridge level...But after that step is when i pass back and forth in repetition while tuning like this:
e,a,e,a,d,a,d,g,up to high e and back in the same manner to low e if needed and so on till it's right...



Now here is a trick that a lot of guitarist never do that helps greatly:
I always bend each string full or even more after getting it in tune before I move to the next one...And I do this until the string does not go out of tune anymore...Then i move to the next one...I go back and forth untill it's perfect.. And yes it takes patience..


I always double check to leave plenty of play in the fine tuner in both directions... And finally When all of this is accomplished the bridge is level and e.t.c.
I lock the locking nut....

If you are not doing it like this You will probably hate the Floyd rose floating Tremelo



My favorite is the old steinberger trems ... you just pop the string in and go with it..Drop down to all kinds of different tuning with a snap..and float like hell..



Heck what else is there for floating bridges,,,I thought floyd rose was it They don't make the trans trem anymore..They don't make kahler anymore



Hope this helps you or somebody,RR

[rokinrandy]

Originally Posted by rokinrandy

Now here is a trick that a lot of guitarist never do that helps greatly:
I always bend each string full or even more after getting it in tune before I move to the next one...And I do this until the string does not go out of tune anymore...Then i move to the next one...I go back and forth until it's perfect.. And yes it takes patience..

One more thing Wreckd,
What this does is stretch out the strings and helps calibrate it better..I do this for reassurance...
I hope you learn to have fun and enjoy the great sounds of a floating bridge..Floyd rose is a good tremelo...TTYL,RR

[ggunn]

One very basic thing about any floating bridge guitar: it's not in tune until you can check the tuning of all 6 strings and not have to change any of them.

[Zaphod B]

Originally Posted by ggunn

One very basic thing about any floating bridge guitar: it's not in tune until you can check the tuning of all 6 strings and not have to change any of them.

I think that could be said of any guitar.....

[ggunn]

Originally Posted by Zaphod B

I think that could be said of any guitar.....

Well, yes, OK, but (as I am very sure you know) floating bridge guitars are much worse about the changing of tension on any one string affecting the pitch of all the others than are hardtails. I can usually make a quarter tone correction on one string of my Les Paul and get away with not checking all the rest of the strings; not so on my Strat.