Floyd Rose - Angry and Frustrated

Monsoon

Monsoon

New member
So, I got a new Budda SuperDrive 18, with a Budda 2x12 cab. Bought me a Charvel with a Floyd Rose tremolo (loved the rest of the guitar, didn't really pay much attention to the trem).

So, guess how I've spent my night. Playing my Charvel through my Budda? Figuring out all the sweet spots? Pushing the gain? Testing the cleans? Losing myself in a new sonic experience? Discovering my own sound?

No.

I've spent all g-dmd night trying to tune the g-dmd guitar. I can't do it. I've followed the directions from about three different sites (including Floyd Rose's own site). All to no avail. I finally broke a string, and now I'm done for the night, because if I can't tune it, I'm guessing there's certainly no way I'm gonna be able to change a broken string.

So, tomorrow I guess the guitar goes back to the store. Such a shame. Such a shame. I mean, really, what the hell.

I waited 20 friken years to finally buy myself a new guitar. And I can't tune the damn thing.
 
Dude, I don't want to make light of this, but I swear there must be some kind of conspiracy!

One of my fav's has a floyd rose, played it for years, always the same gauge strings, and it was in perfect tune, but I had a show in a few days, so I changed the stings.. now, I've spent 3 days trying to get it tuned. I actually chucked it against the wall about 3 hours ago. It just defies logic.

That's my problem, your problem may not be as grave. Before you give the thing back ask them for a proper setup, they should have done this for you in the first place. It should make all the differance. I've been doing mine for years, but I still have to take it to a pro to get a handle on this one.
 
Floyd roses can be sweet, but they can also be a pain in the ass. If you are going to be changing tunings on the guitar often, forget about a floyd rose. It just isn't suited for that. On the other hand, once you get it tuned, it should stay tuned, and you should be able to play the hell out of it and not even worry about the tuning.
Be sure you have enough springs underneath for the gauge of strings you are using. If the springs aren't strong enough to stabilize it, against the tension of the strings you will be in for a rough time.

A helpful technique that I have found (via trial and error) is to first make sure that all your fine tuning knobs are as close to half way as you can get. Then tune your first two strings just a hair flat, and then as quickly as you can, lock the locker for those strings. Then do the next two the same way, and quickly lock them down, then do the last two. It seems to help when you tune a hair flat because tightening the lockers seems to cause the strings to go a bit sharp, which you would then have to compensate for by turning the fine tuners all most all the way up, and when you get to the b and the little e, you will likely run out of adjustment. If you tune a bit flat, it will keep this from happening. This works for me, on my jackson and my old '80s Charvel RR V..

Hope this helps you.
 
i have a floyd rose and it takes me a few hours to get it tuned sometimes starting from scratch. Here is how I go about it. Make sure the fine tuners are set to about central so you can go either way once you lock down. With the whammy unlocked tune from the outside in, low e, high e, a, b, d, g, then start over again, notice which way the strings went out of tune, either higher or lower and adjust in that direction while tuning. Say the high E dropped in pitch upon the first tuning, second time around tune it sharp, etc. Once it starts to get close I will tune the strings in the usual order. I may have to go through this a bunch of times all the time keeping an eye on the whammy itself and adjusting the tension in the back of the guitar to keep it in line with the neck. After a very frustrating amount of time you will eventually get it in tune and it will be time to lock it down and go to the fine tuners.
If possible never change more than one string at a time. Once you find the gauge strings you like best use them all the time. If you switch from a .01 to a .008 on the high E you will almost be tuning from scratch.
Hope this helps someone.
 
I'm wondering if you put the same gauge strings on as were on the guitar before. If you've changed the string gauge and you're not "one" with the floyd yet, you're in for a struggle. Maybe I missed something and you didn't change the strings at all. If that's the case, it should have been set up before you left the shop. Call them up, admit to being Floyd challanged, come clean and tell 'em whatcha done...they'll probobly set it up for you since you're going to spend a few more bucks on strings anyways.

Someone previous already mentioned the balance between the springs and string tension. If you've gone to heavier strings, the tail of the rose is going to keep coming up as you tune the guitar meaning you need more counter force from the strings to pull it back down to the sweet spot where the strings are in tune and the Floyd is flat with the surface of the guitar. The opposite is true if you've gone to lighter strings. Depending upon how drastic the string change is, you may have to add or remove a spring or, simply adjust the spring tensioning screws. As you're a bit new to the floyd set up, I would advise against trying to make this adjustment. The screws/springs need to be balanced for proper intonation of the low and the high string meaning they need to be adjusted together and of the same amount. The springs and strings create a 4 way balancing act for the tremelo (up, down and side to side). If you adjust just one spring or tensioning screw it will put sideways tension on the entire tremelo sidways and create all kinds of intonation problems.

A word of caution...some guitars have a lot of force built up in the springs and without any strings on, the tail of the Floyd gets pulled down into the body cavity. Some guitars don't have a lot of material down inside that pocket and it is possible that if the Floyd isn't blocked, it can severly damage the guitar. That may be one of the reasons everyone always says remove one string at a time. I for one have a plastic wedgie thing I put in from the back side which locks the tremelo into place, cut all the strings off and go for it. Sorry...I got out of the box again...

My suggestion would be to pick a string gauge you prefer and take the guitar to the shop. Have them set it up for you then in the future, changing out the strings should be a pretty easy affair. Welcome to the Floyd...you either love it or hate it...I'm on the love side...they're great once you get the hang of them but your patience will be tested until then.

Good luck.
 
also remember to STRETCH THE STRINGS before you lock them down. If you down they will stretch naturally and go flat... it is a real pain when this happens as you need to unlock then retune carefully.

Stretch them first to save hassle later :)
 
It wasn't Nirvana that destroyed the 80's... and it wasn't Mr. Axl Rose either. It was the thorn found in every rose (if I may be so Punny)- and it's called a Floyd Rose.

I hated locking trems so much that I went with Sperzel's, and never had another bad gig. I still have a Kramer with a Floyd, and it has taken me a month to get it to stay in tune. Now that it finally stays in tune, I don't even want to play the friggin think half the time..

Sorry for the bad luck, man. I truly empathize... :(
 
Some very very good ideas have been mentioned above and they are all true as well, does not happen that often, but in this case you can all take word of what most of you mentioned.

Just one final word: Have patience, well...........a lot, and following most of those well constructed tuning-ideas, and you will be rewarded with a bridge which can be truely amazing.............just do not give up, but also, keep all your Tune-O-Matic Bridged gtrs. as you may fall in love with them again as well.

Heh the 80s have gone and Floyd's and Tune-O-Matics can now nicely live together all in one guitar-rack. Oh well, at least something got better over the years................................
 
Thanks for all the tips, guys. I think the Floyd has been saved from the boiling pot...for now. :)

The place where I got it definitely did NOT set it up. But this morning I took it down to the local music shop. There's usually a possee of Saturday morning guys that hang out in the morning and we all talk music and guitars and such. I took it in there, and one of the store owners who is also a guitar tech did me a favor and showed me how to change strings and tune it. Basically did a whole setup for me for free and explained how to work with the FR.

The whole process was, indeed, arduous and tedious, but it's got new strings, and it's in tune. Should last me a while before I have to go through that exercise again.

From what I've read and what people have said, if I break one string, it's usually not such an ordeal to change the one. I guess we'll see. :eek:

If I ever have to go through the entire process again from scratch, I'll have a better knowledge base to do it. Whether I can actually do it on my own is another question. Took the pro quite a while. This baby might just need to go in to the shop every now and then, which is expensive and annoying, but so far I really like everything else about the guitar.

To answer some questions, no, I did not change the gague of the strings. I was just trying to get it in tune. Some clown had drop d on it, and the other strings were messed up, too. They were kinda in tune with each other, but not standard tuning.

Anyway, thanks for all the tips guys. I'll save the link to this thread. I'll probably need it again. :(
 
Congrats..

For the record, I went out and bought new springs, my problem is fixed. Sometimes a brain fart is enough to cause you a couple days frustration.

Perfect tune now baby. Odd that they are only a year old, so I didn't even think about it.

If you guitar was set up for Drop D, then that could be your reason right there. While it may be unscientific, I swear your guitar just gets "comfortable" with certain set up, and if you make the slightest change it just spits it back in your face.

they suck, but ahh when they work :)
 
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