Intonation on a floyd is a whore

[cellardweller]

I mean, exactly what the fuck were they thinking?
Talk about a bad design. Undoubtedly an engineers' decision.

Any tips for adjusting the intonation?
Relieving all feckin' tension is quite a pain in the roostersack.
Even then, the feckin' saddle tends to slip...

 

[Light]

There's a little thing called "The Key" down aways on THIS PAGE. It makes it a LOT easier, though I still wouldn't call it easy.



Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[fastprof]

I just finished setting up and intonating my Charvel for the first time (after a local guitar tech did a sloppy job). Yeah, it is a time consuming and frustrating process to intonate a Floyd, but unless you are changing string guages frequently, you only have to do it once in a while. I saw on one web-site where the tech uses padding and then pulls and clamps the tremelo arm to the body to relieve string tension on the saddles so you can adjust the saddles. Seems like a time saver but I rather take my time and not damage anything. Here are the links that I have that may help (one is for the Ibanez floating trem which is similar):

FR set up

Ibanez (but helpful)

 

[therage!]

I mean, exactly what the fuck were they thinking?
Talk about a bad design. Undoubtedly an engineers' decision.

I'm over them. I won't even mess them anymore unless Light becomes my next door neighbor.

 

[gcapel]

I would think with a floyd rose it would be a good idea to check the intonation every string change. I owned a jackson dinky reverse at one time, and I had the same problems. It may also help to change one string at a time. I finally realized that i wasn't even using the function of the tremelo system so I went with a Gibson guitar and haven't turned back since.

 

[punkin]

You just need to do it a few more times that's all. It's all about getting a little experience with setting these things up. The tool Light posted info about is a big time saver too.

Floyd's my friend

 

[fastprof]

I would think with a floyd rose it would be a good idea to check the intonation every string change. I owned a jackson dinky reverse at one time, and I had the same problems. It may also help to change one string at a time. I finally realized that i wasn't even using the function of the tremelo system so I went with a Gibson guitar and haven't turned back since.

Once set, the intonation shouldn't change unless you change the gauge of the strings or raise/lower the action. If the blades of the tremelo are grooved or worn, you may not have the tremelo returning to zero. All in all, FR trems work great when they work, but suck when they don't. I bought this Charvel out of nostalgia and forgot what a PITA they are. My next acquisition will not have a tremelo for sure.