Painting my Floyd Rose bridge

[Nico2112]

Ok Guys, once again, I request your expertise

A little background first:

As you know, I just bought a used Jackson PS4 Dinky reverse.
Since I'm not an expert guitarist, this past 20 years I've been playing my old faithful strat copy guitar. Never heard or read about Intonation, spring tension adjustments and all the settings you need to know when owning a Floyd Rose (or even a normal fixed bridge guitar)
Now that I've read, I know why sometimes my old guitar sounded bad when I played certain chords, even when all the strings were perfectly tuned.
Yes, now I beleive intonation is a basic and a "must do" procedure.

That being said, I want to paint my Floyd rose saddles and fine tuning screws, and I've come up with a procedure:

1) Take away the fine tuner screws
2) Unlock the nut and detune all the strings
3) Dettach the bridge's springs
4) Losen the string lock screws and remove all strings
5) Take away the string lock inserts
6) Unscrew the pivot screws and dettach the bridge

With the bridge away from the guitar, do the paint job (without moving the saddle adjusting/mounting screws).

Now that the bridge is painted:

1) Mount the bridge in place and rescrew the pivot screws
2) Attach the bridge's springs
3) Screw the fine tuner screws back in place
4) Put the string lock inserts back in place
5) Proceed to install new strings
6) Tune
7) Enjoy a new looking Floyd Rose

Logically, I would wait for a string change to be necessary.

My main concerns are:

**Will the intonation of the bridge be altered?

**Will the spring tension get messed up?

Before buying it, the guitar was intonated by a local guitar expert, to use 0.09 gauge strings and use standard 440 tuning. I really don't want to mess around with the guitar's intonation.

Any input will be greatly appreciated

Cheers!

 

[Zaphod B]

I'd say that it's likely that your intonation will be affected by removing and replacing the bridge. Maybe not much, but don't count on it still being right on.

I really don't think that painting your bridge is a good idea. That said, might I offer a bit of advice on a couple of details?

First, make sure that you are able to scruff the all the surfaces that will be painted. Also clean the entire thing with alcohol or some other degreaser. Otherwise the paint will not stick and you will end up with an ugly, peeling mess.

Second, I would recommend that rather than painting the bridge with the sadddles and intonation screws in place, that you remove the screws and saddles and leave the screws unpainted. Insert something into the threaded part of the saddles to prevent paint from fouling the threads.

Is your bridge chromed? If so, it's going to be very difficult for paint to adhere. It might be a lot less trouble just to buy another bridge that looks closer to what you want.

 

[metalhead28]

Buy a new bridge and reset the intonation.

 

[Zaphod B]

Buy a new bridge and reset the intonation.

What he said.

 

[Nico2112]

I'd say that it's likely that your intonation will be affected by removing and replacing the bridge. Maybe not much, but don't count on it still being right on.

I really don't think that painting your bridge is a good idea. That said, might I offer a bit of advice on a couple of details?

First, make sure that you are able to scruff the all the surfaces that will be painted. Also clean the entire thing with alcohol or some other degreaser. Otherwise the paint will not stick and you will end up with an ugly, peeling mess.

Second, I would recommend that rather than painting the bridge with the sadddles and intonation screws in place, that you remove the screws and saddles and leave the screws unpainted. Insert something into the threaded part of the saddles to prevent paint from fouling the threads.

Is your bridge chromed? If so, it's going to be very difficult for paint to adhere. It might be a lot less trouble just to buy another bridge that looks closer to what you want.

Thanks Zaphod
Well, that's what I figured.
If intonation is not going to be right on, then I might aswell take the saddles and screws away, and have the guitar intonated again (oh well, that's what I was trying to avoid).

I'm giving it a lot of thought, that's why I better asked first. But maybe what I would have to buy are new saddles. The fine tuner screws can be painted easily.

My bridge is black.

Thanks for your response

Cheers!

Here's a pic.

 

[Nico2112]

Buy a new bridge and reset the intonation.

It's not easy finding a new bridge here in El Salvador
Still, it's a good option.

Thanks for your input
Cheers!

 

[Nico2112]

I have an idea , have any of you guys tried black nail polish for touchups on black guitar hardware??

Maybe I can get away with it by just using nail polish.

Opinions?

Cheers!

 

[castlerock]

if you really feel the need to paint it, you may want to powdercoat or electroplate it instead. if there are any auto body shops in your area, they may do it for you for a good price. It'll last a LOT longer than paint.


good luck.

 

[Zaphod B]

I have an idea , have any of you guys tried black nail polish for touchups on black guitar hardware??

Maybe I can get away with it by just using nail polish.

Opinions?

Cheers!

No, but I have used a black Marks-A-Lot to touch up the black fairing screws on my motorcycle.

Nail polish is pretty thick, but it's really durable. I think it cuts with acetone. (A non-oily fingernail polish remover would serve as a cutting agent, too.) I think you'd want to thin it so that it could flow easily onto whatever you're touching up. But it dries really fast, so you can't fuck around with it once you've applied it.

As far as getting another bridge - you get mail in El Salvador, right?

 

[Zaphod B]

if you really feel the need to paint it, you may want to powdercoat or electroplate it instead. if there are any auto body shops in your area, they may do it for you for a good price. It'll last a LOT longer than paint.


good luck.

...or anodize it.

 

[boingoman]

Just intonate it yourself if you end up taking it off- it's not that hard.

 

[Lt. Bob]

Just intonate it yourself if you end up taking it off- it's not that hard.

Ditto ..... if you're going to be playing guitar ..... setting a bridge is a basic skill that everyone should learn to do.

 

[Zaphod B]

Ditto ..... if you're going to be playing guitar ..... setting a bridge is a basic skill that everyone should learn to do.

Yep - agreed 100%.

The beauty of it is that you can't hurt anything except your ears if you do it wrong. And it doesn't have to be absolutely perfect to be pretty damned close.

 

[Nico2112]

Thanks for all your comments guys I really appreciate them.

You're right, I must learn how to intonate a guitar. I will start with my bass and old strat. When I get the hang of it, I will then venture to do the Floyd Rose

Yup Zaphod, I get mail; it's just that by mail it's too risky and expensive.

About retouching the bridge, I will give it a shot with nail polish. I will dilute it with acetone, and try first on a test piece of metal. Before applying it, I will clean the parts with rubbing alcohol.

Cheers, and thanks again

 

[castlerock]

...or anodize it.

yup. all that good stuff. =]

 

[Zaphod B]

About retouching the bridge, I will give it a shot with nail polish. I will dilute it with acetone, and try first on a test piece of metal. Before applying it, I will clean the parts with rubbing alcohol.

Cheers, and thanks again

Take some pictures to let us know how it turns out.

 

[chestwick91]

Wow, DOn't paint it....bad idea, if your doing anything to color it, i would say take it to someone who powder coats and let them do it, you will regret it if you paint it

 

[gvarko]

I have an idea , have any of you guys tried black nail polish for touchups on black guitar hardware??

Maybe I can get away with it by just using nail polish.

Opinions?

Cheers!

Why don't you just use black touch up paint for cars? That has to be more durable than nail polish and you can feel manly buying it.. Personally I would leave the chips, it adds to the character. Plus when you go to sell it on e-bay you can call the bridge reliced..

 

[Light]

What you need is a total reset of your attitude. What you need to do is see the marks on your bridge as character, not flaws; because anything you do to try and make it black again is going to make your bridge impossible to adjust properly (and Floyd Rose's are hard enough to adjust as is). The only thing which will get them back to looking like new is to find a place to re-chrome them (the black is a different kind of chrome, not a paint or a powder coat or anything like that). At that point, you would be likely be better off importing a new bridge.


Light

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

 

[Nico2112]

Well, I just did it!

Not great pics (cel phone); I'll take proper pics tomorrow

I like the results I got!

I touched up the saddles and the fine tuner screws.

Cheers!