hello again fellow people, as some of you know, i have an LTD MH-50 guitar, which has a Floyd Rose trem. n today i decided to be a little curious, a friend of mine came by to play with my guitar, and we decided to properly tune the guitar (although it was already almost perfectly tuned when i got it from the shop). so i unlocked the locks on top, and started to tune the guitar. i tuned it like how i would tune an acoustic guitar, with an electric tuner.. so anyway, after i put the locks back on, firstly, they don't sound perfectly tuned anymore, and secondly, i noticed the first 3 strings or so, G, B and the higher E strings are now closer to the neck! and the neck does look a little twisted (just a little! maybe its my imagination). n although it still sounds alright, it dosent feel as good anymore im afraid it might affect the guitar parts in the long haul, can anyone suggest what i should do in this situation? should i go to a shop to get it readjusted? or should i try and remedy the problem myself at home? just some extra info, this is my first guitar, ive had it for only about a month, and that means i dont even know how to restring a guitar.. ive tried watching videos online n googling my problem but i dont really understand much of what they're trying to say.. help me!! thanks!

That's why we NEVER suggest a Floyd Rose for beginners.
First of all, you should have blocked the floyd rose. Remember....... the tighter the strings, the more it pulls. Because it's a floating bridge (ie, is basically held up by the strings and not using the body for support), every string you tune will effect another.

Since the alignment is off already, you might have to send to a shop for a re-setup...... which CAN cost about RM100 and above depending on where you go.

Dude, hate to say this, but we told you so! You really should have got a fixed-bridge axe instead.




This post has been edited by fatboythin: Jan 25 2009, 04:09 AM

fatboythin, saying that didnt help at all.

to rikipu, try to tune it properly. watch out for ur bridge, make sure it is flat, not slightly towards/away from the nut, if it is, try adjust the spring at the back of the gtr's body. reset the tuner on the bridge before u tune it, this helps after u lock the nut after tuning.

hope it helps

my first gtr with a floating bridge too, had a few problem but learn a lot from it

haha sorry guys, kinda my fault, i knew an FR trem would be bad news, but...

anyway im no quitter! its too late now anyway, not like im gonna spend another small fortune getting a new guitar.

lots of videos suggest that we have to set the fine tuners on the bridge to the middle, can anyone explain what that means?

ghoster, how would i reset the tuner? just keep turning it anti-clockwise or something? thanks for the encouragement btw, i dont feel so dreadful now

The tuners at the back of the floyd rose.....
What you do, is set all of them to the same height, roughly the middle point....
You DO know there are tuners at the back of the floyd rose, right? They are for minor increments of adjustments, even after you've locked the nut.

yes i do know, its just that i never noticed they could move up and down... okay i get it now, thanks.

dont worry, u will get used to it. its not that difficult after all to deal with floating bridges

i think i kinda fixed it.. the higher strings are all parallel to the other strings and the neck!! i just tuned all the strings a little more flat, then lock it in and use the fine tuners

haha good to hear. just a few more time experiments and you'll get used to it. one day we'll hear u saying, changng strings will only take 10 mins

I doubt adjusting the spring would be much of a good idea. Cause quite simply, the spring setting was already right before. It's only screwed now.

@OP
Just keep trying to retune. If your bridge isn't flat and parallel to the body, it's probably because you didn't tune it right.
Too many methods to teach you how to tune, so I'd suggest you do some google-ing and find out the best method by yourself.

Just saying'..

And TS, just block your trem, seriously! Better have no trem than an off tune guitar 24/7.

hard to say, it really depend. the spring setting depends on the bridge, string gauge and neck. if the bridge is fine, than no need adjustment.

no need to be afraid to play around with all of the setup method on ur guitar. u'll learn lot more later on. do-and learn. keep it this way, if u have a fixed bridge, u'll never know/learn how its like using a floating bridge. even if u get a good guitar with a good floating bridge, u'll still have to face the same problem, before u become good at it.

and please dont block ur bridge, stop being a wuss

i had the exact same guitar when i started out. My tunings also were pretty much screwed when i had it (i didn't know nuts about musical notes then).. Thank god i had my guitar teacher fix it..

I think the problem lies with the springs and ur string gauge.. 'cos tat was always the problem for me with tat guitar.. If ur taking lessons from a centre, bring it to their guitar guy and hopefully he'll repair it for free ;P

1st - set the fine tuners at back to mid
2nd - raise the fr bridge until its level with the body..then use anything like spoon to hold the bridge
3rd - tune the strings until the spoon can come off naturally..( im supposed that u did not adjust the trem spring at the backplate..)

Hey guys, my strat copy has a floating bridge too. is it floyd rose ? sorry noob question here >.<

floating bridge is floating bridge.
floyd rose is floating bridge that locks at both ends so stays in tune.