Any of you ever give up on a floyd rose tremolo?

[XxSicRokerxX]

I went from using fixed bridges (ESP guitars for years, i really liked them) to buying a jackson w/ floyd rose tremolo.

Ive had this guitar for over 2 years and ive never hassled so much with any other guitar.

I get annoying fret buzz in the low region 1-5 frets. I cant get the strings 100% parallel to the fret board it seems like at the bridge the strings are higher than 1-5 frets the strings are nearly touching the fretboard.

I've tried tightening the truss rod but all that really did was make the strings tighter and made the overall strings sit a little lower. which than started causing fretbuzz in the mid region of the guitar.

I've tried shimming the guitar neck but all that did was cause fret buzz near the bridge. Raising + lowering the pivot screws didn't really help. Ive tried tightening the bear claw on the bottom to bring the action a little lower but that didnt reall help.

Are floyd roses always this much work? Any of you ever give up on them? I really dislike the feel of the strings being unparalleled to the fretboard.

 

[Megin]

If you can't fix it, leave to a pro.

 

[kernelxsanders]

it just means you need to have it set up the right way. my primary guitar is a jackson with a floyd rose and now i fucking hate it for the same reason as you. it plays fine now after i blocked the trem, but now it is basically stuck in dropped Bb with .60g strings forever until i sell it and set up back up for standard tuning. i found that my main problem was the tension springs in the back of my guitar. if i hadn't blocked the trem, i would basically just need a 4th spring.

your best bet is to sell it. if you arent playing music in standard tuning, anyhow. because thats what i want to do so i can get an ltd.

 

[schwinginbatman]

Take it to a pro. I'd ask if you ever adjusted the springs in the back, but at this point I doubt that'll help you any. Get someone who knows what's up to fix it.

 

[userchanged1]

yep if you have thicker strings on it, you should adjust the springs acordingly.

I had a jackson with a FR for years. I never saw much of a use for it either. Much hassle when tuning etc... Also, every piece in that tremolo (and on the whole guitar) is basically a non-standard Jackson-only size, which can be a real pain to find replacement parts for.

I have only fixed bridge guitars now...

But I do agree, have it checked by someone who knows this stuff, or sell it and buy a fixed bridge guitar.

 

[JonWormwood]

User error

 

[53Crëw]

^^^+1.
Take it to a shop for proper setup.
Floyds rule.

 

[AndrewB]

I have a Floyd Rose, and I absolutely love it, you just have to take the time to set it up properly, and everything afterwards is great.

 

[Brandon E.]

None of those problems have jack to do with a tremolo man

 

[DeclanWhite]

I hate floyds and sold the 2 i had (ec1000 and hellraiser) and use fixed bridge ec1000 only now. But your problem is obviously setup

 

[cyril_v]

None of those problems have jack to do with a tremolo man

This.

User error

...and that!

Having a fixed bridge isn't going to help you with fret buzz or learning how to adjust a trust rod. You could block off your trem and have a fixed bridge and you'd still have the same issues. Take it to a lutheir/guitar tech and ask to sit in and watch.

Two things to think about..
1) You don't want the neck absolutely flat... a very slight bow is usually the aim.
2) If adding relief doesn't do the trick, shimming the actual nut might help.

Either way, I'd still say take it to a tech and ask lots of questions and make sure he knows what you want playability-wise.

 

[Brandon E.]

2) If adding relief doesn't do the trick, shimming the actual nut might help.

Shimming the nut will only help with the open strings and will make your action higher without real purpose...I don't think it would help his problem. I think he's either not making the right truss rod adjustments, his neck is warped, or something funny is going on with the neck joint.

 

[Brandon E.]

To make a point about the parallel thing...the second you put your finger on a fret, that string is no longer parallel...it doesn't matter at all. Just set up the guitar any way you can so that it doesn't buzz and feels good. You should take it to a tech but if you want to still try yourself, take the shim out of the neck pocket, and make sure the neck bolts are AS TIGHT as you can make them. Adjust the truss rod so that the fretboard is flat or has a LITTLE bit of relief, and adjust the action until you find a good ratio of no buzz/feels good. Forget the parallel thing...if it sounds good and feels good, it is good. If none of that will get it to stop buzzing it might need some fretwork so take it to a good guitar tech.

And about the springs in the back, the conventional way to do it is to set the tremolo so it is parallel to the body at the action you want, BUT, it makes no practical difference except having room to move the bar in both directions. Hell, on some of my guitars with non-recessed floyds I have the springs tightened all the way so that the floyd rests against the inside of the body...more resonance and blocks it into being a one way tremolo.

 

[TravisW]

Take the shim out and take it to a tech. The problem isn't the Floyd Rose itself, it's that it seems that you're adjusting things without knowing what they do.

 

[akbeda]

the floyd on my ibanez pgm.
i just do not need it.

 

[Notuern]

Floyd Rose is the cause of every war since 1979.

 

[Sweetnothing]

Since when are the strings parallel all along the fretboard???

If it was that way, the action at the nut would be horrible!!! ( try to play on the 1st to 5th fret with an action of 2mm!!!)

Nothing to do with truss rod, or the floyd.

You can block the bridge, you can do whatever to it, but it's not the one to blame on the parallel thing.

EDIT: take the compound radius into consideration for the setup aswell.

 

[bryan_kilco]

After owning a FR guitar for about 8-9 years, I've come to really like them. It's really all about getting it setup for your tuning/string gauge. And it's really not hard at all once you do it a few times. Plus, once you get it set and settled to your tuning/gauge, it SHOULD stay in tune or at least very close (for me the worst that happens is if I do some hard divebombs, all strings may go a liiiiiitle flat.....)

 

[Full_Tilt]

The worst thing about floating trems is needing to change strings all the time. Old strings dont respond very well to massive tremlo movement . Niether do brand new strings either but after a few hours of use they settle down . With regards to fret noise , a floating trem makes no real difference , once the bridge saddle height is set correctly the problem is always with the neck . Bridge height can be changed with spring tension or by the pivot screws but the pivot screws are less problematic as they have less effect on the string tension .
Ive blocked off the floyd rose on my BCrich with a couple of pencile erasers jammed in either side , I think this is the best way to block it off as there is absolutely no slack and there is no evidence or damage to the guitar and can be reversed to normal use by just pulling them out .

 

[VH1]

Hate floyds. Not only it's a pain to adjust, I pretty much never find any use to it. Fixed bridges ftw.