Spyke
If you give the articles a good read through and do a little inet research you should be able to do it yourself.
I got brave and fiddled with it myself, using only the basic tools. Once you get the hang of it you'll almost steer clear of luthiers for the minor stuff, incl wiring.
I've now not only done my guitar, but a few of my mates as well and they seem happy.
My first Floyd Rose was entertaining though - taught my pets a few new German words that day! ?
scratchy
ROFL.
Luckily I've been playing a while so I almost know HOW it should be, but to GET it there is where my problem lies.
Only having trouble with the intonation now I think
Spyke
Patience is the key, especially on the first few learning runs.
After that you start getting a feel for how much will do what.
scratchy
Yeah, but I don't know which adjustments effect what :-[
AlanRatcliffe
The action is set via the two studs (one on either side of the bridge) - the whole bridge moves up or down and has a fixed radius, so you can't change the action of one string.
Intonation is set by loosening the string, loosening the bolt at the front of the saddle, moving the saddle backwards or forwards then tightening the bolt, tuning up, checking the intonation again. Lather, rinse, repeat.
scratchy
Ahhh, now it makes sense. So what if I only have 1 or 2 strings that are sitting to far away from the bridge?
AlanRatcliffe
If they are on the outside (it's usually your first and second or 5th and 6th), you raise that side of the bridge up slightly. If it's the middle pair, you have to raise the whole bridge.
The radius should be right unless you've got worn frets or an uneven fingerboard.
scratchy
cool. Thanks Alan
scratchy
Right, I tackled this the weekend. It took me 2 days, but I took my time and I'm super happy. Only did the bridge action and intonation. Will leave the truss rod and pickup height to a pro.
2 things I noticed though and they are slightly worrying.
When I worked on the bridge action, the bridge on the nez takes an allen key, but it feels like it doesn't. Once I got the bridge to the suggested height I encountered a problem(see #2) and wanted to raise the bridge slightly, but the allen key did not fit as it did previously. The hole looks more like circle than an allen key hole.
The second problem came when I lowered the bridge action(it was pretty damn high up, roughly 6-7mm) was that the bridge now sat very close to the body and hindered tremolo performance. I had to raise the bridge to get the tremolo to move semi freely. Is there anything one can do to keep the bridge action lowish and still have the freedom of using the tremolo as intended?
AlanRatcliffe
Glad you're happy. Rewarding feeling doing it yourself, isn't it?
#1 - The hex key hole in the posts can strip - especially if you use the wrong size or worn key. You can get replacements though.
#2 - Shim the neck with a thin shim (100grit sandpaper works nicely and grips the wood) at the body side of the pocket. The neck will then angle away from the body a little, lowering the strings to the fingerboard. Now raise the bridge to compensate (probably pickups a little too). You will then have better string clearance above the body and the bridge will be floating higher off the body, allowing more pull-up on the bar.
scratchy
You really are a smart one.
Thanks for the advice Alan and yes, it is a damn rewarding experience
Bane
Cool
I have never owned a floating bridge (except my first Squire Strat 7 years ago ?) so I don't know how to set them up, but there is no harm in learning right. Thanks for the usefull info Alan. Besides the next axe I have my eyes on DOES have a Floyed Rose ?
