The Fury of The Collapsed Tremolo!

TheMuffinMan

whats cracking people? i'm new to this forum and i got a problem!

just jamming away on my ibanez rg350dx earlier then realised it was a little outta tune. so i tuned it as per normal and continued... it wasn't long before i noticed the tuning was off... this time REALLY off. then i noticed the hell awaiting me... my floating tremolo was more outta place than boy george in a metallica concert. would upload a photo but dont have one right now. but the bridge is tilting all the way towards the headstock end. i opened up the back to see if i could see anything wrong but i play guitar not fix guitars so i'm clueless.

anybody out there with some wisdom to share? i really hope i can fix it myself because i don't trust 'em music mate people trying to fix it! how can i fix this?

AlanRatcliffe

Welcome to the forum - you're one of us Zappa fans aren't you? Fess up. You're in good company if you are - lots of us around here.

Anyway - I think you've tuned your guitar too high. Did you check your tuning against a tuner? The strings and the springs on a double-locking trem (that's what you've got there) are finely balanced against each other. If you change tension of either it throws the balance off and the bridge moves from level. Check against a tuner and I'm pretty sure you'll find this is the case.

Otherwise the other cause is usually changing strings for a different brand or gauge - in which case you need to set the spring tension using the two screws that hold the spring claw in the back of the guitar.

Vintage-Vibe

The Muffin Man who lives down in Mulberry Lane ?
(or a Shrek fan)

If you're in CT I offer my services MM - I can setup the trem for you - one of the services I offer - it is quite technical if you aren't used to the mechanics.

VV

Explorerlover

" Girl, you thought it was a man, but it was a muffin "

TheMuffinMan

sorry for the delayed reply... don't hit the net that often these days. thanks for the replies anyways

alan, well the tuning wasn't a problem... tuned to drop D as usual and it was fine for a while... then all hell broke loose! i hadn't played for a while and the tuning was quite alot out so maybe the sudden tuning did it, i dunno. all i know is i tuned it fine. as for strings, i did change gauge a while ago, but that was months ago so thats not the case. i'm still tryna put off taking it in to get fixed because they'll probably charge me quite a bit to fix it, so i want totry do it myself. i looked at the screws holding the springs. now i need to figure out how to tension the springs! i guess it involves cutting them shorter or something on the lines of that?

vintage how do you know which road i live on?? ?
unfortunately i'm around jhb but thanks for the offer, i would if i were in the cape. yeah i think i'm going to read up on trems, since i own a guitar with one lol. damn complicated things! shuld have stuck to getting a fixed bridge when i went out for another guitar.

TheMuffinMan

think i've found the answer, and since its on another forum i'll just copy and paste it instead of being a cheeky bastard and pasting a link to another forum here ? this is incase anyone else has this problem (still gotta try it out).......

Loosen your strings until they are floppy/ barely taut. Loosen the spring claw screws until you have about 3/4" from the top of the claw to the fwd edge of the spring cavity.

Get yourself a wedge-shaped piece of wood. Preferably about 2" at one end and 1/8" to 1/4" at the other (make sure it isn't wider than your spring cavity). Now, push that wedge in between your bridge counter weight and the aft side of your spring cavity. You can use your trem arm to help you. Push the wedge in until the edge of your bridge is parallel to the guitar body. If your guitar is set up right, it should be just above the body. After you set the wedge properly, be VERY careful not to touch it, bump it. jar it, etc.

Now tune your strings to pitch. You may even want to tune them a bit high, especially if they are new strings. Next, (this may be a bit tricky) you need to hold your guitar face up (so that the spring cavity and the wedge are facing down), and in short increments, tighten the spring claw screws. turn one a bit, then the other. Do this until the wedge falls out under its own weight. Once you do this, your bridge should look right again. Now you can fine tune to pitch with little or no re-adjustment tuning needed.

Malkav

Well another possibility that would explain the sudden drop in your bridge is that the springs on lower end guitars tend to not be of a very high quality and thus can wear out over time (happened to me with my first electric) so if you use your whammy bar alot or haven't tuned to pitch in a while they might simply be worn out and may require replacing.

If you're lucky you can find coated springs (which look slightly golden) they are higher tension than normal springs and therefore should be able to take strain. Don't quote me on this however seeing as I've only had my set for a month and I haven't done anything out of the ordinary with my tuning, however I do abuse my whammy bar quite heavily so any instant problems would have arisen by now.

Out of interest though just to prove how much higher tension they are, I did a setup on an Ibanez Xiphos model (24-fret floyd style bridge) using Ernie Ball .12s tuned to D-G-C-F-A-D (whole tone down) and I've found I have almost 5cm of play left in the spring cavity for tension adjustment ?

Vintage-Vibe

Chad: That wasn't 4 our friend Mitch Luthi was it ?

Malkav

No no no it wasn't ?

Our friend Mitch got Matthew Rowley your apparent *replacement* to do it.

Vintage-Vibe

Mmm - thought so - that setup was a charge of like R 600.00 and apparently it was an utter DISASTER - (the return of the monkies & peanuts syndrome) - I mailed Mitch to ask about it (and offered to correct it), but he never returned the mail - who knows ...
The Xiphos is a LOT of guitar 4 the money - not my shape though !

Malkav

Agreed, and personally I think the pickups sound too thin...

But hey if people turn down your offer for service that's their issue, personally I think that your gear should always be maintained at a good standard as a bad setup can affect your playing in a negative way.

AlanRatcliffe

TheMuffinMan wrote: alan, well the tuning wasn't a problem... tuned to drop D as usual and it was fine for a while... then all hell broke loose! i hadn't played for a while and the tuning was quite alot out so maybe the sudden tuning did it, i dunno.

When strings get very old it throws out the balance too. So maybe because it had stood for a while... (they start aging as soon as you fit them). Anytime you get any kind of problems with tuning, intonation or anything to do with the bridge, the strings should always be the first thing to check. 90% of the time a new set of strings will cure most problems.

i looked at the screws holding the springs. now i need to figure out how to tension the springs! i guess it involves cutting them shorter or something on the lines of that?

Whoa boy! Do not cut springs or anything like that -the tension is set by screwing the two screws in the trem claw at the back (clawlike object that holds the springs).

If you want to learn how to do it yourself, this is the single best guide to setting Floyd guitars anywhere on the net: http://www.jemsite.com/tech-setup-a-questions.html