Floyd Rose Help

elusivelight

Hi, bought a new EVH standard and the trem is floating slightly when it should be fully flat to the body. As you can see from the photo is is just about floating, you can pull up on the bar a tiny amount.

Is this going to be a pain in the neck to get flat? The claw needs more tension but that will mess with the action I think?

stonevibe

No, it's a simple job.

Tighten claw, worst case scenario posts will a few mm adjustment up.

elusivelight

Ok, so undo top nut, tighten claw, check action redo top nut?

Funkfingers

Q1: Are the threaded inserts for the pivot posts protruding above the body wood?

Q2: Is there a shim or tilt adjuster mechanism in the neck pocket?

andy_k

I think this model is made to have trem decked, so just tighten claw, you will obviously have to loosen string clamp to re tune, but DO NOT adjust the action with full string tension, it is a sure fire way to mess up the knife edges.
If the action is too high / low, you should only adjust with slack strings. A short cut is to hold the trem in place against the body and pull out the springs-this can be a bit tricky, but it can be done. This way you don't have to detune strings with the tuners and can leave it all locked up.
It can take a while to get it right, but the action is pre determined by the radius of the saddles, the guitar is designed with pick up heights and neck angles to suit the trem being flat against the body. It is possible a change in string gauge, or a previous owner wanted some upward movement, this might have involved a shim in the neck pocket. At least that is the way with my own models, a Peavey, and an EVH.
Just resist the urge to use the bridge posts to adjust action when you have it tuned up, it will affect the ability of the trem to return to pitch.

elusivelight

Funkfingers said:

Q1: Are the threaded inserts for the pivot posts protruding above the body wood?

Q2: Is there a shim or tilt adjuster mechanism in the neck pocket?

There is a bit of the thread visible on the posts, I'll try and get a picture. 

Would this be obvious without taking the neck off?

Funkfingers

A neck tilt adjuster would normally involve an access hole, through the neck anchor plate, on the centre line of the neck.

elusivelight

there are the pivots, no neck plate, four separate bolts and no extra hole. 

prowla

It's a balancing act between the string tension and the claw springs.

andy_k

The pivots look fine, just try tightening the claw screws and see what the action is like. Did you use a lighter gauge string?
With this model, the idea is that the springs have enough tension that the bridge doesn't lift when you use vibrato, or bend a string, but is not so tight that diving the trem is stiff.
Did you but it new-or is it second hand? Some people like a bit of upward pull, which makes sense further down the road when the pivots wear.
A new setup should be rock solid for tuning, but by not being able to pull up, if the bridge has any resistance it can be tricky to get it to work well.
If it was second hand, the previous owner may have used a small shim in the neck to allow it to be set up floating.

elusivelight

@andy_k it's new out of the box, disappointing that it slipped through the QC as not decked. 

andy_k

I think it should be fine to just give the claw a couple of turns, maybe even only one, the geometry of the guitar is fixed to that set up, check the locking nut / neck bolts are tight (the 2 that hold it to the neck ) you should be able to dive bomb it without hearing a creak at the nut.
I love these guitars, but the way Ed uses it is a miracle really.

andy_k

It could have been set up for E flat tuning, maybe, it is really that sensitive.

ICBM

I would check for a shim or loose material in the neck pocket. Although it's not very far off, to me that looks like the pivot posts do need to go down slightly in order for the bridge to sit perfectly flat on the top, which it should on one of these... assuming the action isn't also too high at the moment.

To check, slacken the strings or just pull up on the arm and see how the bridge sits against the body as in the first pic.

andy_k

The first pic posted shows the true story, the bridge plate will not actually sit flat, there are spacers and a flat spring for the fine tuners. There will be a slight gap, which is normal, the aim is to get a flat contact between the body and the bottom face of the bridge.

elusivelight

I'm actually going to drop it to e flat so that should drop the bridge a little. 

andy_k said:

It could have been set up for E flat tuning, maybe, it is really that sensitive.

andy_k

It should be better, the floyd design, itself is a great solution, there are pros and cons to it of course and there are a few ways to set it up. The Wolfgang design limits it to a decked setup, and the way the guitar is designed means that truss rod is maybe more important to getting it right.
It can be a fiddly job getting it set up in the first place, so be a bit careful if you are not sure what is going on.
String gauge is another thing that has a drastic effect on set up and feel with these things, but once it is settled you will be golden. 

JGTay

I did find a good article on Floyd Rose setups the other day as I needed to do the setup on my Washburn WG580.
https://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/articles/floyd-rose-setup-guide/

Kebabkid

elusivelight said:

I'm actually going to drop it to e flat so that should drop the bridge a little. 

andy_k said:

It could have been set up for E flat tuning, maybe, it is really that sensitive.

I'd try this first.

I bought a Charvel recently that has a Floyd and it was set for Eb Tuning. The moment I put it into Standard Tuning, it did what yours is doing and obviously, needed adjustment

elusivelight

So dropped half a step and the bridge is decked. No claw tension needed, going to be using this as a mod platform so good to get to know the ins and outs of a FR bridge. 

andy_k

it is worth checking the bridge doesn't lift when you do some bending on your strings, once you hear the difference a floating trem makes to the tone, it all starts to make sense.
Ed was (is) a genius, and I think this guitar is a true evolutionary step.