Floyd restringing

[MrMenturm]

Question...

Last night I tuned my low E down to a D for drop-D tuning. But I used the fine-tuning screw for this. Is there a reason why I shouldn't do that??

[Mike.L]

Question...

Last night I tuned my low E down to a D for drop-D tuning. But I used the fine-tuning screw for this. Is there a reason why I shouldn't do that??

Non-at-all, as long as it worked ok for you, no reason you can't do it.

[MrMenturm]

Cool. Just didn't know if there was some weird engineering reason why it might be a worse way to do it than doing it at the headstock and then locking them off. This is my first floyd!

Thanks for this restringing guide btw. It reads pretty sensibly, and I'm sure will come in handy when I get around to rejigging my new axe to use some EB 'not even' slinky's.

[Mike.L]

NO Probs Mr M.
I put it up as re-stringing Floyds seems to come-up fairly regularly.
The micro-tuners on the bridge are desinged for adjusting the tuning without the need to undo the nut, hence why going fro E-drop D shouldn't be an issue.
EVH has a D-tuner design on his Floyds.....

[clarky]

I just take all the strings off..
do all the cleaning / oiling / polishing required
put the new strings on
stretch them in
jack in
turn up
and carry on pssing off the street

[clarky]

something sensible to add..

before locking the nut and tuning up, I would have the fine tuners completely unwound..
I put two full turns on each fine tuner so that they are about 1/4 way screwed in but way less than the mid-point..
I then tune the guitar via the machine heads and then lock the nut..
this approach means that I have the ability to flatten a string a little if need be [cos locking the nut on some guitars can slightly sharpen the string..
it also means that I have a lot of scope for tightening the strings via the fine tuners..
even having stretched the strings in well, they may well still flatten a little in their early life [especially after some serious bending and whammie abuse]..

other things I do when the strings are all off:

- polish the frets
metal polish carefully applied with a cotton bud
this gives that nice slippery feeling to the playing surface and a better string to fret contact..

- clean / oil [depending on the wood type] the fingerboard

- on my unfinished necks, very gently clean up with very fine grade wire wool, lemon oil and beeswax polish the back of the neck..
The other coated necks just get wiped clean..

- check the bridge blades for burs / wear and fix if need be with a needle file..
DO NOT file the blades unless it's absolutely needed because this will reduce the life of your bridge..
once you have filed through the hardened outer coating, the metal below is real soft and you will render the bridge useless.. especially with Ibanez bridges.. cos under they're hard coating they seem to be made of some material that has similar properties to butter..
Talking of butter... the blades only need to be "butter knife" sharp.. making them scalpel sharp will not make them tune better and will shorten the blade's life..
Also check the bridge staddles and posts for grooves cut by the strings and bridge blades respectively. Again, only show a needle file to these things if your really need to..

- the "tight check"
make sure that everything that needs to be tight is tight [enough]
locking nut screws [behind the neck]
neck bolts
pup rings
jack socket / volume and tone knobs
scratch plate screws
bridge components [especially the bridge block that passes through the body to the springs]
cos whilst you have the guitar in this 'on the bench' state you make as well throw a few extra checks and a little love at it..

[dafuzz]

If you take the strings off and then go to clean the guitar, beware of the string blocks in the bridge falling out onto the floor. Twice I've done that

[Bidley]

If you take the strings off and then go to clean the guitar, beware of the string blocks in the bridge falling out onto the floor. Twice I've done that

This is why I wedge the trem in the zero position, with an empty string packet/fag packet or something

[ibanez2005]

Be careful not to over tighten the screws that push the string blocks down, i managed to crack one of mine, saying that it is a 12 year old guitar now.
I found that over time the locking nut screws stopped holding, had to replace them with others from a local hardware store. Also had to replace the arm holder as the pin in the arm came loose, fitted a nut with a rubber washer and it held the arm alot better than the original fitting.
I can understand why people dont like floyds cos they are a bit of a faff but once you get used to them they are great.

[clarky]

If you take the strings off and then go to clean the guitar, beware of the string blocks in the bridge falling out onto the floor. Twice I've done that

after taking the string out of the bridge saddle, I screw the block back up [finger tight] to avoid this...