guitar action question

[noisyguitar]

hi i recently bought a floyd rose guitar (js100) and noticed that the action was abit too high for me.

what i did was to adjust the saddles at the tremolo as well as open the back of the guitar to screw the 2 screws to holds the springs tighter so that the tremolo will go down.

My question is, i know using the saddle is a more common way of adjusting the action, however is what i did to the back of the guitar correct? do i actually need to adjust the tension of the springs at the back to lower the action? and did i do it correctly (the 2 screws)? will it cause any damage to the guitar by doing so?

wonder if anyone has any experience with this, anyone?

 

[ShredCow]

Go to www.jemsite.com All your answers are there.

 

[redjackal]

i only handled a floyd rose guitar once so if i'm wrong, pls correct me.

the saddles should be used to adjust the intonation.
i did adjust the springs b4, but i was told to loosen all my strings before doing that. after that keep tunning all the strings to get the tension right, if not your tunning will go off very fast

 

[ShredCow]

hi i recently bought a floyd rose guitar (js100) and noticed that the action was abit too high for me.

Okay, well... I need to know more before I can advise you. Is the action high because.

a) The Bridge is tilting forward, so its not at perfect float.
b) The Bridge is at/near perfect float but the trem posts are too high
c) The neck is bowed, so your action is high esp in the middle of the neck
d) The action is high right from the locking nut.

What is a perfect float? Notice the steel base plate your trem's saddles are sitting on? Then look at the trem posts, the 2 posts that your tremolo hooks onto and are drilled into the guitar body. The steel base plate (NOT THE SADDLES) should be perpendicular to the trem posts.

what i did was to adjust the saddles at the tremolo as well as open the back of the guitar to screw the 2 screws to holds the springs tighter so that the tremolo will go down.

Redjackal is correct, the saddles of the trem are used for intonation. They do not affect your action much. If you what you meant by adjusting the saddles is tightening the fine tuners to the saddles sit flat on the steel base plate, this will affect action a little but but that is NOT advisable. Imagine when you lock your locking nut... then your fine tuners cannot tighten anymore, how to tune up properly?

Adjusting the trem claw springs behind the body is correct. And don't worry, as long as you don't get rought with the screws, all will be fine.

Here, check out my post on setting up a floyd rose guitar.


Setting up a Floyd Rose guitar

 

[noisyguitar]

Hi Daniel

thanks for your reply.

oh i think i misused the word saddles in the previous post, i did not adjust the saddles but instead the 2 nuts on the tremolo (are these called the trem post?).

however there seems to be this problem, the angle of the strings on the guitar seems to be sloping, meaning the action near the bridge is much higher than the action at the nut. at the nut, the string is already almost touching the fret board. this is when i have adjusted the (trem post?) to a low action.

Okay, well... I need to know more before I can advise you. Is the action high because.

a) The Bridge is tilting forward, so its not at perfect float.
b) The Bridge is at/near perfect float but the trem posts are too high
c) The neck is bowed, so your action is high esp in the middle of the neck
d) The action is high right from the locking nut.

will you please explain steel base plate and trem post what they mean? (sorry me newb) or if u have pictures. i think for this case you are right, part A, the bridge is not at a perfect float, and thus there is a slope from the bridge to the nut.

so, how do i adjust the bridge to get the perfect float?

 

[mikemann]

Did you get that guitar at the sale?? Sounds like you need to send it in for a setup.

A floyd system is Not an easy system to maintain and fix problems or even to replace strings. I can take twice the time to change strings as compared to a vintage or fixed bridge.

Parts are small and can get damaged or lost when you remove them when DIY and you do not know how.

One place you can send is guitar connection at excelsior basement, opposite davis guitar. Bring it down, have them adjust the spring tension, truss rod, action height, intonation...etc. Of course you will have to pay for the service, but one time adjustment can last a long time (as long as you dont mess around with it). Also ask them to teach you to change strings properly.

There is a misconception that all ibanez guitars can adjust the actions till the strings are very very close to the fret without buzzing, this is not true. Also low low actions brings about bad playing habits, so ask a luthier advise on what action is more suitable for you.

 

[ShredCow]

Hey noisyguitar, all you need is here. http://www.jemsite.com/tech/index.htm


Go do a read thru, then if there's anything you still don't understand, just PM me, or reply to the thread. There's nothing better than self learning, you'll rem what you learn that way.

And if you feel you are not up to it, send the guitar to a reliable tech and get them to show you how to DIY. IMO, if you take care and don't lose things, don't use too much force, everything should be reversible. A Floyd Rose might not be the easiest thing, but it isn't computer science.

Have fun with it! A properly setup floyd can sustain AS LONG AS a fixed bridge.

 

[Ionized]

the action near the bridge is much higher than the action at the nut.

This is actually normal for most guitars. However, if the action near the bridge is like more than 3mm, then that's way too high.

Read this for action guidelines on an Ibanez.
http://www.ibanezrules.com/tech/setup/action.htm

You might also want to take note that your Edge Pro II tremolo should be parallel to the surface of your guitar as shown below. (I am assuming your JS100 is a recent model.)

The last picture showed what ShredCow referred as the "Perfect Float".

If your bridge looks like the ones in the first two pictures, either down-tune or up-tune all strings first before trying to adjust by the claw screws.

 

[noisyguitar]

thanks alot daniel and ionized for the info, it has been a great help!