Help on setting up and maintaining floyd rose guitar?

Why look elsewhere?
FloydRose has a website with all the info you need
it's like asking about the Axe-FX and everyone telling you to look at the gear page etc lol
 
vejichan said:
I meant turn once.. and then the next day if further adjustments are needed turn again. is this dangerous?
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Regardless of whether you turn it once a minute,hour,day...- as I said above, the risk of damage is if you keep turning a truss rod without checking between each turn to confirm the neck has reacted toward your realistic target measurement - common sense. Standard middle of the road measurements are available at most guitar manufacturer websites, but afaik typical relief is a slight upbow (slight valley below the strings) that leaves approx 10/1000" (+ or - a few/1000" depending on pref - check with a feeler guage) between the top of the midpoint fret and bottom of the 6th string with 6th string fretted at 1st/end fret (the midpoint fret is the fret mid way between the 1st fret and the fret even with where the neck meets the body (end fret) - usually the 7th fret is the midpoint fret) - essentially you're using the 6th string as a straight edge along that part of the neck that has the truss rod embedded within it, to see the gap size between fret/string at the mid-point fret.

I find getting the hang of the measuring is the most challenging part of adjusting neck relief - after a few times doing this process you'll get to know if the neck relief is good or not just by eyeballing it or tapping the midpoint 6th while fretted at both ends. For me, a benefit of doing my own neck relief adjustments has been to get a better grasp on how much neck relief I like/prefer. It's easy to mix up neck relief adjustment, action, nut relief, pickup relief ... in terms of what those can mean for your playing if you have not at least measured those yourself on your instrument.

Sounds like you may be looking for an exact recipe that you can follow robotically/mechanically - if yes, you may have limited success doing your own setups or at least enjoying the process of doing it. Alternatively if you take the approach of logically understanding the process of each adjustment through various sources of instruction, and proceeding with this understanding then you can have some success doing it yourself without needing an overly exact "recipe" spelled out for you (if you understand it, you'll be able to list the detailed steps yourself for
youself in a way that
suits how you naturally work through a process). If you need a fine level of precision to understand initially, then there are also some great books out there on setup as well as youtube and manufacturer websites, and retail sites (ie here) where you can see some structured instruction, but, as Rex mentions above, at some point yur gonna have to jump in. Maybe start out setting up your cheapest guitar or your least meaningful guitar.

Good luck!
 
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Once you've done it a few times, all you really need to do is look down the neck to get the relief you want. (Course as a carpenter, I've been eying edges for straighness/being in plane for 4 decades, so I have a really good eye for that level of detail.)
 
Just a tip from someone who has worked as a luthier and did many many repair jobs for company’s.
Don’t use Lemon Oil etc!
Why?
Lemon Oil is made of mineral oil with just some aromatics, there is nothing natural in it.
If you will protect your fretboard, use something that will hardened out when it’s dry.
Linseed oil etc.
 
Sashman said:
Don’t use Lemon Oil etc!
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Not sure I can agree with that. Lemon oil has been in use for decades and has proven its value in preserving fingerboards.


Sashman said:
Why?
Lemon Oil is made of mineral oil with just some aromatics...
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And that's bad because?...


Sashman said:
...there is nothing natural in it.
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Not sure what that means. It's derived from things found in nature.


Sashman said:
If you will protect your fretboard, use something that will hardened out when it’s dry.
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Why?
 
Ben from Crimson Guitars also doesn't recommend lemon based products for cleaning / oil. Too abrasive in his opinion I believe. I might be misremembering though..
I've been happy with their oils/ cleaners.
 
prongs_386 said:
Ben from Crimson Guitars also doesn't recommend lemon based products for cleaning / oil. Too abrasive in his opinion I believe. I might be misremembering though..
I've been happy with their oils/ cleaners.
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There are different types of lemon oil which leads to a lot of debate and confusion. Straight lemon oil can be cause adhesives for frets and bindings to fail, it can be used as a fretboard cleaner but would need to be thoroughly wiped off and fretboard oil applied immediately. Furniture lemon oils can create a build up over time, it dries leaving a protective film on the wood. Most guitar specific lemon oils actually have very little lemon oil in them and usually contain oils that leave very little, if any, residue behind.

A lot of makers of products that don't add lemon oil will point to the issues with products other than guitar specific oils as a sales pitch for their product.
 
JoKeR III said:
There are different types of lemon oil which leads to a lot of debate and confusion. Straight lemon oil can be cause adhesives for frets and bindings to fail, it can be used as a fretboard cleaner but would need to be thoroughly wiped off and fretboard oil applied immediately. Furniture lemon oils can create a build up over time, it dries leaving a protective film on the wood. Most guitar specific lemon oils actually have very little lemon oil in them and usually contain oils that leave very little, if any, residue behind.

A lot of makers of products that don't add lemon oil will point to the issues with products other than guitar specific oils as a sales pitch for their product.
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Thanks for pointing this out. “Lemon oil” is the stuff you squeeze out of lemon skins. The “lemon oil” you buy at the store contains a little bit of that, plus a whole lot more of other oil.

I’ve been using furniture-style lemon oil for decades without problems.
 
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Rex said:
Thanks for pointing this out. “Lemon oil” is the stuff you squeeze me it of lemon skins. The “lemon oil” you buy at the store contains a little bit of that, plus a whole lot more of other oil.

I’ve been using furniture-style lemon oil for decades without problems.
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I think a lot of the confusion comes from thinking lemon 'juice' rather than lemon 'oil' which, as you pointed out, comes from the rind.

I've seen a lot of positives of people using furniture lemon oil on guitars. As with most products, misuse or lack of understanding of how to use them leads to a lot of issues that are associated with a product that tend to become accepted as the norm.

I do believe most issues come from over oiling or letting the oil sit on the fretboard too long. Usually spraying or wiping on, rubbing up and down the fretboard a couple of times, then immediately wiping off the excess will do the job. Unless you live in a very dry climate, it's really not necessary to oil more than once every three or four months.
 
I don't have any issues with Lemon oil but you can use Linseed oil diluted with spirit if you prefer. Lint free cloths can be substituted for micro fibre or an old cotton T shirt for that matter.
 
We should also look at maintenance for the Floyd Rose it's self. String lock blocks crack and split causing them to stick in the saddles. Bolts strip out and knife edges get blunt. Don't be tempted to try titanium parts they are expensive and not fit for purpose . Titanium bolts strip very easily and the blocks are soft . Also the full Ti Floyd sounds thin IMO. The standard German bolts or stainless steel ones are the best. Remember all but the string lock bolts are just completely standard and are available for very little money . Do not buy them for 5 X the cost in a Floyd Rose or FU packet. You just need the size and length . So called upgrades are usually nothing but different if you have a real Floyd and if you have a 1996 you already have the best parts on it. Vintage OFR are defiantly better made than the newer ones, much harder metal in the saddles and the first ones all had brass fine tuners . High mass trem blocks just stop the string energy from dissipating in to the body substituting interaction with the body for sustain. You may want this but don't assume for one moment that it will sound better. It will only do this if you have a problem with resonance and dead spots then it may help (but not always.)
 
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If you are looking at high mass parts remember that just screwing big bits of brass to your guitar to improve the tone stopped in the late 70's because people stated actually listening to the results. Go and find a forum for vintage Les Pauls and you will not find them screwing bits of metal to their guitars to "improve" the tone.
 
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Lots of great Intel here shared, I may have missed, but I made a small trem shim, that fits under the fine tuners. Matched to float level tuned. So on string change, I take off all strings, wipe down, lemon oil, let sit for a few minutes, wipe down. The shim I mention, just so I can tune right up to pitch, stretch the strings, pull the shim out, fine tune and lock. Just saves time while tuning each string and retuning the others over n over.
if the shim is off, chances are I need to check my neck adjustments.
I exaggerate some whammy dives just let the springs move, fine tune again. I have a shim for each of my Ibanez's, as even though they are all S series, each trem is a different type, slight different shim height.
 
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Andy Eagle said:
The you are looking at high mass parts remember that just screwing big bits of brass to your guitar to improve the tone stopped in the late 70's because people stated actually listening to the results. Go and find a forum for vintage Les Pauls and you will find them screwing bits of metal to their guitars to "improve" the tone.
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My 1st electric was a 78 Ibanez Artist. Beautiful piece! But heavy as hell and it had a ‘brass sustain block’ sunk into the body that the bridge mounted to. It served me well and I gave it to my son who scratched the hell out of it. Never sounded great no matter what pickups I put in it. I blame the brass block lol.
 
Floyd’s. I bought a Fernandes Strat in Japan in 83. It had the original Floyd with no fine tuners. Was a bitch to restring and set up but once it was all stretched and locked down, it would not go out of tune.
 
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