Floyd Discovery

[Silence Kid]

No - not talking about the weird Speedloader line from back in the day; talking about an Indian Jackson Soloist I managed to finally "figure out." This was always the worst sounding guitar I owned, and I blamed/excused that on a number of things over time: the pickups, the strings, the zinc Floyd Special, the wood, the construction, the finish... The fact that it's a Floyded SuperStrat alone. I jacked up the action, tweaked every other setting... Whatever I did, harmonics just did not sound out like my other guitars (even the cheapest POS guitars I own,) the treble strings sounded neutered, bass strings sounded like mush and it was just a quiet, quiet guitar, especially unplugged.

I think I found the key adjustment: The Floyd balance was just on this side of being dumped, so the overall bridge tilted forward. It was subtle so I always put up with it. More than that though... I realized most of the fine tuners were set quite far out. This resulted in the saddle pitch being even steeper.

My suspicion was that the witness point of the string and saddle must be too vague as a result of less break angle overall. So I tightened the fine tuners to level out the saddles, tightened the claw to get the plate parallel to the body, retuned everything... Didn't change anything else. A+ improvement. The guitar is quite a bit more musical now, more on par with my other guitars as far as unplugged volume, and harmonic richness. The guitar looks cool enough I was never going to sell it, so glad I can actually get more enjoyment & use out of it now.

Wondering if this is common knowledge, or if anyone else experienced crap Floyd sound due to the leveling?

 

[TVFV]

Re: Floyd Discovery

I have nothing to add. But now I want a green guitar.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Floyd Discovery

I bought my green SLX right before the SL3X came out, which is offered in pink, orange or green among other colors; that choice would have been a dilemma for me. I would have preferred the HSS arrangement by far though.

 

[TVFV]

Re: Floyd Discovery

I bought my green SLX right before the SL3X came out, which is offered in pink, orange or green among other colors; that choice would have been a dilemma for me. I would have preferred the HSS arrangement by far though.

I would prefer an HH setup. I’m one of the few who like the middle pickup, but the thing just gets in the way, even when it’s flushed all the way down.

 

[dave74]

Re: Floyd Discovery

Honestly, you can't really begin to optimize things like action, relief, and distance from string to pickup/pole, until you get the hang of keeping the floyd near perfectly level.

On a floating trem system like a floyd and edge everything works in synergy, so whenever you make adjustments to any other aspect you'll first want to make sure your bridge is exactly level, otherwise you'll end up going in circles.

Usually once your setup at concert pitch, and say the guitar sits in the case for awhile and you take it out and the bridge is back a bit, then it's just that the strings have stretched and all you need to do is barely tighten each string and it will bring the bridge back up level without changing the tuning.

I guess my point is that people are a little too quick to re-adjust the springs in back when the bridge has fell back or pulled forward.

If no other elements have changed (gauges,tuning,relief, ect.), and it was setup true to pitch, then you use the strings to control the bridge.

If the bridge had fell back just a hair, and you check against a tuner and it's still tuned true, then you control the bridge level with the strings.
If the bridge is pulling forward and the tuner says your flat, then you'll level the bridge by tightening the springs in back and continue to check against the tuner.

I like the fine-tuners to be more in than out, but somewhere in the middle is ideal IMO.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Floyd Discovery

It’s been a really long time since I’ve owned a Floyded guitar, let alone learned to set it up properly. However, my Strat sounds, feels, plays, and stays in tune better with the bridge floating so it’s tilted forward.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Floyd Discovery

Played within their (reduced) range, my Strat trems (six and two point) are just as good as this Floyd Special as far as tuning. I only have one Strat trem guitar that is not floating/tilted. The difference between tilting on the Floyd and tilting on a Strat bridge is that the Strat bridge has much sharper points of witness for the string, that don't "vague out." I imagine the Floyd saddles are designed that way on purpose to minimize places the string can catch and lose tuning stability.

 

[dotsdad]

Re: Floyd Discovery

Add a brass trem stopper to stabilize pitch and transfer some of the energy back to body and strings. They're like 8 bucks on fee bay

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Floyd Discovery

The thing is I like to actually use the Floyd; to be able to flutter etc. I might think about a higher mass block and better quality saddles in general.

 

[budubum92]

Re: Floyd Discovery

Old thread but dont want to open a new one.

So i filed the knive edges on my floyd 1000 and took me awhile to make it good because its hardend steel.

The bridge now is a bit harder to go forward when i bend a string and it doesnt flutter.

While my other floyd special i had before the 1000 series was softer in feel and moves more forward when bending a string and it flutters perfectly.
Im using thesame guitar, same exact particular set of strings (not new). Using same standard tuning and set of three springs in arrow formation.

What gives?