Floyd Rose Installation gone wrong?

[C-Martin]

I've recently had a job done on my strat and had a OFR installed. When it was installed he followed the instructions by the book to install it but with how the strat was routed he would've had to route out considerable amount of wood for the floyd to function properly. Prior to installation i told him if he had to do any major routing that he contacted me first.. and so he did and after investigation of the situation he admitted he could've placed the bright slightly further away from the nut but following recent experiences he was afraid it would be too far away and the intonation would be messed up but on my strat it wasn't the case and the bright could be moved further back without that problem. He then said fixing it was no problem as it would just require plugging the wholes and re-drilling new ones and it would just affect the aesthetics of the guitar, i said it didn't bother me so long as the floyd worked properly. So he went with this procedure and the installation was a success for the most part, after allot of tweaking we got it to where i liked it and i left home with it.

Now that you know the story.. here's the issue, which i am not sure if it is crucial or not but its bugging me and i just want to make sure this isn;'t a big problem. One of the post is slightly angled, not straight.. kind of like if the string tensions has pulled it out from a straight up position and is now leaning forward towards the nut a little.. The other one however seems perfectly straight and doesn't show any problem.. is this fine, a common thing, bad, catastrophic? i would rather know now and fix it than wait a couple of months/years then find out its screwed something worse..

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Floyd Rose Installation gone wrong?

^^ I see 2 things in here:

1. A tech that is possibly too incompetent to properly rout for a Floyd Rose. There is no leeway for "farther forward or farther backward", the guitar´s scale still stays the same. That´s almost certainly what caused the intonation problems of his "recent experiences".

2. A leaning post due to oversize drilling on a fresh floyd installation is an absolute deal breaker. It´s not rocket science to use a drill press and get a proper hole, as evidenced by the proper installation of the other post.

He needs to fix that, NOW. I´m infuriated to no end when hacks like this **** up other people´s guitars and give luthiers and techs the world over a bad reputation....

 

[LuredMaul]

Re: Floyd Rose Installation gone wrong?

I would've been pissed over the aesthetics. You took it to a supposed pro to have it done the right way. the leaning post would've pushed me over the edge.


I'd want to hand pick a new guitar.

 

[metalmachine]

Re: Floyd Rose Installation gone wrong?

this is why i learned to do my own stuff

 

[C-Martin]

Re: Floyd Rose Installation gone wrong?

^^ I see 2 things in here:

1. A tech that is possibly too incompetent to properly rout for a Floyd Rose. There is no leeway for "farther forward or farther backward", the guitar´s scale still stays the same. That´s almost certainly what caused the intonation problems of his "recent experiences".

2. A leaning post due to oversize drilling on a fresh floyd installation is an absolute deal breaker. It´s not rocket science to use a drill press and get a proper hole, as evidenced by the proper installation of the other post.

He needs to fix that, NOW. I´m infuriated to no end when hacks like this **** up other people´s guitars and give luthiers and techs the world over a bad reputation....

That's what i figured, however the guy wasn't incompetent to properly rout for a floyd. I specifically asked that i did not want to rout the guitar but rather adjust the neck pocket to get the floyd to where i wanted it.. i absolutely hate recessed floyds... the guitar how it is atm is fine minus the post i mentioned above. Hes a well known luthier and been working guitar guitars for ages altho this might not really mean nothing.. i just know many artists have gone trough him before so i figured it was a safe bet no? From what i know and can see without dismantling the guitar the "plug" seems to have either been a little loose or made of wood that was too soft cuz it seems to have crushed slightly and thus making the post lean forward leaning into the plug itself.. its hard to see cuz he used what seems like wood putty and re paint/finished it so it would camouflauge the old holes. The floyd would've been fine how it was but it was set flush mounted and he had told me before installation that the tone on flush mount is way better i told him i didn't like flush mount and i wanted it floating.. then he said routing would be required for that but i knew if he had placed the floyd 2-3mm further back the floyd then could have been set floating and then it would just be a matter of adjusting the neck angle. Just like how it is right now and i don't see any problem with it.. other than the one post thats bothering me, it seems solidly in place but slightly angled forward... tho maybe im being paranoid for nothing? ill try to post a picture

 

[C-Martin]

Re: Floyd Rose Installation gone wrong?

phone cam sucks but you can see the slight angle, so am i just being nit picky and paranoid for no reason? I am tempted to do the repair myself this time just to be sure its done right... i have a press drill and after all i am a machnist.. pluging a whole and redrilling a new one cant be that hard right? lol

 

[C-Martin]

Re: Floyd Rose Installation gone wrong?

I would've been pissed over the aesthetics. You took it to a supposed pro to have it done the right way. the leaning post would've pushed me over the edge.


I'd want to hand pick a new guitar.

this is a ireplacable guitar.. i dont want a new one and i dont care if theres a pluged whole or whatnot under the pickguard. Had this guitar for 10 years and been fed up with it fighting with the stock bar because im a very heavy bar user and altho with alot of time and effort i got to understanding how to keep it in tune while using the bar extremely.. it was too much hassle and problematic and i had to play a certain way to avoid tunning problems during live shows so.. i decided to install a floyd on it as a permanent and full proof solution and now i dont have to worry about what im doing but only play without fearing tuning problems..

 

[C-Martin]

Re: Floyd Rose Installation gone wrong?

this is why i learned to do my own stuff

I do most of everything by myself but i figured installing a floyd has to be somewhat tricky and i didnt want to screw up my guitar so.. i took it to a luthier. Other than installing the nut i now see that i couldve probably done the bridge installation myself as it doesnt seem that complicated after all

 

[Grandturk]

Re: Floyd Rose Installation gone wrong?

I don't know that I can see it leaning in your pic. Of course, if it is, I'd demand it be corrected. Here's my Adrian Smith Jackson for you to compare against:

 

[C-Martin]

Re: Floyd Rose Installation gone wrong?

kinda hard to see and compare with he photo flipped that way... maybe just flip it over on photobucket.. its easely done.

Gonna let zerb look and see but i can see the angle on my the post....

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Floyd Rose Installation gone wrong?

I´m having a bit of a problem with the pic clarity tbh... but it seems to be leaning forward more than I would call OK.... Which is anything less than a perfect 90°

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Floyd Rose Installation gone wrong?

From your description it sounds to me like the culprit was the material used to fill the old hole which was apparently too soft to hold the post properly in place.

In any case, you paid good money for this, if I were you I'd take it back and ask him (in a nice manner) to rectify the situation.

 

[LuredMaul]

Re: Floyd Rose Installation gone wrong?

From your description it sounds to me like the culprit was the material used to fill the old hole which was apparently too soft to hold the post properly in place.

In any case, you paid good money for this, if I were you I'd take it back and ask him (in a nice manner) to rectify the situation.

since you clarified alil this would be the best course of action.

 

[Kosh Naranek]

Re: Floyd Rose Installation gone wrong?

From your description it sounds to me like the culprit was the material used to fill the old hole which was apparently too soft to hold the post properly in place.

I have seen this before on guitars, and agree with Keeper, this is probably what happened to your guitar, C-Martin. Hopefully you can have the hole filled and redrilled with something harder, that won't give under the string/spring tension on the post.

One of two things will happen if it is not repaired.
1. The post will stay where it is now, not quite straight but not going anywhere. You might be able to play the guitar like that for the rest of your life, but since the post is pushed forward, that side of the bridge is now slightly forward, and it has messed with your intonation. You'd have to slide some of the bridge saddles back to compensate.
2. The post will continue to pull forward. I've seen that on guitars with aftermarket Floyds installed in wood that was cheap and soft, or just routed out so far that there wasn't much post screwed into the wood. That can only lead to disaster.

Best to get it fixed so the post is in there straight, and the material it's screwed into won't give way.

 

[C-Martin]

Re: Floyd Rose Installation gone wrong?

so i called the luthier today... and he said he thinks that he probably didnt wait long enough for the clue to dry completely before restringing the guitar so it might've caused the whole plug to slip and squeeze with the string tension thus creating the slight angle that is going on right now.... so he said he thought the glue had set it enough but to bring it back and he would rectify this.. this is rather disappointing tbh... i have to yet again take it back to him for the 3rd time and risk not having the guitar for a couple of weeks to a month since ill be going on a trip and during the week i have no time to go pick it up so whenever i drop it off i have to pick it up the next weekend after :dot:

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Floyd Rose Installation gone wrong?

so i called the luthier today... and he said he thinks that he probably didnt wait long enough for the clue to dry completely before restringing the guitar so it might've caused the whole plug to slip and squeeze with the string tension thus creating the slight angle that is going on right now....

?????

Properly installed OFR posts will hold just fine without glue. If you regularly need glue, you´re drilling too large. period.

so he said he thought the glue had set it enough but to bring it back and he would rectify this.. this is rather disappointing tbh... i have to yet again take it back to him for the 3rd time and risk not having the guitar for a couple of weeks to a month since ill be going on a trip and during the week i have no time to go pick it up so whenever i drop it off i have to pick it up the next weekend after :dot:

If he doesn´t get it right this time, I´d take it somewhere else... I´ve personally read too many things in this thread to trust the guy with major work... or at least with a Floyd Rose installation.

 

[d1dsj]

Re: Floyd Rose Installation gone wrong?

I would have thought the only sure fix for this now would be to drill an oversized hole and plug it with the same type of wood (or harder), and then re-drill using the correct size bit to re-fit the post. As Zerb says, you shouldn't need glue.

 

[C-Martin]

Re: Floyd Rose Installation gone wrong?

only reason i'm taking it back is because hes doing this for free to fix his mess ups... if it fails one more time i'm gonna resort to doing it myself, because i don't know any other trust worthy luthier or tech here.. there probably is somewhere but i don't really want to risk "testing" one of the many hacks i have already witnessed to find a good one. I've plugged holes before to fix bridges and i've used ebony to plug the holes without a problem.. the plug is more apparent but atleast its solid and i think it actually even looks cool. That would require me to rent a wood shop just for a freakin hole tho because i don't work in a wood shop anymore :dot: i'm gonna ask him what kind of wood he used to plug it.. and apart from the floyd installation he does great fret work and the scallops on it are very nice, the nut was installed with out use of shims which is very nice.. its just the floyd bridge that leaves me quite disappointed.. all floyds on guitars he builds are recessed which leads me to believe maybe he doesn't quite know how or have the experience of how to make a top mounted floyd. Although it shouldn't be that complicated... raise the bridge, angle the neck? is there anything else i'm missing here..

 

[DonP]

Re: Floyd Rose Installation gone wrong?

Want it done right?

(carefully) Do it yourself.

Sad lesson these days.

 

[sosomething]

Re: Floyd Rose Installation gone wrong?

This "tech" is incapable of properly doing the job.

Taking the guitar back to him does nothing but give him more opportunities to jack it up and damage it further.

Screw free. Get it done right. By someone else.

There should be absolutely NO room for movement in the holes for the posts. The fact that he's plugging gaps around under-tension hardware with glue is mind-boggling. This dude is clueless.

Take it somewhere else.