Low E Tuning Issue Floyd Rose

[Aasinsilta]

So, I have had a Jackson JS32 DKA-M for about three weeks. After the initial setup, the Floyd was working great. I kept it with the original .09 gauge strings it came shipped with for about a week and a half, then I swapped over to 10s. Up until yesterday, it was still working just fine. However, now it's been very finnicky- but only with the low E. The rest of the strings will keep in tune, but the low E just wants to lower. I've redone my setup about three times now, and every time it's the same result.

The weather the past week has been a killer, very hot most of the time (but my room has the A/C when I'm home) and the past two-three days we've had rain. Could that be the issue?

 

[Archer250]

Re: Low E Tuning Issue Floyd Rose

Did you set it up for 10s correctly?
Sent from my RM-915_apac_thailand_213 using Tapatalk

 

[Aasinsilta]

Re: Low E Tuning Issue Floyd Rose

I redid the internal screws when I initially set up the 10s yes. It was working fine until two days ago with the 10s.

 

[bladefrenzy]

Re: Low E Tuning Issue Floyd Rose

So the low E string keeps dropping lower...could be slipping on the block at the bridge?

 

[Johtosotku]

Re: Low E Tuning Issue Floyd Rose

Is the bridge flush with thebody? Is the string lock on the nut properly tight?

 

[Christopher Caruana]

Re: Low E Tuning Issue Floyd Rose

Try stretching it out a little more

 

[Aasinsilta]

Re: Low E Tuning Issue Floyd Rose

The bridge is flush. I tighten the lock nut as tight as I can without forcing the screw; should I leave it looser? I would think that would make it worse because there would be more room for the strings to slip. I also tried resetting the three springs into a triangle rather than all of them being hooked up straight, helped a little bit at first but same thing again now.

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: Low E Tuning Issue Floyd Rose

I've had this problem before. Thankfully it can only be caused by a few things:

- Check to make sure the locking nut pad/clamp is facing the correct direction (all of us overlook this once in a while)
- Check for any grooves on the underside of the locking nut clamp. The grooves can let the string slip past and not be fully locked in place.
- Make sure the saddle block holding the string is tight enough.
- The string winding at the saddle block is coming loose. The winding slowly unwinds causing tuning problems. Fix this by unclamping the string, give the string some slack, cut the string, and put a sharp kink at the very end of the string. This pinches the windings so that they don't come undone.
- The intonation screw holding the saddle in place isn't tight enough/holding the saddle in place.
- The strings need to be stretched.
- You got a dud string.

 

[Aasinsilta]

Re: Low E Tuning Issue Floyd Rose

I've had this problem before. Thankfully it can only be caused by a few things:

- Check to make sure the locking nut pad/clamp is facing the correct direction (all of us overlook this once in a while)
- Check for any grooves on the underside of the locking nut clamp. The grooves can let the string slip past and not be fully locked in place.
- Make sure the saddle block holding the string is tight enough.
- The string winding at the saddle block is coming loose. The winding slowly unwinds causing tuning problems. Fix this by unclamping the string, give the string some slack, cut the string, and put a sharp kink at the very end of the string. This pinches the windings so that they don't come undone.
- The intonation screw holding the saddle in place isn't tight enough/holding the saddle in place.
- The strings need to be stretched.
- You got a dud string.

Going down the list,
1. I have the nut locks facing with the raised edge down the middle, so if you look down the headstock they look like pyramids.
2. The nut groove looks fine.
3. It's as tight as it goes.
4. Tried to shorten the string and put this kink in it, however it made it too short. Going to replace the string now.
5. Tight as can be.
6. Most likely, but odd that it happened a full week and half after I put the new strings on, never happened on my other guitars, albeit those are all hardtail.
7. Hopefully the string is the dud and not the Floyd.

Is there anyway I can check to see if the knife edges on the Floyd are causing the issue?

 

[Archer250]

Re: Low E Tuning Issue Floyd Rose

Going down the list,
1. I have the nut locks facing with the raised edge down the middle, so if you look down the headstock they look like pyramids.
2. The nut groove looks fine.
3. It's as tight as it goes.
4. Tried to shorten the string and put this kink in it, however it made it too short. Going to replace the string now.
5. Tight as can be.
6. Most likely, but odd that it happened a full week and half after I put the new strings on, never happened on my other guitars, albeit those are all hardtail.
7. Hopefully the string is the dud and not the Floyd.

Is there anyway I can check to see if the knife edges on the Floyd are causing the issue?

Only one way to find out.
http://www.ibanezrules.com/tech/setup/remove.htm

 

[Aasinsilta]

Re: Low E Tuning Issue Floyd Rose

Well I replaced the string, has held up so far in the quick jam I did on it. I'll check back on it tomorrow, and if it's still messed up maybe I'll perform that surgery.

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: Low E Tuning Issue Floyd Rose

I doubt it is the knife edges, because then the whole thing would be going out of tune rather than one string. If you're still considering the knife edges, you could try lubricating them with chapstick.

 

[The Guitar]

Re: Low E Tuning Issue Floyd Rose

Could it be how its wound on the tuning peg?

 

[Aasinsilta]

Re: Low E Tuning Issue Floyd Rose

I've wound them the same as I always have, never had any sort of issues before with tuning. The new string seems to be holding up as of now though, I'll check it again in the morning but it seems that the weather killed that string. Thanks for all the help dudes.

 

[9unslin9er]

Re: Low E Tuning Issue Floyd Rose

Higher string gauge?

Set-up with more springs.

I recently went up to 10's on my 24.75" scale shredder. Went from 2 springs to 3.

Also consider upgrading to heavy duty springs.

And yes, humidity changes will affect the neck wood. Keep that sucker cased when not being used. Also watch those frets. These import guitars come from climates completely different from ours and the wood may not have been cured completely. Going from a hot wet summer to a cold dry winter will shrink the wood and cause the frets to pop through the binding.

 

[darthphineas]

Re: Low E Tuning Issue Floyd Rose

Look at the knife edges and pivot points. A lot of people adjust the height with everything at full tension and this can wear out those spots.

Is the saddles slipping?

You said you adjusted the internal springs? Do you mean the spring in the back of the guitar? You still need to check intonation and adjust as needed.

The FR should be parallel to the strings, not the body. This comes from Floyd's mouth.

If the guitar was made properly, all the wood should have been dried before paint and assembly. Once painted, the limit of humidity should be pretty much the neck. At least, ideally.

Changing springs is a good idea. I've seen a few of the FR Specials that couldn't hold a tune in a bag until putting some new regular springs on there.

And there is always the chance the strings could just be a bum set.


Sent from my armored space station via iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Aasinsilta]

Re: Low E Tuning Issue Floyd Rose

Well, it was a dud string. Thankfully, I would have been pretty upset if I had to repair hardware this early into the guitar's life. I have been looking at springs though when I was researching tone blocks, so that's another upgrade I'll put on the list. Thanks again for all the responses.