Would like some help with my Floyd Rose tremolo please

[Meek]

I have a Jackson Rhoads pro with a licensed floyd rose tremolo system. As it stands it is correctly setup and it never goes out of tune no matter how much I play it, only a small adjustment of the micro-tuners is required. I have heavy gauge strings on my guitar although I can't say exactly since I was given a present of a workshop by a guitar tech. Recently I have been wanting to experiment with various tunings, particular for clean acoustic and chord stuff as well as using other effects such as distortion. I particularly like the Eb tuning and would like to use this for the next few weeks.

My question is this. When I went to Eb by using the main machine heads and micro tunings as expected my bridge sunk quite a lot to compensate for the lack of string tension. I then supported the bridge again by wedging something under it and went back to standard tuning to see if it was ok and it was. Can someone please advise me how to keep an Eb flat tuning without the bridge sinking? I'm guessing I have to access the floyd rose from underneath the guitar at the back but I don't what I'm looking for to adjust. Also, using in addition to this how far would you think is acceptable with my quite thick strings? A whole step down might be one that I could try and I like the idea of experimenting with drop D. In the Drop D situation since it is only 1 string that is quite heaviliy detuned do I need to do some adjustment on the rose from 'underneath' again? I think I heard someone call it a clawscrew or something.

Cheers

 

[SoCalSteve]

Re: Would like some help with my Floyd Rose tremolo please

If you went from normal tuning to Eb then you have to back the screws on the spring holder out of the guitar to compensate for the laeesr tension now pulling on the springs. It's basically a balancing act between the strings and the springs. You'll have to loosen the screws then retune (loosen the locking nut) and you may find you have to tighten the screws a little, basically go back and forth to find that balance of tension. Hope I explained this clearly.

 

[Meek]

Re: Would like some help with my Floyd Rose tremolo please

If you went from normal tuning to Eb then you have to back the screws on the spring holder out of the guitar to compensate for the laeesr tension now pulling on the springs. It's basically a balancing act between the strings and the springs. You'll have to loosen the screws then retune (loosen the locking nut) and you may find you have to tighten the screws a little, basically go back and forth to find that balance of tension. Hope I explained this clearly.

Thanks for the tips, when i tuned to Eb I did loosen the locking nuts and try to find a balance between the lack of tension and the springs in the bridge. I had some advice on another forum that basically said I would probably have to open up the back of the guitar and have a look at the rose from here and make suitable adjustments. It is this I am not sure about since after my detuning via the conventional way my bridge still sank a little.