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better way to intonate a floyd rose?
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Author:  Tai Fu [ Sat Mar 17, 2012 12:57 pm ]
Post subject:  better way to intonate a floyd rose?
I have a floyd rose setup job from a returning customer...

I have completed the setup but the last thing to do is to set the bridge intonation, but the floyd rose intonation adjustment is loose, as in there are no screws to turn, instead you loosen the saddle and the whole thing comes loose so you move the saddle to your desired position, which presents a challenge with the guitar strung up.

Is there a better way to intonate a floyd rose without buying "the key" because its a little expensive for something that only works with original floyd rose and not its copies (schaller, Ibanez, et. al.) which is going to be a lot more common than original floyd rose.
Author:  theguitarwhisperer [ Sat Mar 17, 2012 1:02 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: better way to intonate a floyd rose?
I hold the saddle in place with a small flathead screwdriver, loosen the screw, push it where I want it, tighten the screw, re-tune.
Author:  John Killin [ Sat Mar 17, 2012 1:23 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: better way to intonate a floyd rose?
[:Y:] [:Y:] [:Y:] [:Y:] [:Y:] [:Y:] [:Y:] [:Y:]

Thumbs up for the returning customer.
bliss bliss
Author:  nutsdan [ Sun Mar 18, 2012 4:04 am ]
Post subject:  Re: better way to intonate a floyd rose?
Just listen to the whisperer.
Also works better if you use an older screwdriver with no sharp edges as it will be less likely to mark the surface on black or gold ones
Author:  B. Howard [ Sun Mar 18, 2012 7:25 am ]
Post subject:  Re: better way to intonate a floyd rose?
Looks like some of you are trying to do this under tension without the special little tool. Pushing around those saddles with a screwdriver is an invitation for disaster. I would not take the chance on putting a scratch in a customers instrument to save a few minutes. I never want to make that call..." Hey man we had a little accident with your guitar...." You need to slack the string to properly access the lock screw anyway, or you will put nicks in the string with the wrench and cause stress risers. So I start by measuring the offset in intonation and then calculate how far to shift the bridge. Lets say it's a fender with a25.5 scale and it is reading 3.7 cents sharp at the 12th. The distance of one semitone here is 1.431", the distance between the nut and center of the first fret. So 3.7% of that is about 0.053". So slack the string, measure the saddle location to a fixed point on the plate ( usually the front edge), loosen the lock and move the saddle that distance the appropriate direction depending on whether it was sharp or flat, in my example that would be away from the nut. Tighten the lock, re-tune and check again. This usually gets me close enough that I can make one or two small final adjustments by eye on each string and it's done. All fulcrum trems are a pain to set-up, they take time and patience. That is why I charge almost double what I do a fixed bridge to set-up.
Author:  Tai Fu [ Sun Mar 18, 2012 8:53 am ]
Post subject:  Re: better way to intonate a floyd rose?
Yea, I did charge more to do a floyd setup than a regular tremolo or fixed bridge. Regular isn't so difficult but the floyd is definitely a lot harder.
Author:  theguitarwhisperer [ Sun Mar 18, 2012 10:35 am ]
Post subject:  Re: better way to intonate a floyd rose?
B. Howard wrote:
Looks like some of you are trying to do this under tension without the special little tool. Pushing around those saddles with a screwdriver is an invitation for disaster. I would not take the chance on putting a scratch in a customers instrument to save a few minutes.


Nope. It's fast, quick, accurate, and easy. I've never scratched a customers guitar as a result.
Author:  Shaw [ Sun Mar 18, 2012 7:27 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: better way to intonate a floyd rose?
I haven't worked on one in a while but I used to use small needle nose pliers with heat shrink tubing as a protectorant ( is that a word?) and use them as a lever to pry the string lock tighteners back and then lock the saddle locks. It wasn't perfect and was tedious but worked. Now there is a tool out there for such a thing. I don't own one but may pick one up just in case....Mike
P.S this is available from stew mac and various others including allparts
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