I just got my 7 back from the shop and the floyd feels really bad, the hole guitar feels bad, and I noticed that the stable was strange, so I took some picture and Now I want to ask you uber-pro's if this is set up properly

http://www.angelfire.com/scary/desecrated/stall.html

I dont know if I can post pictures, maybe some admin can help there.

[metalfiend666]

First off, nice Warlock.

Secondly, the trem. No, that's not set properly. The base of the trem (when viewed from the side) should be parrallel with the guitar body. Your's dips towards the fine tuners. Don't worry about the side to side slope unless you get fret buzz. It's normal for the trem to slant slightly to get the action right.

To align the trem with the body you'll need to loosen the spring claw screws in the back and retune the guitar. It's a fine balancing act which is an absolute bitch on 7. You'll probably have to adjust the screws and retune several times to get it right, and you might even go too far the other way.

Only adjust the spring claw screws by a quater turn each time. The balance really is that sensitive.

A trick I like to use involves making up blocks to block your trem in the right position, which can then double for blocking the bridge if you ever want to change tunings for a short while or for changing strings.

Fit the block on the opposite side to the springs first, which stops the string tension pulling the bridge out of alignment when you remove the springs to fit the other block. Once both blocks are in place, increase the spring tension a bit then remove the block opposite the springs and tune your guitar to pitch. The idea is that your guitar is now in tune, but the bridge rests firmly against the block.

Then just slacken the spring tension a little at a time until the bridge just lifts off the block. I mean hair's width just. Double check the tuning and adjust the springs if you need to.

Once all this is done, refit the other block so you can remove the one under the springs, then refit your springs and remove the second block. You should now have a nicely balanced bridge. Assuming my description makes sense.

It takes a bit of time to get the blocks fitting correctly, but it's worth it. Start out with them a little over size and sand to fit. It'll save a lot of time and hassle resetting the bridge in the future. Until the Tremol-no is released of course.

I will tell the guy at the musicstore to do just that.

but thanks for the help.

[Drew]

Yeah, i was about to say, if you paid for the setup, bring it back.

That said, it's not THAT bad, and some people do prefer the feel of the bridge slightly back into the body. it'll give you an ever-so-slightly stiffer feel to the trem.

How exactly does it feel "bad," though? I have a hard time believing a slight backward slant would make a huge difference to your trem response, so I'm wondering if something else is up.

[noodles]

Originally Posted by metalfiend666

A trick I like to use involves making up blocks to block your trem in the right position, which can then double for blocking the bridge if you ever want to change tunings for a short while or for changing strings.

For the life of me, I can't remember the name of the product, but there is something out there that makes this easy. It's a unit that slides under the back of trem, on the top of the guitar. Then you tighten the strings to lower the trem onto the stop, and you do your setup and tune the guitar. Then you slowly start loosening the springs until the bridge just pulls off the stop. Piece of cake, if I could remember the damn name.

[metalfiend666]

Originally Posted by noodles

For the life of me, I can't remember the name of the product, but there is something out there that makes this easy. It's a unit that slides under the back of trem, on the top of the guitar. Then you tighten the strings to lower the trem onto the stop, and you do your setup and tune the guitar. Then you slowly start loosening the springs until the bridge just pulls off the stop. Piece of cake, if I could remember the damn name.

That sounds very interesting. Get your thinking cap on!

Originally Posted by Drew

Yeah, i was about to say, if you paid for the setup, bring it back.

That said, it's not THAT bad, and some people do prefer the feel of the bridge slightly back into the body. it'll give you an ever-so-slightly stiffer feel to the trem.

How exactly does it feel "bad," though? I have a hard time believing a slight backward slant would make a huge difference to your trem response, so I'm wondering if something else is up.

since the floyd is more into the body on the right side of the guitar then on the left side, the tuning is completly of, it's sharp on the right side and flat on the left side, if I tune the B E A D strings in tune, the G H E string are extremly sharp, and if I tune them the B E A D strings become flat again,
there is also some fret noise on the left side of the guitar, and the intonation was completly gone after the first tuning.

[noodles]

Originally Posted by metalfiend666

That sounds very interesting. Get your thinking cap on!

I know I've seen them in Musician's Friend before.

[eaeolian]

Originally Posted by Desecrated

since the floyd is more into the body on the right side of the guitar then on the left side, the tuning is completly of, it's sharp on the right side and flat on the left side, if I tune the B E A D strings in tune, the G H E string are extremly sharp, and if I tune them the B E A D strings become flat again,
there is also some fret noise on the left side of the guitar, and the intonation was completly gone after the first tuning.

Take your guitar back to the shop and tell the tech to stop smoking crack before he sets up your guitar again, for free.

Seriously, anyone worth ANY salt should be able to set up a Floyd better than that.

edit: I read this wrong initially. This is expected behavior.

[Drew]

Originally Posted by Desecrated

since the floyd is more into the body on the right side of the guitar then on the left side, the tuning is completly of, it's sharp on the right side and flat on the left side, if I tune the B E A D strings in tune, the G H E string are extremly sharp, and if I tune them the B E A D strings become flat again,
there is also some fret noise on the left side of the guitar, and the intonation was completly gone after the first tuning.

Oh, that's normal with a floyd, and has nothing to do with the angle of the bridge - remember, a Floyd Rose trem works by a delicate balancing act, where the tension of the strings has to exactly counterbalance the tension of the springs underneith the guitar, so that the bridge floats level. And, whenever you change the tuning of one string, it changes the overall string tension being exerted on the bridge. Say you detune one string. As the total string tension goes down relative to the spring tension on the bridge, then the bridge pulls back, easing spring tension and increasing string tension, until they counterbalance each other exactly. This has the effect of increasing string tension on the strings you HAVEN'T tuned... which makes them go sharp.

Tuning a Floyd takes patience and a bit of time, but it's worth learning how to do. I'm going to assume youre close to being in tune now - off by no more than a half step here or there. Start by tuning your B string perfectly in tune. Then, move up to your low E. Tune to pitch, then go back to your low B. It should have shifted slightly. Retune the B, then check the E. If it's gone out of tune, retune, then check the B again. Continue until you have both strings tuned to pitch. Then, go to the A string and tune it to pitch, then go back and check the B and retune, and check the E and retune. Continue until all three strings are in tune, then move on to the D. Continue in this way until all seven strings are tuned to pitch. If your guitar was set up right in the first place, this should leave you with the bridge essentially level to the body (barring the B-e slant, which is probably cool - it's personal taste, but if you want your B string action higher than your high E, which is probably a good idea, that's how you do it), and will also most likely fix the fret buzz, as the trem will probably turn to level, slightly raising the action from the (currently slightly resessed) position it's in now.

Was the guitar in tune when you got it back from your tech? To me, it sounds like that's the only thing he'd have done wrong (not breaking in the strings, so they wouldn't shift when you started playing), but if the guitar came back in tune and you started changing the tuning, well, you should have specified you wanted it in something other than standard when you got it back...