Cooking with Floyd Rose

[SuperSwede]

I just bought a guitar unseen.. as a matter of fact I am not 100% sure what it looks like

I noticed a interesting guitar in the used guitar section of a popular online dealer, and since it pretty much only stated that it was FR equipped I decided to call them and ask about it. Its a Aria Pro II Magna series guitar, H S H with a natural finish. They have had that guitar for quite some time, and I got it really cheap because they wanted to get rid of it (about 240usd). The clerk said that no mullet hair solo guy would want a natural finish guitar so they had lowered the price several times already. Does anyone know anything about the Magna series from Aria Pro II? Harmony central doesnt tell much, and I havent been able to find anything about the H S H Floyd Rose model on google either. It could well be a crap guitar, but I really want a FR guitar!

So does anyone here have any good links on how to setup and intonate a FR properly?

[Tone2TheBone]

*tosses you an allen wrench* Let us know when you get it.

[WackyT]

http://www.floydrose.com/originaltremolo.html

[SuperSwede]

Thanks WackyT!

[Spudman***]

I have checked out several of the Aria guitars locally. That is what led to me getting my STG8. I found the workmanship to be very good, tone - good, playability - good, value - good on almost every Aria I played.

Mine is HH with a Floyd and the body is alder and the neck divine (see the 'my blue guitar' thread).

You'll probably get a great guitar.

[SuperSwede]

Thanks Spud!

[SuperSwede]

Here is some pics of the Aria, I took them with my cell phone camera. It looks much more glossy in real life.

I have a really hard time setting it up... Its not easy to tune it either, it was a long time since I had to tune a floating tremolo. I added another spring (now 4) and that helped a bit. Tips and tricks would be very welcome!

[Tone2TheBone]

That Floyd is bigger than the whole guitar dude!

[Spudman***]

Gosh! Is that an oak body?

Here is a tuning tip for your Floyd:

Don't cut the balls off the end of the strings. Run the string through the tuner with it's ball attached - mark the string length to where the clamp is on the bridge (the allen locking clamp) - cut the string there and inset it into the bridge. Start with the low E and get it fairly tight. This will counter the bridge tremolo springs some.

Next do the A, then D and so on. Make all these a little taught to counter the tremolo springs. You should end up with about 1 1/2 complete wraps on the tuners OR:

Put a piece of something under the tremolo before you cut the old strings off to keep the tremolo level. Then measure and cut your strings. This may get you down to less than one wrap on the tuners. Once you get the guitar in tune with all strings then stretch each string by reaching under the string and lifting it with some force. Re-tune that string. Do this with all strings - tune once more - lock down 1 of the nut clamps - check all strings tuning - lock the next nut clamp - check all tuning - lock the last clamp - check the tuning.

You are done! The bridge plate should be parallel with the guitar's top.

[SuperSwede]

Thanks Spud... I managed to get it tuned properly with the base plate aligned. I still have to figure out how to intonate it better. It wasnt a original floyd, some kind of FR licenced by Aria but it doesnt seem all that crappy. Also, how do I lower the string height? Its really too high, but the pivot screws seems to be at its lowest position.

I have no idea what the body is made of but its insanely heavy for a superstrat. Its a three piece body, and the wood seems to be really hard.
The pickups are unbranded, the sound is not top notch (especially the middle single coil) but the coil tap makes it into a rather versatile instrument.

[warren0728]

nice looking guitar there ss! I've never had any experience with FR setups so i am of no help there...

ww

[Spudman***]

Thanks Spud... I managed to get it tuned properly with the base plate aligned. I still have to figure out how to intonate it better. It wasnt a original floyd, some kind of FR licenced by Aria but it doesnt seem all that crappy. Also, how do I lower the string height? Its really too high, but the pivot screws seems to be at its lowest position.

I have no idea what the body is made of but its insanely heavy for a superstrat. Its a three piece body, and the wood seems to be really hard.
The pickups are unbranded, the sound is not top notch (especially the middle single coil) but the coil tap makes it into a rather versatile instrument.

You might have to put a thin shim under the heal of the neck to change the angle and lower the action. Is the truss rod straight?

[SuperSwede]

You might have to put a thin shim under the heal of the neck to change the angle and lower the action. Is the truss rod straight?

The neck has a slight relief, but perhaps I should try to adjust the truss rod.
What kind of shim should I get? Is it hard to install for a non tech guy?

I noticed that the low E is a bit higher than the other strings. Is it possible to lower individual strings on a floyd?

[Spudman***]

The neck has a slight relief, but perhaps I should try to adjust the truss rod.
What kind of shim should I get? Is it hard to install for a non tech guy?

I noticed that the low E is a bit higher than the other strings. Is it possible to lower individual strings on a floyd?

Shim material can be anything from thin cardboard to strips of plastic.

You can change string height individually with thin metal shims made especially for that purpose. You might need to see a guitar repair person to get them. It's not fun or easy to do, but the shims go under each individual bridge piece.

[SuperSwede]

Shim material can be anything from thin cardboard to strips of plastic.

You can change string height individually with thin metal shims made especially for that purpose. You might need to see a guitar repair person to get them. It's not fun or easy to do, but the shims go under each individual bridge piece.

So basically I could add a thin piece of cardboard? I guess that anything that makes the neck go backwards a bit would work?

[Spudman***]

So basically I could add a thin piece of cardboard? I guess that anything that makes the neck go backwards a bit would work?

Exactly. I've seen guitars from the factory with plastic and cardboard shims.

[Hogfullofblues]

Hey SS
I saved every link I could find after I realized what I had when the first guitar I ever bought had this Floyd Rose thing and I couldn't even tune it.

http://www.floydrose.com/video.html

http://www.ibanezrules.com/tech/setup/index.htm

http://www.musiciansworkshop.com/ibanez_setup.html

http://www.jemsite.com/tech/

http://www.fretnotguitarrepair.com/floydrosetremolo.htm

Maybe some of these will help.

[SuperSwede]

Thanks Hog!

I have solved the tuning problem, so that works really good. The only thing left to do on this guitar is to lower the action. Spud has helped me a lot, and I hope to be able to solve it. Its a good looking guitar, and I dont want to buy another more expensive guitar just to be able to play with tremolo once in a while.

[SuperSwede]

*update*

With the help of Spud I managed to install a thin shim that helped out a lot. It´s still not perfect but good enough for now (thank you Spud!)

If you dont have a FR guitar already, do consider getting one asap! Its insanely fun to wail around on harmonic overtones. There´s a taste of hairspray in the air tonight!