My floyd rose keeps getting out of tune when I use the tremolo bar! Somebody have an idea what would be the problem? Could be not a problem in the bridge, but in the quality of the strings? Could be a problem in the locking nut? By the way, my guitar is a Washburn WG series. Thanks in advance!

could be worn knife edges. theirs threads on this, use search

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maybe your not locking it enough, or perhaps your strings suck? are you doing all the prestetching and shit?

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Yeah, you need to tighten them the HELL up.

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no dont d that, the locking nut dosent have to be super tight, just lock it up enough so that when you use the machine heads, the tuning isent altered. Many people make the mistake by over tightening, which damaged the nut, and makes the string more prone to premature breaking.

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Meh, what do I know?

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BLS, thanks for the tip, I'm afraid that the problem is really in the knife edge or in the screws... it's my first floyd rose guitar, and just when I bought it tried to raise the action with it tuned, full tension on the strings. I've read that doing this can cause damage on the wrecks, is that correct? Anyway fixing it or just by changing for new ones?

I had that problem too, but your strings are set to strong, and your bridge is probably standing a bit upwards.

Just pull the bridge down, and re-tune your guitar. Be careful that you don't set your strings to tight/strong.

start with the high E first and go upwards to the low E.

that's the trick. Then you can use your tremolo fine.

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"I've read that doing this can cause damage on the wrecks" what do mean by wrecks??

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I mean SCREWS.... sorry man, I was almost falling asleep when I wrote it Damage on the screws, the ones that raise/low the action.

I've heard that raising the action whilst the strings are at full tension is bad for the knife edge/posts too, but then someone else said that's bullshit and it takes a little more than that to damage them.

I had the same problem with my Jackson's licenced Floyd, and I never figured out a way of making it keep tuning after a dive. It constantly stayed flat by quarter of a step.

I endded up selling it to a guy who was a beginner into stuff like Lost Prophets. He was never going to use the trem anyway...

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Is your washburn a WG-200??
Cuz if it is thats the one I use. Mine stays in tune pretty damn well for it having a licensed floyd on it (very soon to be a real one).

My guess is that it wasnt set up to well so what I would do is go to a local music store and ask them to set it up. Since you are new with floyds it will be pretty difficult to do it yourself right away. You can ask them what they think is making it not stay in tune so well.

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Cannibal, mine is a wg-330. It has two hambuckers and one single coil, and the bridge hambucker can be turned off for a more strato sound. Is your floyd like mine, that doesn't need to cut off the balls of the strings?
I'm going take it to a guitar tech soon, and then I'll post the news! Thanks for all the help.

I dont have to cut off the ball ends on my licensed floyd. So yeah I think theyre the same.

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theirs your problem, those dont stay in tune well

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Mine does.

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not as well as a floyd which requires you to cut the ball ends off.

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Yeah, it could stay in tune better but since we both have the same floyd and mine stays in tune well, then theres something else wrong than it just being a non-ball cutting off trem.

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Like i said its porbably the Knife Edges, if hes lucky he has Knife Edge inserts, which can easily be replaced.

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Or he could get a real floyd!

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BLS, what do you mean by Knife Edges inserts?

And Cannibal, I really don't have money to buy a real floyd now, and as you say yours do stay in tune... I think it's great for a first floating trem!

http://img35.photobucket.com/albums...ls420/floyd.gif

there ya go

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BLS, thanks for the picture showing what are knife edges inserts!

Unfortunately, mine doesn't have them.... it's a single unit.

I bought new strings, tuned, stretched a lot of times, played a while with a lot of bends, tune the whole thing again and let it this way for one day, without the nut locked. When I pick up the guitar the other day, the pitch was... higher!

I took off the tremolo from the guitar in order to examine the knife edges and the studs (the screws). The last seens to be ok, but the knife edges aren't so... I attached a drawing showing how they are. It's not a masterpiece though
They're very irregular, and on the right one, there's a kind of entrance... I think the problem is right here, just by simulating the movement of the bridge holding and moving it slowly, without the strings and springs, it keeps sliping when I go back from a dive bomb position to a level position.

Is there salvation to it??? I've read on www.jemsite.com/tech/index.htm that I could file the knife edges with a thin fine metal file. What do you think?

Also, with only the studs in place, they're a bit loose... is it supposed to be firm even without the rest of the system?

Thanks in advance!!

Attached Images

floyd.JPG (7.4 KB, 96 views)

Hmm that pic looks like it wouldnt affect anything, if the worn parts was in the middle it would be over and the side i doubt it.

Yes you can use a small file on the knife edges, ive done this before and it worked fine.

Dont worry about the studs, their not meant to be SUPER tight. One the bridge is putting constant pressure on the screws its wont matter.

How many springs are you using?? A tremsetter might help this problem.

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BLS, I've just found a very good site about filing knife edges... www.ibanezrules.com/tech/setup/sharpening.htm

What's your experience about it? Any tips before I try it? And what about greasing them?

What's a tremsetter? I don't know if here in Brasil it would be easy to find.

I use d avery similar method, now since you dont have flat knife edges, you'll use a rounded file, and basically do the same as in that guide. A tremsetter is a small unit you put in place of one fo your springs, it remembers the correct amount of tension to zero the trem so it levels out almost perfectly.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges...Stabilizer.html

this is a similar unit http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges..._Sure_Claw.html

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