Here's One For The Pros

[mullyman]

Ok, so you guys know that I got the Frankenstein. Well, I'm having a little problem that I can't solve. The action is too high and I can't figure out how to lower it. Now, before anyone thinks they're responding to someone that doesn't know about guitars, I worked in a guitar shop for 5 years doing repairs.

Ok. So this guitar has a Gotoh Floyd Rose (stamped Music Man if that helps with anything) and I thought I could just screw the posts in deeper and that would do the trick. Guess what....the strings didn't go down any. I loosened the springs in the back, nothing. The saddles don't have height adjustment so now I'm just stuck with this little problem. How do I lower the action? Should I go so far as to shim the neck? Maybe the posts for the Floyd aren't the right ones? It looks to me as if the knife edges on the trem are just sliding up the post and staying where they are. Also, if I push the trem down it goes massively out of tune but will pop back into tune if I push the trem back in the opposite direction. This trem is non-floating. Should I post pics?
MULLY

 

[mullyman]

I'd like to add that the posts are not the posts that came with the term. I sent them to him with the trem but he used different ones. No idea why.
MULLY

 

[alterbridgefan]

I would shim it. Often the problem with high action on a floyd is just neck angle.

People say shimming kills tone, but if you use small cuts of veneer, you should be fine.

 

[Cagey]

Lowering the posts may not have been enough. The base of the bridge may have tilted forward, effectively raising the strings (relatively speaking). Loosening the counterbalance springs would have left it the same or made it worse. If that makes sense from what you're seeing, try alternately tightening the counterbalance strings and re-tuning until the base is flat again.

 

[Jumble Jumble]

Assuming you use a similar setup to EVH, you'd want to tighten the springs enough that the Floyd is decked to the body anyway. If you can't get it low enough like that, shimming it is pretty much the only way to go.

I'm having similar issues with a guitar at the moment and I'm going to shim the neck with a bit of cut-up credit card (to start with, it might be too thick). It's a recessed Floyd on mine, but my issue is that I like to have a decent amount of pull-up available. With the neck as-is, I can have either a good action or good upward range with the Floyd. A shim will let me have both.

 

[Dan025]

Ok, so you guys know that I got the Frankenstein. Well, I'm having a little problem that I can't solve. The action is too high and I can't figure out how to lower it. Now, before anyone thinks they're responding to someone that doesn't know about guitars, I worked in a guitar shop for 5 years doing repairs.

Ok. So this guitar has a Gotoh Floyd Rose (stamped Music Man if that helps with anything) and I thought I could just screw the posts in deeper and that would do the trick. Guess what....the strings didn't go down any. I loosened the springs in the back, nothing. The saddles don't have height adjustment so now I'm just stuck with this little problem. How do I lower the action? Should I go so far as to shim the neck? Maybe the posts for the Floyd aren't the right ones? It looks to me as if the knife edges on the trem are just sliding up the post and staying where they are. Also, if I push the trem down it goes massively out of tune but will pop back into tune if I push the trem back in the opposite direction. This trem is non-floating. Should I post pics?
MULLY

the knife edge is sliding up the posts? are they just strait cylinders? that is weird. pics please! maybe part of the bridge is already bottomed out? so now when you crank the posts down the bridge is just forced up the posts, when you push on the vibrato bar the knife edge slides into the grove and when you release the friction against the body and the cone on the post keeps it from finding center till you pull it up. check for anything weird under the bridge, and see if it's lying flat on the body. then before you start adding shims to the neck see how the relief is. verify that's good before you play with the height.

 

[dmraco]

Shimming neck works.  What about the nut?  I had to lower my R3 a bit to get the action just right.

 

[ocguy106]

maybe replace the quarter under the trem with a smaller denomination...say a dime? kidding of course.

 

[DangerousR6]

maybe replace the quater under the trem with a smaller denomination...say a dime? kidding of course.

he's in japan, so maybe he could fold up a yen... :laughing11:

 

[Dan025]

maybe replace the quater under the trem with a smaller denomination...say a dime? kidding of course.

he's in japan, so maybe he could fold up a yen... :laughing11:

1 yen is about 1 penny, but the 1 yen pieces are aluminum, might give a bad tone ??? anyway paper currency doesn't start till you get to 1000 yen! yes they have coins worth about $5. they kinda look like a quarter if i remember right but with the number "500" across one side of them.  :sign13: he might want to go with a 5 yen piece. they already have a hole to attach them to the wood.  :toothy12:

 

[DangerousR6]

maybe replace the quater under the trem with a smaller denomination...say a dime? kidding of course.

he's in japan, so maybe he could fold up a yen... :laughing11:

1 yen is about 1 penny, but the 1 yen pieces are aluminum, might give a bad tone ??? anyway paper currency doesn't start till you get to 1000 yen! yes they have coins worth about $5. they kinda look like a quarter if i remember right but with the number "500" across one side of them.  :sign13: he might want to go with a 5 yen piece. they already have a hole to attach them to the wood.  :toothy12:

:laughing11:

 

[mullyman]

The shim under the neck worked perfectly. I did notice though, when I took the neck off, that the Warmoth turtle is totally gone from the neck pocket. Obviously he did some work in the neck route there to lower the neck. I wish he wouldn't have done that. Anyway, got her shimmed, set the tremolo as I like it to be, got the action I want, and she is staying in tune. Couldn't be happier with it.
MULLY

 

[mayfly]

The shim under the neck worked perfectly. I did notice though, when I took the neck off, that the Warmoth turtle is totally gone from the neck pocket. Obviously he did some work in the neck route there to lower the neck. I wish he wouldn't have done that. Anyway, got her shimmed, set the tremolo as I like it to be, got the action I want, and she is staying in tune. Couldn't be happier with it.
MULLY

So a guy somewhere messed with the depth of the neck pocket?  That would do it.

Glad the shim worked.