Tuning to Eb on a Floyd Rose Guitar

[EddieDavis]

Hi there,

I wanna tune my Ibanez RG guitar down to Eb.  It has a Floyd on it and I'm wondering what adjustments do I need to make, if any, when I do this?

I tried Eb tuning on Warmoth strat and it sounded great, but if I touch the tremolo at all it goes out of tune.  So I'm hoping my Floyd RG will be able to handle Eb tuning better... 

Any Eb tuners out there... What has worked best for you?

 

[stratamania]

If you are going to do this it is the same as on another tremolo. You will have to adjust possibly, for intonation, spring tension etc.

If you tune down to Eb, the strings are under less tension so the springs also need to be. (Some may use heavier strings when tuned down, but either way you need a balance between the strings and springs.

It's no different to setting up for standard tuning as far as the adjustment steps go. But if you are going to try to change from one tuning to another constantly on the same guitar a hardtail is better suited. So it is best to dedicate the instrument to the Eb purpose and use the same gauge of strings on it when changing them.

Here are some videos which should be of help.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN7qF6JLoIc
[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVYxu4XHGhs
[/youtube]

Hollow Points are also a useful addition to a Floyd, not sure if they fit on an RG.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evfQ7cTj7eg
[/youtube]

 

[EddieDavis]

... it is best to dedicate the instrument to the Eb purpose and use the same gauge of strings on it when changing them.

Here are some videos which should be of help.

Thanks man!  When we make these adjustments I will indeed be using my RG in Eb permanently.  As long as I can still use tremolo without losing my tuning!  I'm thinking it will work though, it has been the best guitar I've owned in terms of holding it's tuning. 

 

[stratamania]

Thanks man!  When we make these adjustments I will indeed be using my RG in Eb permanently.  As long as I can still use tremolo without losing my tuning!  I'm thinking it will work though, it has been the best guitar I've owned in terms of holding it's tuning.

No reason it should not work.

 

[ThePhilosopher]

I keep a Floyd-equipped guitar tuned to Open C down a full step (Bb-F-Bb-F-Bb-D), so there's no reason it won't work using all the information Stratamania posted for Eb standard.