Getting the action better on my guitar

[K2 SK8a]

OK my friend has a kramer guitar i wantr to buy off of him it has a floyd rose tremo abut the action is very high and it has no visible trust rod what do i do??:confused:

[steve]

I had a guitar, the action was very-high, it buzzed constantly, it wasn't a kramer with a floyd-rose tremelo. It was an acoustic yahama. It cost 50$. I truly can't tell you anything good but just try to watch out, you might be throwing your money away, perhaps other members in the forum might know.

[K2 SK8a]

wht i meant by high saction as in the string was too high above the fret board

[ESP_Viper]

The floyd should have two screws on either side of it that control how high it is. Unclamp the nut and lower the floyd, retune, adjust intonation, and retune again, and off ya go. I am betting it does have a truss. There should be a truss cover on the headstock right by the nut. Take the cover off and adjust the truss as well. I'm guessing you know how to adjust and all that.

[steve]

K2 SK8a,

I knew that's what you meant, with my guitar it was IMPOSSIBLE to fret any notes above the 7th fret!!!

[ESP_Viper]

Hey steve, uh, guitars normally buzz when the action is too low... Just a thought on your first post on the thread.

[mjamer]

floyd rose trems are a pain in my rear. That's usually a sign that I don't know something. Not to hijack this thread or anything since it is on the topic of floyd rose hehe.. I have a few questions.

Setting intonation - Is this simply done by playing the harmonic at the 12th fret (using an electronic tuner), then fretting the note at the 12th fret and making them the same? Do you have to loosen the string before loosening the saddle and moving it back and forth?

Also the "floating" of the trem, I've read that tightning (or adding) springs to the back and making the trem rest on the back of the guitar (so you can only push the whammy bar forward not pull on it) makes for a deeper fatter tone, and more sustain. Any truth to this?

I really dislike the trem but I may be doing something wrong (mostlikely hehe). Tuning them up is a real pain for me, if i tune the low E, by the time I get to the high E the low E is out of tune again.. due to the floating style of the trem.. (another reason I was thinking of adding more springs and having the trem rest on the back of the guitar).

I started on a strat copy when I was younger, and a PRS while in highschool.. I didn't have these problems with either of those (trem doesn't "float" so tuning is a breeze ). That's why I think I'm mostlikely doing something wrong. Any help is appreciated =)

mjamer

[Slash]

Hi mjammer....

Setting Intonation: Ideally, The string should be divided excatly in half at the 12th fret. This means that the 12th fret harmonic (2nd overtone, created with node at the center of the string) must match the 12th fretted note (simply the freq. of half a tensed string). This probably the best and easiest test. For the sake of betterment i do fret the higher harmonics and see wether they appear where they should, i.e. fret the 4th octave harmonic and see wether it occurs excatly above the 3rd fret. If this happens, then the intonation must be set. So, you do have to vary the length of the string in order to get this *string center* right and consequently the bridge must be moved,Unless you want to break the string, you will have to loosen it.

I have a fender on which the bridge was 'floating' pulling the back cover off and adding 2 more springs along with pushing the screws further in does the trick. Now the bridge can be moved up only and tuning stays for quite some time. As far as the sound goes.. id dont think it makes that sort of difference. Its a good idea to stabilize the brig unless you are vella enough to go thru 4-5 cycles of tuning and re tuning(i wasnt).

Man...where is that PRS (god of all guitars, 4 sure!)

L8r

Nikhil

[ESP_Viper]

Wow, a floating bridge on a strat is pretty rare. The standard floyds on strats arent recessed... that's cool you have that :) More springs on a floyd is just a personal preference. Some people like the resistance in the whammy, some don't. I personally like lots of springs. Not enough springs can become a problem with tuning. The bridge won't stay in place as well. I would love to have a floyd rose, but they are just a real pain in the ass to maintain and to setup.

[mjamer]

thanks nikhil... I agree ESP, they're such a pain. I personally don't use the whammy bar for anything. My wife got me an ibanez JS100 for my birthday lastyear (she knows I like him, and she took a chance getting me a guitar without me being there). I of course would rather make the guitar work for me than hurt her feelings or anything (I love it besides the floyd rose trem anyway hehe).

Here is what I ended up doing. I set the action where I liked it (and no buzzing), then measured how the distance behind the panel in the back of the guitar needed to keep the bridge flush. I then made a wood shim from a peice of wood (hard wood that isn't going to give under pressure).... then I just tuned like normal and put the wood shim in between the trem and the guitar (in the back) to keep the trem from moving forward anymore, now it tunes great.. bending 1 string doesn't make the others go way out of tune (as in bending one string while plucking one with it.. ). As it stands I'm satisfied, action is right where I want it.. tunes up really well, and intonation is dead-on.

oh yeah nikhil, the PRS wasn't mine.. I had a rich girlfriend in school (not love girlfriend.. just a hip chick that played guitar).. her parents both were doctors and got her whatever she wanted.. heheh.. she let me use her PRS. I have alot of practicing to do before I feel I deserve to buy one myself, and wife sweet talking hehe.

[ESP_Viper]

Many people block off their floyd. You are one who'd like a non-recessed tremolo. I prefer recessed so i can pull up and just deal with the floyd rose inconvieniences.

[Slash]

Hey ESP.. Where's yr dear friend valvstate <g>??

[ESP_Viper]

hahahahah that's a good question. I am about to put him on a missing persons list :)

He may just not be interested in the forums anymore. He didn't reply in the old forum for a while.