Floyd Rose problems Arrghhh!

[Grahame Myers]

I have a problem at the moment with an ESP Floyd Rose guitar from a good customer of mine: He was having problems with strings breaking last year. I discovered that the surface hardening on the string saddles was worn, and had created ridges in the metal. So I filed them carefully, and polished them to a mirror shine. All was well last year, but this year he came back for his yearly check, and the same thing was there again. So we decided to treat his ESP to a new FR. Cost €249, and is genuine Floyd Rose, not a copy.

I installed it and set it up the way he likes it, and he tried it out and was happy: It worked like he wanted it to, and away he went to the first gig. During the first gig he had no problems, but last night at the second gig, he had enormous problems: 3 string breaks (D and G), and tuning problems. Very disappointing with a brand new FR to say the least, and I'm at a loss as to what could be causing it.

A few things you should know: He's a very accomplished player with a very good FR technique. No extreme bendings, he has a technique whereby he hits the trem arm with the heel of his hand to create special effects, otherwise he mostly bends up, with no extreme "dive-bombing" etc. He uses Ernie Ball Super Slinkys (.009 - .042) and has never had problems. He changes the strings every gig to ensure that they hold up without breaking during the gig, up until now without problems. The FR as said was brand new, and I also changed the toplocks that came with the new FR. That's not the problem, the strings are breaking directly on the stringblocks on the tremelo itself.

At the moment I'm stumped, the customer said I should reclaim it, and get a replacement, but it was brand new, and looks perfect. I'm not sure that's going to solve the problem, the question is, what could be causing it? Is it possible that it is defect? I've never had any problems with FR's, but there's a first time for everything I guess. Anybody have any thoughts on this?

 

Grahame

[Grahame Myers]

Interesting link, not sure if it's still relavant  4 years later though. I don't really have enough of them going through my shop to really be able to give an opinion about the pros and cons of the various different manufacturers, thank goodness they seem to be getting less popular here in Germany :-)

I gave up on the new FR I was having problems with: I polished the saddles on the old one, and swapped out the new one (which is still sitting in my shop somewhere on a dusty shelf) The customer hasn't come back, so I assume the overhauled old one is working ok. Go figure...

 

Grahame

[gary choppick]

i empathize with your dilemma on the floyd.  well i'm not an expert on floyds i have done many. when i put on new wound strings i usually solder the end.  before i was doing this i had to lock in the strings really tight which i don't think is a good thing and i had breakage.  with the soldered end i found i didn't have to clamp as tight to get a good hold plus it helped prevent the breakage. i would think the only reason for breakage is the guillotine effect. there has to be a sharp edge at some point on the bridge. if it isn't across the saddle entry then it has to be the block and the clamping force of the block. well at least that is what i have found out. hope all the information you are getting solves your problem.

[david beeson]

Dear Grahame,

Please check out http://www.saddlesingers.co.uk

This product should solve the problem.

Best regards,

Dave :-)

[Russell Vance]

Thanks David, 

These look very useful for bringing back worn FR saddle blocks, especially around the throat region, would be a lot cheaper than replacing the saddle blocks and cleats on vintage units,  nice find. Rusty.

[Chris Rochow]

At what point are the strings breaking??  Try D'Addario strings. They seldom break.

I would deefinitely conract FR to ask about the problem.

[Paul Verticchio]

Hey folks,

Grahame hasn't posted in several months.  Does anyone have any info on his current state of health?  Maybe just computer problems (I hope).

Grahame has been one of my favorite responders and just a great person in general, so I'm a bit concerned.

You out there Grahame?

P (:

[Grahame Myers]

Yep, I'm still here, thanks for thinking about me! I've just been so damn busy this year I don't know where the time goes. I had a few problems with my computer along the way, and had no electricity for a week in my shop after a fire in the harbour here in Lübeck, which set me back a bit.  I also had an accident with my car (not my fault, and nobody got hurt, except my car (!) ), so all in all I've been having a busy time.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot: We went to Hurghada in Egypt for two weeks in September, my first holiday in three years. Drank lots of beer, and spent a lot of time under water looking at the fish..A great holiday, but the theraputic (sp?) effect wore off pretty quickly, and my tan is gone too (don't get me started about the weather here in north Germany:-))

To get back to the FR problems: The customer is still happy with the old one that I polished up, and the new one is still in the shop gathering dust in the corner: He said I should sell it for him when I need one for a job sometime in the future. The tip with the saddle singers looks good though, I'll check that one out. And they're in england too, no customs duty to pay :-)

At the moment I (or should I say my clients), are going through an acoustic guitar phase: Lots of neck breaks, top cracks, neck resets, refrets etc., as well as installing a lot of pickup systems. The hit here at the moment is the AK15 from AER, best acoustic pickup system I've ever heard. I think it's better than the Anthem system from LR Baggs, and cheaper too!

I haven't had an FR in the shop for weeks! But I'm not missing them at all :-)

On the other hand, a certain Adolf Hitler used to say that work makes you free, so I suppose I should be grateful :-)

 

[Paul Verticchio]

Happy to see this post Grahame (:  Glad you're doing well & keeping busy.

Thanks also for the tip on the AER AK15.

Cheers,

Paul