The term Floyd Rose needs no introduction in the guitar industry because it gets immense recognition and praise as a double locking tremolo system. The working or Floyd Rose is similar to that of a vintage-style tremolo.
As one of the best guitar bridges on the market, Floyd Rose plays a key role in raising or lowering the guitar’s pitch as per your operation. You can perfectly tune your guitar with a Floyd Rose. There are two points on your guitar, one at the bridge and the other one on the neck, that need the locking in place.
Floyd Rose gets this job done to tune your guitar. It prevents the slipping of guitar strings from their nut and saddle slots. Although that Floyd Rose can let you play for weeks while staying in perfect pitch, it’s possible that it may not stay in tune. It can happen due to multiple reasons.
You must know the solutions to deal with the issue of the bridge not staying in tune.
What To Do When Your Floyd Rose Not Staying In Tune
- Check Compatibility
Floyd Rose cannot perform its role as a floating bridge if it’s not compatible with your guitar. You cannot purchase it without checking its features. An improper Floyd Rose will definitely not stay in tune.
Conduct thorough research and make sure that the neck angle of your guitar, the type of strings on your guitar, and the tuning on it show compatibility with the Floyd Rose.
- Install It Right
Sometimes the careless installation process of Floyd Rose can lead to a number of problems. If you are not sure about the right installation process, read the instructions from the manual and follow each step accordingly. The Floyd Rose can fit in any trem hole with a few modifications.
Some instruments don’t have that hole, so it’s a lot of work when you are trying to install a Floyd there. Before installing the bridge, do a complete trace of Floyd on your guitar. The first step of the installation is the installment of locking a nut piece into the neck. Use a razor blade to get a nice flat surface, and then place a locking nut piece.
It is important to center the nut piece perfectly on the neck to locate the right place for the screws. Make sure you put the screws right. After getting it done right, reattach the neck to the body of the guitar.
Now you have to look for a place to put the bridge on. Take a measurement from the nut piece to the 12th fret. You can double that length to get your scaling. Be careful while taking the measurements because there is no room for glass saddle errors. Make an alignment of the straight edge with your neck to find the center.
Add pencil marks on places where you have to put your bridge saddles. Place the bridge on the selected location and have clearance on the strings. Take a couple of sawtooth hangers and flatten them out. Now, proceed to their installation in the strap. Make sure you don’t make any cracks in the strap.
It’s better to mark your drill bits with tape when you are trying to get a particular depth. Adjust the screws to the full minimum height and set up the Floyd on the screw posts. Take the final tracing for Floyd Rose. The height of strings is always higher, so you need to route to sink the bridge deeper.
It’s not necessary for the route to come up perfect because it’s completely hidden under the bridge. For setting up your spring claw on the back, flip your guitar and place it over the fixed spot. The last step is to install the string retainer on the headstock.
- Check The Screws
Screws on your Floyd Rose are another factor that can cause the guitar to lose its tuning. However, there is nothing worrisome about them because all they need is a little change in their tightening. In some circumstances, the screws are overtightened, and they cause the failure of Floyd Rose to stay in tune.
There is also a possibility that they are loosely tightened. In either case, you have to tighten them in a moderate manner.
- Get Licensed Version
The market is replete with several counterfeit Floyd Rose replicas that have no quality whatsoever. Never purchase such stuff just to save some bucks. It can cause problems for your instrument later on. The reason is that such versions damage the chipping of the knife-edge, and it eventually wears down.
Make sure that the Floyd Rose you buy is a licensed version and reliable enough to stay in tune. If that’s not a licensed version, then find one and replace it with the replica.
- Check The Setup Of the Guitar
Most of the time, users are looking for issues with Floyd Rose that are preventing it from staying in tune, but the real problem lies with the setup of the guitar. There is no chance of the correct functionality of Floyd Rose if the setup of the guitar is off. Therefore, keep a check on the neck of the guitar. Also, see the intonation.
- Set The Order And Orientation Of Floyd Rose Locking Nut Pads
The most common factor behind the Floyd Rose going out of tone is its locking nut pads. Some people take one or two strings off at a time while leaving everything else intact, while others take all the strings off at once.
Regardless of which kind of person you are, you have to make sure that the order and orientation of locking nut pads are the same as it was when they came off. The thickness of strings varies. You can see tiny grooves at the bottom of the nut pads, which keep getting deeper and cause the nut to slip off the strings.
It leads to Floyd getting out of the tune. You can try lubing the grooves with Carmex, graphite, or berts bees.
- Follow Some Tips While Tuning The Floyd Rose
You can get your Floyd Rose to stay in tune if you follow some simple instructions when you are tuning the bridge. It’s recommended that the best position to have the fine tuners is halfway through their range. You can then proceed to use machine heads to carry out the tuning of all the strings.
Now, shake the term well and tune with the help of machine heads. In the last step, the locking nut needs a proper tightening.
- Adjust The Tightness Of The Saddle
Although it doesn’t happen on a frequent basis, the Floyd Rose saddles coming to lose can cause turning problems. However, the fix is quite easy, and it requires you to get a hex key. Now use it to make adjustments to the tightness of a saddle.
- Limit The Climate Changes
The above-mentioned reasons are valid enough to keep your Floyd Rose out of tune, but there is another significant factor that can affect its working mechanism. Not many people know about this, but there is a strong impact of humidity and temperature changes on the tuning of your Floyd Rose.
Tuning issues can arise if you constantly take your guitar outside in the air and then bring it back to a warm indoor. If you want your bridge, Floyd Rose, to stay in tune, make sure that your guitar is not subjected to frequent climate changes.