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Floyd Rose-related Neck Setup


LucSulla

Question

My Charvel had a bit too much relief, so I got that taken care of.  Now I've got an issue with fretting out on the first and second frets.  I've shimmed the nut lock a bit and raised the post height on the bridge, but to no avail.  The frets themselves don't seem to be lifted, and once you're past the second or third fret, everything is butter.  

Suggestions anyone? 

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12 hours ago, LucSulla said:

My Charvel had a bit too much relief, so I got that taken care of.  Now I've got an issue with fretting out on the first and second frets.  I've shimmed the nut lock a bit and raised the post height on the bridge, but to no avail.  The frets themselves don't seem to be lifted, and once you're past the second or third fret, everything is butter.  

Suggestions anyone? 

Who took care of the relief? They should have addressed the fretting out issue. (imho)

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1 hour ago, killerteddybear said:

Who took care of the relief? They should have addressed the fretting out issue. (imho)

I've owned the guitar for three years or so, so no telling.  It could have been something that just happened over time.  

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13 hours ago, LucSulla said:

My Charvel had a bit too much relief, so I got that taken care of.  Now I've got an issue with fretting out on the first and second frets.  I've shimmed the nut lock a bit and raised the post height on the bridge, but to no avail.  The frets themselves don't seem to be lifted, and once you're past the second or third fret, everything is butter.  

Suggestions anyone? 

Tried a true straight edge on those frets (three-at-a-time) to check their level?

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Just now, LucSulla said:

Tried the old credit card trick, and the frets seem fine.  I guess I could shim the nut some more.

Depending on your playing habits/style, you might have worn the frets in the 3-12 range more than in the cowboy chord area, but if they look level with a straight edge, they're probably good enough. I'd shim it again as you've implied. 

FWIW, I have a MIJ Charvel Fusion that came from the factory with not enough material routed at the nut. It played like buttah from fret 5 and beyond, but the open chords sounded awful. Didn't have much in the way of tools or woodworking knowledge back then (30 years ago), but i removed the nut and then carefully and gradually shaved the shelf down whilst keeping the radius relatively true to form. There was rather thick "lip" of rosewood on the shelf which I sanded most of the way through, and that makes me think that the routing jig used in that operation was not set up properly.  Also taught me that a good majority of intonation and action problems start and end with a properly cut and/or installed nut. 

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5 minutes ago, Biz Prof said:

Depending on your playing habits/style, you might have worn the frets in the 3-12 range more than in the cowboy chord area, but if they look level with a straight edge, they're probably good enough. I'd shim it again as you've implied. 

 


I'm pretty sure these are stainless steel.  It's a Custom Shop order, and since we've been talking, I've noticed they are still smooth as (pick your cliche)  despite my never having polished them.

 

8 minutes ago, murkat said:

compound radius fretboard? Stock guitar?  did this situation just come to light since ownership?

I'm pretty sure it has a compound board, and yes.  The action has always been a little high, but it's also an old-school style, heel-adjust truss rod.  It took me years to work up the confidence to loosen the neck and try and fix it (and still put a minor finish crack in the neck pocket, damn it). 

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Murkat will either back me up on this or dismiss it out of hand (he is the expert), but I have, on at least a couple of occasions, encountered issues with a Floyd nut itself that required either some gentle filing or replacement due to excessive wear in the slot(s).  In my experience, it affected the string vibration all the way down the board, but I can foresee a situation where it might also impact only the first few frets due to the more pronounced curvature of the compound radius.

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That may be it.  It's just hard to believe it wore out because, despite being built in 14, I don't think it really saw much playing.  It may have just been set up from the factory with 10s and for someone who preferred higher action than me.  I set it up for 9s, but it was still a little hard to play down the neck.  The truss rod was really responsive, and I actually had to tighten back up a little after the initial 1/4 to 1/3 turn I gave it.  From there, I set the peg heights.  I can probably back those out further...

I really just need to unstring the thing as I also have no clue how far you can back FR pegs out before you've gone too far.  I may have a little more room to go than I think.  I also noticed the bridge is rocked a little back beyond sitting parallel to the body. 

There's really no one around here I trust to know how to set up a guitar, so it's a lot of trial and error on me to just figure it out.  For fixed bridges and cheaper guitars, I prefer to do that anyway, but it makes you sweat a little when it's a custom shop guitar I guess. 

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22 minutes ago, LucSulla said:

That may be it.  It's just hard to believe it wore out because, despite being built in 14, I don't think it really saw much playing.  It may have just been set up from the factory with 10s and for someone who preferred higher action than me.  I set it up for 9s, but it was still a little hard to play down the neck.  The truss rod was really responsive, and I actually had to tighten back up a little after the initial 1/4 to 1/3 turn I gave it.  From there, I set the peg heights.  I can probably back those out further...

I really just need to unstring the thing as I also have no clue how far you can back FR pegs out before you've gone too far.  I may have a little more room to go than I think.  I also noticed the bridge is rocked a little back beyond sitting parallel to the body. 

There's really no one around here I trust to know how to set up a guitar, so it's a lot of trial and error on me to just figure it out.  For fixed bridges and cheaper guitars, I prefer to do that anyway, but it makes you sweat a little when it's a custom shop guitar I guess. 

So, y'all have an engineering school at Ole Miss, yet no one in the vicinity of Oxford with the skills to set up a Floyd?

 

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8 hours ago, Biz Prof said:

So, y'all have an engineering school at Ole Miss, yet no one in the vicinity of Oxford with the skills to set up a Floyd?

 

Not that I know of.  And our engineering school is kinda dicey, lol. That's one of the few things that Moo U down in Starkville does better.  

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relax the strings,

check nut if loose, check nut saddles.

Bolt on neck? check sitting in area, when strings at tension, loose neck screws a lil so neck butts up flush to body.

check floyd springs for equal resistance. they do ware out, tensile strength.

 

Some guitars are, or become prone to weather/ seasonal changes. I have a few that do.

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When I'm setting FR nut height, or standard nuts' slots depths, I fret each string at the fourth fret and look at and feel the gap between the string and the first fret. I want to see barely any gap on the high E and B, I actually rely on my ear just as much. I want to here a gentle "ting" when I tap the string on the first fret. That "ping" tells me I have a wee gap even if I can barely see it. I want gradually more gap as my strings get bigger, with the biggest being about nice card stock's (elite business card) thickness of a gap on the low E string.

If your nut is too low, dial in the height with these ... https://us.amazon.com/Locking-Shims-Floyd-Rose-Guitar/dp/B00XS7YEEK. If need be, these can be cut in half, thirds, fourths, and used to DIY correct a shelf that was cut slightly askew height-wise.

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