Should I loosen the strings before lowering my Floyd Rose?

[dinkyguitar]

Hi,

I have a Schaller Floyd tremolo and need to raise the action. Should I loosen the strings before turning the studs?

On you tube there is a guy that does comparison videos and he lowered his Floyd without taking some tension off the bridge, and know he says his guitar is not as stable anymore...Like it doesn't stay in tune..

dinkyguitar

[Grandturk]

I don't know about those inserts they have in the Schaller Licensed Floyd, but on a real Floyd, no - you don't need to slack the strings.

[dinkyguitar]

My stock stud inserts are about 1" long....and when I replaced them on my other identical Dinky, the Schaller replacements were about 3/4" long....

I've "read" that besides the baseplate and locking screws everything else is interchangeable....

So I just wanted to know if it was OK to lower the bridge without loosening the strings...

dinkyguitar

[Sharkfin]

I would think that it's easier if the stings were loose.

[DonP]

Loosen it first. Better safe than sorry.

[rjohnstone]

If making major height adjustments, yes, take the tension off the strings.
You don't want to be grinding away the knife edges on your base plate while rotating the studs under pressure.

For minor tweaks, (1/4 to 1/2 turn) doing this under tension is not an issue.

[micha]

and what happens if I split my major height adjustment into several minor tweaks?
let's say I make a half turn every tuesday and friday...

I also thought about this topic lately adjusting my floyd, but IMO it's either safe or not.
if a big adjustment damages your knife edges a lot, shouldn't a small adjustment cause at least a small amount of damage as well?


I wasn't sure so I went with DonP's method.

[Grim]

I am not sure what you mean. To be raising action, you would be raising the floyd rose. But why the hell would you need to raise your action? If it's buzzing you're doing it wrong anyways.

[Axewielder]

There is no need to loosen the strings. My god that would be annoying if I had to do that every time on every guitar.

[warlok]

I don't loosen them..

[straycat]

I don't either and never had a problem.
No book I ever read said you had to do that.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

I would on a licensed bridge, but not on the real deal Schaller or OFR. I've never read that you needed to, either. :dunno:

[dinkyguitar]

Grim,

I needed to raise my action because I took everything out of my guitar, electronics, bridge etc., Then I added a big block, and reinstalled everything. I took measurements of the stud heights before I removed them and when I re-installed them, the action was a little low and the string buzzed...So I needed to raise the action to get it to where it was before...

What should I be doing?

"If it's buzzing you're doing it wrong anyways"

dinkyguitar

[Grim]

Grim,

I needed to raise my action because I took everything out of my guitar, electronics, bridge etc., Then I added a big block, and reinstalled everything. I took measurements of the stud heights before I removed them and when I re-installed them, the action was a little low and the string buzzed...So I needed to raise the action to get it to where it was before...

What should I be doing?

"If it's buzzing you're doing it wrong anyways"

dinkyguitar

I have no experience with big blocks so you'd be best seeking advice elsewhere. Raising the posts seems reasonable in this case, thanks for the clarification. I wasn't sure you meant posts, rather just the float level.

[DonP]

There is no need to loosen the strings. My god that would be annoying if I had to do that every time on every guitar.

Mental note: don't buy floating trem axes from Axewielder

edit: and all you other clowns that don't loosen your strings are noted as well:ROTF: