Floyd Rose off center?

[Radiohead]

When I ordered my SL2H-MAH it came exactly like that. I did not accept the guitar and had them order me a new one. Coincidentally, it was the exact same colour as yours? WOW. When did you get it? I wonder if Jackson just resold the guitar to someone else? This happened to me about 2 years ago.

[zslane]

There is a fair amount of room to move the pickup left to right and actually you can see that yours is shifted to the "right" or treble side- take a look at the upper right corner vs. the upper left, you can see quite a bit more wood on the right side. And the pickup even looks like it is kind of off-center in the mounting ring a little, which you can do by bending the little "feet" that the screws go through (not that this is a "good" thing to do- it's best to actually take your time and get the mounting ring drilled RIGHT, but you CAN do it, and it kind of looks to me like someone did on yours.)

What I'm talking about at the bridge end is adjusting the saddles. It only results in a very slight movement (a few hundredths) and will correct a very slight centering issue. There's usually a fair amount of space around the bridge route so unless your bridge route is off-center, too, then you might be able to have the post holes filled & re-drilled.

In any case if it actually bugs you, it can be fixed.

Maybe it was a mistake for me to focus on the centering with the pickup bobbin, as it seems to have thrown off the assessment. Perhaps instead look at the distance between the neck binding edges and the respective pickup ring corners (and mounting screws). As you can see, the neck is off center with respect to the pickup ring, regardless of how the pickup itself is situated within the pup cavity. Moreover, although you can't see it from this photo, all the pickup cavities line up with each other and the bridge studs perfectly. Since these are neck-through guitars, this suggests that all the cavities were routed from the neck block off-center somehow.

[zslane]

When I ordered my SL2H-MAH it came exactly like that. I did not accept the guitar and had them order me a new one. Coincidentally, it was the exact same colour as yours? WOW. When did you get it? I wonder if Jackson just resold the guitar to someone else? This happened to me about 2 years ago.

I did not order them new from Jackson; I picked them up off of eBay, from different sellers, over a year apart from each other. I guess this just demonstrates the gamble one takes when buying used gear over the Internet. It is a gamble I am okay with. It has never really bitten me in the butt except for these two Jacksons.

BTW, my SL2H is not the MAH variety; it is the standard alder body with rock maple neck.

[J_A / 540s]

I just don't see how that would be feasible without routing out extra pocket space bass-side, filling in the stud holes and re-drilling them 1mm (or so) to the left. That's pretty major surgery, as far as I'm concerned, and I'm not prepared to put these guitars through all that.

The offset inserts for the studs I mentioned are actually much less complicated than that. There are metal inserts in the body of your guitar that the bridge studs are threaded into. My method would involve removing the metal inserts & pressing in the new ones. (carefully positoned of course. There is usually a bit of clearence between the bridge & body that the bridge can move enough in either direction to correct the centering issue & if not any good luthier should be able to trim the minute amount needed in a matter of minutes.

Id have made some already but A:I dont currently own any guitars need it & B: I dont have a set of original inserts to measure to copy that arent part of a guitar This thread may inspire me to make a few pairs though if theres any real interest.. Actually if someone took a set of original inserts to any local machine shop & told them to make you a set but drill the holes .75 mm offset or whatever is required is they'd be able to do it.. though the shop time for just making a couple at a time would be expensive.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Maybe it was a mistake for me to focus on the centering with the pickup bobbin, as it seems to have thrown off the assessment. Perhaps instead look at the distance between the neck binding edges and the respective pickup ring corners (and mounting screws). As you can see, the neck is off center with respect to the pickup ring, regardless of how the pickup itself is situated within the pup cavity. Moreover, although you can't see it from this photo, all the pickup cavities line up with each other and the bridge studs perfectly. Since these are neck-through guitars, this suggests that all the cavities were routed from the neck block off-center somehow.

It is obvious the mounting ring AND the pickup are off-center with respect to the neck. That's what I'm saying, the ring can be off-center in a perfectly good route, and the pickup can be off-center in a ring that is mounted correctly centered in a perfectly good route, when the bridge is off-center. I can see that the ring is slightly off-center in the route, I can't see the bridge location, or hold the guitar in my hands and eyeball everything myself, and that's fine...

The point I am trying to make is, your guitar is incorrectly assembled in a very obvious way, not the exact details of what went wrong. A very small error in getting the neck sides straight could also cause the issue (moving the nut end left or right) and maybe that is what is wrong on yours rather than the bridge end.

That's probably why it was on Ebay... Sorry. :dunno:

[Trem]

That's one of the first things i look at when looking to buy a guitar, i hate that, and i have seen it often enough to check.
Also seems to me if the bridge is not lined up properly like if it is lined up properly as it is now, and you tried to fix it by moving the bridge up the intonation would never be right, or worse than usual on a guitar as the strings would be crossing the frets at more of a slight angle. Maybe it's not enough to matter..but yeah that is balls, i don't know how that passes as acceptable in any case or how it happens, bridge or neck alignment issue.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Yep...

Are the strings centered on the neck?

Is the nut centered?

Saddles on straight?

Are the pickups aligned with the strings?

In other words... Did they build it right? Or, is it just slightly out of adjustment? Or, is it totally screwed up?

You gotta check it out. They'll be off a little from time to time and it may just be fine little adjustments like loosening the bezel screws and movign the pickup a little or whatever, and then other times... You send it back, or you move on to another seller, or whatever.

[salmonella]

The bridge is off centre by a couple of mm. The nut looks fine. You will need to reposition the floyd posts to sort this out. IMO, this is a common snag issue with Jacksons.

[Submariner]

I've had a KV2 with this issue before and I've seen it on many other Jacksons, it's so annoying and embarrassing for a guitar this price. This should be documented and taken care of at Jackson ASAP.

[Radiohead]

Just do not understand how this can pass the factory inspection? I have seen this issue on a few jackson now. Someone should definitely get a boot up their ass. I have only bought one guitar on eBay and I would never do it again. I stick to CL or Kijiji so that I could touch, look and play all guitars before I buy.

Since you can not return these I would reposition the bridge a few mm's on the Low E side. Either I would take the guitar to a good luthier or I would do it myself. Repositioning the posts is fairly straight forward, but you will need to check how the repositioned bridge will fit and look in the bridge route. If you move the bridge posts a few mm's on the low E side, the bridge route may look weird or the bridge may not fit? Assuming you can move the posts a little bit on the low E side and still have the bridge route be OK them I would reposition the posts as follows - Remove the screw posts and bushings. The Bushings should come out fairly easily, however, I would check to ensure there is no clear coat on the bushings. If there is, I would score around the edges of the bushing with a box cutter to ensure you do not screw up the finish. Gently pry the bushing up using one of the posts protecting the guitar finish. You may mark up the chrome on the post, which you can easily reorder on-line for a few $$$. Once your done, glue wood dowels pieces into the holes. Once dry carefully level the dowels to the height of the floyd route. You may need to remove the rubber at the base of the floyd route. Cover the finish with tape to protect the guitar finished. Once leveled, I would string up the Low and high E of the guitar. Hand position the floyd so that the bridge is centred to the left and right side of the neck. Mark the drill locations. Assuming your guitar intonated correctly, be careful to drill along the same axis line of the original holes. Do not move the floyd forward or backward. Redrill your bushing locations, careful not to go too deep. Mark the desired depth with a bit of tape on the bit. A drill press is best, but you can do it very carefully with a hand drill. Reinsert your bushings. Test your bridge location buy replacing the floyd with the low and high E strings in place. If it is still off centre, then carefully repeat. Assuming your good, then touch up an paint with some brush on black (should not be noticeable as it is in the route under the floyd base). Replace the rubber in the base of the route. If you need to buy a new piece, I have found very similar material at Michael's craft store. Replace the Floyd, with only Low and High E. Check your pickup locations. If needed use tooth picks to plug any screw holds and reposition correctly to the new bridge. re-string, tune, intonate. Rock on...

If you need to re-route the bridge route then I would definitely take it to a good luthier as the guitar finish will need to be redone.

[j2379]

that sucks too bad it not the other way seems like it would be better....

[gerryl98]

The bridge is off centre by a couple of mm. The nut looks fine. You will need to reposition the floyd posts to sort this out. IMO, this is a common snag issue with Jacksons.

I had this done on a used DK2M. Surprisingly it only cost me $40. BTW, this is a 4 year old post!!!

[MetalMedal II]

Oh yeah, A JT6 bridge is also narrower spaced compared to an OFR, so you could also try one of those.

BTW, I had a Charvel Model 5 (neckthru) and the bridge seemed a hair too far out of place (I forget if it was north or south too much), but it had a Kahler flatmount, and each saddle is adjustable 6 ways. It was at the limit of its lateral adjustment, but it sufficed. The few (maybe the only!) advantages of a Kahler over a Floyd.

Ah, nothing like reading what I think is a new post only to find I replied to it over 3 years ago! Since then, I forgot about that issue with that Model 5!