Setting Up Floyd Rose Made Easy — DIY Project

Floyd Rose© - the bridge that defined the 80’s hair metal scene. Every band on the sunset strip had big hair, latex and leather clothing, and Floyd Rose© equipped guitars. A lot of techs hate Floyds© but I personally love them, and I think if more people knew how to properly set them up quickly and efficiently they would love them.

Start by flipping the guitar over, and remove the trem cover. After doing so you will see two “cavities” around the Floyd Rose block. The cavity most guys use for the wedge method is the cavity between the trem block and the bottom of the body; I prefer the cavity in between the claw and the block. When I use the term “loading” I mean the placement of the wedge to create the bridge to be parallel. You see, if you compare the spring’s tension versus the string tension, the springs have so much more potential for resistance, so using the wedge to remove tension from the springs just does not track. You need to load the springs with the wedge, so that all the tension for the fulcrum will be put on the springs and not the strings. I will show I how do the setup starting with making the wedge.

Below I will explain my photos in a more detail method.

1. Get your wood scrap or blank for making the wedge. Use a hard wood like Wenge, Maple, Rosewood or Mahogany

a. I use the Janka Hardness Test to determine the hardness of wood.

2. Use the guitar you need to set up and take the measurements of the cavity.

3. Hold the bridge parallel with the bar and use your caliper to measure the cavity.

4. My measurement is .295 so I will just go with .300

5. I prefer to make my measurements on paper than transfer it to the wood

a. Mark a two inch long mark – this will be your length

b. Mark your measurement (.3) ¼ inch into the wedge

c. At the two inch mark, add .100 to your initial measurement (.4)

d. Use a straight edge to connect the measurements

e. Cut out the wedge, make sure you measure the distance between the strings for the proper width of the wedge.

6. Cut the wedge out, sand and file the saw marks and make it smooth and polished.

7. Insert the wedge between the springs, and push the wedge in till the bridge is parallel to the surface of the body. I usually use two wedges, one on other side of the middle spring, but for this example I’m just using one. I like to increase spring tension by about a ¼ turn on the screws.

8. When the bridge is level, you can proceed with your normal guitar setup procedure.

9. Make sure the strings are thoroughly stretched out, tune to pitch, and slowly loosen the trem springs by small increments while tuning after each adjustment. Eventually the wedge will shift and then you can remove the wedge and tune up and make any final tweaks you need to.

10. The guitar should be perfectly setup at this point, it is normal to have to make adjustments by the smallest turn of the screws.

11. Now you are ready to rock!

Here are some tips that maybe helpful

 If you have a Floyd, they sound better if you are wearing latex or leather

 I always prefer to check the knife edge, because a worn knife edge can cause “sticking” which will result in being "stuck" causing the tuning to be sharp or flat.

 Always test using the arm, go down first than check tuning, than go up and check tuning.

 If the strings are all going flat, the bridge is lifting off the body, tighten the claw springs.

 If the strings are all going sharp, the bridge is recessing into the body, loosen the claw springs.

 Some string companies need a little more stretching than the others.

 If you can go both ways with the trem, and it stays in perfect tune you are ready to rock the strip and shred your life away.