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Floyd rose - Shop wants 100 dollars....

1K views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  Rexx 
G
#1 ·
... to "block " it so it only goes in one direction, down. My friend's trem is done like this, and it's a marked improvement in dive-bombability. So, the question is: How do I do this myself?


James
 
#2 ·
Way i did mine was to remove the strings, and then the tremolo springs. After you've done that, there should be nothing holding the floyd to the guitar. Cut a little block of wood (the hardest wood you can find) to approximate size (make sure its a little bigger than you need it) which will fit between the tremolo and the cavity. Place it into the cavity and hold the tremolo in place to see if the tremolo is level with the body. It wont be, so take the block out, get some rough sand paper and sand away one of the edges a bit. Then refit it and see if the tremolo is now level with the face of the guitar. If its not, repeat till it is. Once its level, use a piece of tape or find some other way of sticking the piece of wood into the cavity. Put the springs back on and restring. Tighten the springs a little (by tightening the screws on the spring claw) so the tremolo rests on the piece of wood. And thats it, all strings should now be stable when you bend :thumb: There is no way you should pay 100 bucks to get someone to do it. It can be done in less than an hour. Ill take a picture of the tremolo cavity of my floyded guitar to hopefully help you out a bit.
 
#4 ·


As you can see, i just used some cheapo tape to hold the wooden block in place. One more thing to make sure of, the block has to sit low enough that the springs dont rub against it. I didnt have to adjust the intonation, cos when i was done, the tremolo was sitting at pretty much the exact same height as before.
 
#5 ·
Why do I get the idea that there's a bit of miscommunication in this thread? James, do you want to trem to only be able to lower the pitch of the strings or do you not want it to move at all? What's described above is the procedure to "block" a trem so that it won't be able to move at all but it sounds like what you want to do is adjust it so that it rests on the body and is only able to lower the pitch, correct?
 
#6 · (Edited)
No no. What i did lets the trem divebomb, but no pitch raising. The block acts like an extension of the body, so the trem has the same function as a vintage trem. If you add another block on the otherside, then the tremolo is completely blocked and acts like a fixed bridge, and you can remove the springs.
 
G
#7 ·
I want the trem to only dive bomb....

I tried the method you suggested, only to discover that the wood isn't hard enough or something.


Is there a method to do it so that it rests against the body??? If so, that would be preferable, wouldn't it?

Anyways, I can slightly bend up with the wood block I'm using. Is that normal??
 
#9 · (Edited)
Yep Mab is right when he says crank down those springs....and use a really hard wood like oak which you can get at the Home Depot for a couple of bucks. The way his picture shows is a good clean way to block, but sometimes the body is really thin or uneven at that point and you might have to go to plan "B" which is to put a block under the back of the bridge. Here are a couple of examples...on the red one you cannot even see the block becasue it is buried in the cavity:
 

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#10 ·
I can't believe a music store would have the nads to ask $100 for blocking a trem.

I thought about getting one of those D-Tuna's for one of my floyd strats and of course for it to work I'd need to block the trem.

The oak suggestion is a good one, any hard wood would do the trick but making the cavity level where the block gets glued is important and I'm guessing using carpenters glue and tightening 5 springs and some string tention would be a good call.

Even though I totally love floating floyds (drop 'till the strings are falling off the neck & pull up 8 notes on the G string) :shock: I definately want to do this mod to one of my less used strats.

Q- does the D-Tuna really work 100%?
 
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