need help floyd rose

[phrozin]

hi guys i had a problem with my locking nut and had to buy a new one for my IB-1 after one of the threads of one of the locking bolts on the nut striped, the old nut didnt haft to do anything but had adjustment for raising or lowering the height the new nut doesn't i have been trying to shim it but i keep getting bad string buzzing on the low E, i have been trying to sort it out all day but cant seem to get it right can someone tell me what is the string height to the 1st fret for the Floyd rose locking nut does the string height at the 12th matter? should i set it up 1st? This is the 1st Floyd rose trem i have had and to be frank i haven't a clue what i'm doing setting it up correctly can some one give me some advice setting it up just about ready to throw the thing at the wall its one of my favorite guitars and is annoying me no end """HELP""

[Simon Barden]

Is the string low enough to buzz on the 1st fret, or is it buzzing in the locking nut?

If it's definitely on the first fret (anything above 0.5mm clearance should be OK), then it needs another shim to raise it up.

If it's got a decent clearance, then it's probably caused by the string vibrating in the slot itself. If so, you need to start with the basics.

Did the previous nut have a built-in angle to it, but with a flat base and sat on the headstock parallel to the fretboard? If so, and the new nut is flat and was designed to sit on the headstock in an angled slot, then you may have to try and also shim it an at angle. It needs to be highest on the fretboard side and lowest on the tuner side.

It doesn't look like the kit comes with a string retaining bar that sits behind the nut. If it does - fine, but it needs to be set low enough so that the strings are pulled down on to the back of the nut. If the strings aren't pulled down, then the clamp plate has to do the initial string holding down as well as do the clamping. With this, removing the 3 clamp pots and clamp pieces should still see the strings all sitting on the bottom of the nut, all the way across it. If a strings is still buzzing when it's like this, then I'd look at the shape of the slot to see if it's not sitting firmly in the bottom of it but raised slightly. You may need to get a triangular needle file out and run it through the slots a few times in case there's any bit of metal moulding or flashing holding the string up.

If there isn't a string bar, then it's a good idea to get and fit one. Otherwise you need to wind your strings on the tuners so that they come right off the bottom of the tuner to mimic the effect of the string bar.

Once you get the guitar playing well without any buzzing, then you can put the clamps on.

The buzzing can only be caused either by a low string, the string not sitting on the very front of the nut, or the slot is flat and too wide so the string can move from side to side.

Just keep your cool, I'm sure it can be sorted.

[phrozin]

Thanx Simon i was hoping you would chime in, ill check all that as im not sure about the angle doesn't have the bar thing on the strings i think i see what you mean about the angle it could be the nut its self causing it i didn't even think about that, i don't know much about Floyd rose's thanx again Simon your a legend

[Simon Barden]

I've only got one guitar with a locking nut (did have another one some time ago with a Kahler trem), but I do have a friend with a lot of them (and used to have a music shop and was also a demonstrator for Fender) so I've picked up a lot of information from him. There is nothing that mystical about a Floyd Rose, it is very much like a glorified 2-post Fender trem in basic principle, but a lot does depend on getting the basic set-up right.

[phrozin]

you were right Simon was the nut it self all fixed now did what you said and buzz all gone thanx for the help Simon :-) its actually better than it was with the old nut lol

[Simon Barden]

Great news! Glad you're a happy bunny again.

[DrNomis_44]

One way to determine if the locking nut is set to give a good buzz-free 1st-fret action is to get a 300mm steel ruler and put it on the fretboard so that the edge is touching the frets, then slide it so that the end is touching the front edge of the nut, if the nut is set to the correct height you will see that the bottom of each string-groove on the front of the nut is just slightly above the edge of the ruler that's touching the top of the frets, if not, you need to add a thin shim underneath the locking nut to bring it's height up a bit.