Install new strings on guitar with whammy bar

Question

So I have an Ibanez GRG250DX and I want to replace its strings. But I havent played it in a long time.

What I tried so far:

I clipped the old strings, kind of cleaned the guitar and pulled in the first string (E) like this:

I tucked the string under the bar on the left, into the groove and down to the whammy bar, into the holding mechanism. Then I tried to pluck the string, but it just clinks on the neck of the guitar.

The Problem:

By looking a bit more closely, I was able to find out that the string is touching the lowest fret bar and is rattling on that. It seems as if the string isnt "hovering" above the pickups and neck, but rather lies on it until like 1/2 of the necks length, where it starts to hover (pic related).

My questions:

How am I supposed to get the strings hovering again? I just tried it with one string but I assume it will be the same on the others as well. There were these screws on the whammy bar which seemed to be lose so I screwed them in a bit, but it seems as if that is the problem.

As far as I can tell, the horizontal screws on the right are for holding the string, where as the vertical screws are for tuning. The screws on the left are somehow the holder of the whammy bar but seem to also affect the strings distance from the neck. When I lose the screws on the left more and more, the string starts to hover, but at the same time my whammy bar seems to get too lose. Also, when I pluck the string in a vertical (normal play) position with the guitar, it just pinches and stops, so its not even rattling.

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Im sorry to bother you but I found nothing on how to deal with this on the internet and I really want to get this going.

Answer 1

1. Don't do anything at all about it until all 6 strings are on. Increasing string tension will cure many apparent ills. A floating tremelo is just that - floating. It will not sit in place until all the tension is on. One string does not a symphony make ;)
   Messing with the tremolo tension before all the strings are on will mean you will need to set it back to what it used to be once they are. You made two extra jobs for yourself by some elementary physics misunderstanding.

2. It doesn't look like you have enough slack at the peg. By the time it's in tune you want three winds around the peg, or it will slip.

Answer 2

1st rule - don't take off all strings - change them one at a time. That way, the balance between the springs and the strings will remain not-too-bad.

2nd rule - don't adjust anything else until the guitar is close to being back in tune with all six strings replaced - one at a time.

Assuming the new strings are the same gauge as the old, everything should settle in an hour, and be as it was, balance wise.

Answer 3

It is common to put something under the back of the Floyd Rose bridge to fight the springs while changing strings. I wouldn't go as far as "one string at a time" -- I'm a hardtail guy who has changed strings on a Floyd once, so maybe I'm wrong -- but using a block of wood or a paperback to keep the bridge from going too far should help, especially if your guitar is set up for floating.

But yeah, get all strings on the instrument and get close to tuning before changing action or anything.