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I've been playing for quite some time, but have always owned and played non-trem guitars. These days, I'm in a kind of band where some whammy is of great use, so I picked up a Jackson Warrior with a Floyd Rose Special on it.

I suppose this is a 2 part question, though the parts likely go hand in hand:

  1. The string tension seems extremely tight. I always use the exact same brand and gauge of strings (D'addario 10-46) and I tune standard one half step down. The floating bridge is sitting exactly parallel to the body and is only about 1/16" raised above the body and I'm using 3 springs. The tension has been causing me to break my 5th string (A) quite regularly. When I say break, I don't mean snap, but instead the wind starts coming undone at the saddle lock so that the string just starts falling out of tune very quickly. The string sits straight in the saddle and there are no burrs or anything, so I assume this must be a product of the string tension.

  2. The neck is sitting at a point where it is roughly straight with a bit of relief. I like my action to be as low as humanly possible because I solo a lot and have a very light picking and fingering technique. On all of my other guitars (again, the others are non-trem), this setup usually makes for perfect action, but on this one the action is still too high at the higher frets (about 15-24). It's not incredibly high, but the current height coupled with the string tension makes for a very uncomfortable experience.

My question is what can I do from here to both lower the action at the higher register and relieve some string tension?

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  • This site ibanezrules.com/tech/setup/index.htm usually answers all of my questions about trems. – sturcotte06 Jul 27 '14 at 15:20
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    For a given pitch, string gauge and scale length, tension should be equal. So check whether this guitar has a longer scale than you're used to (in which case maybe use lighter strings). – slim Jul 27 '14 at 16:18
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The last time I played a guitar with a Floyd Rose is long ago, but I do remember having some unwinding problems in the beginning, too.

Then I discovered, that some strings come with a bit of "unwinding protection" at the end (I don't know, if that's its official purpose, but what I mean, is a short, somewhat thicker part). The trick for me was buying the right strings, and then not cutting that protection off :) The winding may then still break at the string end, but it doesn't spread further up - and as long as the break is behind the contact point, it doesn't matter.

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I own a Jackson Warrior WRXT with a Floyd Rose but I never faced any such problems. It must have something to do with the string company/quality.

In a Floyd Rose you probably cut off the end to string it, probably why you're facing this problem so I would suggest stringing it the other way round without cutting the tip. Hope it helps.

Regards Jimmy

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  • agreed - most of my guitars are Floyd Rose or Kahler trems. I string them all from the headstock - ie have the ball end at the headstock, not the bridge. This way there is no cutting required. Once in tune, I cut off the required length at the ball end. – Doktor Mayhem♦ Aug 6 '14 at 15:53
  • This may seem rather clueless in respect to stringing from the headstock, but if you string it in reverse and there's no cutting required, what about the part of the wound strings that is not wound? – Greenstreet Aug 7 '14 at 16:34
  • If you're taking about the other end in some guitar strings which are unwound, you can cut that off only, without cutting off the main string part. The rest anyway goes into the Floyd Rose while stringing. – Jimmy Aug 8 '14 at 6:17

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