So-Cal (Floyd Rose) setup

[Cynical1]

I was wondering, is the Floyd Rose that came on my So-Cal (factory) set up correctly for the neck radius, or can I improve the action by shimming the saddles? Has anyone done this or had it done? How about an OFR in the same guitar? Thanks for the info.

[straycat]

Just raise the bridge if its too low.

[Cynical1]

Thanks, but my question is a little bit more complicated than that. I'm talking about raising the individual saddles to match the radius of the neck. That way the action will be close to perfect.

[Grandturk]

Thanks, but my question is a little bit more complicated than that. I'm talking about raising the individual saddles to match the radius of the neck. That way the action will be close to perfect.

No - its not setup like that by the factory. We had a thread about this between me and JazzNoise.

The bridge has a 15" or 16" radius or something close to that, which would about match the end of the fret board. Since the fretboard is conical, you can imagine that it would further flatten if it extended all the way to the bridge, maybe to something like 20" or something. So, if you wanted, yes you could shim the saddles to match that radius - but no, its not done at the factory - even at the Custom Shop level (although, I guess you could specify that upon ordering).

[SteveK]

Just raise the bridge if its too low.

Don't do that with the strings at tension though as you may damage the knife-edge pivot points on the bridge

[Cynical1]

So let's say I put one shim under the e,a, b, and e saddles that would make it closer to how it should be, right?

[straycat]

STD floyd radius is 10 degrees IIRC maybe diff on these but I wouldn't think so.
Raising and lowering the bridge height under tension will not hurt the knife edges.I have been a guitar tech for a long time and never had a problem doing that.
Action on mine is low as a gnats ass.Probably the lowest action of any guitar I have.

[Grandturk]

The Floyd nut is 10 or 12. I think its 12. The base plate of the Floyd is flatter - like 15 or 16. Out of the box Floyds have a shim under the middle 4 saddles which makes it closer to the nut's radius.

[Cynical1]

Thanks, I guess 3 shims on the e's and 1 on the a & b will make an 18 radius, whereas 2 on the e's and 1 on the a & b will make a 16 radius. I guess I'll have to try both and see which is better.

[Zerberus]

^^ it would make more sense to set the strings that are farthest from the fretboard for optimal action and then shim the other 4 saddles individually until their action is also optimal.

I mean if you´re going to do it at all, why not do it right the first time. It will take longer to disassemble the entire trem again and start over than it will to invest an extra half hour and make everything perfect

[toejam]

^^ it would make more sense to set the strings that are farthest from the fretboard for optimal action and then shim the other 4 saddles individually until their action is also optimal.

I mean if you´re going to do it at all, why not do it right the first time. It will take longer to disassemble the entire trem again and start over than it will to invest an extra half hour and make everything perfect

+1. I shimmed the saddles on my old Charvel Star, but mainly because I wanted to keep the trem on the body for divebomb only, so the saddles all needed to be shimmed up to keep from bottoming out on the board anyway. Though, J/C usually puts some copper tape on the bottom of some saddles to be shimmed up and conform better to the radius.

[Bengal65]

The best method for setting saddle height is to use a set of radius gages. StewMac carries them and takes the guess work out of matching the radius to the fretboard.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Measuring_tools/Understring_Radius_Gauges.html

You can also use these:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Measuring_tools/Radius_Gauges.html

[MarkThomas]

*edited* found my answer

Good luck with the trem!