Musicman Axis

[kpinks]

I bought a new Musicman Axis guitar with the Gotoh Floyd. Awesome playing guitar, but the tremolo set-up does not seem to stay in tune very well. It is a dive-only tremolo. The tremolo bridge is parallel to the body, the nut is tight, but still after using the bar only a little, it goes out of tune and it is not consistent. Sometimes all the strings are flat, sometimes they are sharp! What areas do I need to look at to resolve this? Has anyone else had this problem?
Thanks in advance
Kev

[MetalHeadMat]

Stupid question but is it a problem cause by new strings?

[Hellbat]

Make sure the locking nuts are facing the correct direction. The ridge on the top should be parallel with the strings as seen below.

t_toplk.jpg

Also make sure the trem posts don't have play in them. If they do you can get them solid by wrapping them with some teflon plumbers tape. Another thing to try is lube the knife edges with some kind of grease. (Big bends nut sauce or even chapstick will work here.)

You do say the trem is set to dive only. Are you doing this by a block/tremsetter style device or just by resting the trem on the guitar body? If it's just resting on the body and the body isn't a flat top you will have tuning issues.

[SausageofPower]

Goofy question, but would this be suitable for lubing knife edges?

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202932687/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

Also, I did a quick search and I found this:

A Quick Note on Lubrication of the Pivot Point -
Some will recommend lubing the pivot point with products like petroleum jelly, chapstick, and grease. These products will have little to no effect on a knife edge in good condition. The purpose of lubrication is to reduce the amount of friction between to surfaces as the they move against each other. There is very little friction in the pivoting of the trem, as the only contacting surfaces are the thin knife edge and the divot of the post. The pivoting action produces little friction as the knife edge presses on the post, rather than sliding along it like a brake pad on a rotor. My experience with lubrication is to avoid it on areas exposed to open air and dust and dirt. During my first tour, soldiers would apply generous amounts of oil to the surfaces of their weapons to prevent rust, but dust would stick to the residual oil, dirtying the weapon. By the end of the tour, soldiers were only lubricating most essential internal parts of their weapons - the bolt, firing pin, and bolt carrier. The same concept applies to lubricating the knife edges, as dust and dirt can stick on the lube, gunking up the most important area of your trem. The bottom line? Avoid lubricating the pivot point. The only exception would be to sparingly lube the posts prior to screwing or unscrewing them, since the knife edge can grind against the post as it moves along the inside of the divot.

[kpinks]

I don't think so, I thought I stretched them sufficiently! I could try and stretch them more

[Hellbat]

Well, you don't want to have the grease globbed all over it, just a thin sparing coat. And yes it will attact dust. Thats why you wipe it down and apply fresh stuff at every string change. The grease you listed would be suitable, but applying it in small amounts would be difficult, you'd want to use a toothpick or something to apply it to the knife edges. The Big Bend nut sauce is nice because it comes in a syrette style tube that makes it nice and easy to apply in small quantities.

[CowboyFromHell]

According to an employee of the company advertising the product, as the name appears to suggest, that is a synthetic colon lubricant. What uses you make of it, do so at your own risk.

[kpinks]

Had practice last night and decided to use the Musicman guitar. High strings still going out of tune without even using the tremolo bar, specifically the G string!!
I will check the saddles for burrs and try tightening the springs a bit more. The bridge is definitely sitting on the body, checked the screws holding on the neck to see if they are tight. Everything good there.
Frustrated
Kev