Non-recessed Floyd Rose setup

[Acapulco Gold]

I got my first Jackson soloist and it has a non-recessed Floyd Rose. It is sitting quite high off the body and floating. What are my options for reducing the float and making it dive only?

1. Tighten the springs to pull the bridge down. This would cause the base of the Floyd to not be parallel to the body and lean back to touch the body and block the trem from pulling the strings upward. Is this how Van Halen had it? I've seen pics of his, and Brad Gillis's Floyds and they seem to rest on the body, not much space for pulling the strings up. Mine has plenty and can probably pull up at least a step.

I don't need the Floyd to pull up at all, I can bend the strings if I want that. I would benefit from being able to rest my hand on the bridge without pulling the strings sharp but I can't figure out how it's supposed to be done.

My guitar is a 1986 Soloist, OFR. I haven't measured the action as it plays well, but I imagine I might need to lower the action so the floyd can sit closer to the body and rest on it. Does anyone know any setup guide for setting up a non-recessed Floyd Rose? Thank you

[ed]

Install a trem stop or one of those tremol no units. In a soloist you cant change the angle of the neck so in most cases you cant drop the trem so it sits on the top of the guitar as it does on evh guitars for example.

[x_zac10]

Yeah, you don't want to mess with the overall height of the bridge if the action is basically where you want it—floating off the body is just how it works with a Soloist that has a top-mount Floyd. Something like a trem stop is probably the easiest way, and can always be reversed if you don't like it. If you were fully blocking it you could just shove some picks or whatever in there, but if you plan to use it to dive still you'll want it to be something held secure. There are a handful of products out there, but I think a trem stop is the cheapest and easiest solution—you can get them from Floyd directly or FU-Tone.

[Number Of The Priest]

The Tremol-No is expensive. However, it requires no "surgery" to the guitar (no holes drilled, no wood removed, etc.) so it's easy to return the guitar to looking original again. It is also the most flexible option, allowing you to fix the bridge completely, set it to dive-only, or allow it to travel in both directions.

The FU-Tone Tremolo Stopper is expensive for what it is, and requires minor surgery (screw hole). It only allows dive-only. A less expensive alternative, which also allows travel in both directions, is to use a door sliding latch (https://forum.bareknucklepickups.co....?topic=26896.0) but that requires a bit more surgery (more screw holes) and you will need to be very precise in installing it because the stopper is a fixed non-adjustable length, unlike the FU-Tone Tremolo Stopper which uses an adjustable screw as its stopper which you can adjust to "meet" your tremolo sustain block.

[neilli]

I'd suggest you cut a wood block and put it in the trem cavity in front of the trem block ('through' the guitar so to speak). A little dab of wood glue will hold it in place and means it's easy enough to remove.

[metalhobo]

tremol-no is crap.

screwing in tremolo stoppers is completely unnecessary.

neilli's suggestion is good. I've found that coins taped together and stuck in between the block and body works well too. double-sided tape on one side works just fine to keep it in the cavity.

[toejam]

Put shims under the saddles and then you can lower the Floyd to the body. Look on Ebay or Allparts or something.

[hazar]

The Tremol-No is expensive. However, it requires no "surgery" to the guitar (no holes drilled, no wood removed, etc.) so it's easy to return the guitar to looking original again. It is also the most flexible option, allowing you to fix the bridge completely, set it to dive-only, or allow it to travel in both directions.

The FU-Tone Tremolo Stopper is expensive for what it is, and requires minor surgery (screw hole). It only allows dive-only. A less expensive alternative, which also allows travel in both directions, is to use a door sliding latch (https://forum.bareknucklepickups.co....?topic=26896.0) but that requires a bit more surgery (more screw holes) and you will need to be very precise in installing it because the stopper is a fixed non-adjustable length, unlike the FU-Tone Tremolo Stopper which uses an adjustable screw as its stopper which you can adjust to "meet" your tremolo sustain block.

I use the tremol-no in several of mine....works great but it is pricey. Blocking the Floyd off with wood or something is a great option as well. You are not going to get the floyd sitting close to the body if the action on the guitar is already good. You may be able to lower the floyd and action a bit more by lowering the posts a bit more.....truss rod is critical as well........... If this is your first top mounted floyd it is going feel different brother but its cool once you get used to it. .....especially if your used to a recessed floyd.

[hazar]

Put shims under the saddles and then you can lower the Floyd to the body. Look on Ebay or Allparts or something.

How would that work brother? Im confused.

[neilli]

the shims would have to be pretty damn thick to counter 1/4" or so that the bridge plate would need to drop, which would necessitate longer intonation screws etc

[hazar]

Put shims under the saddles and then you can lower the Floyd to the body. Look on Ebay or Allparts or something.

How would putting shims under that saddles work? I am confused. In my experience the neck angle and thickness at the point where it connects to the body would be a major factor on how how far the Floyd would be off the body. Even if was a bolt one neck, it seems like you would want to shave the heal down thinner to be able to make the floyd sit closer to the body. Just trying to figure out where shims would go in trying to lower the bridge.

[toejam]

I used a few shims under the Floyd saddles on my old Charvel Star. I didn't do anything to the neck angle, just lowered the bridge to the body, put a couple shims under each saddle (more/less to conform with the fingerboard radius). There's a bunch in a package, and they have holes in the middle of them. It was real easy to stack them, and the intonation screws are long enough to go through no problem. Jackson/Charvel has already used some copper tape folded up to shim certain saddles higher in the past, but the pre-made metal shims work better, IMO.

https://www.ebay.com/p/Allparts-Saddle-Shim-Set-for-Floyd-Rose-Bridges/901255319

[hazar]

How would putting shims under that saddles work? I am confused. In my experience the neck angle and thickness at the point where it connects to the body would be a major factor on how how far the Floyd would be off the body. Even if was a bolt one neck, it seems like you would want to shave the heal down thinner to be able to make the floyd sit closer to the body. Just trying to figure out where shims would go in trying to lower the bridge.

Im an idiot. After reading back through a few 100 times i got it............getting old. I didnt even know these shim things existed.

[PowerTube]

Install a trem stop or one of those tremol no units.

Those devices are fine, but I've blocked a few of mine to dive only using just a small block of wood against the front of the sustain block. You can glue it on or screw it into the body. And, if you allow the sustain block to rest against it, it'll give you a slightly thicker tone.

[Nightbat]

You could also drill 2 holes through the sustain block and thread them and screw in 2 bolts