Unbalanced Action on a Floyd: Cons?

[SausageofPower]

Goofy question, but I know most of us set up our guitars higher on the bass end than the treble. Is there any disadvantage to this?

[djpharoah]

You get similar action on the bass side if you do this just because the strings are thicker on the bass side of things.

[Animus]

I've always thought it was a no no since the blades won't sit perfect on the posts and can cause some tuning/intonation issues etc. Shimming would probably be the proper way to do it.

[Argos]

There is no disadvatage; it is the correct way. You'd have to set the sides quite differently to have any effect on the operation or stability of the trem.

The difference shouldn't more than a milimeter or so. If any more than that is necessary, there's something else wrong.

[DonP]

Goofy question, but I know most of us set up our guitars higher on the bass end than the treble. Is there any disadvantage to this?

No.

[SausageofPower]

Alright, I just wanted to check. I'm running 3/32 on my bass side and 1/16 on my treble, so it's really a small difference, but I still wanted to check. Thanks again.

[DonP]

Perfectly normal. Bass string flop around more than treble. You need higher action on the bass side to prevent buzz. No impact to trem operation. But if it bugs you, I guess you could shim saddles to get the correct radius but have the saddles higher on the bass side. This way you could keep the trem baseplate flat.

[Luafcm]

consider the center of your strings the point to check for balance and it will mess with your head even more. lol

[horns666]

Just put a Marshmallow Peep in the trem cavity...that's what I do.

[Devotee]

Just put a Marshmallow Peep in the trem cavity...that's what I do.

[horns666]

.....

[Argos]

consider the center of your strings the point to check for balance and it will mess with your head even more. lol

That isn't an accurate representation of how strings sit in most floating bridges, though; and certainly not in most Floyd Rose bridges. The differing saddle heights at the bridge form an arc which matches the fretboard radius.

I suppose you could experiment by using the pairs of saddles in an alternate way, such as D+G-A+B-E+e as opposed to the intended E-A-D-G-B-A. But if you're within the range of common string gauge sets I don't forsee any benefit.

[1337storm]

The problem is, that the radius on the Floyd rarely matches the radius of the board anyway.
Especially when you have a compound radius board and have to extrapolate the 12"-16" to get the matching radius and end up with something like 17"-18" at the bridge.
In most cases, to get a good match between the radius of the saddles and the radius of the neck, you will need to use shims under the saddles.

[horns666]

Put shims under your balls to get the action right..then play like ya got a pair!