Floyd Rose tightened down, action still high?

[Punkavious]

Hey. So I never really noticed it until I bought a new guitar without a Floyd Rose, and discovered that it was possible to have low action without fret buzz or whatever. The guitar that is the having the "problem" (although I suspect it is me that is at fault here) is a Jackson KVX10 with a licensed FR. Now I've never had the thing professionally set up, the Truss Rod seems okay (I've followed this guys advice), and intonation seems okay. The FR is "floating", well, everything sounds good, etc.

Moving on to the problem itself, the height from the fret board to the string at the 24th fret is 5mm, while the action at the 1st fret is under 3mm. With the Floyd, I've tightened the bridge bolts down, and no difference...since they were tight to begin with. Kinda disconcerting to say the least

I would like lower action, but I'm stumped. I don't wanna over tighten anything, because, yeah, I love my Jackson and I don't know what damage that might cause, but compared to how easy my Schecter plays, it's not my ideal guitar right now. I'd really appreciate some advice from you guys. Many thanks.

[Axewielder]

Sounds to me like the bridge isn't level and the back end is rising up. If that's the case, you'll need to tighten the spring claw screws in the trem cavity and/or add a spring or two and bring it back down perfectly level.

[dangerous_dave]

Check that the baseplate of the floyd is parallel to the guitar body.


Also, check that your neck has the appropriate curve in it.

[DrDestruction]

Also... make sure your nut isn't cut too high or the routing under your lock-nut was cut too shallow. Nut/Lock-nut height can pretty seriously determine string height and playability.

I'd also check neck-angle (if your guitar has a bolt-on neck, that is)- there might not be enough angle, which could lower your action a bit. All it would take would be to put in a shim in the neck pocket closest to the body (about business-card sized), and you'll be all set.

You're kinda boned if your guitar was made with a glue-on or neck-through body construction, as there's not a whole lot you can do in that case.

[Punkavious]

Cheers, guys.

The bridge is floating, it's nice and parallel to the body. As much as I hate re-stringing/tuning the Floyd, I can float it pretty well at this point.

I can't really compare anything to anything, so if something is a little off, I could only guess. Both nuts seem to be equal in-terms of how shallow their holes are. But of course, I don't know.

As for the neck angle. The neck is a bolt-on (screwed in pretty tight, I might add), so I can adjust it. Is there a diagram of this shim installation/mod? Maybe I should leave this to a professional? I was quoted about £33 for a full set-up a while ago :\

[straycat]

Make sure the trem anchor studs haven't pull up.That would cause that problem and could be eaisily overlooked.

[metalchurch79]

Make sure the trem anchor studs haven't pull up.That would cause that problem and could be eaisily overlooked.

Good one! That has happened to me already.
Plus, I agree with the shim idea, you might benefit from a shim to raise the neck slightly, therefore get some adjustment back to your floyd if in fact it is down the whole way and the post bushings didnt pull up.

[Phantom Hawk]

Make sure the trem anchor studs haven't pull up.That would cause that problem and could be eaisily overlooked.

+1 I had that happen to me once. Took a little while of messing around before I picked up on what was happening. If thats the case, its an easy fix. Good luck !

[dangerous_dave]

Push down on the E string just after the second fret and see how much of a gap there is between the 1st fret and the string, there shouldn't be much of a gap, my KV2 has pretty much no gap between the 1st fret and the string.

[slash]

3mm at the first fret is high. I make all of mine < 1mm at the first fret.

[straycat]

Denny is right on 3mm is pretty high.I press at the 3rd fret and then check at the 1st.As long as you have some clearence at 1st fret you should be OK.

[Newc]

To shim the neck, remove the neck and put half of a business card under the edge of the neck heel closest to the body. You might need 2 halves (note: cut the card in half longways rather than folding it over).

This will increase the neck angle and allow for lower action.


The Floyd doesn't have to be parallel to the body, it can follow the angle of the strings and neck and work just as well.

[DrDestruction]

As for the neck angle. The neck is a bolt-on (screwed in pretty tight, I might add), so I can adjust it. Is there a diagram of this shim installation/mod? Maybe I should leave this to a professional? I was quoted about £33 for a full set-up a while ago :\

It's actually pretty easy. Just detune your strings and unbolt the neck. Then get a business card and cut a 1/4-inch piece of it from the width-end. Then put it on the part of the neck cavity towards the bridge. Then re-connect the neck and tune back up.

Note that you might need to play around until you get your guitar set up the way you like it. You might need to add shims, remove shims, or even place shims elsewhere in the neck pocket. But the overall operation is the same.

You might need to re-calibrate your trem after putting everything back together, but it shouldn't be that big a deal.

If you're unsure as to what to do, then you can take your axe to your local guitar shop and have them do it. It should only take about a half-hour and shouldn't be all that expensive- just be sure to ask to have a shim put in your guitar's neck pocket.

[Foulacy]

you have to shim the neck, if you've done everything else properly.

also, are you sure you turned the studs? you're not trying to tighten the string blocks or saddles here... there are two of them, one on the front left and one on the front right of the bridge.

[zeegler]

3mm is EXTREMELY high.

You say the truss rod doesn't need adjusting. So, you're saying the neck is straight or virtually straight? Have you checked the relief to see how straight it is? Assuming it is straight, you need to get that nut down lower before doing anything else. You should have about 1mm or a little less between the strings and the first fret. Once that problem is taken care of, like someone said, make sure that the bridge posts are seated correctly. Put an allan wrench in the end of the posts and tap them with a rubber mallet to make sure they are all the way down. If they move around too much, you might want to pull them out, and put a little carpenter's glue in the holes. This will tighten them up just enough, but still allow them to be removed in the future if needed. If this still doesn't help, then maybe you do need to insert a shim underneath the neck heel. You should be able to lower your strings right down to the fretboard. Obviously you don't actually want them laying on the fretboard, but you should have that much adjustment if the guitar is set up properly. Reasonable 12th fret action should be 1.5 to 2.5mm.