Simple Axis Maintenance (attn. many pix)
I hijacked the kitchen table today to perform a string change and setup on my recently aquired and beloved PBB Axis.
I figured I snap a few pictures to illustrate the process, and how you can do that yourself at home - without luthier-grade tools or the need for an engineering degree. Hopefully this thread develops into some kind of experience exchange on setups and everyday handling ideas. One can always hope.
WARNING: DO NOT REMOVE ALL THE STRINGS if you just want to do a string change.
Remove and exchange one at once. That is good enough. Removing all the strings will make the trem fall out of the guitar, and if you are not prepared for that you are in for a lot of trouble. I wanted to do some more stuff, so I removed all the strings.
Also, my Floyd sits flush on the body, as intended on the Axis. The whole procedure below is slightly different if you want floating mode (which I will not discuss here).
Ok here we go:
1.: Axis, meet Table.
I put a light blanket on the table to protect the guitar (and the table!) - there was not much choice of colors, so bear with me.
I use some Swedish designer tools (I will NOT use the hammer), a pillow, a set of hex keys, the polishing cloth that came with the Axis, a pack of Super Slinkys (only Balls on my Ball!). Not shown are Qtips and a roll of kitchen paper.
2.: Rip the strings off
After releasing the locking nut pads and removing them (keep them in a recognizable order, the need to get back to the same pair of strings in the end!), I loosen the strings on the tuning peg and usually clip them in half for easier handling.
Put a folded piece of kitchen paper under the tail of the Floyd and use the appropriate hex key to loosen the saddle bracket. Remove the string. Do NOT unscrew the string locking screws all the way - the little spring-squishing blocks are held in place by the screw, if you turn it too far out they will fall out!
Why the kitchen paper? Sometimes I slip off with the hex key - the paper protects the finish. Leave it away if you have better motor-controlled than me. Also, I throw the strings immediately away, so they don't clutter the table (these ends sure are sharp and pointy!).
This is a good moment to reset the fine tuner into their middle position, too.
3.: Fretboard massage
Mmmmh....birdseye. I use a damp cloth, wipe the fretboard down, dry it immediately with kitchen paper. A Qtip cleans the fret edges. The guitar is fairly new, so I don't do any further preserving treatment, that's on the list for next time. Wonder Wipes would have been great at this step, but I was out ;(.
4.: Little detail inspections
Little cosmetic issues, such as remnants of encrusted saw dust (?) in the pickup holes can be removed with a Qtip slightly soaked in mankind's best cleaning product: spit. Or whatever you deem apropriate. I tried to keep myself in check to not cry over every fingernail scratch I started noticing on the guitar. Qtips can clean every corner.
5.: Get a coffee
6.: Scary part
First, I remove the trem cavity cover. I do a layout with the screws so I can reassemble everything as it was before. That's more imporant on an older, used guitar as the screws will have different amounts of wear. Little detail
I remove the trem springs. This might take some effort. A good trick is to loosen the spring claw screws a long way out, so the springs have less pull.
Careful when moving the guitar - the trem is not held in place anymore! I lift the guitar, and the trem will stay on the table. The kitchen paper stuck underneath it will prevent the trem from tearing groves into the top when it tilts backwards.
7.: Wobbly trem arm holder
My trem arm is whacky wobbly since I got the guitar. Unfortunately, the only way to tighten it with the tools I have is to take the trem out. Hence that operation.
The wonderfully sturdy and nicely built EBMM Gotoh Floyd has a peculiar trem arm holder. The little black hex screw holds the arm (I removed it in subsequent steps) and will actually stay in place when you loosen it. Nice detail.
The big hex screw base of the holder tightens the holder. I grabbed it with a crescent wrench and fixed the wobbling.
8.: Lubbing the knife edges and trem studs
The knife edges form the pivot axis of the trem and press against the profiled studs. These are metal-on-metal interaction points, which benefit from a bit of neutral non-liquid lubricant. I use a chap stick (a trick from Rich @ Ibanezrules) to slightly grease the knife edges and the studs.
9.: Reposition the trem
Now the trem can go back in place. This part is a bit of a pain as it can't tilt back.
The easiest I found was to put the Floyd back and press it against the studs.
I then turn the guitar so its perpendicular to the table, holding the Floyd with my left hand pressed against the studs.
I take a single trem spring, lock it onto the trem spring claw's MIDDLE position, and pull it to the trem block hole to fix the trem in place. This only works if you have released the trem claw springs enough so you don't have to be the Hulk to pull the trem spring all the way.
CAREFUL. If you put two springs in, chances are the pull forces are too strong, pulling the trem too far backwards. With no strings attached that will make the trem flip out over the studs - potentially plowing all over your guitar's top. Also, make sure one spring is firmly in place before doing anything further - if it loosens, it will become a projectile!
10.: Put some strings on
There are different ways to do this, I prefer the old-school clip-the-Ball-off approach (pun intended).
I clip the little ball off end and stick the string into the string block slot of the trem. I tighten the screw slowly while making sure the string remains central in the clamp, the little grove in the trem saddle should be in the string's extension.
Make sure the other string end goes the right way through the nut and the string retainer tree on the headstock. Only the E strings pass it outside, the rest goes in between the tree screws. I usually try to get about 1.5-2 turns of string around the tuner peg, but that's a not so important detail on a guitar with locking nut. And shorten the strings close to the peg - these lose ends are nasty for everyone standing next to you while playing!
I loosely tune the string into the range it will sound in, to get some hint of the final pull force. I did 4 strings before I went to put the trem springs into the right setup.
11.: Trem spring arrangement
After 4 strings (high E, B, G and low E), I added the second trem spring into its final position. This allowed me to carefully remove the first spring and put it into its original position. As the strings now give some pull, the springs can be manipulated without too much trouble. It helps when the trem arm is removed to put the guitar trem-down on the table.
I tighten the trem claw screws back into approximately the original position, so that the trem pulls the strings with its intended final force.
12.: Fully string, tune up, stretch strings
I add the last two strings and tune up to approximately correct tuning. I also adjust the trem claw to its final pull (super-easy on a dive-only guitar).
Now, we come to string stretching - a key part that many people don't do and then wonder why everything goes out of tune all the time... Metal is flexible and will change its pull force over time till it reaches a stable state. A fresh string needs to "learn" how its regular force is, so we make it learn fast by stretching it.
Take a piece of cloth or kitchen paper and pull the strings upward from the fretboard, move up and down the neck while pulling up, releasing, pulling up...keep doing it. 1 minute per string or longer. Rinse, repeat. I usually do that twice. Have a coffee. Retune, re-stretch. Finish your coffee. Retune, re-stretch. Go check what your wife has been doing all this time! Retune.
t's worth the repetitive boring work. Here, I also use the Floyd and dive-bomb the heck out of the strings. The guitar will go wildly out of tune.
13.: Engage nut locks
Tune one last time. Maybe give it a few percent flat tuning. This can all be done while the guitar is on the table - a full-float Floyd can't be setup that way, as gravity pulls it back, making the strings go slightly sharp. Again, way easier on the Axis
Put the nut locks back into place and lock them down - keep them parallel to the strings, make sure they don't tilt. The easiest is to tighten the scew slowly with the hex key, and give it a last firm push to tighten the block down. DO NOT OVER-TIGHTEN, a stripped locking nut is a very common problem. Tightening the blocks down can make the strings go slightly sharp - which you can pre-compensate with tuning a slight bit flat before
14.: Fine-tune
Use the fine tuners on the trem to tune up. This I do while holding the guitar in actual playing position.
I smear a wee bit of chap stick onto the trem arm (I hate squeaking trem arms) and re-install it.
15.: Dive bomb inferno
Dive bomb as if you try to rip the trem out of the guitar. Enjoy it. Make the strings feel it. Once it returns to zero, check the tuning, fine tune, repeat. I had to do this once and the guitar returned to pitch perfectly.
16: Action!
Dialing in the action on an Axis is super-easy. For any action setup, I use two picks: a black Dunlop Jazz III 1.38m and a Dunlop Tortex 1.14mm. You can use some fancy measuring device, but the picks and a good set of eyes do well.
The lowest action you can get on an Axis is determined by the action at fret 22. The action here can only be significantly changed by a) messing with the locking nut; b) lowering the trem (which in my case requires removing of the shim plate underneath the trem, since it already sits flush on the body); or c) shimming the neck pocket.
My Axis already has a shimmed neck pocket, which defines the action as slightly lower than 1.2mm @ 22. That is visible when I stick the Jazz III pick there - it lifts the strings up:
The thinner Tortex tilts down, as it is more narrow than the action:
Sticking the Jazz III in at fret 12, I see the action being higher at 12 than at 22 - the pick even tilts a little bit down. This means the neck has a bit too much relief for my liking (= the neck bows down):
So I stick a suitable hex wrench into the ingenius turning wheel at the neck's base, and push the hex key away from me (= clock-wise turn) for about 1/8 of a turn.
When I leave the Jazz III at fret 12, I can observe how it gets pulled up as the neck bows slightly up. I repeat this carefully until it's to my liking (usually very straight, so the action at 12 is about the same as at 22). The thinner Tortex pick is a great way to gauge, too.
17.: Make her pretty
By now, the Axis is coated in fingerprints. Take the polish cloth, maybe a bit of spit or a more sophisticated product, and clean the body. I also wipe down the back of the neck with a damp cloth and rub it dry immediately. Once more, the correct long-term treatment is on the list for next time (sanding, wax, etc.)
18.: Rock out
Be grateful I don't have a video camera or anything. But I did rock out afterwards, with my freshly re-strung low action high-sustain dive-bombing Pacific Blueburst Axis. And it wasn't that hard
As said, any feedback, comments, ways to do some things better are more than welcome! This was a pretty cool experience as I usually fight with my full-float guitars
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Originally Posted by DaPatrooch
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