Axis Trem setup - wonky Floyd bridge

[trans_orange]

Hi all, hoping for some advice. Recently had my dearly loved '97 Axis back from a setup. Generally happy, but have noticed the bridge sits lopsided. It's digging into the top a bit, which I'm not too happy about.

Is this 'usual'? I know the trem sits on the body, but in the past it's always sat level.

I've (hopefully) uploaded two photos - one with the bridge at rest, and the other with the bar depressed a bit.

Thanks for any input. I did have a good search on the forum, and did find some good info but nothing specific about a bridge on an angle.

 

[beej]

Someone set it up like that? It should be parallel with the body.

 

[tbonesullivan]

Whoa. That looks like when it was set up, that one side of the bridge was raised (or lowered) and the other side wasn't. The FR bridge is radiused so it shouldn't need to have one side higher than the other.

Only other thing I could think of is that the knife edge is not in the groove on the bridge pivot.

I would definitely contact who set it up and ask what they did.

 

[J-Diz]

This just happened to me with my new Axis.

Mine came from the factory like that for whatever reason, only it was raised on the other side. I messed with the pivot screws until it was perfectly flush. Didn't like the action after that so I put some relief in the neck. Was almost perfect for me after that, but I didn't like how the bridge lifted slightly when I bent a string more than full step. Slapped a third spring in the back and it's just perfect now. The Floyd is now basically a hardtail until I decide it isn't, which is what I want. The stiffness took a little getting used to, but my Axis plays perfectly for me now and rings like a bell even when it's unplugged.

Anyway, that's the process I went through with mine. I was nervous as hell but the other members here were very helpful and it all worked out. I hope you don't have to go through all those steps, but it is a problem that is ultimately fixable.

Good luck!

 

[trans_orange]

Thanks beej, tbonesullivan, and J-Diz. Really appreciate you chiming in.

Thanks to your input I did a close inspection and sure enough one of the posts is much higher than the other, almost twice as much out of the body.

The tech has a good rep locally so this is either an oversight or unfamiliarity with the Axis - it's not a guitar that goes through his workshop everyday I'd imagine. He did a great job on the frets - it's a '97 so it has some miles on it but the frets look and feel great now.

I'll take it back for some tweaks as he'd already offered some follow-up work if needed.

Thanks again all - great forum.

 

[JC225]

Same thing happened to me last week when I picked up my Axis.

The bridge was noticeably higher on the top side just like yours and was caused by the post on that side sitting much higher than the bottom. This caused kind of a chain reaction of issues with the performance and after some minor adjustments that Diz pointed out, (third spring, claw tension, neck) it's awesome!

 

[Daniel]

This just happened to me with my new Axis.

Mine came from the factory like that for whatever reason, only it was raised on the other side. I messed with the pivot screws until it was perfectly flush. Didn't like the action after that so I put some relief in the neck. Was almost perfect for me after that, but I didn't like how the bridge lifted slightly when I bent a string more than full step. Slapped a third spring in the back and it's just perfect now. The Floyd is now basically a hardtail until I decide it isn't, which is what I want. The stiffness took a little getting used to, but my Axis plays perfectly for me now and rings like a bell even when it's unplugged.

Anyway, that's the process I went through with mine. I was nervous as hell but the other members here were very helpful and it all worked out. I hope you don't have to go through all those steps, but it is a problem that is ultimately fixable.

Good luck!

Hi J-Diz,
Sorry to hear you had an issue with your factory setup. This is not a normal occurrence. Our guitars go through a rigorous inspection process before they leave the factory to ensure it shows up to your in the best condition possible. Yours may have been adjusted by a retailer after it left Music Man. If you every have any issues with your guitar feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected] and I'll help you out.

 

[BrickGlass]

It's almost like someone was trying to get it to be a "floating" bridge that would allow you to raise and lower pitch. Trying to set it up like the vintage tremolo found on an Axis Super Sport/Luke or something. That is pretty weird that someone would set it up like that.

 

[Wahoonc]

The first Axis I tried was a discounted guitar that had been returned--was trying to save a few bucks. However, it had the opposite problem. Someone had sank the trem posts as far in as they would go and the trem was pinned to the top of the top of the guitar. I suspect it was an effort to lower the action, but obviously that is not the right solution and it created several other problems. Threw it back in the case and returned it immediately. Was bummed because I had heard such great things about the Axis and it took years for me come back to it. Glad I did, because other than a GC, it's all I own and play now.

I also returned my first GC because the vendor had performed their "free" 9000 point quality inspection and the setup was really, really bad. I knew by then how EBMM guitars came out of the case, so demanded a new one in box that had not been opened. The new untouched GC was great right out of the box.

Moral of the story: if someone else has been messing with your EBMM, there's a very high probability that the problem is that person and not the guitar.

 

[J-Diz]

Hi J-Diz,
Sorry to hear you had an issue with your factory setup. This is not a normal occurrence. Our guitars go through a rigorous inspection process before they leave the factory to ensure it shows up to your in the best condition possible. Yours may have been adjusted by a retailer after it left Music Man. If you every have any issues with your guitar feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected] and I'll help you out.

Thank you very much, Daniel. I just sent you an email.