Help! Changing strings on a guitar with a tremolo bridge

[Craiguitar]

I always remove all the strings, then clean the guitar neck, polish the frets and re-string. That goes for the floating vintage bridge and also the Floyd rose. I have done this for years, and never had any issues. Just do what you want.

 

[Metlupass2]

The reason I change one string at a time with a floating bridge, term blocked or not, is that it's a pain to adjust six constantly changing strings due to tension release and stretching happening across all of them, causing the floating bridge to move back and forth, causing the other strings to stretch and change and so on and so on... Easier to handle and stretch one string at at time and stabilize that one.

That shouldn't be happening if your trem is blocked and you're using the same tuning. Don't unblock the trem till you've tuned and your adjustments should be very minimal. Be sure to stretch each string after tuning then retune, play a bit then tune again if needed just like a fixed bridge.

 

[ksandvik]

That shouldn't be happening if your trem is blocked and you're using the same tuning. Don't unblock the trem till you've tuned and your adjustments should be very minimal. Be sure to stretch each string after tuning then retune, play a bit then tune again if needed just like a fixed bridge.

Well it happens after your remove the trem block that in most cases when you think your strings are stretched, some still have some tension released, causing instabilities and with floyd rose is propagates across all the strings. Just easier fixing one at a time.

 

[steevo]

Floyd's are a pain in the ass really, ive got one on my strat and while I do like the stability, the process of changing strings, adjusting intonation and set up is a drawn out process when compared to other bridges. Im surprised no one has improved on the Floyd after 30+ years. As good as they are, I think they could be a lot better in terms of adjustment.
I personally like to clean my guitar when changing the strings and give it the once over, been playing for over twenty years now (im 30) and ive always done my own set ups and repairs so in terms of any issues with removing all the strings, there really is nothing to worry about.

 

[steevo]

Hi steevo,

Just to clarify, Im not suggesting that removing all the strings will damage the neck in any way. Obvioulsy sometimes its neccesary to remove all the strings (in order to clean the neck etc). This will however have an impact on the tension pulling on the neck and the trem springs (as will removing a single string at a time but to a lesser extent) which in turn affects the neck angle, string height, bridge angle and intonation. This may or may not lead to adjustment of the truss rod, saddle height and bridge angle etc when all the strings are replaced

My point was that using the method described above tends to keep all the other adjustments to a minimum by putting the least amount of change in tension and stress on the neck and bridge, therefore potentially reducing your workload further down the line.

I've found over the years that for quick, easy string changes the B E G D E A method works great. I also tune this way on every guitar. Just my opinion so take it for whats its worth

Sorry if I sounded a bit harsh, ive had a bad few weeks (women) and I think what I said seemed like I was having a go.