help me float my axis floyd

[A.C.Morse]

Hi guys! Im a proud papa of a new axis. Has anyone set up the floyd to float?.. even just a whole step up would suffice. I like to use the trem for vibrato when needed and i miss being able to flutter. Filepe priano has the same guitar as me and his floyd floats. Just need to hear from people who have done it...or just members w any thoughts on the subject..please help.. thanx in advance

 

[tbonesullivan]

you have two options really: route it out, or keep it as is.

If you keep it as is, you will run into a problem of having really high action if you want it to float. whether you have the bridge plate at an angle, or whether you raise up the bridge, you will run into action problems. you would then most likely need to shim the front of the neck pocket to get the fretboard closer to the strings.

The guitar was not designed to have a floating bridge, as with just about all EVH designs.

 

[Tollywood]

Welcome to the forum, A.C.

I agree that to route it out would be the ideal way. Raising the posts and using shims just wouldn't be as good.

Good luck...

Bryan

 

[Razzle]

yes I have, and you can too! You have to adjust it where it is slightly angled off the top of the guitar. The problem is, having the tremelo at an angle like it raises the action, and the problem with that is you can only adjust down the bridge stops so far and what I found is there isn't enough play to adjust it down enough. The guitar is made for that bridge to be flat on the guitar. The fix for that is to simply put a shim in the neck pocket closest to the bridge to angle back the neck, this gives you enough play to then adjust the action. Sounds like a lot but if you've worked on guitars it's not bad at all. I did this to my axis and I love it.

good luck!

 

[A.C.Morse]

Thanks tbone and brian...i appreciate the advice and it turns out you both are soooo right. Ive been foolin around w it tonight and theres no way around it...its route or nuthin...ive been an ibanez guy for 20 years and before that is was the old school foating floyds on old school 80s guitars. But the second i layed my hands on my ebmm axis..that was it.. goodbye wide flat necks that i once thought were comfy.. hello true comfort. The axis is it. And the pickups...aaaaargh forget about it lol But i cant be as expresive as i like because of trmolo limitations that im sooo not used to.. so screw it...im routin!!..gonna find a good guy here on vancouver island and giver! Cant give up my guitar so whats a brotha to do..ill post the results cuz i know alot of guys are askin...all i want is the best guitar in the world like everyone else!

 

[A.C.Morse]

Ya razzle i hear ya...thats where im at now. Trem raised at a bit of an angle...im not greedy lol.just want enough for vibrato n a bit o flutter. But your right. The posts are bottomed out and actions still a tad high...ill look into shimming before routing...for obvious reasons..youve done this w no draw backs?

 

[Razzle]

Ya razzle i hear ya...thats where im at now. Trem raised at a bit of an angle...im not greedy lol.just want enough for vibrato n a bit o flutter. But your right. The posts are bottomed out and actions still a tad high...ill look into shimming before routing...for obvious reasons..youve done this w no draw backs?

absolutely. can't really think of any drawbacks, you won't hurt the guitar, you just don't have a lot of rooom for pullup, which doesn't matter to me anyway, I just want it to float to do the vibrato thing. Let us know how it works out!

 

[A.C.Morse]

Ive never had to shim a neck...gimme a guick run thru?...what do u use to shim etc..any issues u ran into along the way?

 

[tbonesullivan]

I should have taken pictures when I shimmed my bass neck. What you may want to do is see if there is already a shim in there or not, by removing the strings, and taking the neck off. EBMM has really nice factory shims, and they could probably send you out some to help if it isn't already shimmed. The yellow shim they use should be enough to angle the fretboard enough to give you enough room to adjust the trem up a bit higher to get some vibrato. If there is a D tuner that won't work anymore without a flat-topped floyd.

You could also take it to a pro and have them shim it for you.

 

[A.C.Morse]

Thanks for the help tbone and razzle...really appreciate it!!!!