Just received my Axis - dumb questions

[magentaplacenta]

OK, my Axis (via ebay) just arrived and I have a couple of really dumb questions....

1) The tremelo arm appears to be "locked", i.e., it won't dive. I can understand not being able to pull up because the body below the bridge isn't recessed to acommodate this, but I can't seem to get it to dive and I didn't muscle it because it seems something is locked down

2) How do you get the tremelo arm in/out? I've had strats before with tremelo arms (floyd rose) and it was just a matter of spinning them in/out. They were threaded like screws and like I said, you'd just spin them in and out, a no brainer.

Granted, I'm at work and only messed with things for like a minute - just wanted to break the guitar out of the box, open up the case and give things a quick once over while the UPS guy was still here.

Can someone enlighten my pea brain?

 

[patvh1]

I don't know how much help I'll be, but here goes nothin! I had the same questions when i got my Axis about a year ago. The tremlo is an original Floyd Rose, so they are set up a little differnt then other Floyd's. If you look right where the arm of the tremlo meets the main frame you'll see a little tiny allen screw. That screw is used primarily as a kind of a brake. You can adjust how loose you want your bar to spin around. To get the Arm to come off, the only way to do it is to go into the back of the guitar where the springs are. There's another screw back there which allows you to remove the bar. I guess since the guitar was desighned by Eddie Van Halen to "his" spec's, I guess he thought what's the point of removing it? The only thing I don't like about it, is After I've had a few beers, I forget to put the arm towards the the neck when I'm putting it in the case and accidently have closed the case with it sticking out. As for your other problem, you might just want to pull that back cover off and see if there's something preventing it from being pushed down. I can tell you that it's the nicest guitar I've ever owned and would buy another EBMM Axis if I had another $1500.00 bucks sitting around.

 

[Jimi D]

Hey, congrats on the new Axis, MP! If the trem appears to be "locked", I'd wager that it's probably blocked in the back. Either the previous owner blocked it with a piece of wood or steel or an old battery (I've seen it ) or there's five springs installed and they're torqued down really tight... As to removing the trem arm, I asked exactly the same question when I got my Axis... fact is, you can't remove it easily - you have to pull the back plate and unscrew the screw on the bottom of the arm socket to be able to pull it out. Once I learned how to do it though, I never, ever did

 

[magentaplacenta]

Thanks much guys - I'll crack that back plate open tonight at home and see what's going on.

 

[magentaplacenta]

Cracked open the backplate last night, removed a spring (now only 2) and adjusted the screws a bit......Loosened the tremelo arm right up.

These guitars are total hard rock guitars, I'm surprised I don't see them out there more often. Mine came with lower gauge strings (and they need to be changed) than what I usually play and when I first started playing, immediately noticed a difference in the neck compared to my Les Pauls. Adapted within 5 minutes and man, these Axis' are pretty sweet! Those stock pickups seem really nice, flip on the bridge and you're smokin'!

I'll be refinishing my neck maybe this weekend, depending on if I can find all the soap/oils. I'll post up my non-neck removing experience.

 

[patvh1]

That's cool! I'm glad you figured it out. Wait till you put an EVH D- TUNA on it! There nice when you get them in tune, but a pain when there not!

 

[nobozos]

***********EMERGENCY: READ AT ONCE***********

Do not remove all of your strings at once when cleaning your neck!!!!!!!

If you plan on removing all your strings, plan on removing the Floyd Rose off the body. Not that hard really, but it is a delicate balancing act between string tension, and trem spring tension.

 

[the_g_man]

***********EMERGENCY: READ AT ONCE***********

Do not remove all of your strings at once when cleaning your neck!!!!!!!

If you plan on removing all your strings, plan on removing the Floyd Rose off the body. Not that hard really, but it is a delicate balancing act between string tension, and trem spring tension.

Nobozos speaks the truth!!! What will happen is the spring tension will pull the bridge off the mounting posts, and the sharp edges will gouge the body. Trust me, I learned this lesson the hard way

There is a way to remove all the strings without removing the bridge. You just need to find something to jam into the same space that the springs occupy. There is a device called a "trem-setter" that I believe accomplishes this, if my memory is correct. Otherwise, what you can do is cut a metal dowel to fit between the leading edge of the bridge and the body. Wood doesn't work as well because you need a pretty good sized chunk to stand up to the tension of the springs. (There isn't a whole lotta room to work in the trem cavity, so smaller is better.) This will counter the spring tension and keep the bridge from being pulled off the mounting studs.

I hope that makes some sense! Of course, if you're already aware of the issue...then no worries. Sometimes I assume the worst case scenerio, but I mean well. It's all about keeping these beautiful works of art as perfect as possible.

That's MTCW,

Gary

This post was made while listening to Def Leppard's "Euphoria". (Vivian Campbell needs to re-form Riverdogs...he's too good for DL. That's my opinion.)

 

[patvh1]

YES to all the above!!!!!!!!! The horror story that you guy's are talking about happened to me, and I also learned the hard way! Like I said before their great when your not working on them, but it can get ugly if your not careful!

 

[nobozos]

I will still strongly recommend removing the bridge altogether. Even with blocking the trem, you still are doing things to your guitar that you don't want to do.

Have you ever seen a guitar where the sleeves that the trem pivot screws screw into have started to pull out of the wood of the guitar? Ever wonder how that happens?

Let me see if I can explain this accurately.

When you put a trem block behind the tremolo, you change the "pull" of the bridge from against the pivot screws to straight up, out of the body.

When the guitar has the string and spring tension properly balanced, the "pull" of the bridge is against the pivot bolts, and the bridge itself is going to be pulled parallel across the body toward the neck.

When a trem block is placed behind the bridge, even thought the bridge will not come out, the tension of the trem springs is creating a pull at a 90 degree angle to the body, and is actually trying to pull the pivot bolts out of the body.

The only way this can be avoided when blocking the tremolo is if the exact proper angle is achieved, and that is a big risk in my book.

Just my 2 cents. Hey, I could be totally wrong, but I haven't scewed my guitar up yet.

 

[ToneBenda]

So, to take the bridge completely off to condition the neck, etc, with the strings on it, what's the procedure you do?

I take it you take off the nut, loosen all the strings to semi-flap land, and...(okay nobozos, take over).

If it isn't too time consuming to do and may be safer, I'll do it. Just tell me "how".

 

[nobozos]

Okay ToneBenda, sorry it took so long to get back to you.


The way that I take care of maintenance on my neck is this:

Before I change the strings (about once a month), I take a cotton T-shirt and soak about a 2 square inch area of it with Dr. Stringfellow Lemon Oil. I liberally apply it to the neck of my Axis with the strings on. I wait about 15 or 20 minutes for the oil to soak in, and the wipe off any excess oil with the clean portion of the same cotton T-shirt. After that, I change my strings.

If you follow this procedure, you should not have too many problems having to clean your neck as long as you always wash your hands before you play your guitar.

I change my strings one at a time, starting with the low E, and moving to the high E. After I change a string, I tune it to 440, and move to the next string.


I have removed the Floyd to clean the neck, and I have found that the procedure I have described above does just as good a job, without having to re-adjust the spring tension on your Floyd when you are done. Pulling the Floyd is a real pain in the ass, and I wouldn't recommend it, but if you really want me to tell you how to do it I will.

 

[ToneBenda]

Hey, I like your idea of conditioning the neck WITHOUT taking the strings off - it's faster, less hassle and will STILL work and get the whole neck even though the strings are still there.

I always try to find easier and faster ways to "get the job done", and doing it this way, I don't see ANY reason to ever have to pull out that Floyd!

And changing just ONE string at a time, I guess I won't need a block or a Tremsetter.

Thanks (I've pretty much been a fixed bridge guitar player, so I gotta learn some new tricks here).

 

[nobozos]

Hey man, no problem. Just make sure if you condition the neck with the strings on, that you change them immediately afterward. Lemon oil will kill your strings and make your guitar sound like ****. Other than that, it's pretty easy.