Help! New (to me) Luke I... questions about the Floyd...

[mrmckinney]

I recently purchased an original 1994 Luke I from eBay. It arrived needing a fret polish and full setup. I decided to undertake this myself as a learning opportunity (never actually setup a Floyd). I looked on the FAQ from Music-Man.com and used the instructions for the floating FR Morse. Customer Service confirmed this recommendation.
Ok, to my point, I followed the instruction and at the point of adjusting the post screws for the action, the knife edges of the Floyd seem to have cut into the posts. It removed some black paint as a minimum. I have the action, relief, intonation, and spring tension otherwise set so that the bridge is extremely flat and level with the body. I get very little string buzz on the low e and none on the rest of the strings. Intonation is about as close as it can get. As best I can tell the setup is nearly perfect... except it will not stay in tune. I am very concerned that I have damaged this bridge. I started reading FR forums and it seems that most suggest removing string tension before adjusting the bridge height. This is not what the Morse recommendations say. Any advice would be very appreciated.


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[dibart77]

I have never heard of the posts getting damaged, and I have a ton of EBMM Floyd guitars, including many floating Floyds (two Luke 1's and a bunch of Floyd Silhouettes).

Q) I assume the three pads on your locking nut are clamped down, yes?

Q) I assume you stretched the new strings, yes?

Assuming both of those are "yes"...

Q) Is this what's happening: When you push down (dive-bomb) on the Floyd and then return it to rest, it comes to one note. And then if you pull up on the bar and then return it to rest, the note is sharp compared to the last note, yes?

A) If this is the case, do you have one post higher than the other (presumably the bass/low-E side)? They can't be drastically different or else the knife edges will stick. In theory, the knife edge on the floyd should be perpendicular (90 degrees) to the post, and exactly parallel to the "V" in the post where the knife edge sits. If the whole trem is not pretty close to parallel to the body, then the knife edges will not be smooth in the V's. In general, you need to find the compromise between bass/low-E not buzzing and treble/high-E not being a mile from the fretboard. BUT THE TREM SHOULD BE parallel to the body. You can make it a LITTLE higher on the bass side, but not a lot. Try to raise the treble/high-E post a little bit at a time and see if that fixes it.

Again, I have never heard of the posts getting damaged. If anything, the knife edges on the Floyd itself can get rounded off and even jagged if the trem is crooked as described above. And if that happens, you're SOL as the trem is shot and you'll need a new one, and EBMM doesn't have the old Gotoh Floyds anymore.

Good luck, man!

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[mrmckinney]

Thanks, I will check this out tonight. The bass and treble sides are not the same height, I know, but they seem pretty close. I will post some photos and see what you guys think. I suspected that those bridges were no longer available from MM. Can they be obtained from Gotoh?


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[mrmckinney]

My first thought was that Floyd’s were just finicky and I offered it for trade but as I read more forums (about 5 hours yesterday ) I feel like something might be wrong with it. BTW, if anyone still sees it on the trade topic, please let me know. I’ve tried to delete it.


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[dibart77]

NO WAY! DO NOT get rid of it! This can be an awesome guitar -- just needs to get sorted out. Worst case, bring it to a tech who works on Ibanez and other floating Floyd guitars. It's pretty unlikely that the trem is ruined. FWIW, I have adjusted trem posts many times (sometimes adjusting 1/4" or so when re-assembling a guitar). And if the trem posts are damaged, you can get new trem posts from EBMM for a few bucks. it's only if the knife edges on the trem are messed up that you are up the creek. Yes, you can get a Gotoh Floyd which looks the same except it has a GOTOH logo instead of the EBMM logo -- I forget the number but someone else here can tell you (or I can look it up).

Separate of the "is it mostly parallel to the body" discussion from my earlier post, can you take some super close-up photos of the knife edges and the "V" in the trem posts and post them here? I should be able to give you more if you can post photos.

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[edhalen]

This is why I love this place - people helping people! I saw this thread and as a proud owner of one of these awesome guitars I figured maybe I'd learn something. Sure enough, thanks to Jeff I was able to fix the low E string buzz that's been driving me nuts! I raised the bass side trem post just a bit and boom - no more buzz!!!

Carry on...

 

[mrmckinney]

Agreed, ed! And thanks so much for taking the time to help, dibart! I will get some photos of both the posts and knife edges tonight. I did get in touch with CS and they, too, said I can get the posts if needed.


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[mrmckinney]

As for the trade feeler I posted, that was also due to the fact that I absolutely love the LIII neck and, particularly, the ebony board on the Starry Night I have. I want to get this one straightened out completely before I even attempt to get rid of it, though. And I may love it once I get the Floyd right. I do like the EMGs significantly more than I expected.


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[mrmckinney]

Here are the pics....

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[mrmckinney]

Oh and the posts...

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[dibart77]

Man, I don't know. I don't see appreciable wear on those knife edges or the posts. it shouldn't be binding. Get that trem as even as you can (don't make the bass side higher than treble side) and see if it does it. You're sure you have the locking nut pads at the headstock clamped down, right?

How many springs do you have in the back? Two or three? Maybe replace those with fresh springs -- maybe they are worn (they are, after all, like 23 years old)? I prefer 2 springs on my floating Floyds, in a V where they connect on the spring claw in the back on hooks 2 and 4 (there are 5 hooks) and then the other ends of the springs to the outermost holes on the brass block.

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[NorM]

I had a trem that never came back in tune and the dealer recommended that I have a real work out session with it. I just had a whammy fest for about 20 minuets. It worked for me . YMMV.
These are parts that are supposed to wear on each other until they have a smooth friction free surface.
My other favorite is Remington Teflon spray. It is slicker than greased owl poop that has been boiled with okra.

 

[mrmckinney]

Ok. Thanks. I’m glad to hear that wear does not look too bad. I will try to get some of the Teflon spray on it. I actually just decided to restring it again last night and it actually seemed better after. I am gonna mess with it some this week and see if I can get it worked out. Thanks so much for all the help.


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[mrmckinney]

I am using 2 springs and the nut clamps are and have been properly locked but one thing I noticed while restringing was that I’d swapped the low and middle clamps... evident by the wear patterns on each of them. It is really much better this morning as I just played it for 5 min before work


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[dibart77]

Ah, yes. When you do a string change, take the string clamps off and put them to the side in the orientation they came off the guitar. If they're REALLY worn, you can get new pads anywhere. Stew Mac, etc. And I'd try new springs in the back, too. Enjoy!

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[mrmckinney]

Let me also ask, do you guys remove string tension when adjusting the posts? This was mentioned in several forums but not on the EBMM FAQ or in the Floyd Rose instructions


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[tbonesullivan]

Let me also ask, do you guys remove string tension when adjusting the posts? This was mentioned in several forums but not on the EBMM FAQ or in the Floyd Rose instructions

This is a discussion I've heard a lot regarding floyds, and even sometimes other two point systems. I don't believe the official literature for any of them mention having to remove complete tension from the bridge before making a height adjustment.

Premier guitar has an article on it, and nowhere does it mention detuning the strings.

How to Set Up a Floyd Rose-Style Trem

One thing to remember that many forget: LUBRICATION. The contact points should have some type of oil, whether it's graphite grease, light oil, etc. This really helps everything go smoother, even action adjustments.

 

[mrmckinney]

Thanks. Yes, I actually had read that article from PG. I do wish I had had some lubricant when I began working on it. I am picking some of the Teflon oil up tomorrow.


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[mrmckinney]

Thanks so much for the advice, gents. This thing is rock solid now. I greased the contact points and gave it a fair workout and it has been rock solid with play nearly every day for over a week now... and it’s going nowhere! I still prefer the LIII neck profile but the EMGs have actually become my favorites!


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[edhalen]

Great to hear! How does the LIII neck profile compare?