LTD M330R Tuning Stabilty and possible bridge issues?
LTD M330R Tuning Stabilty and possible bridge issues?
Guitar Specs: (**- potential problem areas)
- Bolt-on construction
- 25.5" scale
- Mahogany body
- Maple neck
- Rosewood fingerboard
- 43mm locking nut **
- Extra thin U neck contour
- 24 XJ frets
- Black nickel hardware
- LTD tuners **
- Floyd Rose special bridge**
- ESP Designed ALH-200 (B & N) active pickups
First off, before I begin with the issues I am having with my guitar, I consider my knowledge of Floyd Rose bridges to be intermediate at best. Meaning I, for the most part, understand how the Floyd Rose works as far as how to string itnd tune it, but have NO knowledge whatsoever when it comes to diagnosing any problems or making adjustments to the bridge itself. That being said, I am willing to learn anything that might prevent me from having any further problems with my instrument.
I bought my guitar through a B stock retailer on Ebay (a now red flag for me to look out for in the future). The seller itself seemed legit at the time, having a high customer rating, and indicating the only problems with the instrument lied in the fact that there were cosmetic issues and no problems with the playibility of the instrument or any of the working components. The only thing I questioned at the time was the price of $285.00 US, a price of almost half of what the guitar is worth brand new ($500.00), but a deal that I could not pass up on.
When I recieved the instrument via UPS like any self respecting player, I decided to tune it as soon as I tore the box apart getting it out. After unclamping the locking nut, I tuned the instrument and noticed that no matter how much I tuned the instrument it seemed to get even more out of tune as I worked down each adjacent string going down to the high E. As I raised the tention on each string, it seemed like the string next to it would lose its tention. I toyed with it a little longer until the A string poped out of the bridge and the Floyd Rose recessed into the body of my guitar. At that point I should've returned the guitar to the retailer, but being that I totally fell in love with the feel, sound and look of the instrument I decided to take it to my local guitar shop to get it looked at, properly tuned and set-up.
At the guitar shop, the man who worked on my instrument had a lot of trouble with the instrument as well, the main issue being that the strings would not stay locked into the bridge of the guitar and would slip out once he brought it up to pitch. After messing with it for about a day or so he was able to miraculously keep the strings in place without altering what he was doing before. After he made the final adjustments on the guitar I took it home to see if the guitar would give me problems, but not before telling me it was the worst experience he had working with any Floyd Rose guitar. The guitar seemed to be doing ok, but after an hour of play I set it on my guitar hanger, where the B string poped out of the bridge. Needless to say I got a refund from the work the guy did.
At that point I said "screw it" and just put the 'B' string back on myself where I was able to hook it really tight on the bridge end. The string hasn't slipped out since, but now I am having a different problem, mainly with the string staying in tune. No matter how much I tune the 'B' string when the guitar is clamped at the nut, whenever I try playing lead by making a bend on any of the strings, the B string will always go out of tune...which is strange because none of the other strings on the guitar seem to have any issue staying in tune when I do the same thing. Another strange problem I feel is worth noting is that whenever I bend any of the strings, the bridge will lean forward a bit, making it difficuly to do any unison bends or bends that require playing more than one string at a time with vibrato without sounding out of tune; which could be normal for these kind of guitars but I am not sure. (It also seems to knock the trem's level out of place, making it lean slightly forward after continued string bending)
I know at least one of the issues I've mentioned is NOT normal for this particular guitar to do. I am now stuck with the instrument being that the return policy for the retailer I bought it through was only good for 2 weeks. I have had the guitar for well over a month, but I am ok with this because I still think I have a great guitar despite the issues I'm having, and feel that the issues can be fixable.
If anyone can tell me what the issue is with my guitar and what I can do to fix the problem much would be appreciated.
Thanks. \m/
Yeah, it's a cheap piece of insurance. And if the "stock" blocks aren't cracked or have grooves, you have spares.
If that doesn't fix it, there may be an issue with the B string tuner. What you described in your original post, the other strings going out of tune when you move on to the next string, is pretty common with a Floyd until you reach the balance point (where the strings are in tune and the trem is floating.) There are dozens of good videos about Floyd Rose restringing and setup. You seem to know enough about them, but maybe you'll see something that might give you an idea of something else to try that we can't think up.
Honestly, from what I've noticed the blocks that are already on the guitar don't seem to be warped or cracked. I'll still consider buying those blocks because it would make sense to have replacements either way but as I said, the rest of the blocks including the block for the B string seem to be holding the strings in place just fine. Its the tuning that I'm really having a problem with, and its really just the B string thats a real pain even in the locked position. Would it be the tuner on the bridge or the headstock you are talking about? Because if it has anything to do with the bridge I feel that I should just replace the whole thing with a Schaller FR original to completely eliminate any issues I am having.
Could be the tuner on the headstock, though having time to think about it, the screws that hold the blocks (they run under the fine tuners at the bridge) could be stripped. It could be why the strings slip out of the blocks. Give a slight tug on the one holding the B string, and see if the string pops out.
Can you tell if the screw is stripped? Those are more easily replaced than if the metal of the bridge stripped.
https://www.allparts.com/GS-0387-003-Pack-of-6-FR-String-Lock-Screws_p_1804.html
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When it was setup at the store, did you put new strings on the guitar?
Every few years, I end up replacing these on my Floyd guitars. Some crack, some just have ruts worn into them. Shouldn't be necessary on a brand-new guitar, but it's a relatively inexpensive thing to try:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/bridges-tailpieces-for-guitars/proline-floyd-rose-style-saddle-block-insert-6-pack
If the strings weren't new, it's possible that the string ends were too flat to reclamp. Also, old strings might not tune or intonate properly. It's possible the problem is with the tuner, but I'd do new strings first, then the new blocks before going much further.