Tips for touring with a floating trem guitar

[Uladyne]

Due to circumstances beyond my control (financial/theft) I will be using borrowing a guitar with a floating trem for our upcoming national tour which starts friday.

I'm not completely afraid of floating trems, but I definitely prefer fixed bridges for the stability. I don't really have time to block the trem, so I'll probbly just deal with the retarded tuning procedures and just go with it.

I was wondering if there are any things I should consider as far as maintenance between shows due to climate changes and what not. I'm thinking it might be a good idea to remove the nut clamps and re-tune from the tuning keys at each venue rather than trusting the clamps and just using the fine tuners on the bridge each time.

I have a backup guitar, loads of strings, tools, etc, just wondering if there's anything I'm not considering. Maybe I'm just being anal. This is my first tour on guitar, as I was formerly playing bass in the band.

 

[ttrentt]

Dude, I know you don't have a lot of time, but this is easy. Super glue and pennys. Glue a stack of about 10-15 pennys together and shove it behind the trem block against the body from the back. Glue another stack of about 5 together and put it in front of the block. Done. Better tone too.

 

[guitarguru777]

Pro setup before you leave
Never change just 1 string, if a string breaks change em ALL
Keep fresh strings on it 1 or 2 shows TOPS

 

[AD Chaos]

I don't get it what's with all the trem hate

If you carry your axe in a hardshell case I really don't see why it should get detuned SO much (unless you DO use the trem and don't adjust the clamps properly?).

I'd say re-string, play for a while w/o the clamps, bend strings and move the trem a bit, and once the tuning sits in, put on the clamps, fine tune and play some more, fine tune.
Fine tune/check before the show.

Edit: Ok, I think I just answered my own question

 

[if6was9]

Just treat it like usual. Seriously, brought floyd rose style bridge equipped guitars to loads of gigs and never had problems with tuning between shows fluctuating so far I needed to unlock the trem.

 

[AD Chaos]

^ This.

Once you do what I was talking about, tuning should be stable enough you shouldn't have any problem with it.

 

[LeSedna]

My floyd rose ESP hasn't been tuned since i changed its strings weeeeeks ago, and I don't remember last time i have fine tuned it. It doesn't move from my house of course, but you see what I mean

If it's a good real floyd, once it's setup, it won't move.

 

[TofNazareth]

No worries, you dont have to do any thing crazy.

1) Unscrew the floyd plate
2) Find something that fits just between the bridge and the body. a bottle cap from 20oz bottle usually is perfect. Make sure what you use will not compress.
3) Loosen the springs this will pinch the "bottle cap" loosen them til the bridge is solid .
4) Screw the back plate back on.
5) Tune up

When you can your string make sure to do one string at a time. any more questions hit me up.

 

[Jevil]

I ALWAYS use floating FR's on stage.

Changing strings is a bit embarrasing, but once it is properly tuned and setup, you will not have to worry about anything.

Fixed bridges are unconfortable for my palm muting. uke:

 

[jarenare]

Fixed bridges are unconfortable for my palm muting. uke:

Same here. I'm so used to play with FR bridges that I cant stand a different setup, specially on fast alternate picking using palm mutting.

 

[amarshism]

Get your guitar out of the case and into the rack as soon as you get in the venue. If you're picky and like to restring every show or second, do it after you play so the next day your strings and Floyd have time to settle. Definitely perform a setup before leaving and ensure your backup is setup as well.

 

[Uladyne]

These are all really good tips! I tend to stretch the living shit out of the strings when I put them on, and I only do one at a time, so it sounds like I have most of the bases covered and I might be just overly cautious.

I definitely like the idea of getting the guitars acclimated. I've heard horror stories about guys bringing their guitars into a warm club from a cold trailer and opening the case immediately and the actual finish on the guitar cracking like glass from the thermal shock, but I don't expect any drastic changes this time of year, and most of our load in times are in the afternoon. Plenty of time for acclimation before our set.

 

[SimonTaddio_Qc]

I will just add restring by evening (after you played, duh!) and let the springs sink in all night. If you restring just a couple hours before the gig, you may have stability problems, plus add the crowd heat, lights, etc...
But once everything is set up properly, it's gonna stay in tune all night.

 

[LeSedna]

+1 to the need to restrings more than a few hours before the show. Even witha blocked floyd. Play it an hour, restring until you feel it's not moving anymore, block it, fine tune, and you're done for a long time.

 

[Executioner213]

Restring every couple of shows. When you restring, try to get it to where the bridge is flat with the body at all times while restringing (put something under it in the recessed route). Stretch the strings when you put them on, tuning frequently. After the restring is done, and before you lock down the nuts....proceed to yo-yo on the whammy bar for a few minutes, ensuring there is plenty of pull and dive throughout the process. Tune it back up...do it again if you like...then lock it down and fine tune it. It will stretch your strings enough that you won't have random strings stretch while playing the show at all. If you get a nice setup before you go out, keep everything well maintained and don't change to different string gauges while on tour, you should have little to no problems with this. If floating is becoming a pain in the ass...you might be fine to just block it (the penny trick is not bad) and keep it from at least going sharp on ya.

Most of the whammy bar nightmare shit that people are talking about comes from using shitty Floyd Rose rip-off bridges made out of inferior metal, which go bad rather fast. When I bought my JS100 in about '98, the bridge went to shit instantly. It was a Lo-TRS made from crappy brass, and the knife edges were ruined from the get go...plaguing me with plenty of tuning problems. The store I bought it from basically said "tough shit" and I eventually replaced it with an original Floyd Rose. OG Floyds are the way to go. Older Ibanez Edge trems are pretty decent too...not sure about the newer ones.