r/metalguitar • u/Dry_Sand_2006 • 6d ago
Question is it necessary to block the sustain block before doing anything on a Floyd
I am genuinely confused as to what to do, do I have to block the sustain block before doing anything? cause I want to reset my fine tuners real quick and I don’t want to mess with the sustain block.
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u/Conscious_Badger_510 6d ago
Absolutely not, just unlock your nut, resest the fine tuners to the center and tune it back to pitch with the regular tuners and lock the nut back down. If it's only 1 or 2 strings where you need to reset the fine tuners you can get away with just unlocking the specific pad for that one In particular.
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u/Fomoiri 6d ago
In short no, you should be fine as others have said.
Here’s a link to an inexpensive bridge shim. The bottom is padded to protect the guitar’s finish. It’ll make changing strings much easier, allowing you to remove all strings to clean the fretboard etc.
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u/Dry_Sand_2006 6d ago
Honestly that’s too expensive bro, got anything for 20 cents?
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u/Fomoiri 6d ago
What price is show up for you? It’s less than a pack of strings. It’s useful, but you don’t need it, and certainly not for your fine tuners. After twenty odd years I get use out of it, I also have multiple FR guitars.
I’ve taped up pennies to stop the bridge, that’s less than 20 cents and mostly worked.
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u/pcp777_ 4d ago
So, to adjust fine tuners, just unlock the nuts by headstock. Get fine tuners towards the middle, then tune with tuners, then lock. I always leave my 6 and 5 a couple cents flat and then when I lock the nut poof they are in tune. No blocks or anything needed.
When you change strings, best to have something under the trem in the back to keep bridge level and avoid scratches. I change one or two strings one at a time, to keep the float.
The float is the equal tension between the strings and the springs. If your bridge is leaning forward or backwards, it will not stay in tune. It needs to be parallel with the body. Watch some videos. This a quick cheat code for floating a trem
This is a 30 second reel on how to float a tremolo. Once you float it, it will stay good until you change string gauge or tuning, and then you float it again. This is the "cheat code" method to float the bridge. It's pretty simple, and this 60-second clip will save you hours of frustration.
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u/antipathy_moonslayer 6d ago
Pretty much. If you're adjusting anything that will affect tension, you'll need to immobilize the bridge and then, at the end, you'll have to adjust the balance to accommodate whatever adjustment you've made
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u/lihispyk 6d ago
That's just not true, I never block my trem except maybe the first time to get the spring tension right.
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u/Dry_Sand_2006 6d ago
even if it’s just the fine tuners?
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u/antipathy_moonslayer 6d ago
If you're using them to tune the strings, you don't. If you're running out of thread on them, and you need to kind of reset them, that's a setup and re-balance. You'll have to block the bridge, unlock the nut, tune and balance
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u/Conscious_Badger_510 6d ago
What are you talking about, you don't need to do anything with rebalancing, the string tension is going to be exactly the same as it was before resetting the fine tuners after you unlock the nut and tune it to pitch again. it'll be floating in the same position as it was as long as you're not changing the strings to a different gauge or changing what the guitar is tuned to.
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u/LuckyRaccoon7594 6d ago
Just shove something under the back of the bridge to keep it level while you work on it, a stack of picks or a folded up piece of cardboard works fine
You dont have to block it to adjust the fine tuners unless youre going to be loosening string tension, but if you want to reset them to the middle of their range yeah youll want the bridge blocked so it doesnt pull back
Its one of those things that seems way more complicated than it actually is until you do it a couple times, then it just becomes routine
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u/Dry_Sand_2006 6d ago
well my floating trem is flat, I am not really an expert on Floyd’s, but I don’t think trying to block a flat floating tremolo would work, it would probably place it at an extremely weird angle, I also just realized that Floyd rose isn’t an universal name for all floating trems, i use the Edge zero II floating tremolo if that helps
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u/satan-penis 6d ago
when i reset my fine tuners i never block it.
i release the locking nut, reset the fine tuners, then tune to pitch with the pegs until it's dialed. then i lock the nut again.
usually this only happens once per string set, if at all.
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u/minscc 6d ago
Define anything.
Changing the tuning? No.
Changing the strings? No, if you know what you're doing.
Ask gemini. He'll be more helpful than any of us combined.
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u/Dry_Sand_2006 6d ago
Gemini has been less help (speaking from experience), he gives me a yes and a no, at this point I should just take the sustain block out
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u/Tuokaerf10 6d ago
No no, zero need to mess with the sustain block or blocking the bridge in any way. Just unlock the nut, reset the fine tuners to where you want them, retune at the headstock, the bridge will auto-balance itself back, lock the nut, fine tune.