How to Adjust Intonation on a Floyd Rose Tremolo

Adjusting guitar intonation is one of the most important aspects of instrument maintenance you can learn. It's also one of the most frustrating, and with a Floyd Rose locking tremolo system, it can be an intense de-motivator. Once you learn the technique, however, a little patience will get you into a groove in which intonating that obnoxious tremolo will become smooth and, if not easy, certainly familiar.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Locking tremolo equipped guitar
• Allen wrenches
• Electric guitar tuner

1. Check your guitar's intonation by playing a harmonic at the twelfth fret and then playing the fretted note. Check for any difference in the two notes (an electric tuner is very helpful here), and write down which strings need adjusting, and if the fretted notes are flat or sharp compared to the harmonics.

2. Unlock the nut at the headstock. You'll need to make adjustments freely with the headstock tuners, so keep the nut loose.

3. Loosen the first string that needs adjusting until there is no tension left at the bridge.

4. Loosen slightly the saddle of the string you just detuned. The screw is normally located directly underneath the string and in front of its contact point with the saddle. You should be able to move the saddle back and forth with a little effort.

5. Move the saddle toward the neck slightly if the fretted note in Step 1 was flat compared to the harmonic. Move it away from the neck if the note was sharp. Small increments are better than large.

6. Re-tune and check the intonation again. If necessary repeat Steps 3 through 5.

7. Repeat Steps 3 through 6 with each of the strings that need adjustment.

8. Re-tune and lock the nut again. Check intonation at the twelfth fret and play a few chords at various points on the neck. If everything sounds spot-on, your guitar should be ready to play. If not, you may need to make more adjustments.

Tips & Warnings

• Small increments work much better than large. Tremolo systems tend to respond better to finesse than to force.
• Make sure each string is completely loose before unlocking the saddle. If necessary, loosen all of the strings at the same time to avoid pulling a saddle out of place.

Resources

• Tremolo maintenance tips

[dorianbakx]

on 3/25/2009 great info, right to the bone of the job :) i have done this several times in my jacksons