How to Adjust the Height of a Floyd Rose String

Joe Satriani only uses guitars fitted with a Floyd Rose bridge.

Floyd Rose's double-locking bridge revolutionized the tremolo system in the late 1970s, solving a longstanding problem with tuning stability. By spring mounting and adding a nut-lock to the tremolo, your Floyd Rose absorbs pressure that would typically make your strings go out of tune. You can adjust your Floyd Rose in order to customize the intonation, angle and string-height. The string-height, or "action" of the guitar determines playability and sound. If the action is too high, it's hard to press the strings against the frets. If it's too low, the strings will buzz against the fretboard.

Things You'll Need

• 3-mm hex key

Instructions

1. Lay the guitar on a flat surface. Make sure that the neck is pointing to your left.

2. Remove the tremolo arm. You Floyd Rose will either have a screw-in or push-in tremolo arm, depending on the model. Rotate the arm counter-clockwise to determine what kind you have. If the arm comes loose, you have a screw-in arm; just keep turning to unscrew it. If unscrewing has no affect, you have a push-in arm. Gently pull the arm toward you to remove it; it will "pop" out.

3. Fit a 3-mm hex key to the string height-stud on the far side of your guitar. The string-height studs are located on the front of the Floyd Rose, one on each side.

4. Turn the hex key. Turning it clockwise raises the far side of the Floyd Rose bridge. Turning it counterclockwise lowers the bridge. The height of the bridge determines the height of the string. To begin with, turn the hex no more than one full revolution. Over-adjusting it can render the guitar difficult to play. Once you've adjusted one side of the bridge, it will sit a tilt.

5. Fit the hex key to the string-height stud on the near side of the guitar. Make the exact same adjustment to this side of the bridge so that the bridge is level. By lowering the bridge, you reduce the clearance between the strings and the fretboard. This makes it easier to play faster. Turning it counterclockwise increases the clearance. This makes it easier to bend the strings.

6. Play the guitar. If the strings are difficult to push down, reverse the bridge adjustment slightly by turning the hex key counterclockwise. If they are still not high or low enough, make additional small adjustments as needed.

Tips & Warnings

• Tune your guitar after you've adjusted the bridge height.

• Large adjustments can increase or decrease the tension of the strings, making them go out of tune.

References

• Vintage Kramer: The Floyd Rose Tremolo
• Glowing Tubes: Floyd Rose Setup and Tuning
• Audio Zone: Floyd Rose Setup and Maintenance

Resources

• Floyd Rose