Major tuning and Floyd Rose problems

Hame · #1 08-10-2003, 07:18 AM

Hey
i have a major problem in that i cant seem to tune my damn Jem.
I have a Jem JR (i noe it sucks) but i have only been playing for a year and a half and this is the first electric i have and since i love STEVE VAI my dad saw this on sale and thought it would be good to get me.
anyways back to the problem. When ever i tune my Jem JR it always falls straight out of tune like literally 2 secounds later all the strings go completely flat. I have no idea wut to do and am scared to try anything myself as i am new to the bussiness. Also whenever i try to tune it the strings get so tight. And i am scared to keep trying to tune it as its just gonna snap. Wut should i do? A person told me that my string length might be to short but i had no clue what he was talking about. Should i just take off all the strings and start again with a new batch or wut?

can someone plz tell me wut to do as i have no idea wut so ever.

LennyNero · #2 08-10-2003, 08:42 AM

Hi there,

well, my first Question is are you having the right string gauges on???

And how old might those strings being on your guitar be??? (older strings tend too go out of tune faster... I think)

On this page you'll find some advices how to setup Ibanez guitars (mainly problems you might get from the trem). If those, and the pdf's on the Ibanez Website on guitar setup are no help too you, or yet to difficult, go to the shop where you dad bought it and let them do the setup.

Or maybe you'll find some guitar-playing friend who can help you.
Good luck,
Lenny

Hame · #3 08-10-2003, 08:52 AM

hey
i am using 0.009 which should be alright shouldnt it. And the strings arent that old at most they are about 3 weeks old. It was when i was changing the strings i encountered this problem.
Also the reason i dont want to goto a shop and get it fixed is because they charge so much here, and also i want to learn myself on how i can do this so in future i wont have to keep going to the shop and spending money.
And i did ask a friend but he reckons its cause the string length is to short and that is the reason that when i tune it the strings end up sooo tight. He said i should take all strings off and start again, but i dunno if that is such a good idea.

LennyNero · #4 08-10-2003, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hame

hey
i am using 0.009 which should be alright shouldnt it. And the strings arent that old at most they are about 3 weeks old. It was when i was changing the strings i encountered this problem.
Also the reason i dont want to goto a shop and get it fixed is because they charge so much here, and also i want to learn myself on how i can do this so in future i wont have to keep going to the shop and spending money.
And i did ask a friend but he reckons its cause the string length is to short and that is the reason that when i tune it the strings end up sooo tight. He said i should take all strings off and start again, but i dunno if that is such a good idea.

Well, you shouldn't change all the strings at once when you guitar has a FR-trem. This way the trem just might loosen itself too fast.

Have a look here:
http://www.jemsite.com/tech/index.htm

And at the Ibanez-site, as I already mentioned, they offer PDF with give you a good picture of how to setup your axe.

And I cannot imagine why the strings should be too tight... is the guitar new or second hand???

Hame · #5 08-10-2003, 09:09 AM

Hey
yes i noe that changing all strings at once is bad thats why i didn't do it. And i did look at this sites tech setup and went through everything they said. I even got the bridge perfectly parallel to the body but for some reason my guitar still goes out of tune and for some reason the strings are still so tight and i have no idea why
about the ibanez PDF thingy. Do i goto www.Ibanez.com or some other site and if it is this site where do i go to get help on the setup.

MicJustMic · #6 08-10-2003, 09:51 AM

What do you mean by "tight"? So tight you can't bend them or is it actually hard to tune them to pitch? Unless you're tuning to the wrong pitch I don't see any reason for excess tension on your strings.

What other guitar(s) do you own? It could be that the Jem has a longer scale length than you're used to. A longer scale length requires more tension to bring the strings up to pitch.

Your friend has it backwards, the SHORTER the string the LESS tension is required to bring it to pitch. This is a function of scale length (the distance from nut to bridge).

The TRS trems aren't all that great for staying in tune, but you shouldn't be having this many problems, I'm going to guess, since you said you're new to this, that you're not stretching the strings.

Unclamp the strings, tune them all up to pitch, then starting with the low E pull the string about a centimeter or three away from the fretboard. (I grab it anywhere from the neck pickup to the 12th fret) Give it a good tug, but don't try to pull it off of the guitar. ;-)

It will go a little flat, tune it up again and pull on it again. Do this until it doesn't go flat any more. (It'll go a LITTLE flat once stretched, but barely enough to see it on the tuner.

Move on to the next string and repeat.

After you've done all six strings, do a final tuning and clamp the nut.

Again, the TRS trems aren't perfect, they'll never stay in tune like an EDGE but it should still stay pretty close.

If that's not the problem then go to ibanezrules.com (big swirly banner at the top) and go through Rich's tuning checklist. It's the most comprehensive I've seen on the net, or anywhere, and it's helped many solve problems with their trems.

Mic

Hame · #7 08-10-2003, 11:05 AM

Hey
ok i used RICH's website by the way RICH that is an amazing website thanx a lot because it really helped me.
The only problem is i did exactly what RICH told me to and i can get every string in tune except for my low E. It keeps going so flat.

Artist · #8 08-10-2003, 11:11 AM

stretch it more more and more, and keep tuning each string until they are all in tune, then lock them.

Hame · #9 08-10-2003, 11:21 AM

Do i just stetch them straight away or do i have to release the string tension so they are all floppy and then stretch them. I am only asking because i am scared that if i stretch them straight away i might snap one of the strings

MicJustMic · #10 08-10-2003, 12:21 PM

Re-read my post and/or Rich's site again . . .

Tune the string(s) to pitch, playing pitch, stretch it, tune it back up, stretch it again, keep doing that until it doesn't go flat when you pull on it.

If you de-tune and try to stretch, you're actually doing NOTHING to the string at all, except wearing it out by going up and down with it around the post. ;-)

Mic

Rich · #11 08-10-2003, 01:30 PM

The low E requires alot of hard stretching, which is also hard enough to move any saddle that's not fully tight. Check the saddle screws and procede

Jupiter · #12 08-10-2003, 02:57 PM

Well, here's a question i'm surprised noone has asked so far...
How many springs are you using with the trem? Pop open the back cover and take a peek. For a guitar with 9's on it, three springs should be more than enough. If there's any more than three springs back there, that could be adding a lot of tension to the strings.

Jem7RB MK · #13 08-10-2003, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LennyNero

Well, you shouldn't change all the strings at once when you guitar has a FR-trem. This way the trem just might loosen itself too fast.

Eh???

I've always done it that way? mainly coz i give the fretboard and body a once over whilst the strings are off !

I've come over all confused

Rob

Hame · #14 08-11-2003, 02:30 AM

Hey guys
I have been stretching for ages and still the damn thing just wont tune.
Oh yeh by the way my one uses 3 springs.
Oh and one more question about my bridge my friend has an extra LO-PRO edge bridge and i am thinking if i should take my bridge out the one that i have in my JEM and put his LO-PRO into it do u reckon that would fix the problem, and will it have any better effects or should i just forget about that totally and stick with the current bridge i am using.

wilch · #15 08-11-2003, 10:51 AM

The lo-pro edge won't fit into the same hole as the trs bridge you have in the jem jr.

In order to get it to fit you'll have to get the router out and chew away some of that wood. It can be done, but it's not a direct replacement.

wil..