More Lo TRS whining, but hear me out...

[DirtyBird31]

Hey, I hate to announce my presence with my own topic, and a whiny one at that, but oh well!

I just got a new RG470 last week(I got a good deal on it, figured I'd drop an OFR in it later on if I needed to) and the Lo TRS is being a PAIN IN THE you know where... but the problem is I dont know if it's due to my inexperience with Floyds or if it's defective somehow.

First of all, the bar itself is very very loose, like at least 1cm of play at the tip and it can only screw like 2 or 3 turns into the trem before it bumps on the knobs and the bridge. That height adjustment screw in the sustain block has no effect whatsoever, and the wear on the arm indicates it's only screwing in halfway. Is this normal? If it's normal then the quality of this thing is downright awful, but I have a feeling I may have teh wrong arm, or something is way off in the barrel it screws in. The arm has 3 cm of bar after the bend and 1cm is threaded, is this right for this trem?

Second of all, the more serious thing, that probably IS my fault. The damn G and high E strings keep popping out of the clamps. At first I only slightly tightened them just to get them snug and I got to all out torqueing on it until I felt like the screw was gonna break and I've gone through 3 G strings and 2 E strings and I've just run out of string... I have to wait until I get a new set of strings to string it up again. It worked fine for 2 days then I did a bend on the high E and it popped out of the saddle and in a chain reaction the G popped out too, and I spent an hour trying to get it all tuned back up to pitch, finally I did, put on the locking nut, and then the G string was flat, and I had the fine tuner almost all the way down to the bar, and then it was still at least a step flat so I unclamp the tuner and tune it up and finally it just popped out again. Im disgusted with the thing. First of all, is there anything I may be doing to cause this? Oils on my fingers?(I have sweaty hands) Blocks worn already?(Will the replacements and stew-mac fit, and how do I get to the blocks?) Or is it my technique? Anything I need to look out for?

Sorry for the whinging, but I'd like to at least be able to use the guitar until I can afford an OFR, and just those two main issues are ruining a lovely guitar. So take pity upon my wretched soul and help me eh?

Thanks guys.

[frankfalbo]

If there is old string debris in there, or other debris, no matter how hard you tighten, you are tightening against the debris. (do I get anything for using the word "debris" three times in one sentence?) Take the strings out and then take the blocks out. Make sure there's nothing in there, and clean off the blocks. But make sure yo put them back right, with the little hole to the back to accept the bolt. If the blocks have been replaced with OFR or something else, they can be too narrow, so when you tighten the bolts, you get an angle or pitch to the block, instead of solid contact. Always make sure the string is well centered in the hole too. That's all I know, unless wear and tear has forged an indentation in the saddle itself. Then you're replacing them, or the whole trem.

[DirtyBird31]

How do you get to those blocks anyway? And where do you buy suitable replacements (just in case)? I was going to try and take the blocks out but I couldnt figure out how, I unscrewed the screw that tightens on em but it gets to a point where it doesnt unscrew anymore and the block shows no signs of coming out...

Sorry for the dumb questions, but Im kind of desperate here.