Floyd Rose Tuning Stability How stable is a Floyd if the strings are properly stretched? 09-18-25
0Floyd Rose Tuning Stability How stable is a Floyd if the strings are properly stretched? 09-18-25
Gonna try a quick and ridiculous Floyd Rose Stability test, for fun, and science ;D
For reference: After I put the strings back on and am checking the tuning harmonically, the Low E is a bit off, but I realized the D-Tuna had probably slid out of place a bit while there was no string tension.
So I slide the D-tuna back and forth a couple of times (I'm not touching the fine tuner).
And then after I get that back in the right place, I have to give the Low E string a few good tugs to get it stretched back out, which got it back in tune, without tuning anything.
Anyway, this was basically a demonstration on how IF you fully and properly stretch your strings, and set up your Floyd right in the first place, it should be EXTREMELY stable tuning wise.
Another reference, if you noticed, there are some black marks on my springs.
That's because springs aren't all going to be perfectly equal in tension.
So I mark my springs in order to always put them back on in the same order as they were when I took them off.
Would the guitar been out of tune if I put the springs in a different order?
Probably. Why wouldn't it be out of tune? With a free-floating floyd, it's always a balance between front and rear tension. so if I put the springs in a different order, it'd be like tightening or loosening one of the screws going through the spring claw.
Changing tensions, changes tensions.
So, yeah, I put one black band on the first spring with a sharpie.
2 black bands on the center spring.
And 3 black bands on the 3rd spring.
Then I mark the claw next to where each spring connects, I, II, and III.
Incredibly good tuning stability isn't an accident. Stack your deck with the best possible practices, and they add up.
One extra thing you can do for superior tuning stability, is use locking tuners.
Is it silly to use locking tuners with a locking nut?
Heck no!
It's actually very smart!
Because one of the biggest problems with tuning stability, is that the strings tend to TWIST as they wind around the tuning posts.
So you can end up with a torsional load (twisting load) on your strings in addition to the normal end-to-end *tension load*.
And the problem is, you can stretch your strings out really well, and that will take are of most (if not all) of your end-to-end-tension-related stability issues, but it WONT fix problems created by a trapped torsional load.
So the best way to fix it, is to never get your strings twisted in the first place. And since you don't have to wind locking tuners as far, that's massively less chance that you'll get a torsional load on the strings.
For those who have a floyd guitar that seems to "always be out of tune when you pick it up", next time you pick it up, DON'T TUNE IT!
Check to see if it's out of tune.
Then stretch the crap out of the strings, all of them. I usually bend the heck out of the Jimi Hendrix Chord a few times, then bend the top treble strings towards the bass side, and the bass strings toward the treble side.
Now check it again and see if one or more of the strings has "magically tuned itself".
Because what happens, is the torsional load will knock the string out of tune over time, but stretching it will usually bring it back in tune.
So if you tune it as soon as you pick it up, then start playing it...
Playing it will stretch the strings out, and then you'll have to tune them *again*, usually back to how they were before you tuned it in the first place.
To fix that issue, you have to get the twist out of the string.
So identify which strings are the offenders. Or the worst offenders. Because even fixing one or two might be enough.
Make sure your guitar is in tune.
loosen the nut-lock for the string you want to fix.
Pull the string a little toward the bridge to get some tension on the string WITHOUT kinking the string and unwind the string a ways to get some slack on it.
while you are still holding tension on the string, finger-tighten the nut-lock for that string.
now loosen the string lock in the saddle, and pull out the string.
It'll have a 90-ish degree bend in it, where it went into the lock.
If there was no such thing as torsional loading on strings, it would point straight down.
But it'll probably point to one side or the other, or may even point straight up.
anyway, cut off the bend, then insert the string straight back down into the lock.
Try to get it straight up and down as possible. Spending a few extra seconds here, will save you tuning headaches in the future ;)
lock the string in position.
loosen the nut-lock, and tune the guitar back up using the tuner.
(And tune the other string if needed, while the nut is loose.
Re-lock the nut using your usual wrench.
check tuning and adjust the fine tuners if necessary.
Give the strings a bit of a stretch since you had the tension off.
And, hopefully, that string will no longer be naughty :)