Floyd Rose fine tuner issue

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   Hello! I'm brand new to the forum. I've been playing guitar since I was 12 (I'm 42), I've had every type of guitar imaginable, including several with Floyd Roses.
I recently purchased a Fender-made EVH Wolfgang Standard. I love it. I bought an original Floyd Rose and installed it to replace the EVH Floyd. I have it blocked with a stopper underneath, it does not float.

It works great. BUT. It's brand new, but for some reason the High E fine tuner feels loose and the High E will not stay in tune to save its life. 

Any thoughts on how to deal with a loose fine tuner (that's new???)?

Thanks for any thoughts. 

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macguier Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Newbie Joined: June 09 2016 Location: Pennsylvania Status: Offline Points: 4	Topic: Floyd Rose fine tuner issue Posted: June 09 2016 at 22:20
	Hello! I'm brand new to the forum. I've been playing guitar since I was 12 (I'm 42), I've had every type of guitar imaginable, including several with Floyd Roses. I recently purchased a Fender-made EVH Wolfgang Standard. I love it. I bought an original Floyd Rose and installed it to replace the EVH Floyd. I have it blocked with a stopper underneath, it does not float. It works great. BUT. It's brand new, but for some reason the High E fine tuner feels loose and the High E will not stay in tune to save its life. Any thoughts on how to deal with a loose fine tuner (that's new???)? Thanks for any thoughts.

Atavachron Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: September 30 2006 Location: Pearland Status: Offline Points: 65258	Posted: June 09 2016 at 22:47
	^ I assume it has no separate setting you'd adjust, a screw or socket/keywrench -
	"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy

macguier Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Newbie Joined: June 09 2016 Location: Pennsylvania Status: Offline Points: 4	Posted: June 09 2016 at 23:08
	No. The tuners push down on a metal plate that push the saddles up and down to fine tune after locking the nut. It's just a thumbscrew.

Atavachron Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: September 30 2006 Location: Pearland Status: Offline Points: 65258	Posted: June 09 2016 at 23:47
	Only thing I can think is dropping $20 on a set of spare tuners; if it's simply worn threads on the peg, that's easy. If it's faulty threads in the socket, I don't know - Good luck
	"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy

Dean Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575	Posted: June 10 2016 at 01:22
	I would first try swapping the Top E tuner-screw with one of the others to see if it is the screw or the tapped hole that is the problem. I'd also check the saddle lock-down screw as the intonation adjustment affects the tuning so slippage in that would put the string out of tune. There is one other possibility and that is the leaf-spring that the fine-tuner pushes against is broken or damaged. This is internal to the bridge itself so probably means sending the whole FR back to the supplier for replacement. Edited by Dean - June 10 2016 at 01:27
	What?

Atavachron Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: September 30 2006 Location: Pearland Status: Offline Points: 65258	Posted: June 10 2016 at 01:22
	^ Good suggestion
	"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy

Dean Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575	Posted: June 10 2016 at 02:32
	On a slightly different subject (apologies for hijacking your thread Steve, but it's kinda related) - has anyone any experience of locking peghead tuners (aka Trim-Lok)? In principle these would work with a FR bridge instead of having a locking nut so each string could be unlocked individually, which would make tuning a touch easier and avoid inadvertently weakening strings when forgetting to unlock the nut before re-tuning.
	What?

Dean Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575	Posted: June 10 2016 at 03:43
	After reading and posting in this thread I recalled that the subject of tuning problems with a FR trem/bridge has come up before. One of the ex-members of the forum was a luthier and one-time Stew-Mac guitar-tech called Tom (David may remember him as "Trademark") - a very outspoken person who was incredibly knowledgeable on all thing relating to guitar construction and had even written a book on the subject. Tom was very anti-tremolo and specifically anti-FR so his advice was to not have them at all, however your blocking of the floating bridge so it isn't a tremolo negates most of his objections. If my memory isn't failing me (since the forum search function currently is) I think he suggested several possible causes such as burrs on either the saddle or the nut which cause the string to jerk out of tune when bending the string during playing (though I suspect this would only really affect wound strings), or insufficient friction in the locking-nut so it's not actually doing its job. Therefore it may be worth checking that your locking-nut is actually clamping the Top-E string by slackening off the machine-head tuner to see if the string stays in tune. Just changing the gauge of your string may help here (go heavier if it is slipping in the nut or go lighter if it is a tension problem). PS: this made me smile: Edited by Dean - June 10 2016 at 04:37
	What?

macguier Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Newbie Joined: June 09 2016 Location: Pennsylvania Status: Offline Points: 4	Posted: June 10 2016 at 08:41
	That's excellent advice, thank you! I will try it forthwith. And yes, that's basically what my underside looks like. Ummm, on the guitar.

Davesax1965 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: May 23 2013 Location: UK Status: Offline Points: 2839	Posted: September 13 2016 at 05:15
	Could the problem lie at the nut end ? Whoops, already been said. Yep, with any trem, if the nut is sticky or badly cut or slightly misaligned, it tends to cause problems. Since you've got a microtuner at the bridge end, that just makes it worse as fine adjustments are more likely to throw the tuning out. Edited by Davesax1965 - September 13 2016 at 05:17