How to Adjust Intonation on a Lo Pro Edge bridge (Floyd Rose) - Guitar Repair Tutorial
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2025
- Schedule a lesson with me at my website at www.timhelisek.com
This guitar lesson video explains how to adjust the intonation for a Lo Pro Edge tremolo (Licensed Floyd Rose bridge) on an Ibanez Jem7DBK. Discusses which way to move the saddle, lengthen the string if the fretted note is too high or by shortening the string if too low.
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To get it PERFECLY in tune, do it with the 19th fret, also.
I found your clip very informative. I am accustom to setting intonation on most style bridges but I have never done a floyd rose before. I have a hybrid tele with a licensed floyd rose. unfortunately I had to reset the neck as it was not straight in the body. Ofcaus when I did the intonation is now incorrect. With you simple and easy to understand instruction I feel confident that I can set my intonation correctly. Thank you for your clip it really will help. Take care from your pal Helcat in Australia.
Hey Tim,
Thanks for the help...never even thought about doing my own intonation adjustments until yesterday...especially on a floating bridge system...worked like a champ first shot..couldn't believe how easy it was to do with help from your tutorial...Much Appreciated.
Chris
Thank you Timothy. Excellent video. Procedure well explained. Clear and concise.
Awesome..Fabulous job on the simple delivery of this task making it easy to understand. I honestly did not know how to adjust the intonation and untill now I never knew what Intonation actually was. Now I see how my Kramer and its Floyd Rose bridge has a solution to the string being in tune but up the neck out of tune. Now i can fix it :)
You just saved me a ton of money and I didn't even have to buy anything from GIECO, Thank you bunches :)
Very nice instruction video Tim. You won't see it explained much easier than this. Excellent video quality really helps with the details.
I have a 1982-83 Kramer Pacer Imperial with an original Floyd Rose. This technique works great. One other note for those that fight tuning, use the D-G-A-B-E-E sequence. Tune from the middle out. You’ll be amazed at how much quicker you can throw a tune on any trem setup and have it stay there.
this was like the best video of intonstion ever. you are amazing.
this is very useful advice. thank you a ton. when checking my intonation I had the exact same problem with my A string in the sense that it was already maxed out, but I never knew there's an extra hole even further away.
Thank you very much. It was very informative and I believe this will help me a lot. I'm new to floating trem guitars.
Today I learned something. Thank you.
This has been a little difficult to rap my mind around to keep everything in check,but man ,what a thrill to pull or push the whammy bar to crazy points ,and get sounds not thought off , and release back to perfect pitch , man what fun I have with this iron label machine
I put a piece of masking tape on saddle next to the one I’m adjusting, then use pen to mark current location. I don’t have to worry about holding it. Goes faster for me. Some people use “the key” or other tools. Found tape to be my favorite option.
That's what I do to.
Good advice
Great information thank you. Floyds sure are a trip
I had a guy who did this for me, the same guy who teched for Tyson of the All American Rejects. RIP Tooker!
Not all heroes show you how to adjust the intonation of a floyd rose trem. But this one does!
I was wondering what’s the point of those moving part on the bridge and this video gives me the answer. Thanks!
thanks a lot, cheers from Egypt \m/
Thanks! Worked perfectly.
Just got my first FR and this will be very helpful, Thank you
I didn't know that there are 2 screw holes, lol! Thanks for the tutorial!
Great tut man. Hoping this helps me fix a major issue with a pawn shop bought Jackson. Thanks for sharing the knowledge.
jesus, sounds like John Lithgow is teachin me intonation, haha cheers mate great vid
Awesome, dude! Great information and very thorough!
Straightforward and practical advice. Thank you!
This is very informative. Thank you.
I've actually been considering going back to a fixed bridge. Don't use enough whammy to warrant so much extra work.
I agree. I'll be getting a fixed bridge on my next electric. The locking tuning system is great though.
No wonder luthiers ask extra money for intonating a Floyd Rose comparing to a normal TOM bridge.
Thx Tim my guitar sounds sweet... Was doing it all wrong like so many do.. Now I know, cheers bro.
Excellent demonstration!!!
THANKS!
Clear and straightforward. Thanks!
Thank you so much,my Kramer would not stay in tune did just what you said ,awsome great video.
Glad it helped!
Thanks for this tutorial, I have to do this soon myself. Would be nice if manufacturers put measurement marks right there by the saddles so you know where you're at.
Great tutorial! Do I need to immobilize my Floyd rose for this?
In conclusion: Open String, harmony 12th fret and fretted at 12th must be all “in tune”… it’s a lot of work, even when you change strings gauge. Good tutorial. Greetings from #Venezuela 🤘🏽😎🎸👋🏽🇻🇪
harominc 12th fret is perfect, 12th fret pushed is way sharp. I moved the saddle down as much as i could but now watching a third time I realized I moved the wrong way. This is an ordeal but I'll get it i appreciate the video.
Perfect tutorial! Thanks so much.
thanx,,,il try it ...I gotta change gage and tuning,,,,,
I have a question and I think it is more about my new guitar tech issue, but here goes, if you can point me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it. I just bought a new Jackson Pro Soloist SL2Q MAH translucent blue. I love it, and when I got the strings, it had those awful DAddario strings 9-42 on them. I do not like them they sound dull. I played the guitar in TUNE for about 2 days and decided to change them to EB Cobalts. I put a plastic measuring cup handle to stop gap the floyd rose and have it set level for tuning. I got the guitar in tune, locked my nut and then retuned with the fine tuners. All was well for ONE DAY LOL. Since then, I have been playing and having to retune continuously. I go sharp, like WAY sharp on every string. So I went back to unlocking the nut and setting up the floyd level again and down tuned each string. Which when relocking, and adjusting the fine tuners, got me in tune, for about one song and then I go sharp again, and the fine tuners run out of space to move back into tune again. So frustrated with this problem, do I need to adjust the screws in the back to correct this? Or is it user error? the guitar, it is only one week old. Bummed. I only tuned the first string to the tuner, and the rest by ear by the way. But I knew I was going sharp in mid play by the song I was playing with...any help or direction? thanks for listening
Roland Lemus sounds like your springs are too tight.
Did you stretch your strings goo when you changed them? Did you maybe overstretch them, and they're correcting themselves?
I did think that was absolutely amazing really really helpful thank u
thanks man youre a god you really helped me
Good tutorial! Thanks man!
Golden Information. Thanks for sharing
So what do you do if the saddle is all the way in either direction? In the past, I have had it flat at the 12th fret, with the saddle all of the way toward the neck, and now, it is vice versa.
So what to do? i have same situation... flat at the 12th fret, with the saddle all of the way toward the neck
Spending the time to fix the intonation on a Floyd gives you the entire experience of a Floyd, ya its a bitch to set up but well worth the invested work
Not When you got 2 of them it’s a living hell
this is a pain to do but it's worth the time and effort
I broke my high E string for some reason. But I was about to change to new strings anyway.. Hopefully I'll go better next time. Good video btw!
Thanks for this. I have a guitar with this bridge, and I’m in a little over my head.
I love how nobody on these intonation videos show you the tuner
All good, but IMO it's better to set up the intonation with the guitar placed in playing position (sitting with the guitar on your leg at least, if not standing). If it lays down on a table and the intonation is set up like that, it will ALWAYS be a little off, because of the gravity. I know it's so little that maybe that issue can be skipped, but the truth is it's always there.
Correct sir, gravity causes the strings to play flat. You always want to adjust intonation as the last part of a proper set up. Your action, truss rod adjust and tuning to whatever position it will be played at. Setting intonation and THEN changing any of these can and or will cause the intonation to change.
Yep, but just do it while tuning, not adjusting the saddles
So useful, thank you for sharing 🙏
I feel fortunate cause the guy who sold me his Jem already adjust the intonation, just need to adjust the string height
String height adjustments will slightly change intonation won't it?
thank you..saved me lots of money..
Glad I could help!
Thanks for the video! Really helpful and educational.
would you just be able to compress the bridge to get to the screw or no? I don't have a hand crank
thanks for the info, really helpful. do you have or can you make a video about string through intonation?
Great video. Thank you for the upload.
What are the 6 round screws at the base of the bridge used for?
I have done everything as showed but my E high string on the 12th is always flat and I moved the saddle as much as I could to the left....What could it be? Is it the string itself that is not good?
Thats really cool, Thanks for showing me that. Thats Great.
Great video! I will never ever buy a guitar with a Floyd Rose bridge again haha. It's so much work and I don't even use the whammy bar.
Same here...
You could get a "tremel-no" or similar widget. (I use an AA battery to prevent the bit inside the cutout from moving)
Instead of loosening the string from the headstock, could you put a block under the floyd to loosen the strings?
From other videos I've watched, and from my own experience, you have to do both, although blocking the tail will reduce the amount of tuner turning you have to do.
Just found the Ibanez EJK1000 E-Jack. Have you tried that?
n00b question coming up, play nice (I just bought my very first FR equipped guitar so I'm watching every YT video I can on the subject to educate myself). It seems a bit cumbersome having to push the saddle back and forth manually to set the intonation. Why doesn't the FR system have an adjustment screw under tension for this purpose like most(?) other guitars? It seems like it would be simple enough to incorporate.
There is a learning curve at first, but after you do it once or twice it will probably take only 20, maybe 30 minutes. On the other hand, Ibanez makes a tool for this. www.amazon.com/Ibanez-EJK-EJK1000-Intonation-Adjuster/dp/B01AZBFJOU/ Hope that helps!
I was surprised how crude the information adjusted was on the Floyd Rose but there's not really much room for adjustment screws like on a standard Strat type
Once the Floyd's intonation is adjusted, when you replace the strings (the same measure of previous), the octave intonation will be perfect forever or sometimes you must readjust the intonation?
Sorry for the late reply! It shouldn't need to be adjusted again for years, and even then, you may only need to do one or two strings. The only reason why you would need to do it sooner is if you change string gauges.
@@TimothyAHelisek thank you very kind!
Helped me a lot, thank you :)
I have fret buzz from 12th fret and up. the neck appears to be straight and I have the FR bridge up high. do I need to go up higher?
Yes, I would try to go a bit higher. If that doesn't work, you may have to get it looked at by a guitar tech.
You need to adjust your neck to a VERY, VERY slight bow..or if you want it straight for some reason take to a Luthier and tell him you would like a little fall away from the twelfth fret up....This assumes you've already had you're frets leveled...if not...that is you're first step...to get you're frets leveled by a genuine Luthier.....
Thanks for the tips appreciate it
..Hahahaha....He does...Thanks for uploading this, since I just got my first Ibanez, I found this really helpful, it takes a bit longer to set up than my Fender, but it's well worth it, the Ibanez is better for my style of playing, I still like the Fender, as it has that classic Hendrix tone, with the Ibanez it stays in tune better when using the tremolo
Thanks man. Saved a lot of $$$
+Timothy A. Helisek Hi Tim, I bought a Korean Ibanez RG 320QS with a licensed floyd. I added Ernie Ball Skinny Top Heavy Bottoms (10-52) and tuned it to Drop C. I've almost got it intonated, but a couple strings are slightly sharp on the 12th, and my saddle is more or less set to its maximum distance from the nut (the saddle screw is in the back hole). Any suggestions? Should I be using heavier strings? I'm not sure how string diameter translates to intonation.
+Dillon Huffman If you are tuning a lot lower I would try heavier strings. For Drop C, maybe try at least 11-52 or if your fingers can handle it maybe even 12-52. D'Addario actually makes a set that is supposed to be specifically for Drop C that goes 12-60. If you use those you'll probably have to adjust the action too. Personally, I use 11-52 on mine, however I usually tune to standard so I have not had that specific problem.
+Timothy A. Helisek Thanks. isn't the intonation based on the diameter of the string? or does changing the tuning affect it as well?
Thank you, just what I needed :)
You help me alot heheh thank you ❤️❤️
No problem :)
Any idea how to adjust the bad fret buzz on the 3rd fret of my new ibanez jem??
MadMax it could be the action or an uneven fret. take a gift card or credit card and rock it across 3 frets to see if it is uneven. if it is uneven, you might have to file it down or take it to someone
I searched "intonating a floating tremolo" and found exactly what I needed to know. This is even the same guitar, color and all, that I'm fixing. No handle though.
Great video, thank you.
Thank you!
Thank for your video.
Thanks for the video!
You're welcome!
I've wondered about this a bit, so the way to check your intonation is that the 12th fret natural harmonic should be the same pitch as the fretted note?
Would the height of the pickups influence results?
I shouldn't think so. It's all about the length of the string and the wavelength physics due to that. All pickups do is then register that vibration. Huh. Just noticed your comment a year old, so my reply probably unrequired now.
I have a question, your Gtr is perfect tuning checking the tuner in open strings and the 12th fret pressed. all in the middle perfect intonation.
Now, if you press lets say the 3rd string or any other string in different frets around the fretboard and check the it with the tuner, it is normal that many or most frets in different strings are not with the needle in the tuner in the center (meaning perfect note intonation) ?
When you press different frets around the guitar, it should be close to the 'center' on your tuner. It probably won't be perfect though. If it is relatively close, I wouldn't worry about it. If it happens to be way off for some reason, then something is wrong. Another thing, just to rule out the possibility, make sure that you are not pressing on the string too hard, or slightly bending it, because doing either will make the note sound too high.
I have a friend with a fender strat that can't fix the intonation. the harmonics are always too high, do you think it's the neck? is it fixable? thank you
Hey, your video is incredibly useful and clear but I still have an issue. Even using the second screw I need to lengthen the string further than it can be done, if I move it enough to get a good intonation on the high E the intonator gets in the way of the guitar body so when I try to move the bridge it presses against the guitar body and it can harm it.
What can I do in this case?
My high E string is resting on the screw that you used in this video. The tiny black one. It makes a buzz because of it. Any advice ?? 😥
I don't think I've seen that happen before. Is the screw the right size. I'm wondering if somehow you have a screw that has too big of a head.
@@TimothyAHelisek I dont know. I bought it used. Sometimes the high E slips off the neck too. Like if I play it to hard or bend to hard down, it rides over a fret bar and gets stuck under the fret. I dont understand.
Honestly all my strings sit to close to the adjustment screws. Like almost touching all of them.
Its a Jackson guitar. I dont know what model thou.
How did you get John Lithgow to do the voiceover for your video? It's amazing.
My fine tuner screws on my low E and A strings won't adjust all the way in for some reason. Do you know what my problem could be?
I have a bit of a problem just bought a jackson with a licensed floyd and I think it was tune a whole step down and when a tune to standard the bridge starts diving what can I do??
It sounds like you have to tighten the springs in the back of your guitar. Because tuning down a whole step needs less tension on the springs, and tuning up to standard from there will need more tension, you should tighten the springs. Also note, that if you change the gauge of the strings to a bigger gauge, you'll need to tighten it even more.
Greetings, "if you need to move the saddle away from the nut to a position where the attachment screw can no longer clamp the saddle firmly, you can move the screw to the next hole back on the bridge plate." How exactly you do that?
You only need to do this if the intonation on the string is off and you the bridge will not allow you to move the saddle any further to get the right intonation. To do this, you loosen the string, unscrew the screw holding the saddle until it comes out and then insert the screw into the other hole. You can watch me do it at 10:25 in the video.
Thank u so much for ur time and comment. Really appreciate it
Great information, thank you!
we have the same guitar! n thanks for this!
What guitar is this ?
Are there water droplet decals on the body ?
I really like the mirror pick guard and the screw fret markers.
Intonation tool makes this so much easier......👍🏻
Can you tell me what the bar with 2 screws above the locking nut is for? Thanks.
It's called a 'string retainer bar.' It is supposed to set the proper angle of the strings before they pass through the nut. The retainer bar should be set slightly lower than the locking nut. This should ensure that the tuning will stay the same from the time you tune it with the strings unlocked, and when you lock the nut down. If you find that you tune your guitar unlocked, then lock it down and it is no longer in tune, then you may need to make an adjustment.
It's really designed to create "down pressure." On a Les Paul, L5 etc. the arched top places the stop bar tailpiece lower than the bridge. The angled headstock places the tuners lower than the bridge. This down pressure helps to force the vibrations from the string into the guitar body and neck, which increases the sustain of the instrument. (They got the idea from violins, which use the same principle.) The string retainers, whether one bar or three smaller bars, are there to help create down pressure for Fender/strat/tele style guitars which are basically flat. *SCIENCE!*
If the string still can’t be intonate whether you moved up, center, or down, does that mean it needs new strings?
Just use this tool:
Ibanez EJK1000 E-Jack.
You won't need to detune to release the saddle - it works perfectly at standard tuning.
You'll be done in under 10 minute.
So because of the whole locking nut and microtuner assembly, the knock-on consequences are having to snip the ball ends off strings, and the bridge saddles have no adjustment screws. You just have to shove them around and hope for the best. I guess something had to give, there's only so much space to go around. In theory you should only have to set the intonation when you change string gauges (or maybe brand or type), but in practice, truss rod adjustments necessitate a little intonation tweaking afterward. Unfortunately, on a Floyd Rose, little adjustments are almost as difficult as large ones. On tune-o-matic bridges, or normal Strat trems, and many others, you have a screw and maybe a spring to help keep each saddle in place. I'm sure just as good of a result can be achieved with the Floyd Rose, but it's more aggravating and takes longer.
Is it worth the extra bother? I don't know, that depends on the nut holding the guitar. Some people don't like _any_ tremolo system, some don't care as long as it doesn't go out of tune, and others want a really nice one, and _they're all correct_ because they all have different requirements. I don't think the FR is for me, but if someone else likes it, more power to them. There are many good reasons for _actually needing_ multiple guitars, so it's not like you have marry just one.
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If are setting up also do you set up first and then intonate or intonate then set up?
Intonation should be the last thing that you do. If you intonate first, and then adjust, the intonation will go out and you'll have to do it all over again.
Tahnks
Awesome thank you
Thank very much sir
All the strings have to be retuned to0 when adjusting saddles.
I'm having issues with my 7 string floyd rose. The top e string is too close to the edge of the neck so when I touch it to the fretboard it slides off at times. How do I fix this issue?