Ok i need some real good tech advise. Zerb, guys?

[octavedoctor]

my rule of thumb for setting the action is:bridge first and check fret buzz on high frets then adjust trus rod as needed to get rid of buzz on the lower frets (from 12th towards nut).
also to keep action low you need to learn to live with a little fret buzz.

Exactly how I do it, except I put a capo on the first fret to isolate the nut as if this is too high it can completely alter your perception of the action height.

[tone?]

Well the Axis guitar is not meant to have a floating floyd. It is the remake of the EVH guitar Van halen made with Ernie ball.

So i should use beet can material for a shim??

[tone?]

here are some shots to give you an idea


the strings are off cause i need to fix/shim the **** nut first

[Pierre]

The Floyd on these should touch the top of the guitar. That's how they're meant to be setup.

[tone?]

if you notice the Floyd needs a hair of raising cause it isnt totally flat with the body

and the angle of the neck. the Axis was designed with an angle on the neck. So shimming it will give it more. That is kinda where i am a bit worried to angle it more.

[tone?]

so after the pics dontcha think it might be angled too much after i shim it more??

is there such a thing? as too much of an angle?? lol

[Pierre]

It depends on how she plays.


There are basically 3 kind of Floyd setups.


Raised above the body, with neck angle (so you get pullup and dive)
Recessed (to eliminate the need for neck angle)
Flush with the body


I believe, but don't take my word for it, that yours should be flush with the body. That's how I'd set it up in your situation.

The neck angle is there to compensate for the tall trem. You shim the body end of the neck pocket, the neck raises, nut lowers and BAM, lower action.

I've never seen a guitar that needed shimming. It sometimes means a bad design, hence why I doubt this guitar would need it.

Dude, don't get obsessed with neck angle. Seriously. Have you seen the neck angle on a Les Paul? Honestly man... no need. Just shim the neck to have it play fine, and don't let your brain tell different from your ears.

[XSSIVE]

set the floyd level with the body. (needs to come up a hair at the studs from your pic)

shim the neck more to get the action you want.

DONE.

-Mike

[tone?]

really a Paul has more of an angle??

I just wanted to know if it would increase tension alot. I mean there is only one way to find out now isnt there??

ill just shim the darn thing

yeah of course this guitar is designed for the trem to sit on the body
i was just concerned about what i wrote before.

It is already sitting on the body but needs to be upped a hair as you can probably tell from the photo

[tone?]

set the floyd level with the body. (needs to come up a hair at the studs from your pic)

shim the neck more to get the action you want.

DONE.

-Mike

LOL

that was too funny!

hey man, was your Axis setup with the neck all shimmed??

[XSSIVE]

they all come shimmed, that's how EB does it.

i didn't need to add any extra shims to mine to get the action how i wanted it but it is NOT a big deal to shim them to get it to play the way you want so don't worry about it.

mine played like butter....if not for that silly child size 1 5/8" nut width or i'd still have it. i just couldn't get into it and felted cramped playing some stuff up by the nut since i'm used to 1 11/16" and 1 3/4".

-Mike

[tone?]

yeah,

dont know if you read the rest of the thread, but mine was stiff as heck until i gave the neck relief. It had an upwards bow and this was even throwing the nut off of the fretboard.

now it plays much looser. The bass strings though are still not as slinky as say my Ibanez Roadstar II.

[octavedoctor]

Yes I know the EVH/Wolfgang. Monumental piece of scheit, one of the worst designs I've ever seen since the Sambora strat.

There's really not much I can add to what's being said here. These guitars are a complete pain in the arse.

Here's what I would do. Put a block or shim between the facing edge of the trem cavity and the forward face of the trem block so that the bridge is held in position but not reliant on the front of the guitar for support. Keep it held in place by a piece of double sided tape or even glue it.

Shim the neck with stacks of wet'n'dry. I hear tell that old-time roadies used to use rollie skins for really fine pitch adjustment. Get the neck pitch approximately right then use the pivot posts for final tweaking.

[tone?]

I think that has to do with the design though. That is the upper horn being all tele like maybe lends itself to being stiffer there?? is that silly??

[tone?]

Yes I know the EVH/Wolfgang. Monumental piece of scheit, one of the worst designs I've ever seen since the Sambora strat.

LOL!

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Hehe yeah I hear you Octadoc!
Have a Wolfie....it is about the worst guitar ever to setup right!!
It is a strange good sounding POS.....but took me some work to get the angle good...still the Floyd is not working 100%....but I do not care, it has been regelated to home playing only!

[XSSIVE]

i've used loads of crap over the years for shims just to see what it would do and based on what i had around at the time lol. my go to shim material now....

sandpaper

why?

it's easy to cut to the shape of the pocket. it's thin but can be stacked. the sand won't let it compress like a wood or cardboard shim and it helps keep the neck from shifting since it digs in a bit.


every player, tech or builder has their own thing they like to use and to be honest it doesn't matter what you use since it's a solid body guitar with high gain pickups and a floyd. you're not going to hear the difference between paper, cardboard, wood, sandpaper or plastic shims while blasting through an amp. the only thing you will notice is feel based on the amount of shims you use and the angle you put the neck at....that's up tot he player.

-Mike

[octavedoctor]

I don't understand the logic that says that neck pitch alters a guitar's tone.

The amount by which you are changing the pitch of a neck when you are shimming it is negligible and you can't compare the sound of guitars as different as Les Pauls, strats and EVHs as there are too many other variables having a much greater effect.

Quite possibly a poorly implemented neck shim could result in loss of high end harmonics and sustain if the neck joint was left loose or spongy but you'd have to be a proper wazzock to do that.

[octavedoctor]

i've used loads of crap over the years for shims just to see what it would do and based on what i had around at the time lol. my go to shim material now....

sandpaper

why?

it's easy to cut to the shape of the pocket. it's thin but can be stacked. the sand won't let it compress like a wood or cardboard shim and it helps keep the neck from shifting since it digs in a bit.


every player, tech or builder has their own thing they like to use and to be honest it doesn't matter what you use since it's a solid body guitar with high gain pickups and a floyd. you're not going to hear the difference between paper, cardboard, wood, sandpaper or plastic shims while blasting through an amp. the only thing you will notice is feel based on the amount of shims you use and the angle you put the neck at....that's up tot he player.

-Mike

Yeah, I'll go along with that. +1

[theodie]

Yes I know the EVH/Wolfgang. Monumental piece of scheit, one of the worst designs I've ever seen since the Sambora strat.

They were not that bad IMO but, how you ever noticed how the ergonomics are all kinds of wacked on them??? They just feel all kinds of wrong to play.