(Please keep in mind I will not be held responsible for damages, this is the method I use and it works for me.)
Do you have a guitar with a floating bridge and don't know how to tune it properly beyond or below its factory tuning?
Say you want to tune it from the standad E (E-A-D-G-B-E) to drop C (C-G-C-F-A-C), how do you do that? That's what I hopefully teach you how to do here.
This method can be applied to any tuning. (Atleast the ones I know about)
1. Open the lid on the back of the guitar.
2. Find somthing to put underneath the bridge* to keep it from moving**.
*Insert from the OUTSIDE of the guitar, not from the space where the springs are, I use a lighter for this.
**That being said, it should still be in the same position as it used to be, except now you can't use the tremolo arm to bend it backwards.
3. Tighten the screws as much as possible*.
*If you don't tighten them enough you may have to do it all over again as the object might fall out when you tune the guitar.
4. Unscrew the bolts on the top of the neck.
5. Use a tuner to tune the guitar.
6. Now that the guitar is tuned, you need to hold the guitar in a upright position, and start releasing the screws on the back. When the object you used to secure the bridge falls out* you are very close to the tuning you want.
*You may need to tap it to check if it's loose.
7. Check if the tuning is correct, if it's correct skip step 8.
8. If the tuning is off and the object is out, then you can either use the screws in the back to adjust. Or you can use the tuning pegs*
*I choose to do the majority of the adjustments with the screws, and then fine tune with the pegs.
9. Put the lid back on, fasten the bolts on the neck.
10. Use the "minor" tuning pegs on the bridge to correct the tension from the bolts.
11. Play, or PM/post what you had problems with.
Pictures to help explain
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"Neck Bolts"
"Floating Bridge"
"Springs, and the screws in the top of the picture"
"Object to stop bridge from moving"
"Floating Bridge"
"Springs, and the screws in the top of the picture"
"Object to stop bridge from moving"
Hope it helps someone out there, if you have other methods of doing it please share