Anatomy of a Floyd rose

horse

I've got an early 90s Yamaha with a decent quality Floyd rose type trem.

On the low E, the fine tuner thumb screw pushes down correctly on the arm below (the part you turn to lock the string block in place), but if I then loosen that fine tuner the arm below doesn't move up with it.

I can physically push the arm back to where it should be, but I assume there must be an internal spring or something that is supposed to be pushing that arm up against the fine tuner?

Any ideas / is spraying some wd40 in likely to be a good idea or not?

Cheers

Funkfingers

String tension is what opposes the fine tuner thumbwheel.

Time for a thorough cleaning, methinks. Maybe, even, strip the whole thing and check it all over.

drwiddly

There are no springs in a Floyd (other than the ones that attach to the claw and block). Any failure to move will caused by dust and dirt in the mechanism. Time for a thorough clean. WD40 is good!

horse

Great - thanks guys - much appreciated

axisus

Yeah, I'd take it all apart if it was mine. Doesn't it have a bit of metal that acts as a spring? maybe it just needs bending a bit?

ICBM

Some do have a metal leaf/'finger' spring underneath the Allen bolt, but the string tension should still be enough to pull it up. If it doesn't, dirt or corrosion is jamming the pivot mechanism. If WD-40 doesn't fix it, you'll likely have to dismantle the pivot and clean it, which will mean driving out the pivot pin.

Funkfingers

If the OP guitar is an RGZ, its in-house FR-licensed vibrato is a single locking type with an unconventional string path. 

The ball ends are left on. Hence, there is the possibility of the wraps unravelling.

horse

Funkfingers said:

If the OP guitar is an RGZ, its in-house FR-licensed vibrato is a single locking type with an unconventional string path. 

The ball ends are left on. Hence, there is the possibility of the wraps unravelling.

Spot on - it is indeed an rgz, with strings via the term block a la strat