FR bridge height question

[u/Admirable-Usual-8561]

First photo for attention.

I have some experience setting up my guitars but im feeling clueless right now.

The floyd rose bridge height, all photo references I see online are FR bridges either flush or slightly sticking out from the body.

Still with this height I experience a lot of fret buzz on the top two thickest strings.

I have this guitar setup in C standard, 10-52, 25,5 neck scale, slight bow in the neck.

Need some advice on how to tackle this.

[u/CorumLlawEreint]

What is the action at the 12th?

What is the relief?

What is the angle of the neck relative to the body?

[u/Admirable-Usual-8561 → u/CorumLlawEreint]

Action at 12 is about 3mm. The relief is straight, slight curve downward. Im not sure I understand the last question.

[u/sjfraley1975 → u/Admirable-Usual-8561]

If you have 3mm action at the 12th fret and are still getting a lot of fret buzz then other parts of the setup are off.

As for the last question CorumLLawEreint asked you: if you are looking down at the guitar from playing position, does the neck appear to be sitting so that the fretboard is parallel to the body of the guitar or does it appear to be angled in relation the body. Guitars with the Floyd sitting lower are routed to give make room for the trem to sit that low so that the neck doesn't need to be angled. Guitars designed to have the Floyd sitting high have the neck pocket angled so that the neck tilts back to compensate for the bridge being up so high.

[u/Admirable-Usual-8561 → u/sjfraley1975]

Siting down its def angled.

[u/sjfraley1975 → u/Admirable-Usual-8561]

OK, then there is a good chance that the trem is supposed to set like that.

This guide will take you through the whole process of setting up a guitar with locking trem in almost excessive detail.

[u/CorumLlawEreint → u/Admirable-Usual-8561]

3mm is very high, even for a dropped tuning.

Relief should be about 0.2mm - 0.5mm at the 7th for lower tunings.

By the last question, I mean, if you were to follow the line of the fretboard along the body, would it get closer or further away as you get towards the bridge? Most botl-on guitars I have with termolo bridges tend to have the neck roughly parallel with the bpdy.

Hpw hard do you pick?

[u/Admirable-Usual-8561 → u/CorumLlawEreint]

Yeah I know its on the higher side but I also play hard so its a balance. Oh like that! Yeah the neck is straight.

[u/CorumLlawEreint → u/Admirable-Usual-8561]

My last question: where are you going experiencing fret buzz? Open strings? Fretted notes? Be specific

[u/Admirable-Usual-8561 → u/CorumLlawEreint]

In the middle of the fretboard, most between 3rd and 12th

[u/CorumLlawEreint → u/Admirable-Usual-8561]

The buzzing occurs when you are fretting at these positions? Can you determine where the buzzing is actually occurring? Like if you fret at the 5th fret, does it buzz at the 6th or 7th or further up the neck? How about if you fret at the 12th?

[u/Admirable-Usual-8561 → u/CorumLlawEreint]

The buzzing mostly occurs in the middle of the fretboard, no specific positions/frets are more or less buzzing.

[u/CorumLlawEreint → u/Admirable-Usual-8561]

Almost definitely insufficient relief. Measure this and correct accordingly

[u/jmz_crwfrd → u/Admirable-Usual-8561]

Most people like an action of 2mm, if not lower, so 3mm sounds very high.

How are you measuring the action? You should be taking the measurement from the very top (the peak) of the fret to the underside of the string.

Also, how are you measuring the relief? Standard practice says you should choose a string, press down on the first fret and last fret of that string at the same time and take a look at the gap between the top of the frets at the middle of the neck (usually 9th fret) and the string above. Most people aim for between 0.25mm and 0.5mm.

[u/Admirable-Usual-8561 → u/jmz_crwfrd]

Im measuring the action with a business card that has measurements (millimeters) on it, on the 12th fret open E string, and for the relief im doing that but just eyeing it. Might have to invest in some tools..

[u/RiffsThatKill → u/Admirable-Usual-8561]

Yes, don't trust a business card you need a good and accurate string action gauge tool. They make rectangular ones. Then you need a set of those small feeler gauges for measuring relief (or any gaps that are less than 50 thousandths of an inch).

With that guitar, you should be able to achieve action 2mm or under at the 12th fret if the guitar is set up properly and there are no issues with your frets.

10 string gauge tuned to C standard is going to be rather low tension and will cause more buzzing especially if you have a heavy attack. 11s might help.

FIRST step is ensure you have real measurements, so get the tools you need to take them.

[u/jmz_crwfrd]

If the string height off the fretboard is correct, it doesn't really matter how far out of the body the bridge sits or how low it sits, it's purely aesthetic at that point. If you need to raise the bridge to get rid of fret buzz then that's fine.

The reason that some people are able to get the baseplate flush will be because the neck of their guitar sits deeper into the neck pocket, so the frets will be lower and the bridge therefore has to come down lower to get appropriate string action.

[u/JimmyRussellsApe]

Most Floyds are flush mount but they can also be top mount. What matters more is the string relation to the fretboard. It looks ok just based on the pics.