By the way, this guitar is used (1 year old) so I'm assuming it's been in standard tuning for a year and is used to being in standard tuning. Not 100% There were two owners before me, they could have had it in like drop b flat but idk...

I actually got it into drop d! What I did was

1. I opened up the back cavity where the springs are
2. Stacked coins behind it, it was a perfect fit.
3. Opened the E & A string locking nut
4. Dropped the E to D
5. Locked the Nut
6. REMOVED THE COINS AND closed the cavity

everything seems to work and I drop tuned in 5 minutes, I got frustrated with the normal method. BUT will there be any problems with the guitar now? Should the coins be left until I get out of drop d? The floyd lowered slightly but it's still not flush with the guitar, about a 4-5 degree angle with the floyd raised.

Is this method safe, will it cause any big problems?

I actually got it into drop d! What I did was

1. I opened up the back cavity where the springs are
2. Stacked coins behind it, it was a perfect fit.
3. Opened the E & A string locking nut
4. Dropped the E to D
5. Locked the Nut
6. REMOVED THE COINS AND closed the cavity

everything seems to work and I drop tuned in 5 minutes, I got frustrated with the normal method. BUT will there be any problems with the guitar now? Should the coins be left until I get out of drop d? The floyd lowered slightly but it's still not flush with the guitar, about a 4-5 degree angle with the floyd raised.

Is this method safe, will it cause any big problems?

you will need to do a spring claw adjustment to get it flush with the body. no coins necessary. simply screw the bolts in slightly, then re-tune to how YOU want it(with the drop D). then check the bridge level. if still not flush, screw in further and re-tune. it may now be recessed, so you'll have to let some slack out of the bolts. it's a somewhat tedious process going back and forth like that, but it is necessary to get the bridge level. once you have it set up, you shouldn't have any further problems as long as you don't change the guage of strings you are currently using. and NEVER take all the strings off at once. ALWAYS replace them ONE at a time to ensure you keep your set up the way it is...

Since you didn't mention adjusting the springs, I'm surprised it was in tune after that process. If the floyd is working properly and can move freely, dropping the E to D without any compensation for the lost tension should cause ALL the other strings to go sharp. Blocking the floyd while you detune and then unblocking it to play shouldn't have ANY impact whatsoever on the above fact.

If you want drop D to be your permanent tuning, do it right. If you want to switch tunings all the time, get a second guitar. I'm sorry bud. It's one or the other. Floyds are build to stay in tune under abuse but they are not build to allow changing tunings.The only scenario in which you can change tunings on a floyd without consequences is if you block the floyd and KEEP it blocked until you go back to the normal tuning of the guitar (by normal I mean whatever tuning the guitar is adjusted for). Blocking the floyd though defeats the purpose of having it.



To do your drop D right, tune the guitar to standard. Make sure the bridge is parallel to the body. If it isn't, adjust the springs in the back and retune all strings. Repeat until it is parallel. This is tedious work but if it is not parallel it will screw up your intonation, action and tuning stability.
Once the above two conditions are met, detune the string to Eb. DON"T TOUCH the other strings, even though they will go sharp! Now go to the back and adjust the springs until the A string is back to being an A. Check the E string. Tune it to D. Check A string and adjust springs until it is an A again. Check E string and retune it to D and so on until the E string is a D and the A string is still an A and the bridge is parallel. I repeat, you will only tune the E string. The other 5 strings will come back to pitch by adjusting the springs.

There are SOME trem systems that are more resilient to tuning changes, like Ibanez's Zero Resistance trem. And some floyds have a d-tuner thingie.

the van halen D-tuna IS a handy little tool. it can be fitted on most floyd rose systems. it allows a quick drop to D on that E string. you may want to look into one of those.

yeah, well currently I had have absolutely no problems with the floyd raised slightly so i'm gonna leave it like that until i change strings. I changed it back to standard tuning after realizing that screwing around with it is a no-no. It's in perfect tune, and I'm not gonna change it. But when I change the strings, should i temporarily block the floyd? do all that shit. Put the strings, on tune them, stretch them, adjust the intonation, the action is necessary. Keep it in standard then unblock the floyd when I'm done to ensure a quick changed of strings or would that be bad for the guitar?

the tension loss did change the strings slightly but the fine tuners did the job. I can do every crazy stunt still and it still is in tune, I just want to know if I did any permanent damage by trying to f-around with the tuning, it seems like everything alright but idk!

No permanent damage.

You may block the floyd in order to change strings if you prefer. I usually do too, even when I change one string at a time.

Bach has already told you. change em one string at a time and you shouldn't have any problem with the set up. the only time i pull all the strings off is when i have to give the guitar a complete cleaning.

And this is why i don't own a guitar with a Floyd Rose.

Isn't there some Ibanez trem with ball bearings or something that is advertised to be able to have a string break, and everything else stays where it is supposed to?

what you are referring to is a "tremsetter". another handy little device that fits in where the middle springs goes. there ARE several steps you need to do in order to fit it into a floyd. some floyd blocks need the hole to be drilled out a tad bigger to fit it. not a big deal. easy to do. and the spring claw is replaced with a different type of claw.

the tremsetter will allow your floyd to act like a fixed bridge(when the whammy bar is NOT in use). once you grab the bar it disengages allowing normal use of the bar. very handy. kirk hammet uses them on his ESP guitars. they do take a trick or two away. like the flutter trick. but for normal usage of the bar without the hassle of your unison bends going sharp, it's a great little tool....