Schecter HellRaiser Extreme FR Drop G Help

[lzrwplh]

Hello everyone, This is my first post here so I hope that I am posting in the correct thread!

I know questions about drop tuning (and floyd rose *shutter*) have been posted countless times in many forums and here as well, but I thought I'd ask for some guidance regarding my specific guitar and strings.

As you may have guessed I am trying to drop tune my floyd rose equipped Schecter Hellraiser Extreme to drop G. I knew that these trems were difficult before I made the purchase, but ignorantly found out later that trying to drop tune especially to G can run you into a lot of trouble such as, warping the neck.

I have been doing some research and it seems my best bet would be to return the guitar for a baritone or extended range guitar, but as of right now this is not an option.

SO, my question is can I safely and efficiently drop tune my floyd rose guitar to drop G with a pair of Zakk Wylde custom heavy 10-60 gauge strings without warping/bending the neck?

Thank you for reading,
Cheers!

 

[Jarmake]

I have never seen a warped neck that had anything to do with down and/or drop tuning. As long as you setup your guitar (floyd balance, trussrod) properly for that gauge and tuning you're good to go.

 

[Sogradde]

Warping the neck can almost exclusively attributed to defective or improperly dried wood. Could it be you're talking about the neck relief? That can be fixed by simply adjusting the truss rod. About the Floyd: If you don't like it, you should block it, either by putting a piece of wood/a battery behind the block or if you'd like to go the more sophistickated route: get something like a Tremol-No. The very least you have to do when putting higher string gauges on your floyd equipped guitar is adding more springs to counter the additional tension.
I have a 12-60 gauge set on my RG with an edge trem on it and it perfectly stays in tune and swapping strings doesn't take much longer than on my string through, to be honest.

 

[lzrwplh]

Warping the neck can almost exclusively attributed to defective or improperly dried wood. Could it be you're talking about the neck relief? That can be fixed by simply adjusting the truss rod. About the Floyd: If you don't like it, you should block it, either by putting a piece of wood/a battery behind the block or if you'd like to go the more sophistickated route: get something like a Tremol-No. The very least you have to do when putting higher string gauges on your floyd equipped guitar is adding more springs to counter the additional tension.
I have a 12-60 gauge set on my RG with an edge trem on it and it perfectly stays in tune and swapping strings doesn't take much longer than on my string through, to be honest.

Ah yes neck relief is what I was thinking of - Thank you for the clarification! I've got a few things I can use to block the floyd. How would I go about adjusting the truss rod? Am I "measuring" based off of the string gauge?

 

[vilk]

I thought you basically have to block a FR if you want to used dropped tuning, right?

It's not as good as wood because it's not as rigid, but I've heard it said that a deck of cards is just the right size to fit in there.

 

[cip 123]

Unless I'm mistaken don't these particular models have carbon rods down the neck? In that case it would be very hard to warp. In any case I would recommend much more than 60 for G on a 6 string.


Though the real solution if you plan on going that low is get a 7 or 8.

 

[Zhysick]

Though the real solution if you plan on going that low is get a 7 or 8.

Yeah, sure, because if you want to tune lower you have to use another guitar with the same scale lenght (or just a bit more) with more strings and also thicker...

Why not just using thicker strings?

If you want to tune lower, just tune lower. Use thicker strings (you will need the same string thickness for a 7th tuned to G than for a 6th tuned to G. G is G and only depends on the scale lenght and 1"~1.5" doesn't make such a big difference, maybe you should have suggested using a baritone guitar).

If you don't like the feeling of such thick strings you could use a baritone guitar then you can use a bit thinner gauges for your strings.

Check youtube vids about adjusting the truss rod. Thicker strings = more tension = you have to tighten the truss rod. Remember to do it bit by bit and give some time for the neck to settle before tightening again as it may need some time to feel a difference. Also, it's possible you don't need to to any adjustments... some necks are very very sturdy and stable!