I've never restrung a guit w/ a Floyd Rose...

[Iggo]

...or any tremolo, for that matter.

Anything to look out for?

[Twillig]

1. OMG, Yes.

let me find some links


edit:
Found one:
Here's a vid demo of how to restring a Floyd (licensed) trem. One string at a time.

http://www.ibanez.com/videos/TremHowTo.swf

[Twillig]

2. Here's a ton of good text advice from a guru

http://www.ibanezrules.com/tech/setup/index.htm

Tuning The Floating Trem

Tuning a floater will usually frustrate a novice to no end. There are many tricks to help speed the job along, but, you must learn to deal with the fact it's a pain in the ass.

etc.

Good points in there about stretching the strings, not crushing down the Nut pads, (fine) Tuning with the guitar perpendicular to the ground (like you would play it, i.e., not on a workbench because of the gravity effect on the trem.)

[charlie]

3. Unscrew the fine tuners

most of the way out before restringing, so you don't wind up bottoming a tuner on a string that needs its pitch raised later.

Once you've unclamped a string, don't tilt the guitar forward or face down or you'll be looking for the clamping block on the floor.

I like to clip and clamp all six strings at the bridge at once before stringing to the headstock. It just seems easier to get that stuff out of the way in one go.

If your bridge is set to free float (you can raise pitch as well as lower it), get ready for a lot of retuning. You'll have to tune and revisit strings again and again as the bridge finds its equilibrium.

Once you've managed to get a tuned set, play it. Do a lot of bending and tremelo use. No need to go all Vai on the wang bar, but do warble it down (and especially up, if your bridge allows it) to give the strings a good stretch. Retune. Repeat as often as necessary.

When you've decided the strings are stable enough (I often wait a couple of hours or a day), retune and clamp at the headstock.

[ProfessorGAC]

4. Good Advice Here. But, As To "Watch Outs"

Because a floating, low tension bridge can move side to side, i ALWAYS change strings one at a time. Leave ALL the strings at tension, and take off only one at a time. This keep the knife edge firmly wedged against the body, and prevent side to side slippage.

Another thing i've found helps is to keep the strings at tension, but put a towell into the little trench where the bridge goes into the body. That keeps the bridge from moving backwards into the body when the tension of one string is removed.

I've found that these two things prevent needing to re-intonate the guitar or having to adjust the spring tension of the vibrato.

Hope this helps.
GAC

[charlie]

5. Ah, I missed this one

Yes, ignore my bit about restringing at once and do what the professor says. It's well worth the trouble to preserve a functional setup, especially if you've no experience with Floyds. Re-intonating one of those beasts is a massive headache, best avoided if at all possible. Also, the knife blades on cheaper pot-metal Floyds can be dinged or dulled if they're roughly unseated or scrubbed against the posts.

[ProfessorGAC]

6. What Charlie Said!

I have a REALLY good one on my #1 and a pretty good Kahler on my tricked out Strat, but i'd still worry about the knife edge, like you said! More importantly, having the backplate move up or down and the intonation change for something as mundane as changing strings is a major drag. It takes 5 to 10 times longer to fix that than to change the string! So much easier to change one string at a time than go through all that, ain't it?!?
GAC

[Iggo]

7. That's good advice, friends.

I originally asked because two of the fine tuners had bottomed out and since the strings had been on there for about 15 years I figured it wouldn't hurt to change 'em. But I've tried to detune a strat before so I know funny things can happen doing seemingly harmless stuff.

I figured I'd better ask somebody, and I'm glad I did.

Thanks again, people.