You just unboxed a $6,199 guitar. The finish catches the light in a way that's hard to describe — Black Andromeda does that. But before you plug in and expect it to play itself, there's a setup conversation we have with almost every new Arrow LH owner that comes through the shop.

Left-handed players are used to getting less attention from manufacturers, dealers, and setup guides. Most Floyd Rose tutorials assume a right-handed instrument. Most action recommendations are written without considering how a mirrored headstock and reverse-strung nut interact with string tension and tuning stability. This guide is specifically for you and this guitar.

View the ESP Arrow BLK/Andromeda LH guitar Product Page

What the Arrow LH Is, Mechanically

Before adjusting anything, it helps to know exactly what you're working with. The Arrow BLK/Andromeda LH is built on a neck-through-body construction — a 3-piece hard maple neck that runs continuously from headstock to strap pin, with alder wings on either side. That's not a budget-guitar feature. It means the neck joint isn't a variable in your setup; sustain and resonance are baked in structurally.

• Body: Alder, 45mm body thickness
• Neck: 3-piece hard maple, neck-through construction, Thin U contour
• Scale: 25.5" (648mm)
• Fingerboard: Ebony, 305mm (12") radius
• Nut width: 42mm
• Frets: 24 Jescar FW57110-NS stainless steel
• Pickups: Seymour Duncan Blackouts (active, 9V battery)
• Bridge: Floyd Rose Original
• Tuners: Gotoh locking tuners
• Hardware: Black nickel throughout

The Jescar FW57110-NS frets deserve a mention here: stainless steel frets are harder than standard nickel, which means they'll stay level longer and require less maintenance. For a setup guide, that's good news — you're working with a consistent fretboard surface that isn't going to develop uneven wear quickly.

Step One: Floyd Rose Orientation and Spring Tension

The Floyd Rose Original is a double-locking tremolo — the bridge locks the strings at the saddle, and the locking nut (at the headstock end) locks them there too. On a left-handed instrument, the entire bridge assembly is mirrored: the fine tuners that right-handed players operate with their right hand are now on the bass-string side from your perspective as a lefty. This is purely a physical orientation difference, not a functional one, but it trips people up on first setup.

The Floyd Rose floats on spring tension balanced against string tension. On a fresh string set or after a string gauge change, that balance will be off. Here's the process:

1. Remove the back cavity cover on the body's bass side (now to your right when playing). You'll see the spring claw — two to three springs connecting the bridge block to the body cavity wall.
2. Set your string gauge first. The Arrow ships set up from the factory, but if you're changing gauge, do it before touching anything else. ESP typically sets these up with 10–46 or 10–52. Going heavier requires more spring tension; going lighter means backing the claw screws out.
3. Check bridge parallelism. The bridge plate should sit parallel to the body — roughly 3–5mm off the surface, level front to back. If the front edge (near the fretboard) is tilted up, tighten the spring claw screws a quarter turn at a time. If the back edge tilts up, loosen them. Retune to pitch and check again. This takes several passes.
4. Once level, lock the nut and retune via fine tuners only. Don't touch the machine heads again until your next string change.

On a left-handed Floyd Rose, everything above works exactly the same way — the spring cavity is still in the back of the body, the claw screws still run the same direction. What's different is which side the fine tuners are on, and which saddle screw corresponds to which string. Take five minutes to orient yourself before you start, and you won't confuse yourself mid-adjustment.

Step Two: Truss Rod and Relief

The neck-through construction means the truss rod adjustment is at the headstock end — standard access, no heel adjustment needed. The Thin U neck contour on the Arrow is genuinely thin: this isn't a C-profile renamed for marketing. Players coming from a thicker neck may initially feel like they have less to hold onto, but for fast playing it's the right call on a guitar like this.

For most playing styles on a 25.5" scale with standard tuning, you want a small amount of forward relief — around 0.010" (about 0.25mm) measured at the 8th fret with the 1st and 14th frets fretted. A completely flat neck often causes buzzing in the middle of the fretboard. A neck with too much relief creates high action in the middle of the scale that no bridge adjustment will fix.

The 305mm (12") fingerboard radius is moderately flat for a guitar at this level — flatter than a vintage 7.25" Fender radius, which means chords don't fret out on bends the way they can on rounder boards. Set your action accordingly: you can get away with slightly lower action on a flatter radius without inducing fret buzz on bends. Most players land between 1.5mm–2.0mm on the treble side and 2.0mm–2.5mm on the bass side at the 12th fret.

One left-handed-specific note: when checking neck relief by sighting down the fretboard, you're sighting from the body toward the headstock — same as any guitar. But the low E string (thickest) is now on your right as you sight. Don't let the reversed orientation confuse your eye.

Step Three: Intonation

With a Floyd Rose, intonating means loosening the string, releasing the saddle locking screw, moving the saddle forward or back, re-locking, re-tuning to pitch, and checking again. It's methodical and slightly tedious, but not difficult.

The basic rule: if the 12th fret note is sharp compared to the open string (or the 12th fret harmonic), move the saddle back toward the spring cavity. If it's flat, move it forward toward the nut. On a left-handed instrument, "back" and "forward" are spatially mirrored compared to a right-handed guitar, but the principle is identical — you're adjusting the string's speaking length.

The Gotoh locking tuners aren't directly involved in Floyd Rose intonation, but they matter for the initial string wind. Because the Floyd Rose nut locks the strings, you only need a minimal amount of string wrap around the tuner post — too much and the string takes longer to stabilize, too little and you risk slippage before the nut is locked. Two to three wraps is typically the sweet spot.

Step Four: Pickup Height and Battery Check

The Seymour Duncan Blackouts are active pickups — they run on a 9V battery housed in the rear cavity. On a fresh guitar, the battery is almost certainly fine, but confirm it's seated properly before you spend time chasing a weak or intermittent signal. Battery-related issues account for a surprising number of "something's wrong with this guitar" calls we get.

Active pickups like the Blackouts are less sensitive to pickup height than passive pickups — the preamp compensates somewhat. That said, a standard starting point is approximately 3/32" (about 2.4mm) on the bass side and 2/32" (about 1.6mm) on the treble side, measured from the bottom of the string to the top of the pickup pole piece with the strings fretted at the last fret. Adjust to taste from there: closer gives more output and compression, further gives more dynamics and note separation.

On a left-handed instrument, the bass-side pickup height is now on your right when looking down at the guitar. It's worth double-checking which side is which before adjusting — confusing bass and treble side on pickup height gives you uneven output between strings that's easy to misdiagnose as a wiring issue.

What Doesn't Need Adjustment

A few things we'd leave alone on a new Arrow LH unless there's a specific problem:

• The stainless frets (Jescar FW57110-NS): These are already polished at the factory and won't need leveling on a new guitar unless there's a specific dead spot. If you're noticing buzz only on certain frets, check neck relief and action before assuming a fret issue.
• The locking nut: Don't over-tighten the nut blocks. Firm hand pressure, then snug with the wrench — not cranked down. Over-tightening can crack a nut block or distort string pitch at the first few frets.
• The reverse headstock geometry: The Arrow uses a reverse headstock, which affects the string break angle behind the nut but doesn't require any adjustment on your part. It's a design choice (and contributes to balanced tension across strings) — not a left-handed-specific variable.

The Honest Catch

The Floyd Rose Original is a performance-grade tremolo that rewards players who learn to maintain it and frustrates players who don't. String changes take longer. Tuning with a floating bridge requires patience — changes in temperature or humidity will affect spring tension and require periodic re-balancing. If you're not yet comfortable with Floyd Rose maintenance, the first few setups will take longer than expected. That's not a flaw in this guitar; it's the nature of the system.

If you're new to Floyd Rose-equipped guitars, we'd strongly recommend watching a full floating bridge setup video (ESP's own resources or Dunlop's Floyd Rose guides are solid) before touching the spring claw. Understanding why you're making each adjustment — not just what to turn — will save you a lot of re-work.

B-Stock Note

The Arrow BLK/Andromeda LH is available in B-Stock at $4,959.20 versus $6,199.00 new. On a guitar you're about to set up anyway — where you'll be touching the bridge, neck, and pickups regardless — a cosmetic blemish on the body or headstock back is genuinely irrelevant to the setup process or the end result. Check the listing photos for the specific noted blemish; if it's somewhere you won't see while playing, the $1,239.80 difference goes a long way toward a hardshell case, a second guitar, or a very good amp.

View the ESP Arrow BLK/Andromeda LH guitar Product Page

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the left-handed version of the Arrow require a different setup process than the right-handed model?

The mechanical setup process is identical — truss rod, bridge height, intonation, and pickup height all work the same way. The main practical difference is spatial orientation: fine tuners, the spring cavity, and string positions are all mirrored. Take a moment to orient yourself before each adjustment and the process is the same as any Floyd Rose-equipped guitar.

What string gauge does the ESP Arrow LH ship with, and can I change it?

ESP typically sets up Arrow models with 10–46 or 10–52. You can change gauge, but because the Floyd Rose Original is a floating bridge, any gauge change will require rebalancing the spring tension in the back cavity to keep the bridge parallel to the body. It's not a reason to avoid changing strings — just a step you can't skip.

How often do the Seymour Duncan Blackout active pickups need a new battery?

Under regular playing use, a 9V battery in an active pickup system typically lasts six months to a year. The bigger factor is whether you leave a cable plugged in when you're not playing — the output jack on most active-pickup guitars completes the battery circuit when a cable is inserted, so leaving it plugged in drains the battery even when you're not playing. Unplug when you're done and the battery lasts much longer.

Is the Floyd Rose Original on this guitar user-serviceable, or does it need a tech?

A standard setup — spring tension, action, intonation — is absolutely user-serviceable with basic tools (a set of Allen keys and a screwdriver). Saddle replacement or knife-edge maintenance requires a bit more experience but is still within reach for most players who are comfortable doing their own setups. The main thing we'd send to a tech is a full fret level, which this guitar shouldn't need new unless there's a manufacturing defect.