Floyd rose locking whammy on strat?

It's a good idea, if your mechanically inclined.
Changing strings on a Floyd, is hard.
Also if you do buy a Floyd make sure it's a real Floyd not
just a licensed one from a third party.



The Ibanez system looks pretty sweet.


Edited by king of Siam - September 20 2007 at 21:17

I think that it might be easier to get locking tuners ... usually that does the trick just as well as a Floyd Rose:



Should not be difficult to find compatible locking tuners for your Strat ... installing them should be relatively straight forward - one piece of advice though: Be careful not to apply too much force when tightening the nuts!

I say go for locking tuners. My brother has locking tuners on his guitar (co-incidentally also a strat) and it works very well. It will probably be a lot cheaper.

Hmmm.... if that's the case, how come you still loose tuning? Either you forgot to lock, or the problem is on the other end - in which case you may need to do at least something about the tremolo.... 

Thus spaketh an engineer.


Edited by Angelo - September 23 2007 at 11:26

yea i tighten it as much as possible and try not to wind it all that much. i barely use my tremolo because when i do, it generally does go out of tune. idk i'll play around w/ it. maybe ill try thicker strings and tighten them more precisely.

There are several possible culprits for your tuning problems. The slots in the nut as mentioned above is one. Another may be a similar situation with the metal saddles on the bridge. Metal strings (wound strings in particular) cause abrasion as they slide across the saddles during tremolo use and "burrs" can develop which make the strings "jump" rather than glide when the trem is used. This prevents them from returning to the true "zero" position.

The final area to check are the tremolo springs. If the tension is not set eqaullay across all the springs (3 or 5) the trem will be pulled harder on the high (or low) strings and cannot return to its original position properly. Remember that a milimeter of difference in the retun position will throw you hopelessly out of tune.

Tremolos are absolutely 100% dependent on good set up and adjustment techniques. if you don't learn these techniques on your own, you'll be spending a lot of money at the guitar shop having it done by someone who has taken the time to learn. If you are really insterested in learning how to take care of your instrument/investment, I'd recommend getting Dan Erlewine's book (or video) on electric guitar set up and maintenence. I worked with Dan for five years as a repair tech at Stew-Mac and there is no one better to learn from. In my own book on building electric guitars, I simply recommend staying away from tremolos altogether. They are a much bigger pain in the ass than any benefit that ever comes from them, but that's just my opinion.

A Floyd Rose type system is a HUGE undertaking as a retro-fit. If you do not understand the set up issues of the trem you have now, you certinly would not be up to the task of routing out both the body cavity and the nut slot to install the Floyd. And even then, spring tension issues still apply. Floyd Rose systems have their own set of set up requirements, and if you don't learn them, your Floyd will be just as frustrating.

Having a Floyd Rose installed by a pro will cost about $200 - $250 JUST FOR THE LABOR. It is a really big job. I've done dozens of them in my own shop as a repair man and I was never so happy as I was when they began to fade in popularity.

Locking tuners and a GOOD SET UP are all you need. Locking tuners should have no more than half a "wind" of the string around the post. More than that and the benefit is lost. Winding strings around the post allows them to slip where they overlap and defeats the purpose of the locking mechanism. With locking tuners you pull the string as tight as hummanly possible and while holding it tight with one hand, engage the lock with the other. This should allow you to tune to pitch without winding the string more than half way around the post. If you wind the string far enough that it overlaps iteslf, undo the lock and do it again.

If you want to "dive bomb" look into the Wilkinson tremolo systems. It is much better for that type of use than the factory Fender trem or the Hipshot trems and is much less expensive and simpler to install than the Floyd. Judging by your posts though, I'd still recommend a professional installation. One of the guitars I built for Roye Albrighton of Nektar has a Wilkinson trem on it and he loved it.

In this day and age there is simply no reason for anyone to bother with the frustration and hassle of a Floyd Rose trem. It's just one more thing to hold a grudge against EVH over.


Edited by Trademark - September 24 2007 at 11:35

Trademark wrote: There are several possible culprits for your tuning problems. The slots in the nut as mentioned above is one. Another may be a similar situation with the metal saddles on the bridge. Metal strings (wound strings in particular) cause abrasion as they slide across the saddles during tremolo use and "burrs" can develop which make the strings "jump" rather than glide when the trem is used. This prevents them from returning to the true "zero" position. The final area to check are the tremolo springs. If the tension is not set eqaullay across all the springs (3 or 5) the trem will be pulled harder on the high (or low) strings and cannot return to its original position properly. Remember that a milimeter of difference in the retun position will throw you hopelessly out of tune. Tremolos are absolutely 100% dependent on good set up and adjustment techniques. if you don't learn these techniques on your own, you'll be spending a lot of money at the guitar shop having it done by someone who has taken the time to learn. If you are really insterested in learning how to take care of your instrument/investment, I'd recommend getting Dan Erlewine's book (or video) on electric guitar set up and maintenence. I worked with Dan for five years as a repair tech at Stew-Mac and there is no one better to learn from. In my own book on building electric guitars, I simply recommend staying away from tremolos altogether. They are a much bigger pain in the ass than any benefit that ever comes from them, but that's just my opinion. A Floyd Rose type system is a HUGE undertaking as a retro-fit. If you do not understand the set up issues of the trem you have now, you certinly would not be up to the task of routing out both the body cavity and the nut slot to install the Floyd. And even then, spring tension issues still apply. Floyd Rose systems have their own set of set up requirements, and if you don't learn them, your Floyd will be just as frustrating. Having a Floyd Rose installed by a pro will cost about $200 - $250 JUST FOR THE LABOR. It is a really big job. I've done dozens of them in my own shop as a repair man and I was never so happy as I was when they began to fade in popularity. Locking tuners and a GOOD SET UP are all you need. Locking tuners should have no more than half a "wind" of the string around the post. More than that and the benefit is lost. Winding strings around the post allows them to slip where they overlap and defeats the purpose of the locking mechanism. With locking tuners you pull the string as tight as hummanly possible and while holding it tight with one hand, engage the lock with the other. This should allow you to tune to pitch without winding the string more than half way around the post. If you wind the string far enough that it overlaps iteslf, undo the lock and do it again. If you want to "dive bomb" look into the Wilkinson tremolo systems. It is much better for that type of use than the factory Fender trem or the Hipshot trems and is much less expensive and simpler to install than the Floyd. Judging by your posts though, I'd still recommend a professional installation. One of the guitars I built for Roye Albrighton of Nektar has a Wilkinson trem on it and he loved it. In this day and age there is simply no reason for anyone to bother with the frustration and hassle of a Floyd Rose trem. It's just one more thing to hold a grudge against EVH over.

Interesting thread I came across.
While I agree with a lot of what was said here, sometimes you really cannot go passed a locking tremolo.
For some players, it's about the way it looks, they just love the look of a locking trem. The feel of it too, having that solid chunky bridge under your palm can be appealing to some people too.
There is always a sort of reassuring feeling you get from knowing you wont be out of tune when you use the trem bar. Sure, I could use a Wilkinson VS-100 with graphtec saddles, and graphtec nut and that might be at least 95-99 per cent as good in keeping in tune as say, an Ibanez Edge Pro, but just looking at the locking nut and the way the string locks into the bridge makes some people just feel easier about things.

You can buy strats with floyds on from the factory.

With a good setup, the Fender trem can work well. Witness Uli Jon Roth on Tokyo Tapes, where he keeps in tune despite a fair bit of trem use.