Floyd rose locking whammy on strat?
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Topic: Floyd rose locking whammy on strat?
Posted By: activetopics
Subject: Floyd rose locking whammy on strat?
Date Posted: September 20 2007 at 21:06
| I'm thinking of upgrading my strat's tremolo bar by putting in a floyd-rose since everytime i touch my tremolo now, the guitar loses all sense of tuning. If it's not going to be Floyd Rose, then i want it to be at least locking. So any suggestions? Would you say this would be a good idea to upgrade? |
Replies:
Posted By: KoS
Date Posted: September 20 2007 at 21:10
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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. |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: September 20 2007 at 21:25
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If you haven't used a guitar witha floyd-rose before then I recommend you borrow one from someone to try it before spending money getting one retro-fitted.
It is not an easy job to do yourself and not one you would want to undertake on your kitchen table - by borrowing one you can compare the differences and get some idea of the level of wood-work involved. ------------- What? |
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: September 21 2007 at 02:42
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! ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to: 
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Posted By: Time Signature
Date Posted: September 21 2007 at 12:18
| The guys in Iron Maiden use that exact combination (FR and Strat), and it seems to be working well for them. |
Posted By: Philéas
Date Posted: September 21 2007 at 14:29
| 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. |
Posted By: activetopics
Date Posted: September 23 2007 at 11:19
| err...well i already have locking tuners lol...i suppose that makes the use of the floyd-rose kind of obsolete? |
Posted By: Angelo
Date Posted: September 23 2007 at 11:25
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. ------------- http://www.iskcrocks.com" rel="nofollow - ISKC Rock Radio I stopped blogging and reviewing - so won't be handling requests. Promo's for ariplay can be sent to [email protected] |
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: September 23 2007 at 11:36
Actually it should. Maybe your vibrato system just needs to be replaced? Or are you using it in extreme ways? You shouldn't try dive bombs with Fender type systems ... Another thing: How many times do you wind the strings around the tuners? Don't know how to say this properly in English ... but with locking tuners it's essential that you use as few windings as possible. ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to:
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activetopics wrote:Posted By: activetopics
Date Posted: September 23 2007 at 15:01
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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. |
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: September 23 2007 at 17:11
Another area which can cause these problems is the nut:  Sometimes there's too much friction between the nut and the strings ... in that case graphite can be used to polish the grooves in the nut. ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to:
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Posted By: Trademark
Date Posted: September 24 2007 at 11:25
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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. |
Posted By: rileydog22
Date Posted: September 24 2007 at 22:31
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^^I would listen to Trademark, he seriously knows his sh*t when it comes to guitars.
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Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: July 01 2008 at 01:29
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. ------------- 
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Posted By: Statutory-Mike
Date Posted: July 01 2008 at 13:23
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My dad has a dean with a wilkinson tremelo and my jackson has a floyd rose. Neither of us have had any trouble with them ever. The only thing is that floyd rose tremelo's are harder to install and to change strings. As far as performance, I've yet to have a problem, and neither has my dad. ------------- 
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Posted By: Proggg
Date Posted: July 19 2008 at 15:56
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You can buy strats with floyds on from the factory.
------------- A windstorm dropped a bird from the sky It fell to the ground and it's wings broke and died But when the time got by, back to sky it flied cause the wings healed in time and the bird was I-Wintersun |
Posted By: Petrovsk Mizinski
Date Posted: July 20 2008 at 03:36
| ^Fender only currently make one production model with a floyd, an MIM Fat Strat, so your choice of Fender's with Floyd's isn't exactly mindblowing. |
Posted By: mr70s
Date Posted: July 31 2008 at 13:04
| 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. |