tremolo controversy

June 8, 2008 8:55 AM

tremolofilter: Floyd Rose pros and cons

I'm feeling some 80s-guitar gear nostalgia. I used to have a Charvel with the Floyd Rose-licensed tremolo and I'm thinking of getting one again for old times' sake. As I recall it was pretty fun to play. Stylewise it's several miles from what I do now but that's part of the appeal I guess.

Anyway, I don't remember the tremolo being a pain, but I read horror stories now about upkeep and setup. I can do basic adjustments on a guitar, but I'm no guitar tech. If you go with the non-floating, single-locking type is it really that complicated?

As always, I go to the mefi nation instead of the guitar forums because there's a bit more perspective here.

posted by mundy to media & arts (3 comments total)

They're not that complicated to maintain, as long as you don't make drastic changes after they set it up for you. I remember putting heavy strings on a guitar with one of those Floyd Rose type things, and they yanked the bridge an inch off of the body.
posted by ignignokt at 10:49 AM on June 8, 2008

The important thing is that you have a top-of-the-line hardened steel Floyd Rose, and not one of the new ones where only some parts are hardened steel. The hardened steel means better tone and, more importantly, tuning stability and reliability. If you have a hardened steel Original Floyd Rose, then setup and upkeep are easy and tuning stability is hard to beat.

The reasons that I left the Floyd Rose in favor of other bridges was because a) I wanted the true tone of a strat/les paul/telecaster and b) I wanted to be able to bend double stops and keep stability in the non-bent notes. Aside from those two things, I can't think of a single downside to a hardened steel Original Floyd Rose.

The biggest 'pro' of a good Floyd Rose is that when a string breaks at the bridge, you can just loosen it at the headstock and put the broken end back in the bridge clamp.
posted by The World Famous at 12:54 PM on June 8, 2008

I always struggled with my FR II until a guitar tech added 2 more springs in the back - (there were 3 but there are 5 'slots) especially with heavier guage strings. It improved immeasurably. However, I've almost never used the locking nuts, and left them off. The little micro tuners on the trem were enough for 2 or 3 hours heavy playing, other wise i just tuned at the machine heads normally.

So anyway, more springs = good for me.
posted by daveyt at 3:59 AM on June 9, 2008