Floyd Rose differences?

ledvedder

ledvedder

Well-known member
I'm hoping someone out there knows the differences in the 2 FR bridges I have. One is installed on a Franky replica, and the saddles seem to float a bit more, which allows plenty of play for the D-Tuna to go from D to E with no problems.
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Now, the other which is on my 5150 replica has saddles that are more flush to the base, so this doesn't allow enough play for the D-Tuna to go from D to E. Are there different saddles that I could use on this, like the ones on my Franky?
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Look closely at the whale tails.

The FR with the “higher” saddle has a shorter whale tail at a sharper angle. This one seems to allow the tensioner plate to contact the D-Tuna itself raising the string retainer screw and as a result the low E saddle. I suspect the other five saddles are not as high.

The one with the “lower” saddle has a longer whale tail at a softer angle. The tensioner plate seems to contact the string retainer screw itself instead of the D-Tuna causing the “lower” saddle. I suspect the other five saddles are at a similar height.

That answers why the saddles have different “heights”.

Why the difference in dimensions? Go to floydrose.com. Look at the Original vs the Original 1984.

If you look at the diagrams, you will see that on the Original 1984 the deck the saddles sit on measures 39.5 mm deep and the whale tail is 18.5 mm deep.

The deck on the Original is 37.2 mm deep. The Whale tail is 21.8 mm long.

Additionally the Original 1984 has a full depth of 58mm while the Original has a full depth of 59mm. In the grand scheme, the whale tail on the original is a full 3.3 mm longer than the whale tail on the 1984.

So… your Frankie Replica has an FR Original Limited 1984 bridge on it while the 5150 replica has an FR Original.
 
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That makes sense. I'm gonna try some saddle shims. Hopefully they'll raise the saddle enough to be able to drop it to the E position with the D-Tuna.
 
Why is your fine tuner not set at the highest position/ wide open with the D-Tuna? I believe this to be the recommendation and then that small allen key on the D tuna is to dial in your tuning to E.

Can't speak to the floyds as I am not an authority and can barely measure well enough to install one properly ..
 
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Kapo_Polenton said:
Why is your fine tuner not set at the highest position/ wide open with the D-Tuna? I believe this to be the recommendation and then that small allen key on the D tuna is to dial in your tuning to E.

Can't speak to the floyds as I am not an authority and can barely measure well enough to install one properly ..
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The fine tuner is all the way up, then 1/4 turn or so down. With the small Allen key in its lowest position, it takes the D to roughly D#. If I try to raise it with the small Allen key, the saddle bottoms out on the baseplate.
 
This is tuned to D with the fine tuner almost all the way up. If I bottom out the saddle by pushing the D-Tuna down, it's still not up to an E.
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Here is the Franky doing the same thing. Notice how low the saddle can go. This gets it from D to slightly above an E.
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From what Ive seen the floyd rose 1000 series Korean version saddles have the hinge point higher that the German series. The 1000 series work great with the pivot range for using with a dtuna. Just get a floyd from any Charvel or Evh mim guitars and it will be plug and play. You probably can look into just buying a set 1000 series saddles from floyd rose.
 
232cap said:
From what Ive seen the floyd rose 1000 series Korean version saddles have the hinge point higher that the German series. The 1000 series work great with the pivot range for using with a dtuna. Just get a floyd from any Charvel or Evh mim guitars and it will be plug and play. You probably can look into just buying a set 1000 series saddles from floyd rose.
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The 1000 series replacement saddles look the same.
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ledvedder said:
The fine tuner is all the way up, then 1/4 turn or so down. With the small Allen key in its lowest position, it takes the D to roughly D#. If I try to raise it with the small Allen key, the saddle bottoms out on the baseplate.
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Ok gotcha. Another question and probably going to sound silly but did you tune the low E to E with the D tuna IN or to drop D with the D tuna OUT?
 
I always wondered about this. I have one old and one new and could never get the old one to drop all the way to D.
 
the gold Floyd is Korean and the chrome is German. Both low e saddles are set parallel to the base place notice the extra space under the saddle on the gold 1000 series Korean Floyd. You can actually see how the saddle is raised at the pivot point. They are both different. Get the right saddle set and your set.
 

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232cap said:
the gold Floyd is Korean and the chrome is German. Both low e saddles are set parallel to the base place notice the extra space under the saddle on the gold 1000 series Korean Floyd. You can actually see how the saddle is raised at the pivot point. They are both different. Get the right saddle set and your set.
Click to expand...
So I can put a 1000 series saddle on a German 1984?
 
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