Afraid of the whammy bar - Advice?

[tonmazz]

Well I've never been a whammy bar guy but would like to wade into something new. Problem is I have a fear of them going out of tune. In the past I've had a Gibson SG with a Steinburger and my experience was that it never stayed in. I also recently bought a lower end Ibanez at GC about a year ago and had it for 2 days until the damn thing wouldn't stay in either. Looking for advice or at least what to look for when making this purchase. I guess I am open to brand and type. Any tips would be welcomed.

 

[SFW]

Spend the money on a guitar that has an OFR. Cheap licesensed floyds tend to not hold tuning well, and sound dead.

 

[roodboy]

Locking tems are a PITA, & they will go out of tune no way around it. Even my Suhr Modern will go out. Its getting them back in tune thats part of the hassle. I use a screwdriver on the screws in the back cavity to tune all 6 strings at once which helps.
If going Ibanez you need an edge trem available from the the 570 series on up and the current prestige line.
Maybe a good non locking trem would be a good start.
As long as your dipping instead of pulling up it should be OK. When dipping/diving you still want to maintain control over the bar and not release it on the way back up.
I've got a Tyler icewater with a non locking trem that stays in tune pretty well as long as I'm not pulling up on the bar.
A properly setup Ibanez edge trem is a good start for locking.

 

[Anonymous]

 

[mrp5150]

Spend the money on a guitar that has an OFR. Cheap licesensed floyds tend to not hold tuning well, and sound dead.

+1

Nothing holds tune better than a good Floyd that's setup properly.

 

[Szar]

MY experience with PRS and their tremolo, it stayed in tune VERY well. Not as good as the OFR, but for a non-locking trem, it kicked ass! The Ernie Ball has the best tuning stability for a non-locking. THE BEST.

 

[muudrock]

I used to like FRs but I've got a couple guitars that have the Wilkinson trem on them and I have had no problems with them. These guitars both have locking tuners and a graphite nut and they stay in tune as well as double lockings that I've had. I am not one to totally go crazy with wild, repeated dive bombs or anything but I've given this setup a good workout and I prefer it now to the FR. I like how I can confortably rest my hand on the bridge too--can't on a FR because of the fine tuners. If the guitar is set up for this trem properly it works flawlessly. Trem setter of Tremolo-No will help alot too. Hipshot and Gotoh also make nice trem bridges. I think Suhr uses the Gotoh.
Just My .02.

 

[tonmazz]

Thanks for all of the input. I've read each post and it is extremely helpful. Even the Bigsby!! I actually love the Alex Lifeson Es355 and am extra scared of the Bigsby!!

 

[Skirmish]

I used to like FRs but I've got a couple guitars that have the Wilkinson trem on them and I have had no problems with them. These guitars both have locking tuners and a graphite nut and they stay in tune as well as double lockings that I've had. I am not one to totally go crazy with wild, repeated dive bombs or anything but I've given this setup a good workout and I prefer it now to the FR. I like how I can confortably rest my hand on the bridge too--can't on a FR because of the fine tuners. If the guitar is set up for this trem properly it works flawlessly. Trem setter of Tremolo-No will help alot too. Hipshot and Gotoh also make nice trem bridges. I think Suhr uses the Gotoh.
Just My .02.

Big +1 on that.

Imho, you don`t have to be afraid of the Whammy, it`s one of the coolest toys the electric guitar offers. As far as suggestions, you first need to figure out if you want locking nuts or not. If you want all the crazy dive bomb action there`s no way around the locking nuts and a floating trem (meaning you can push and pull the whammy bar). In that case there is no way around an OFR, a Schaller, or a Kahler (I personally prefer the Schaller ones where the fine tuners are recessed - very comfortable to play and no risk of unintentionally detuning the guitar). Your guitar needs to be set up once and it`ll stay in tune ever after. I`ve had a custom made guitar stored away for a year because I was out of the country - came back, took it out of the case and it was still perfectly in tune.

If you`re fine with only occasionally pushing the bar for a dive and using the bar mainly for vibrato, I suggest a Wilkinson. Any "higher standard" bridge (like Gotoh, Schaller, Fender, PRS, Ernie Ball, etc...) will work great too though, as long as you have a graphite nut and high quality locking tuners (i.e. Schaller, Planet Waves, PRS, etc...). I have a Jackson PC3 (Strat type with H-S-S config) and I have a Wilkinson that I actually set up floating and it works perfectly (has Planet Waves locking tuners) and stays in tune.

To sum it up: The key is having high quality components and a guitar that is set up well. I could not live without the whammy bar anymore.

 

[Skirmish]

Here´s a picture of my favourite Floyd Rose style Trem. It`s a Schaller with the recessed fine tuners that are lower than the saddles so you can rest your hand comfortably without them getting in the way:

 

[tonmazz]

Here´s a picture of my favourite Floyd Rose style Trem. It`s a Schaller with the recessed fine tuners that are lower than the saddles so you can rest your hand comfortably without them getting in the way:

Thanks for the pic. What would I find this type of bar on, does Ibanez use these? Not sure if you've been to your average Guitar Center lately but the selection is really bottom of the barrell. I think I have to order something online so this research will hopefully pay off.

 

[stefvorcide]

I swear by the floyds, I have hard time with fixed bridge, I just don't feel confortable, and when I'm not inspired, I can't whammy !!

-Stef

 

[stratotone]

Locking tems are a PITA, & they will go out of tune no way around it. Even my Suhr Modern will go out.

Then it's not set up right or you have an issue with the trem... I have several OFR and ibanez edge trem guitars that will NOT go out of tune unless you go from different temperature/humidity extremes... If that Suhr has a locking floyd rose on it and it goes out of tune that badly, there's something wrong with it.

Pete

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all of the input. I've read each post and it is extremely helpful. Even the Bigsby!! I actually love the Alex Lifeson Es355 and am extra scared of the Bigsby!!

I love 'em. I'm really rough with mine and have no trouble. Not for everyone. You won't be able to dive bomb or anything but for subtle (or not so subtle in my case ) vibrato it works like a charm. Oh yeah and I had the nut on the Fender upgraded which helped I'm sure.

 

[tonmazz]

Thanks for all of the input. I've read each post and it is extremely helpful. Even the Bigsby!! I actually love the Alex Lifeson Es355 and am extra scared of the Bigsby!!

I love 'em. I'm really rough with mine and have no trouble. Not for everyone. You won't be able to dive bomb or anything but for subtle (or not so subtle in my case ) vibrato it works like a charm. Oh yeah and I had the nut on the Fender upgraded which helped I'm sure.

Neat Guitar! I'm glad to hear that because someday I do want either the new Jimmy Page Les Paul or the Alex Lifeson ES and both have the Bigsby. I think I will be going for something a little more agressive that I could dive the shit out of for now and when I hit the lottery we'll get the others. Thanks!! ps - Nice socks

 

[chunktone]

Spend the money on a guitar that has an OFR. Cheap licesensed floyds tend to not hold tuning well, and sound dead.

+1

Nothing holds tune better than a good Floyd that's setup properly.

+ all. I'd get something with an Original Floyd Rose, or a Schaller Floyd Rose and have it setup properly.

 

[jasonP]

I would have to agree with this on the OFR trem staying in tune. A quality one you will be able to dive and pull up on as hard as you want and it will stay in tune. At first it is a little more difficult to understand, tune, re-string and setup. Once you get it down it is like anything else. I had a ESP KH-2 with a floyd on and it was one of the best playing nicest sounding guitars I owned. Stayed in tune like you could throw it down a flight a stairs and pick it back up and it would be in tune.

 

[Valtiel]

Locking tems are a PITA, & they will go out of tune no way around it. Even my Suhr Modern will go out.

Then it's not set up right or you have an issue with the trem... I have several OFR and ibanez edge trem guitars that will NOT go out of tune unless you go from different temperature/humidity extremes... If that Suhr has a locking floyd rose on it and it goes out of tune that badly, there's something wrong with it.

Pete

+100.

Something is wrong if its not staying in tune. If the strings are properly stretched, there is no reason that it should go out of tune.

 

[Skirmish]

Here´s a picture of my favourite Floyd Rose style Trem. It`s a Schaller with the recessed fine tuners that are lower than the saddles so you can rest your hand comfortably without them getting in the way:

Thanks for the pic. What would I find this type of bar on, does Ibanez use these? Not sure if you've been to your average Guitar Center lately but the selection is really bottom of the barrell. I think I have to order something online so this research will hopefully pay off.

Afaik, Ibanez uses their own systems. The clostest one being the "zero-resistance" tremolo: --> http://www.ibanez.com/eg/guitar.aspx?m=S7320 It seems they have that on all the better S-XXXX models, i.e. an S-1000. You should be able to find one of those at your local GC.