Charvel/Floyd Rose: OFR vs. Schaller vs. Gotoh

[jcj]

Gotoh. It's all hardened steel now that Floyd's patent is up. The new bar is threaded and has the tension collar like the old one, brass block, and the bridge is 16" radius stock.

Dropped one on my ProMod and could not be happier.

Here it is:

(Yes, that's a black D-Tuna).

Love that axe, nice work

 

[bravedude2]

that sure is a purty geetar!

 

[Toshiro]

Toshiro: Wow! That SoCal looks great! I really like the purple/black color scheme. Hardened steel sounds great for durability and I like that old style bar. I like the brass block, too. The 16" radius sounds like it would be perfection for the Promods as well. Where did you get yours if you don't mind me asking? It seems like they are sold out everywhere.

Ebay. That's where the last of the plain black ones are at this point, as Gotoh switches over the that damn cosmo/black-chrome finish.

I've been thinking about snagging 2 more of them before they're all gone, as backups in case the Edge trems die in my 80's RGs.

Love that axe, nice work

that sure is a purty geetar!

Thanks guys! I absolutely love this guitar.

 

[Atomic Amps]

Gotoh. It's all hardened steel now that Floyd's patent is up. The new bar is threaded and has the tension collar like the old one, brass block, and the bridge is 16" radius stock.

Dropped one on my ProMod and could not be happier.

Here it is:

(Yes, that's a black D-Tuna).

Love what you did with your So-Cal. I have the same model and I just put it a Dimarzio AT-1 in the bridge and a couple of old Virtual Blues. I'm digging it but thinking of dropping in a Gotoh. Could you tell me the impact it had for you? I'm hoping for a little sustain and a little more clarity (but not brighter). Thanks!

-TK

 

[jhale667]

I too am kind of a (German) OFR snob. I'm curious about the MIK ones, though generally people don't seem to be into them from what I'm hearing. I don't like the Schaller-modified version of it, and haven't really given the Gotohs a try, though I hear good things about them. I'm still waiting to see something I like as well or better than an OFR.

I just got a black D-tuna recently too!

 

[satannica]

I've never liked the gotoh tremolos. Better than the other licenced trems out there, but IMO not worth it. If you're going to upgrade a tremolo, may as well do it properly?

The OFR gets my vote everytime, unless the existing cavity is in any way snug for an OFR, then I have at times gone for a schaller.

I have approx 7 OFRs left in stock, waiting for future guitars. And one single schaller. That should give you an idea lol.

 

[Tommy]

OFR < Schaller < Gotoh, imo. I've had all of them, and I prefer the Gotoh by far.

 

[Mustaine-who?]

Right here bro:

http://www.beyondeleven.com/ProductDeta ... floyd-rose

And you all can all be a OFR snobs for all I care...the Edge and Edge Pro are the equal of the OFR, and now that Gotoh uses all hardened steel...it comes down to engineering details. The adjustable height and resistance on the trem bar on the Gotoh is a deal sealer for me alone...not to mention the smoother plane for your hand/palm to rest on when playing...

 

[Toshiro]

Love what you did with your So-Cal. I have the same model and I just put it a Dimarzio AT-1 in the bridge and a couple of old Virtual Blues. I'm digging it but thinking of dropping in a Gotoh. Could you tell me the impact it had for you? I'm hoping for a little sustain and a little more clarity (but not brighter). Thanks!

-TK

It's hard to say exactly, because I had the original tremolo in the guitar for maybe 2 weeks tops? I had the Gotoh coming in to see if I could swap it into my Xiphos(which has an OFR right now), but it wouldn't fit without more dremeling. So I just dropped in on the Charvel instead. The fine tuners were awful on the MIK-FR mine had, felt like they were grinding. I wish I'd recorded clips or something.

 

[Krallum]

https://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Schaller-Floyd- ... 53d87267de
This is the FRT-II, the lo-profile one is $320 and not as good imo unless you have some freak hands that are too big for the regular one which is basically an original floyd anyways.

gold one is lo-profile obviously.

yes they're the ones on the caparisons.

 

[thegame]

Floyd related question :

Do any of you recommend setting the Floyd for pulldown (divebomb) action only ? A tech once told me that a Floyd is actually more stable when its floating. I've never had a Floyd so that doesn't sound right, considering my limited experience with them. I'm considering a Floyd for my next guitar (not soon) and would prefer less wood being routed during the guitar's construction, as the extra wood normally routed out won't be necessary to accomodate any upward movement of the Floyd.

Good idea ?

 

[R.D.]

and the Gotohs are good enough for Suhr so I'd consider them as well.

You pretty much said it all right there in your original post ! Here's John's comments about OFR's from a couple of years ago:

Follow up Question: What are some of the issues you're seeing with the new Original Floyds ?

Suhr: You have a few days ?

• Sometimes the back of the saddle is too tall preventing the fine tuner from having a full range of motion.
• The way the string leaves the saddle it does not have a firm break off point, the string slides around in the saddle. This changes the intonation, buzzes and can just sound bad. We have to get a detail Dremel bit and re-contour the saddle with magnifiers on to see what we are doing. We have to do this on them all !
• Fine tuners pinched too course and are rough many times.
• Saddle heights can be uneven, requiring regrinding or shimming.
• Roll away at nut not correct making the string not leave the nut edge where it is supposed to leave. This also screws with intonation and the strings can buzz when played open.
• Casting bumps in the nut slots which have to be ground off, maybe one out of five.
• Saddle to rear section of the saddle is sloppy, this cause string buzz, saddle pin has to be removed and saddle pinched to tighten it up.
• Hold plates that hold the blocks up are not pushed up far enough so sometimes the screw pin doesn’t align up with the hole in the block and you wind up cracking the block.
• Sometimes the arms start to wiggle and there isn’t much you can do since the cap on top is snug.

I'm sure there are a few other things I'm leaving out ....

They are a pain, I wish Kahler would make Floyds again I have no idea what is stopping them since the patent has run out.

I think I will start with the Gotohs very soon since I do love the Floyd idea.