Floyd Rose history and models

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SpiderWars

SpiderWars

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sah5150's thread on his new Chubtone got me thinking that I prob should have a better understanding of all the Floyd Rose models and manufacturing before I have a guitar built with one.

Is any one model (or group) considered THE Floyd of all Floyds?
Are there any "stay very far away" models?
Are the old originals better? I have an '87 Kramer with one.
Sustain blocks needed? Which one?

The only problem I ever had with my Kramer Floyd is that the bar would never stay just loose enough to swing freely but tight enough that it''s easy to get gentle vibrato (like Riviera Paradise type vibrato). It would always very quickly work it's way to being too loose, leaving a ton of play between pitch-up and pitch-down.
 
The earliest versons had no fine tuners. At some point they changed the arm to this design where a ring collar screws on the attach the bar (it use to be that the bar just screwed into the holder). That collar lets you control whether the arm swings freely or stays in place (depending on how tight you make it). I think OFR blocks have always been brass. There's also been a Floyd Rose low profile trem which doesn't seem to have caught on.

Then there are all of the licensed copies. Schaller and Gotoh made good ones. Others are not so great because they may use softer materials. Even Floyd Rose itself sells some that are made with a lot of zinc.

I think if you stick with an "original" Floyd Rose, Schaller, or Gotoh, you'll be fine.
 
I always thought Schaller used the best material, over even OFRs...that said, I've never had a problem with any Floyd variant, even the pings.
 
Thanks! The one on my Kramer has that collar but I just never got it to work very well. Probably pilot error.

My first 'real' guitar was an Ibanez Blazer and I had a Double Eagle tremolo installed. Anybody remember those? Blatant Floyd rip. It corroded and tuners stripped threads but for a couple years it was fine.
 
^ I had a guitar with one of these Floyd 1000 series trems and didn't like the arm at all. It is supposed to be the same thing as the Original, just made in Korea I think. But the arm clearly was not as nice. I ended up using a spare German-made arm that was laying around and it felt much better.

Long story short, there's some variability but the German-made Floyds have always been solid for me.
 
You can change the arm on any FR for a push in arm and they have a little set screw to adjust the swing. It's a great system and its only about 12 bucks and easy to swap yourself.
 
I've had them all, and my favorite is the Gotoh Floyd. Just seemed a bit beefier build all the way around. The 2 things that really stood out were that the fine tuners on the Gotoh are bigger, thicker and more knurled around the edges. When you compare the fine tuners on a Gotoh to that of a OFR, the OFR tuners look a little on the wimpy side. Also, Gotohs have the offset bend in the end of the plate that the fine tuners thread into. Kind of makes them a touch more out of the way than the OFR's that come straight up at a 90. Also, the Gotoh has the arm that threads or screws in, and gives you that tight 'no play' feel while allowing the bar to fall away and swing freely. The collar idea does have a number of issues,,,,play in the bar, works itself loose, makes a real irritating noise when swinging away in 'free fall'.
Don't get me wrong, the OFR is a great trem, but I personally thing that Gotoh has done it with a little extra here and there.
 
Regarding Floyd's - all you need to know is the Original is the best one. The one you need to get.
 
Any opinions on the non fine-tuner Floyd?

I have one laying around from a guitar I parted out. Old Kramer Striker 300ST. Piece of shit guitar with non-functional electronics. But it was a Floyd Rose trem...

I bought and gutted that guitar in high school and have been looking for a project to put this tremolo into. Is it even worth it?
 
dirtyfunkg":2wdaw0h5 said:
Any opinions on the non fine-tuner Floyd?
Click to expand...

Brad gillis beats the snot out of those og non tuner floyds.
 
Vinnie Moore back in the day, EVH's earliest Floyd, and Guthrie Govan's new Charvel all use non-fine tuning Floyds. They for sure have their place. Great with a guitar that has locking tuners...
 
I always get a little 'torque tuning' when I lock the nut. I had a non-fine-tuner Floyd back in the day, and always had to try to guess that out when locking down. And naw, I don't crank too tight.

As for current Floyds, the OFR you can buy from Warmoth or whatever has always been great for me. The 1000s or whatever theyre called that they put on Charvel Pro-mods are decent...but not as good IMO. I've had a few of the old 80s originals... and I don't see much difference in action to the new ones.
 
The Shaller floyds on my USA Washburn dimes are great. All of the German made floyds have been really good to me. As long as you replace the posts before they get too worn out,the knife edge on the base plate won't get jacked.
 
I've also found you have to buy several sets of German posts, and use the ones that fit the tightest. Ive had some that were actually wobbly when screwed in to the right height! Kills the tone that way.
 
cardinal":1f6louoi said:
^ I had a guitar with one of these Floyd 1000 series trems and didn't like the arm at all. It is supposed to be the same thing as the Original, just made in Korea I think. But the arm clearly was not as nice. I ended up using a spare German-made arm that was laying around and it felt much better.

Long story short, there's some variability but the German-made Floyds have always been solid for me.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that is what Suhr uses for the Modern Satins. I had no problems with mine but I honestly never use the bar.
 
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