Has anyone installed a Floyd on a standard strat?

[Lord Toneking]

I swapped the stock bridge with a Gotoh 510TS and to be honest I'm just a Floyd guy. I like double locking dive only Floyds

I'm a handy guy and was wondering how hard it would be to set the nut and mount the Floyd?

Any advise would be appreciated

 

[the rossness]

I used a TremKing on a standard strat. That was an interesting trem. Somewhere between a floyd and a kahler.

 

[Stone Heavy Sound]

It's very difficult, for one thing you'll need precise tools and measurements. The floyd has posts with large screws to pivot the bridge, not to mention you'll almost certainly need to do some serious routing on the body for fit and also for the floating action. I thought about it once but after planning it it wasn't realistic, you're better off getting a Warmoth body routed for a floyd.

 

[Chris6870]

I looked into it and it was suggested that there is not enough wood in the area to support it with the factory route.. The Fender models that came with Floyds stock where beefier in that area.

 

[cardinal]

Yeah, the treble-side post might be pretty close to the route between the bridge pickup and the control cavity. Kinda depends on the Strat. Some seem like they have enough room. Others, it'd make me real nervous.

It might honestly be cheaper or nearly as cheap to get locking tuners and a Warmoth body drilled for the Floyd.

 

[paulyc]

I had it done to a '79 strat...no problems whatsoever.

 

[PBGas]

I was given bad advice on this one. I had one of the Dave Murray Strats with the HSH configuration. It was a killer guitar and I loved it, except for that damn trem. I called one of the more well known repair places up here in Ontario, Canada called 12th Fret. The guy hummed and hawed about it and said it wouldn't work, he'd have to skunk stripe the neck, etc...etc....etc...not enough room near the humbucker for cutting..... I had no idea about the fact that you could add shims under the Floyd saddles and apparently this doofus who is supposed to work on these things daily didn't either.

I returned the guitar to the store to no loss on my part. I realized now this could have easily been done without issue. Now, you can't get this model anymore.

Get good advice on doing this. If you can find a good luthier to do it, then by all means go for it. If not, some great advice offered by others above. The reason I know this is workable is because I met Dave Murray after a show and he told me that his is basically the factory guitar, even has his name on the back of the neck nitro'd over. He said his tech simply routed it and it worked with some shims. Very cool guy and I was thrilled to meet him!

That being said, my new Dave Murray strat with Floyd is a fantastic guitar. MIM version is solid and plays perfectly.

 

[cardinal]

Yeah you don't have to route for the Floyd, just shim under the neck (though be prepared for the feel of the guitar with the strings farther off the surface of the guitar). It really just depends on whether there's room for the treble-side post. I think most MIA Strats should be ok, but they've all varied over the years.

And I wouldn't worry too much about fitting a locking nut. Locking tuners and saddles will cure pretty much all the tuning issues. The strings won't unwrap around the posts when dive bombing if you have locking tuners. And the strings won't slide up the saddles each time you dive when they're locked in the Floyd saddles.

 

[nnajar]

Yeah you don't have to route for the Floyd, just shim under the neck (though be prepared for the feel of the guitar with the strings farther off the surface of the guitar). It really just depends on whether there's room for the treble-side post. I think most MIA Strats should be ok, but they've all varied over the years.

And I wouldn't worry too much about fitting a locking nut. Locking tuners and saddles will cure pretty much all the tuning issues. The strings won't unwrap around the posts when dive bombing if you have locking tuners. And the strings won't slide up the saddles each time you dive when they're locked in the Floyd saddles.

yeah my main guitar is a stevenson with a floyd but no locking nut. it has locking tuners and you can go nuts on the thing and it won't go out of tune. It's a good idea, string changing is so much easier….

 

[paulyc]

Yeah you don't have to route for the Floyd, just shim under the neck (though be prepared for the feel of the guitar with the strings farther off the surface of the guitar). It really just depends on whether there's room for the treble-side post. I think most MIA Strats should be ok, but they've all varied over the years.

And I wouldn't worry too much about fitting a locking nut. Locking tuners and saddles will cure pretty much all the tuning issues. The strings won't unwrap around the posts when dive bombing if you have locking tuners. And the strings won't slide up the saddles each time you dive when they're locked in the Floyd saddles.

You ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO rout for a Floyd, the cavity for the block isn't wide enough to clear where the arm screws onto the baseplate area, and you have to put the 2 posts in in just the right location or you'll have issues...

 

[Chris6870]

Is a newer Strat with the Wilkinson two point tremolo or the vintage trem?

 

[Shawn Lutz]

If you're good with measuring twice and rechecking you should be good to go. I did a few of them.

 

[Lord Toneking]

Is a newer Strat with the Wilkinson two point tremolo or the vintage trem?

It's this one. Standard two point. I swapped the original for a gotoh 510

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