To Floyd...... or not to Floyd....

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Mailman1971

Mailman1971

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Call me bias. I gots to have me a floyd bridge!!
I never even really use the bar. I just love guitars with a Floyd. :yes:
Pretty much skip over everything else.
Thru the years owned em all. Close to 400 electrics.
Just gravitate to these guitars. Makes...models... that's secondary. :D
Discuss.
 
Honestly I'm the same, love me some Floyd rose (original), ibanez is nice too. But the OFR are a genious design tried and true :rock:

I don't mind the TOM style, floyds to me are so easy to setup now and mainly what I'm used to. I'm an occasional diver and like to use the flutter effect from the bar also. I hate messing with the nuts on non floyds.
 
Mailman1971":uut70243 said:
Call me bias. I gots to have me a floyd bridge!!
I never even really use the bar. I just love guitars with a Floyd. :yes:
Pretty much skip over everything else.
Thru the years owned em all. Close to 400 electrics.
Just gravitate to these guitars. Makes...models... that's secondary. :D
Discuss.
Click to expand...

I concur with your finding. I'n not a heavy wang-bar user... but like the low-profile feel of the bridge... and most importantly... the tuning stability despite temp & humidity.

:thumbsup:
 
I think I am the polar opposite... I have 2 guitars with Floyds and 1 Ibanez floyd but I only pull those out when I feel like getting stupid with some Kerry King style bombs lol... great fun though for sure. Not sure if its my ears but I swear palm mutes sound thicker with a fixed bridge ;)
 
I also prefer to have a trem than not, even though I rarely use them (and my favorite trem is the Floyd).

BUT I have a harder time finding guitars with a trem that I really like. I've been through lots, and on average they just do not sustain as well as hardtail guitars. I do have some that do sustain very well, but I've had to pick through a lot of other guitars that don't. Even guitars that should be identical, some just sustain better or worse.
 
They're too much of a pain in the ass for something I pretty much never used. Buying a guitar with a fixed bridge and locking tuners made me never want another tremolo.
 
I prefer hardtail, but the guitar i play most right now is my USA San Dimas with a Floyd. It's not floating, but my other Charvel does have a floating Floyd. Both have big brass blocks and little screw thingy that makes the blocks contact the trem cavity. Yes all that makes a difference.

I like the Floyd system because they don't go out of tune. That is pretty much it. I rarely use my bar with a few exceptions (solo's in Contrarian and whatnot).

My case against the Floyds is simply that even an OFR needs to get modded to get it where i want it to be. I don't like that i cant tune from my headstock (sorry... decades of never playing a locking trem system) and i just don't usually use a bar anyway.

The only reason i got the Charvels was because of an endorsement for a project i'm in, but i fucking love them. Such great guitars and i have always wanted one since the mid 80's, but couldn't afford one back then, then i started building my own guitars from scratch and played mainly my Strats between then.
 
No. Never again.
I can't overstate how much I dislike them.
 
I am pretty much the same, but have started to like some hardtails. I like the low-profile hardtails, like the hipshot bridges, and have even started to like some non-locking trems, like PRS. I am not a huge fan of TOM bridges and archtop guitars. Guitars like a Les Paul where it feels like the strings are like 5 feet above the guitar.
 
I've talked with Floyd several times and he offered me a job. I hate the sound of guitars with a Floyd and have not owned one in twenty years. The tone and sustain just sucks. Other than the completely useless divebomb and horse sounds they are useless. Not to mention I use a lot of bends and vibrato often using more than one string. These are never in tune with a Floyd.
 
Badronald":1lvb6gui said:
No. Never again.
I can't overstate how much I dislike them.
Click to expand...

By the way, I play/gig in a pop rock trio. A locking/floating bridge will not work for me in that setting.
 
Must have. Hardly ever even put the bar on it anymore,but I'm too used to the way my right hand sits on it.
 
I like 80's guitars so by default a lot of my guitars end up with the Floyd on them. I don't use the bar a lot, but have no issue with the feel and tone. I'm good without the Floyd as well.

I think if your chops are really good and you are skilled at dialing in tone in general, it's not a big deal either way (unless of course the Floyd technique stuff is part of your playing style which is personal preference).
 
Mesa\Kramer":22s0d9da said:
Something to consider



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I've seen these videos earlier already and truely can't confirm that effect of the FR on my guitars. Maybe Gibson uses cheap/bad versions of FRs or something else is wrong with that guitar.

The difference on the strats is something I hear too. But I wouldn't say one is better than the other there. Each is enjoyable for different aspects.

To the OP: love FR guitars even i don't use the whammy effect a lot. But tuning stability and fine tuners and also feel is what I love.
 
I'm not a giant fan of Floyds but in the right guitar, I can generally get tones I like every bit as much as my non-Floyd or hard-tail guitars. I recently picked up a PRS Custom 24 with a Floyd and it's killer sounding...completely stock. It's got PRS \m/ pickups in it, which I'd never heard or tried before. Maybe Paul wound those specifically for Floyds, who knows?

I'm also a huge fan of the tuning stability they offer, especially for outdoor gigs where the weather can sometimes wreak havok. I'll take the string changing hassles for that factor alone.

Lifeson
Schon
Vai
Satriani
DeMartini
EVH

...all playing toneless guitars. :lol: :LOL:

:rock:
 
I like to have a Floyded guitar or two but I will say the best guitars I have owned as far as tone goes are non Floyded. I believe 100% the Floyd robs tone but there are allot of other factors as well. I have one particular Jackson Custom that is the best Floyded guitar I have owned.
 
Fully floating, then yes there is definite tone/ sustain loss. Block it for dive only, they sound fine. Actually, better than fine, some of the best guitars I've ever played had dive only Floyds. Floating vs blocked makes or breaks it for me.
 
Locking Trem system, yes. Floyd specifically, not so much.
I find I prefer the Gotoh ge1996t bridge. Had too many issues with Floyd saddles sounding dead and I like the way the bar screws in and can be set to stay put on the Gotohs. I even shaved the back edges on the 2 I put on my Axcess' so they would fit the body route and work right.
I love those guitars and they are great gigging axes. Sound great and super easy to play. One has a trem stopper and dives only while the other has an ESP arming adjuster.
 
Mailman1971":1lam1tvo said:
Call me bias. I gots to have me a floyd bridge!!
I never even really use the bar. I just love guitars with a Floyd. :yes:
Pretty much skip over everything else.
Thru the years owned em all. Close to 400 electrics.
Just gravitate to these guitars. Makes...models... that's secondary. :D
Discuss.
Click to expand...

Amen, Brother! :rock:

Same here....all of my guitars have Floyds!
 
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