What Happened to Floyd?

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Just Mike

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The locking tremolo is a superior system AFAIK, so why have the newer guitars abandoned them?
Is it just a marketing thing?
Are there REALLY any significant sonic differences?
Is it just a cosmetic thing?
They don't have to be floating so string breakage doesn't have to be catastrophic...???
If you're a whammy guy why would you want a non locking tremolo?
Lots of questions...right?
 
Some folks just don't like them, and so now it seems a fair few companies are pushing the non locking floyd. Also, I'm not sure the Floyd fits with all these multiscale, 'extra' string / low tuned guitars we're seeing at the moment. Flavour of the month..
 
People are afraid of them. They are more difficult to set up and maintain compared to a non locking trem. And people don't know how to use a trem. They think the Mick Mars wham wham wham is all they are good for. I'd guess more people prefer a non trem stop tail type guitar to any trem. I'm not one of them. Floyd all the way baby!
 
In all honesty, I can set up a floyd to float and keep tune much easier than my strats with vintage tremolos.
I really do not think a floyd is that difficult to set up.
 
They are not trendy hipster and millennial enough right now... hang on to them, as with most stuff the price will probably double in the near future.
 
All 6 of my guitars have Floyd’s.....well 2 Suhrs have Gotoh locking trems but my TAs have OFR.
 
I love Floyd Rose. It actually stays in tune, which is fantastic.

But it makes maintenance so pain free. What to adjust the truss rod at the butt end of the neck? Clean under the strings? Get out a Strat pickguard? Just pop off the Floyd and go. When you’re done, put the Floyd back on, and you’re still in tune!
 
Well Floyd’s have some disadvantages like loosing tuning when a string breaks, for the floating ones hard hitting could result in slight out of tune sounds, harder setup etc. Also they actually impact your tone (better or worse is a matter of taste). And last but not least, they are out of fashion because they are linked to some musical styles.

Having said that they have their advantages as well and I love great Floyd guitars.
 
Lazy. String break issue is non existent, i cant remember the last time i broke a string. I like the way a floyd slackens when you bend, makes it easier. Does not effect "tone" that I can tell.

Kind of like the string mutes, people don't want to learn how to mute strings. IMHO.
 
Lucky you, mastered to never break strings ;-) But I agree, the quality of strings today makes it almost a non issue. Bending is a point, but can be learned (obviously), but many don’t want to. Same for muted chugga playing. But I understand people have these reasons for their preference of not using Floyds.

Where I don’t agree is the tone thing. It makes tone thicker less spanky compared to traditional Strat terms. I think you hear it best unplugged. Having said that I prefer that for high gain sounds. I guess that’s why Tom Anderson and others use these massive Floyd style saddle blocks instead of the bended steel for “modern” guitars. So to me it is not better/worse but different.

Going to play my Floyd equipped favorite guitar now...
 
I love Floyds (trems and barbers lol). Lots of folks don't like how all the other strings go flat when you bend. Makes unison bends tricky at best and forget any pedal steel type bends. Tuning is easier UNLESS the temperature changes siginificantly...then it's that routine of tuning up (or down) only to find the first string you tuned is way out and so on. So if you play outdoors often tuning can be a bit of a PITA. Of course, you don't have to float them but I think many people feel that if it's not floating what's the point. IMO, they do sound different than others but everything sounds different. They don't sound inherently bad or anything (subjective).

I love 'em but there are many times I need a guitar that I can do unison/pedal steel type bends with and out comes the LP. Some above say it can be learned...but I guess I'm just not good enough to do pedal steel bends on a floating trem.
 
Alex_S":evnsb9ka said:
Well Floyd’s have some disadvantages like loosing tuning when a string breaks, for the floating ones hard hitting could result in slight out of tune sounds, harder setup etc. Also they actually impact your tone (better or worse is a matter of taste). And last but not least, they are out of fashion because they are linked to some musical styles.

Having said that they have their advantages as well and I love great Floyd guitars.
Click to expand...

The first few disadvantages you meantion are true if any floating trem: not just Floyd’s but Strats, PRS, etc. The only added difficulty with a Floyd is that you’ll need some tools around to help sort it out (wrenches and string cutter).

I assume they do sound different, but everything can make a difference good or bad. If someone is that picky (and I am, so I get it), it just takes some effort to pick through guitars to find the right one.

They certainly are out of style, it seems.
 
SpiderWars":2o5xk6ea said:
I love Floyds (trems and barbers lol). Lots of folks don't like how all the other strings go flat when you bend. Makes unison bends tricky at best and forget any pedal steel type bends. Tuning is easier UNLESS the temperature changes siginificantly...then it's that routine of tuning up (or down) only to find the first string you tuned is way out and so on. So if you play outdoors often tuning can be a bit of a PITA. Of course, you don't have to float them but I think many people feel that if it's not floating what's the point. IMO, they do sound different than others but everything sounds different. They don't sound inherently bad or anything (subjective).

I love 'em but there are many times I need a guitar that I can do unison/pedal steel type bends with and out comes the LP. Some above say it can be learned...but I guess I'm just not good enough to do pedal steel bends on a floating trem.
Click to expand...

That’s essentially where I’ve ended up. If I need a fixed bridge because I’m quickly changing the tuning or some type of double stop bending that I can’t fake my way through with a floating Floyd: grab an LP.
 
Just Mike":2sfhrzzi said:
The locking tremolo is a superior system AFAIK, so why have the newer guitars abandoned them?
Click to expand...

Yeah. Schecter, ESP, Jackson, Charvel, and EVH have no Floyds these days.. :confused:

Damn near every manufacturer out there has a model with a Floyd???
 
I think I've had a string break while I was playing twice since 1990?

I think that some of the brands that ALWAYS had Floyds on them now offer hardtail models - but the Floyds haven't gone away. I mean geez - even Gibson and PRS offer production models with Floyds!
 
I have always been a Floyd person, and I love them. However, I also have a PRS and I have been enjoying their trem also. You can't do the huge divebombs, but it works for most things. I think what I like most about it is that it is not as bulky. I dont have to worry about hitting the fine tuners. It is like playing a hardtail, but with trem capabilities. I tend to keep my hand in one location more when playing a Floyd.

I think overall the trend now is just on hardtail guitars.
 
Had one on my Ibanez rg550 when I bought it new in 1992. That's when it thought they were cool, since then I never really liked them, too bulky, too much trouble.

However they do suit the type of player that would actually use them to the full capability.
 
napalmdeath":1m0b94gx said:
Just Mike":1m0b94gx said:
The locking tremolo is a superior system AFAIK, so why have the newer guitars abandoned them?
Click to expand...

Yeah. Schecter, ESP, Jackson, Charvel, and EVH have no Floyds these days.. :confused:

Damn near every manufacturer out there has a model with a Floyd???
Click to expand...

Sorry for the confusion napalmdeath.... I guess My question should have been; "Why are some high profile mfrs releasing really nice guitars with what I consider to be inferior non locking tremolos?"
Endorsers like Lukather and Petrucci have sig models without Locking trems. PRS makes high end guitars with non locking trems.
If I was going to spend $2k+ on a guitar with a trem. I'd want it to stay in tune. And it's a fact that non locking trems don't stay in tune as well as locking trems. I think a standard trem can be managed, but they sure can't take the abuse of a locking trem.
It's also a fact that ANY floating trem will have the same "bending" issues.
Are there any real advantages a non locking trem has over a locking one?

Maybe there's a licensing issue with locking tremolos that these mfrs don't want to pay. So they market a non locking one with words like "smooth action floating tremolo allows for raising and lowering of pitch with impeccable tuning stability".
 
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