Will Floyd Rose ever go ball-bearing?

Qweklain

Qweklain

Active member
Just a random question I figured I would ask. I see a lot of custom builders making their own Trems that are ball-bearing, which we all know are far superior to knife edges. A much more known example would be Vigiers FR similar trem that is ball-bearing.

Anyone think Floyd Rose will ever finally modernize themselves, or perhaps just add a ball-bearing model to their lineup?
 
I don't know that ball bearings are necessarily superior. I think the problem is that bearings wear unevenly through the range of motion, lending to tuning instability and the trem feeling rough. I can't say whether it's better or worse than FR's knife edges, but I know that's an issue with the ball bearings.

It's all ball bearings these days...
 
The Ibanez tremolos that have the bearings seem to work well enough. I don't think there is any reason for Floyd to change what it has, but perhaps another model?
 
Don't think it's gonna happen. Floyd Rose is a successful design and they still sell a ton of them, no reason to change.
 
Seeing as all of my Floyd equipped guitars are damn near impossible to throw out of tune (most of them are over 20 years old), I can't see how ball bearings could possibly bring anything to the table from a function standpoint...how do you improve on a perfectly functioning design?
Conversely, if they were able to mitigate some of the tone-neutering effects of a Floyd I would definitely be interested (although I account for that with pickups and amp settings so its not too much of an issue).
 
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