You would or would not buy a Floyd Rose or other floating / locking nut tremolo equipped guitar ?

JDE

FelineGuitars said:

I would but it would need to be a decent floyd (as cheap nasty ones are so frustrating).
they are a lot of fun (even though I mainly play Feline Lions for the most part of late)

Having a sustainer AND a floyd means it's silly noises time

That Dredd guitar is making the comic book nerd in me faint.

vasselmeyer

You don't need a Floyd if you play a PRS 

sawyer

Got one on a Charvel but its blocked. Like the way it feels though locked down at both ends.

Alnico

Garthy said:

Being without a FR feels like having no thumbs.

I'll buy you a beer for that!
Couldn't agree more.

FelineGuitars said:

..........

Having a sustainer AND a floyd means it's silly noises time

Oh, God.....
What have you done!
I have to have that now.

clarkefan

Would and just have First Floyd-equipped guitar for me and I'm enjoying it.  Still at the dive bombing stage but I like working on little expressive stuff.  More to come and that's exciting and fun

The whole "stays in tune no matter what" thing is almost shocking to me, I've never experienced this before.  

I haven't changed strings yet which apparently is a bit of an ordeal, but I'll work it out.  I've already had the floyd in pieces twice and reinstalling it has been fine (though I still can't figure out how to get it fully flush resting on the guitar!).

So yeah, big thumbs up from me

axisus

I wouldn't have one as my only guitar. They are fun at best, but on the other hand can feel a bit clunky. I've just built a guitar with one. Overall I probably prefer a 2 point non locking trem or a well set up bigsby.

Maynehead

If a guitar doesn’t have a trem I feel like something is missing. Not that I’m a heavy user of it, I just like to have the option.

Sometimes when I’m playing without one I will reach for it and it’s not there, and I’ll feel a bit gutted.

Alnico

clarkefan said:

Would and just have First Floyd-equipped guitar for me and I'm enjoying it.  Still at the dive bombing stage but I like working on little expressive stuff.  More to come and that's exciting and fun

The whole "stays in tune no matter what" thing is almost shocking to me, I've never experienced this before.  

I haven't changed strings yet which apparently is a bit of an ordeal, but I'll work it out.  I've already had the floyd in pieces twice and reinstalling it has been fine (though I still can't figure out how to get it fully flush resting on the guitar!).

So yeah, big thumbs up from me

I've just had 2 of these things fitted into my Ibanez Universe 7 string...

Goldo Back Box

https://i.imgur.com/FA85z7D.jpg

It's taken an already great tremolo system (Low Pro 7) into a realm of frankly piss-taking proportions.
When you pull up on the arm you are solely reliant on string tension to pull you back to zero point, the springs are out of the equation here until you approach zero point and they tension back up again.
The strings themselves aren't always enough to do this 100% so you find you're slightly sharp and need to go down on the tremolo arm and back up again to "Find" the ZP.
These Backboxes push back against the block and as you come back down from an up-bend, they physically reset the block to precisely the same position it started in so you have springs working both ways.

It's an investment and these will now be fitted to every tremolo guitar I have, they're that good.

I'm going to demo what I can get away with on the UV 7 string at the next few upcoming Jam sessions.
The UV plays so well due to lots of work carried out be @FelineGuitars recently but the backboxes really do finish off the tremolo vs tuning thing perfectly.

 @clarkefan
I work on expressive use of the tremolo all the time.
I've worked out some great exercises if you're interested?
PM me if you are.......same for anyone really.
If it's really popular then I'll try to do something more accessible and public.

Funkfingers

Telejester said:

What say you?

I say that "would" and "would not" are the two available options. 

Winny_Pooh

They make guitars look ugly. Never have amd never will. I have a musicman that comes close enough to floyd performance..

Philly_Q

I wouldn't.  I hate the hassle of setting them up and changing strings and I really don't like the feel of the thing, I much preferred the Kahler in that respect but that has its own issues.

For many years I've been quite anti trem systems of whatever type - I even prefer hardtail Strats - but recently I've started to appreciate the vintage Strat tremolo, just for a little bit of shimmer.  I think it feels better than all the two-point fulcrum style units.

Having said all that, I love the look of the Floyd Rose - the shape of it and the way all those neatly engineered parts fit together.  It's certainly a cool design.

viz

Alnico said:

clarkefan said:

Would and just have First Floyd-equipped guitar for me and I'm enjoying it.  Still at the dive bombing stage but I like working on little expressive stuff.  More to come and that's exciting and fun

The whole "stays in tune no matter what" thing is almost shocking to me, I've never experienced this before.  

I haven't changed strings yet which apparently is a bit of an ordeal, but I'll work it out.  I've already had the floyd in pieces twice and reinstalling it has been fine (though I still can't figure out how to get it fully flush resting on the guitar!).

So yeah, big thumbs up from me

I've just had 2 of these things fitted into my Ibanez Universe 7 string...

Goldo Back Box

https://i.imgur.com/FA85z7D.jpg

It's taken an already great tremolo system (Low Pro 7) into a realm of frankly piss-taking proportions.
When you pull up on the arm you are solely reliant on string tension to pull you back to zero point, the springs are out of the equation here until you approach zero point and they tension back up again.
The strings themselves aren't always enough to do this 100% so you find you're slightly sharp and need to go down on the tremolo arm and back up again to "Find" the ZP.
These Backboxes push back against the block and as you come back down from an up-bend, they physically reset the block to precisely the same position it started in so you have springs working both ways.

It's an investment and these will now be fitted to every tremolo guitar I have, they're that good.

I'm going to demo what I can get away with on the UV 7 string at the next few upcoming Jam sessions.
The UV plays so well due to lots of work carried out be @FelineGuitars recently but the backboxes really do finish off the tremolo vs tuning thing perfectly.

 @clarkefan
I work on expressive use of the tremolo all the time.
I've worked out some great exercises if you're interested?
PM me if you are.......same for anyone really.
If it's really popular then I'll try to do something more accessible and public.

Yes please!

impmann

I’d struggle - the FR just doesn’t suit my playing, in fact no two post trem does. I can’t bear the chirping you get when you dig in on two post trem equipped guitars. 
Yes you can block the damn things up but they are fiddly things and having to chop strings up to fit them, needing Allen keys etc has always felt like a sledgehammer and walnut situation. Plus they are butt-fuck ugly looking things imho.

Id make exceptions for particular guitars - mainly old US built Hamers but by and large it’s the biggest guitar turn off for me. 

prowla

I like them, but the fiddley little blocks which lock the strings in the saddles are a faff, as is adjusting the saddles.

Alnico

@viz

Noted.

Voxman

Winny_Pooh said:

They make guitars look ugly. Never have and never will. 

ICBM said:

Would not, because .. quick string changes are less practical on a Floyd.

Would NOT for both these reasons - a friend of mine has an HSS Strat with a Floyd Rose. If he had a string break it would take him twenty minutes to change the string and retune it...nightmare at a gig.  And they are ugly as sin.  The vibrato systems on my PRS Cu24 and even USA Standard Strat are plenty good enough for my needs.

ICBM

Voxman said:

Would NOT for both these reasons - a friend of mine has an HSS Strat with a Floyd Rose. If he had a string break it would take him twenty minutes to change the string and retune it...nightmare at a gig.

It should take two minutes maximum, if you know what you're doing.

But that's still at least twice as long as a conventional Strat trem.

The difference is that thirty or forty seconds isn't much longer than the normal gap between songs, so it doesn't obviously interrupt the gig. Two minutes definitely does.

impmann

ICBM said:

Voxman said:

Would NOT for both these reasons - a friend of mine has an HSS Strat with a Floyd Rose. If he had a string break it would take him twenty minutes to change the string and retune it...nightmare at a gig.

It should take two minutes maximum, if you know what you're doing.

But that's still at least twice as long as a conventional Strat trem.

The difference is that thirty or forty seconds isn't much longer than the normal gap between songs, so it doesn't obviously interrupt the gig. Two minutes definitely does.

Hmm, depends on if you have cutters and the correct Allen keys plus you can see well enough on a dark stage.
Still a fiddle, faff and fuss no matter what anyone says!

ICBM

impmann said:

Hmm, depends on if you have cutters and the correct Allen keys plus you can see well enough on a dark stage.

Still a fiddle, faff and fuss no matter what anyone says!

I don't disagree .

Having the right Allen keys, and cutters - unless you prepare the strings in advance - is *essential* if you're going to gig with a Floyd. It can be done, but it's above the level of hassle I want to cause myself at a gig, even though the time it takes is actually not *that* bad.

There are one or two nasty traps too, the worst is trying to get a very short broken string end out of the bridge clamp if it's snapped right at the top of the block and won't shake out by itself. Needle-nose pliers, good light and a steady hand required...

tampaxboo

for a basher guitar, for freaky sound effects, dive bombs and pull ups.
but for regular playing i see all trems as a potential tuning liability i don't need.
once set up properly (pita) floyds are generally a bit better than regular strat type bridges, and definitely far better than bigsbys.
but through body fixed bridge can't be beat for tone or stability. and for weirdo noises i have a very decent pedal board. so my policy is that i keep my interface (guitar) stable and trustworthy, and dedicate my chaos and flexibility to my.processor (pedalboard and amp).