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I have a Washburn MG-42, the subject of another thread. It has a Washburn 600S Licensed Floyd Rose trem, made by Takeuchi.
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/116146/0/#Form_Comment
I was thinking of selling, but I've had a go at giving it a proper set up with the help of very useful ESP Youtube video. Straightened the neck, adjusted the springs to make trem level with body and lowered the bridge to as far as it will go. Huge improvement, now plays very well with low action.
However, the two Phillips mounting screws on either side of the bridge are made of cheese and are stripping. Also I'm convinced that it is a terrible bridge system as it needs constant tweaking to stay in tune. This made me think about the suggestion @Garthy made to upgrade the bridge and that this could be my first modding project
How straightforward would it be and what FR trems would fit? The distance between the two mounting screw holes is 74mm. The Gotoh GE1996T and Original Floyd Rose are also 74mm, so should fit. I need to check it the guitar has mounting inserts or whether they are screwed straight into the wood.
Would I need to take out and replace any existing inserts? I think that replacing the mounting studs, and fitting new ones into the existing holes could be where potential problems arise.
Also, would upgrading the locking nut result in an improved performance?
Sorry a bit of a ramble, but before I start taking it apart, any advice would be appreciated.
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Shame, it had a nice neck. Be interested to see this one fettled.
Thanks @GluedtoMusic and @randella
Will leave the nut. My immediate concern is to get the screws out before they are too stripped to do so. The use of poor quality soft metal for the phillips headed screws instead of an allen key type socket seems like a poor money saving choice by the manufacturer.
I can see that there is not much wood between the screws/insert and the trem rout, so if I needed to drop in bigger inserts the holes would need to be screwed larger. A job for someone else who knows what they are doing, I think. If I could find screws/studs that fit into the current inserts, it would to for now.
I am somewhat confused. Does each type of FR type trem have to be matched with the stud/insert type/size that they are supplied with, or can you mix them up? If I could find a new stud that fits the existing inserts, or a new stud and insert that fits in the hole, would they work with a OFR or Gotoh, even if they are smaller than the ones that are supplied with them? It would save needing to drill a hole.
Will have a 'fettle' as soon as I get a change too and take measurements.
The 'Original' Floyd Rose (i.e. the costly Floyd-branded ones made by Schaller) use a type of insert which, when looked at from the side, has a 'V' formed in which the knide-edge on the bridge can locate. I think your guitar's bridge and post setup is the same? Like these:
http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah218/mrjaymenon/Gotoh%20Floyd%20Locking%20Stud_zpsir5fzlmo.jpg
If so I wouldn't worry too much about the exact radius of the top of the posts (or the 'V'), but the thread is important - they must screw into the inserts securely but without binding (which will happen if the threads are mismatched).
Are the posts damaged where the bridge's knife edges rest? If not you may be OK. Check it isn't wear on the bridge causing your tuning problems, some of those old licenced Floyds weren't made from the best metals known to man (I mean no offence here!)
Be very careful about removing the inserts, if it comes to that. The aforementioned damage to by buddy's guitar rendered it fit for the bin, there really isn't a lot of wood there.
The screws have the V, are 5mm wide and the thread is 20mm long. They and the ‘blade’ bits of the trem seem in ok condition.
Is this saveable?
https://imgur.com/gallery/LIbxc
https://imgur.com/gallery/fKHmh
https://imgur.com/gallery/3LoO6
https://imgur.com/gallery/XNXw1
That's exactly the damage my friend's guitar had, although his was much worse. I'm not sure what you'd do to save that though, as I think it amounts to the same thing. There's a tremendous amount of pressure exerted, from the string tension, on that bottom edge of the insert that is poking through.
You'd be as well to take advice from the builders who lurk around here. The nuclear option is to rout away the wood at the leading edge of the bridge and replace it with another block of comparable hardwood (basswood, from memory). I've done this to block a pickup rout and it does work, but that was a simple shape.
On your guitar it's not ideal to say the least as it's a translucent finish - it'd stick out like a sore thumb under anything other than a solid colour. You'd have to recut the trem rout (and possibly the control cavity) to match, and drill for the inserts which itself isn't a trivial task. Then refinish. At some point down the line you'd be able to see where you made the repair as the finish will sink over the join lines.
My dad considered all of this when repairing my friend's, but didn't want to go full-on with a guitar that wasn't his. In the end he just experimented by gluing in a block of hardwood over the damage with marine epoxy just to see what sort of stresses he was dealing with - the strings didn't even get up to pitch before the repair failed so he called it a day.
See what the other folk have to say. For my money it's not going to be a simple repair - sorry fella. Stupid bloody bit of design from Washburn, as it's otherwise a decent instrument.
I’ll be gutted if its a gonner, I’ve been through a lot with it over the last 25 years and had finally got it set up right and playing like a dream. I knew nothing about set ups etc when I was a young ‘un.
I’m sorry if I gave you a downer!
I’m going to take a liberty and tag in a few people whose wisdom I’ve been privy to, and whose threads I’ve admired.
Hopefully one of them will at least tell you I’ve been talking bobbins...
@wezv @TTony @Andyjr1515 ;;
No worries @randella ;; . I was quiet stressed about this last night but have cooled this morning; it's not a valuable guitar, but I seem to be more attached to it than I realised! If it can be fixed I would like to use it as an upgrade project. I have certainly learnt a lot about FR type trems this week.
I may take it to a repair guy next week; a new shop has opended in Dolgellau, Remade Guitars and the owner Robin does repairs and set ups.
If anyone has more advice, good or bad news, it would be most welcome
Just picked this thread up.
It's definitely fixable (and won't be anything you've done to it ) but probably easier to get a tech to do it if, as you say, you have one close at hand. If it turns out to be too pricey, we can probably guide you through to getting it at least fit for purpose as long as you've got some basic skills and tools.
Andy
The bottom of the insert should never have been so close to the edge of the wood (look how far it is to the edge at the top!), but because the hole was drilled at an angle, the problem has manifested itself.
I would say plugging and redrilling (straight this time) should be an easy and viable solution.
Here's a pic of one upside down that i just removed from my HM strat that someone else had retro fitted for a OFR,had to pop it out because it was fowling the base of spyder trem and pushing up the action by 2-3 mm
Thanks all, I'm taking it to a tech tomorrow for a look.
If it can be plugged/filled, I suppose will then need to think about what to drill back in (rather than putting back the stock one I would like to fit an upgraded trem e.g. Gotoh 1996t) . If I keep the current inserts I will need to find a 5mm screw/stud to replace the stripped ones. I can only find 8mm studs with an 11mm insert. If drilling a hole for a larger 11mm insert, it would not leave much wood on both sides.
Personally I'd have used a Floyd Rose special and upgraded the block. I know people insist it's not as good as an OFR but I have both and the differences are extremely minimal IMHO.
https://i.imgur.com/Umak4HK.jpg
Next upgrade will be the pickups. Pretty clueless about changing pickups so may be back for more advice.