Need advice from the Floyd gurus (pic heavy)

[BrianS.]

I just acquired a guitar that I intend to fix up (Korean Samick). One thing it has that I'm not familiar with is a Floyd Rose tremolo. I'm adding some pics and hope that you guys can give me some info on this particular Floyd, as well suggestions on how to proceed with my project.


The guitar:



Anyone recognize the manufacturer of this Floyd by looking at the stamp?



Missing a fine tuner:



Both knife edges seem pretty beat up. I'm not sure what is normal, though:



Cavity route. Not sure what the little bracket is for:




Other issues:
1) Needs a bar. If they are universal, I know I can get one.
2) The locking nuts are missing. Are these universal, or does the whole locking mechanism come as one piece?

I can't decide if I should buy a new (but cheap) unit, or try and get parts for this one...or if that is even a possibility.

I have emailed Samick with the serial # and a few questions, but it is an older guitar (decade or two?), so I'm not sure they can help.

I'm open to any and all suggestions or comments. Thanks.

Brian

[Ayrton]

Re: Need advice from the Floyd gurus (pic heavy)

The tremolo is commonly known as a "TRS" model licensed bridge, and can be found in various forms among entry level guitars.

The base plate is pot metal, and that is why the knife edges are dulled. You could replace it, but not really worth buying a new one.

The bracket in the cavity is a brace for the pivot studs. The body is probably Basswood at best, and stale bread at worst. The string tension wants to force the studs forward, and that brackets helps prevent that.

[alteredbeast]

Re: Need advice from the Floyd gurus (pic heavy)

holy sh*t looks like someone was tryin' ta pick a lock with the knife edges.

[IanBallard]

Re: Need advice from the Floyd gurus (pic heavy)

It could be a lower-grade steel. Best way to know is to see if a magnet sticks to it. Most of the thinner baseplates like that are steel... the old-school Schaller thick plates were actually Zamac but had hardened steel edge inserts, because the early prototypes' thin tone was somewhat cured by using an alloy.

Most locking nuts are fairly universal. You can get replacement locking nut assemblies for about $20 on eBay.

If you decide to defect from this bridge, you can get a Gotoh for a little less than an OFR and I think it's a step-forward in design and actually enhances your guitar's tone.

[formula73]

Re: Need advice from the Floyd gurus (pic heavy)

Replace that with a TRS-101. Those are all made by Takeuchi but the uber-cheap ones are made in Korea out of junk metal, like yours. The 101 is actually a decent unit (made in Japan) with a hardened baseplate and pivot screws that's still pretty cheap AND will fit that route whereas a Floyd or Gotoh would leave weird gaps.

Again, the 101 is a good bridge but gets a bad name because it looks like the junk that comes stock on entry level stuff.

[BrianS.]

Re: Need advice from the Floyd gurus (pic heavy)

The 101 sounds good. The price seems right for this particular guitar.

Couple more questions:

1) The mounting stud bracket: is it a standard piece on most or all guitars, or is it just for the "stale bread" bodied guitars of questionable lineage?

2) The bridge that is on the guitar now has a brass block. From what I've read, a brass block is considered an upgrade. Do I have this right? If so, what are the chances that this block will fit on the new bridge (assuming the new bridge does not have a brass block)?

Thanks again!

[Ayrton]

Re: Need advice from the Floyd gurus (pic heavy)

The bracket is not common, but not a bad idea. I have seen stud creep even on higher quality guitars.

The brass block may be the stock block, but compare to the new when you get it.

[BrianS.]

Re: Need advice from the Floyd gurus (pic heavy)

My plan was to fix this guitar up and sell it. However, after going through it, I don't think I can make any money on it by doing that (even though I only paid 50 bucks for it), so I guess I'll just fix it and keep it. I haven't had a whammy-guitar since I was 17, might be fun for 10 minutes.

Thanks for all the info.

Brian

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Need advice from the Floyd gurus (pic heavy)

Brass blocks are usually not stock, at least not on lesser-priced models. If anyone would include a brass block stock, I'd be suspicious of the quality (springs might tear through it under tension).

However, without the original block, telling who made the trem is difficult. It could have been a Takeuchi, which isn't as bad as the non-Taks that look like that.

I'd have to see that trem in the route to know if an OFR would replace it, but given it has the fat-barrel screws out the back, it looks like you'd need a Schaller, as an OFR's screws would be too long. You can find shorter OFR screws (they come in the EVH D-Tuna) but I can't name a supplier off-hand.

That should take a universal import bar. You will not be able to replace the bar with a Schaller/OFR collared type since the block appears to incorporate the mounting hole.


That bracket is indeed used mostly on lesser-quality woods. It's not so much to keep the posts from crashing through the inside of the cavity as it is to prevent the inserts from lifting from repeated pullups (hence the two screws that hold the bracket down).

You'll get no joy from that unit as it is, and it may taint your perception of locking trems. Since you only paid $50 for the whole guitar, it might be worth the money to drop the Gotoh Floyd in.

However, there's the issue of the rear screws clearing the recess (if it has one, if it doesn't have a rear recess, then an OFR would fit as well).

Import locking nuts are universal, but Schaller/OFR locks are too big for import nuts. Import nuts are also generally shorter than OFR/Schaller nuts, and of course a taller nut increases action.

[BrianS.]

Re: Need advice from the Floyd gurus (pic heavy)

Well, I did a fret level/dress and strung the thing up. Found that I need 4 springs (only had 3) to get the thing set up right with a set of 10-46 strings. Luckily I had the springs from my first guitar ever (purchased over 20 years ago!) and so I got the thing playable.

Definitely not impressed. I think I'd have to put at least a couple hundred bucks into this beeyotch to make it sound decent. Blah.

[Ayrton]

Re: Need advice from the Floyd gurus (pic heavy)

If you can sell it, and make a bit of money, do it.