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  • #1

    Floyd Rose retrofit

    Hello everyone,

    I am diving into a project I have wanted to do for quite a while which is fitting a Floyd Rose into my MIM Strat. I am comfortable (I Think ) with most of the procedures such as the nut replacement, etc. I am going to keep it dive only so not sure how much routing is going to be required under the bridge itself.

    Anyway, my main concern is the trem posts are going to be fairly close to the pickup cavity. I am sure that area will need to be beefed up a bit. Any ideas on what could be used to strengthen the wood there so the posts don't rip or crack the wood? A strip of metal strapped in the PU cavity perhaps? Would metal play havoc with the JB's magnet ?

    I know its a bit wacky but I have gone back and forth on this idea forever and just am going to go for it. I picked up the Strat body for cheap so nothing lost if it goes bad. I will have learned something regardless

    Thanks in advance
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  • #2
    Re: Floyd Rose retrofit

    Originally posted by Ahpook View Post
    Anyway, my main concern is the trem posts are going to be fairly close to the pickup cavity.
    No super strat has this problem, why does yours have to be the exception ? Maybe dowel/plug the existing bridge pup cavity and make new cavity a little further from the posts? However if the wood is indeed weak, this is gonna back down anyways regardless from the distance from the cavity. In my Carvin the wood around the posts failed and my tech had to cut , remove a big piece of the old maple and fit a new harder piece of maple.

    The same tech who fixed this (and til today is fully stable ) also fixed my 7-string : https://forum.seymourduncan.com/show...ant-to-replace , the one which @beaubrummels beaubrummels wished turned to dust. Still fully solid till today.
    Last edited by greekdude; 01-01-2020, 11:50 AM.

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    • #3
      Re: Floyd Rose retrofit

      Just do it. I've been wanting to but can't get off my lazy @$$.

      And post pictures to motivate me.
      Last edited by DonP; 01-01-2020, 01:41 PM.

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      • #4
        Re: Floyd Rose retrofit

        Originally posted by greekdude View Post
        No super strat has this problem, why does yours have to be the exception ? Maybe dowel/plug the existing bridge pup cavity and make new cavity a little further from the posts? However if the wood is indeed weak, this is gonna back down anyways regardless from the distance from the cavity. In my Carvin the wood around the posts failed and my tech had to cut , remove a big piece of the old maple and fit a new harder piece of maple.

        The same tech who fixed this (and til today is fully stable ) also fixed my 7-string : https://forum.seymourduncan.com/show...ant-to-replace , the one which @beaubrummels beaubrummels wished turned to dust. Still fully solid till today.
        It should be ok, but I have had an old Kramer split in that area. I had hoped to beef it up a bit while I was in there.

        I did just get a tip from a buddy, though. He said to soak the end grain of that area in water thin CA glue. He said it will soak in and strengthen the wood considerably.

        Sounds good to me

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        • #5
          Re: Floyd Rose retrofit

          CA is brittle I am afraid, no elasticity, I had tried to beef up my carvin in various ways (epoxy, methylmethacrylate, etc), nothing worked, the floyd posts have to be mounted on solid hardwood.

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          • #6
            Re: Floyd Rose retrofit

            Originally posted by Ahpook View Post

            Anyway, my main concern is the trem posts are going to be fairly close to the pickup cavity. I am sure that area will need to be beefed up a bit.

            This has always been a problem for Stratocasters with OFR. The bridge post would creep forward and eventually pull out. Even the vintage style two-post was a problem on some swimming pool routes. (Ibanez had this problem with Basswood bodies)

            I had this problem with my '90 Strat Plus and swapped in a Gotoh trem with larger diameter studs.

            I don't know of a permanent fix other than an aftermarket body (or one with SSS routing)
            -Chris

            Originally posted by John Suhr
            “Practice cures most tone issues”

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            • #7
              Re: Floyd Rose retrofit

              Originally posted by Ahpook View Post
              It should be ok, but I have had an old Kramer split in that area. I had hoped to beef it up a bit while I was in there.

              I did just get a tip from a buddy, though. He said to soak the end grain of that area in water thin CA glue. He said it will soak in and strengthen the wood considerably.

              Sounds good to me
              This was a problem with the old Kramers, since they were held in place using wood screws. These have later been swapped with studs and inserts, which is a far more stable and generally superior way to attach the bridge.

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: Floyd Rose retrofit

                Originally posted by Sirion View Post
                This was a problem with the old Kramers, since they were held in place using wood screws. These have later been swapped with studs and inserts, which is a far more stable and generally superior way to attach the bridge.
                I have the studs with inserts installed and the locking nut modification completed.

                The FR nut is a bit janky as it hangs off the shelf by a small amount. It is solid, though!

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                • #9
                  Re: Floyd Rose retrofit

                  Originally posted by Sirion View Post
                  This was a problem with the old Kramers, since they were held in place using wood screws. These have later been swapped with studs and inserts, which is a far more stable and generally superior way to attach the bridge.
                  hahah my kramer is still the same, would not change this configuration unless broken!! And I bought it in 1990!

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: Floyd Rose retrofit

                    Originally posted by Ahpook View Post
                    I have the studs with inserts installed and the locking nut modification completed.

                    The FR nut is a bit janky as it hangs off the shelf by a small amount. It is solid, though!
                    good job man, maybe you need R2 nut?

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Re: Floyd Rose retrofit

                      I thought that properly applied/clamped wood glue is usually stronger than the wood it is holding together. Or is that just for soft 2x4s?
                      Join me in the fight against muscular atrophy!

                      Originally posted by Douglas Adams
                      This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Floyd Rose retrofit

                        Originally posted by greekdude View Post
                        good job man, maybe you need R2 nut?
                        It is an R2 top mount. It hangs off the back side towards the tuners by a sixteenth or so. Luckily I can still get to the truss adjustment

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                        • #13
                          Re: Floyd Rose retrofit

                          Originally posted by Ahpook View Post
                          It is an R2 top mount. It hangs off the back side towards the tuners by a sixteenth or so. Luckily I can still get to the truss adjustment
                          then no probs!

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                          • #14
                            Re: Floyd Rose retrofit

                            Originally posted by greekdude View Post
                            hahah my kramer is still the same, would not change this configuration unless broken!! And I bought it in 1990!
                            I have a few as well, and none of them have ever needed a change. That said, you see broken ones every now and then.

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                            • #15
                              Re: Floyd Rose retrofit

                              Well, the guitar is all done. It intonates well and the string height turned out fine after a small shim in the pocket. I've blocked it for dive only and have a D-Tuna on the way

                              One thing I did notice is more of a brittle tone coming out of the bridge pup now that the Floyd Rose is installed. Maybe not as punchy, perhaps? The pickup is a SH-11 Custom Custom. It's not terrible but the Floyd definitely altered things.

                              Any ideas? Throw a Jb in?
                              Last edited by Ahpook; 01-11-2020, 06:27 PM.

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