A (old) dilemma about a (new) guitar

[greekdude]

Hello dear friends!

I have this thought that has been around in my mind for a while, I have the following gear :
- Aria Strat, from 1983, (I got it when I was 14 yrs old), 21 frets, vintage-y, 3 SC, my son has it with him in the city where he studies but never plays it, so I am think of getting this back and do some restoration , great guitar
- Kramer 210, super strat, 22 frets, Floyd Rose-II, HH , Seymour Duncan livewires, nice guitar but with unpleasant/uncomfortable heel access and too heavy, I think more than 4.2KG or so
- Carvin DC135, 1988, 24" scale, second++ hand, Floyd Rose, HSS, I bought it in a terrible condition sometime in 1997, then restored it heavily, converted to right hand, absolutely nice guitar , but is also heavy 4.2KG same weight like the kramer
- Ibanez ARZ800, single cut, to cover the Les Paul tones
- Ibanez UV70p for the 7-string, low tuning, etc stuff
- A strat I made 3 years ago, white body, maple fretboard (the only maple fretboard I have), 22 frets, EMG 85 (bridge), S, 81 (neck) , I put it together from various parts, I made easy heel access, super light, so nice to play, great sound, sustain (I was lucky with this guitar), this is my main guitar.
- An acoustic Yamaha which I gave to my son, permanently

Also I play in a band : https://www.youtube.com/@theband6695 and standing for 2-3 hrs during shows kind feels better with a lighter guitar.

I would need the same as the last white maple fretboard no-name strat but with floyd, I could use the 7-string Ibanez as this is comfy, and nice to play, but still I make mistakes with the 7-string for the ordinary traditional 6-string songs.
So the dilemma, with so many guitars (of which some go unused) is it wise to assemble / make a new a new guitar? Or risk and floyd-rose the no-name , accepting I could ruin such a great guitar ?
Or try to make the Kramer more comfy in the heel ? And in the same logic why not just use the Carvin?
From one hand I got so many unused guitars (the Kramer, the old Aria, the 7-string Ibanez uv70p, and the single cut Ibanez ARZ 800) with only the white strat and second the Carvin getting constant use, from the other , I like all of them, and would not want to risk losing any.

Some advice pls I know you've been there!

 

[Ashurbanipal]

Since the white, home assembled Strat is your favourite/main, it is likely to bring out the best in what you do. I assume it has a trem?

If yes: these days, you probably don't need to go all out with a Floyd conversion to get a reasonably Floyd-like performance - you might want to check these out: https://wilkinsondirect.com/product/wilkinson-wls130s-saddle/. This plus some locking tuners (if the guitar doesn't have them already) might be your best bet for using the guitar you like the most without doing major (not easily reversible) surgery to it.

 

[greekdude]

Since the white, home assembled Strat is your favourite/main, it is likely to bring out the best in what you do. I assume it has a trem?

If yes: these days, you probably don't need to go all out with a Floyd conversion to get a reasonably Floyd-like performance - you might want to check these out: https://wilkinsondirect.com/product/wilkinson-wls130s-saddle/. This plus some locking tuners (if the guitar doesn't have them already) might be your best bet for using the guitar you like the most without doing major (not easily reversible) surgery to it.

Thank you! The white no-name strat has locking tuners and also has super-vee bladerunner bridge. But its string action height is marginal so that the bridge is dive only, no pull ups. It has limitations , the link you posted with the locking saddles is very interesting, it seems I was living under a rock for the past years !
Hmm If I shimmed the neck a little bit I could gain some room to adjust for some pull ups space.
The nut however will be an issue, using the trem affects the sustain, you cant get Dimebag's level sustain with pull ups easily with a vintage nut (even low friction, its got black tusq graptech, still this sucks sustain with trem usage) . For instance we play with the band Billy Idol's "rebel yell", this demands some pull ups of this style.

Could I lock somehow the nut ? Do those products still live out there ?, this nut is rather narrow, 41.5 -> 42mm .

 

[Ashurbanipal]

The problem with a conventional locking nut and a bridge with no fine tuners is as people experienced back in the day - you tune, lock down, and find you have to make adjustments.

There are some behind-the-nut string locks out there but the nut remains a friction point. Every guitar is different, ymmv.

 

[greekdude]

The problem with a conventional locking nut and a bridge with no fine tuners is as people experienced back in the day - you tune, lock down, and find you have to make adjustments.

There are some behind-the-nut string locks out there but the nut remains a friction point. Every guitar is different, ymmv.

Rolling nut? but this beast demands surgery. So what would you do ? Just opt for the next guitar (like an junkie guitaraholic) or bite the bullet and use the Carvin (but this is kinda unstable).
If I floyd rose it, can I go back?
I got a tech and he has made WONDERS, he transformed the Carvin from LH to RH, he salvaged the sure to be wasted Ibanez uv70p . Should I contact him?
Would the difference in E-E bridge spacing from total 52mm -> 54mm cause any issues , falling outside the edges of the frets, etc.

I know I am asking too much questions, but its nice to be around fellow players !

 

[Ashurbanipal]

Ναί, there is the LSR roller nut, maybe the best known user was Jeff Beck. But yes, it does require modding the neck to fit. Metal non-locking nuts can be problematic, as you know.

Ok, so your guitar was originally drilled for a six screw bridge?

Floyd does require additional work - drilling for the two studs/inserts, and modifying the cavity somewhat to allow for full travel, particularly so the arm holder isn't rubbing anywhere. Type of intervention may depend on which model bridge too, whether Gotoh GE1996T, regular Schaller, Schaller Lockmeister/OFR. These have measurements and templates on their websites so you can compare with what you have, as well as string spacing at the bridge. Because of the stud thing, it's harder to go back - you can fill, refin the area etc. (which by the sounds of it would be fine for your tech), but it's a job/$$ all the same.

Floyd can change the sound/feel as well, by 'change' I just mean 'different', whether one likes that or not is another thing.

For the bridge end of things, those locking saddles seem like the easiest/reversible thing to implement; will probably work on your Super Vee too.

Pete Thorn showing and talking about the Wilkinson system from several years ago. He has it on a few guitars, mainly his Suhrs, a Frankenstein copy etc.

 

[greekdude]

"Ok, so your guitar was originally drilled for a six screw bridge?" --> yes, thank you @Ashurbanipal PLUS, the area around the bushings/studs has to be hard and durable otherwise this part is going to fall apart, I had seen it with my Carvin, and besides re-fortification by the said luthier, it still tends to cause fatigue to the wood.

So, the verdict is to leave this guitar alone and somehow mimic the floating trem function , thanks !

 

[ICTGoober]

Your Ibanez ARX is one of the best unknown axes ever made. I've had one before - owned it twice, and it never fails - someone else likes it enough to buy from me. I'd buy another one if I can find one locally. Heck, I'd buy back my old one if the guy wants to let it go. They sound great, they play nicely, and they look sharp as hell.

For those who aren't hip...

 

[greekdude]

Your Ibanez ARX is one of the best unknown axes ever made.

sorry it was a typo. I wanted to say ARZ800, one letter off

 

[greekdude]

Ashurbanipal pls have a look here : https://www.guyker.com/products/guy...y-nut-for-st-tl-guitar?variant=44799649022130 what do you think ?

 

[Ashurbanipal]

Interesting :33:. I'd wonder about the machining/coupling of the rollers so they're able to move freely. For the money ,might be worth a shot; cheaper than those Wilko saddles!

Regarding the Floyd thing you mentioned earlier, yeah, can be an issue, but individual and down to some factors. Usually this problem can arise of the bushing/stud is too short, has excessive play in the threads and/or the particular piece of wood is not as dense. A lot of people who have an old Ibanez have experienced the loose/leaning trem bushings. I have some of these guitars, but with the first version of the bridge (1986) which was non-recessed so the studs and bushings were longer - I don't have any of these problems (one guitar is basswood, the other alder).

 

[Aceman]

Didn't read everything, but...

I had a high end Yamaha Pacifica, with locking tuners and a Wilkinson VS100 bridge, with an excellently cut nut. You could get your VH on with that and stay in tune.

 

[Seashore]

The zero-extra-dollars solution is to practice all of your whammy tunes on the 7 string until you've got them under your fingers. I made the switch a couple years so I know it's an adjustment, but you won't keep messing up those parts forever if you stick with it. That Vai Ibanez looks like a nice guitar.

 

[greekdude]

Dear All, I tried to follow Ashurbanipal advice!
Finally I tried to setup said guitar for floating trem,I removed one spring just to see how it goes. I am haunted generally by this "shredder" low action syndrome, I am terrified at the idea that my solos will sound "itermitent" or interrupted or not fluid, so normal action, normal relief was not smth I applied to my guitars. When testing this one with only two springs, this increased the action height, and suddenly I heard the clarity of the higher action !! I could play Sultans of Swing and the guitar sang ! WOW!! Also shredding was more clean, the notes rang better. Anyway, that wasn't for long, OCD kicked in, so I lowered the action again, ahah, anyway.

I replaced the (graphtech) nut with an identical new graphtech nut. I setup the guitar in this floating configuration so that the pull up on G goes up to one tone higher, and adjusted the action accordingly, I did some minimal setup on the nut side, and was ready to go! Now I have floating trem, low action and everything seems fine!

 

[greekdude]

Disclaimer : the guitar of course is not Aria, I put the logo just because my other strat is an old Aria from 1984!

 

[Ashurbanipal]

Sometimes it's the overall setup. Personally, I personally don't like the action too slammed, can fret out if done wrong. I also tend to shim the neck so the action is a bit more uniform cross the fingerboard, and it keeps those grub screws on non-locking saddles flush.