Another question about Floyd guitars.

[marty_the_westie]

I am planning on purchasing an Ibanez s470. I am getting 3 Dimarzio pickups to replace the powersounds, but I'm not sure about the tuners. Would a set of Sperzel locking tuners help hold tune even better, or is it not necessay because of the locking trem. I would also assume that a graphite nut would be in order as well. I have no experience with a Floyd equipped guitar at all, so any advice would help a lot. Thanks

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Another question about Floyd guitars.

Locking Tuners will speed sting changes up minimally. This will be your only advantage, unless you remove the locking nut and convert to a traditional style nut as you hinted at. This will devalue the axe, though, and unless they´re doweled afterwards you´ll still have 2 unsightly holes at the backk of the neck near the headstock.

IMO Locking nuts work better on Floyds and Kahlers than Locking Tuners and a graphite nut, but some companies (ex. Carvin) Seem to think otherwise.

Whatever floats your boat

 

[marty_the_westie]

Re: Another question about Floyd guitars.

Alright, I'm a little confused, mainly due to the fact that I do not know how a Floyd system works. Are you saying that the tuners have nothing to do with keeping the guitar in tune at all, and would therefore be a waste of money. And also, the nut, I assumed that a locking piece would lock on top of a plastic or graphite nut. Is that wrong? Is the locking nut the actual nut that the strings go through, which would make changing it a moot point. Please forgive my confusion, but I know nothing about how a locking trem system works.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Another question about Floyd guitars.

Alright, I'm a little confused, mainly due to the fact that I do not know how a Floyd system works. Are you saying that the tuners have nothing to do with keeping the guitar in tune at all, and would therefore be a waste of money.

Faster string changes, but otherwise: Yes, unnecessary expense

And also, the nut, I assumed that a locking piece would lock on top of a plastic or graphite nut. Is that wrong?

Yes, it is wrong

Is the locking nut the actual nut that the strings go through, which would make changing it a moot point.

A locking nut is essentially a clamp that gets tightened as soon as the guitar is tuned to pitch, which prevents movement and thereby friction at the nut. The strings "get their balls cut off" and are similarly clamped at the bridge for the same reason.

Of course, we alwqays find our axes slightly off. For that, Floyds and most other locking tremy have fine tuners on the bridge.

Please forgive my confusion, but I know nothing about how a locking trem system works.[/QUOTE]

 

[MattPete]

Re: Another question about Floyd guitars.

This is what a locking nut looks like. The strings go through the teeth, and the 3 plates on top (1 for every 2 strings) clamp the strings down. Locking tuners would be a waste of money and would not help it to stay in tune.

The screws on the bottom go through the neck to hold the nut in place.

I used Floyds for years before building some Warmoth hardtails. I was surprised to find that my Floyd guitars stayed in tune better than my Warmoths (which all have locking tuners and graphtech nuts). My Gibson SG doesn't stay in tune for crap. For a while I was contemplating building a hardtail that used a Floyd Rose locking nut and getting a hardtail bridge with fine tuners (you need the fine tuners, because you can't tune anymore once the nut is locked down). Something like this Schaller bridge:

That shows you how good an original Floyd Rose stays in tune!