Any thoughts on Floyd Rose "upgrades"?

[Lucius Paisley]

Zinc is a great, balanced material for tremolo blocks that has fallen victim to marketing hype for unnecessary "upgrades".

In terms of its physical structure, zinc alloy is closer to titanium than either brass or steel and actually behaves most similarly to titanium when used as a tremolo block.

Regardless, as long as the block has sufficient mass, the material it's made of makes such a small difference that most players would not be able to tell by ear or feel alone.

Oh, come on, why would they lie to us?

Anyway, as far as FR upgrades go, the tip I see the most is that the Jacksons and Kramers (? I think) all come fitted with licenced (? maybe) FR Specials, and if you're really concerned about making them sound "good" (? they sound fine), you upgrade the saddles to the titanium (? aluminium? osmium? magnesium? Don't look at me, I'm no scientist) ones used in the OFR (? I'm just messing with you with these parentheticals now) and you're good to go.

That said, you don't need to jump the gun and upgrade right away; you've got years before worn-down saddles are even an issue.

It's the blocks that are complete s#!t.

As always, don't take my word for it. I'm not a lawyer, and you won't win if this goes to court.

 

[Archer250]

I just replace every Floyd with a Schaller Lockmeister or a Gotoh so I don't have to think or worry about anything

As for upgrades and such, IME while it largely depends on the guitar, most of the time, the original sounds the best

 

[Lucius Paisley]

I just replace every Floyd with a Schaller Lockmeister or a Gotoh so I don't have to think or worry about anything

It's not always as easy as drop-in and go.

Clearly, since they're different, and with patents being a thing and all.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

It was my understanding that OFR's have a small brass block stock. I know Gotoh Floyds do.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Just checked, apparently the 7 string 1000 series Pro also has a nickel-plated brass sustain block already.

 

[Seashore]

Just checked, apparently the 7 string 1000 series Pro also has a nickel-plated brass sustain block already.

Interesting! And does the regular 1000 series, according to the website. I guess I assumed they were both zinc because they look identical and I read something somewhere... another thing I've been wrong about for years. Maybe that's where this midrange hump is coming from. Freakin brass has been screwing me this whole time.

So now I guess I need to find a zinc block for this thing. Time for a Floyd Rose Downgrade.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Interesting! And does the regular 1000 series, according to the website. I guess I assumed they were both zinc because they look identical and I read something somewhere... another thing I've been wrong about for years. Maybe that's where this midrange hump is coming from. Freakin brass has been screwing me this whole time.

So now I guess I need to find a zinc block for this thing. Time for a Floyd Rose Downgrade.

I would actually think a replacement Zinc block for a 7-string Floyd Pro is going to be a bit hard to find.

 

[Seashore]

I would actually think a replacement Zinc block for a 7-string Floyd Pro is going to be a bit hard to find.

It was a joke. I don't think they make them.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

So now I guess I need to find a zinc block for this thing. Time for a Floyd Rose Downgrade.

What I did with my (6 string) spalted maple BC Rich Ironbird Pro. :bigthumb:

 

[Masta' C]

Special = Zinc (chrome plated on newer ones)

1000/OFR = Brass (nickel plated on some versions)

Again, I'm actually a fan of a quality zinc block if given the option, but I typically don't bother to upgrade or downgrade whatever a bridge comes with if it's a decent quality bridge to begin with. If the block is of reasonable mass, changing it is one of the lowest ROI mods you can do.

 

[RanchManSandy]

OFR baseplates are hardened steel. Stop spreading misinformation. Basically everything on an OFR is steel except the nickel plated brass block.

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[Masta' C]

OFR baseplates are hardened steel. Stop spreading misinformation. Basically everything on an OFR is steel except the nickel plated brass block.

This is true. Baseplates are not "pot metal" on any of them, even the Specials.

The saddles on the Special are Zinc alloy, but the 1000-series & OFR models are steel throughout.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

The Edge bridge that everyone loves has a zinc block and baseplate too. Only the knife edges are steel.

Personally, though, I do hear a difference in the material the blocks are made out of in my Strat trem much as I hear in bridge materials in my Les Paul. But I don't think zinc/brass/steel/aluminum makes or breaks a guitar. If a guitar sounds good naturally, bridge material is a good way to add that little sparkle of love.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Yeah steel apparently, my bad...having said that I prefer "pot metal' to the "hardened steel" tone of OFR's all day long.. & that was my point (why I have Edge/Lo-Pro's/Edge Zero's on at least 15 of my guitar's and OFR's on none) To me they are superior sounding & performing bridge's..and that's about it.

I also have zero problems with the tone/construction of FR "Special's" which if I'm not mistaken -and I could be, have pot metal blocks... . And compared to OFR's (especially if you feature in price ...then it's a no-brainer) I would go with every time.

End of he day...unless there's a problem I will just leave w/e came in the guiitar the way it's is though because unless "big" brass blocks are involved the blocks have insufficient mass to drastically alter tone/feel for the worse (imo) like big brass blocks do...

 

[Phantasmagoria]

The Edge bridge that everyone loves has a zinc block and baseplate too. Only the knife edges are steel.

Personally, though, I do hear a difference in the material the blocks are made out of in my Strat trem much as I hear in bridge materials in my Les Paul. But I don't think zinc/brass/steel/aluminum makes or breaks a guitar. If a guitar sounds good naturally, bridge material is a good way to add that little sparkle of love.

Though the actual difference (between Ibanez trems & FR's) comes from the fact that the whole bridge is essentially one big fat pot metal "block" and probably has about 3 times the mass (distributed way more evenly/better) than a Floyd Rose..


As long as the blocks are normal sized I would rock any of them (ie..Floyd's w/ a preference for Zinc) . It's when they get oversized and are made especially of brass that the metal used for the block has sufficient mass to start asserting itself ..and not in a great way, cuz things start sounding & feeling weird (imo)....​

 

[RanchManSandy]

Zinc alloys are fine for blocks and even saddles sometimes, but the baseplate (at least where the knife edges are) should be steel for durability. Zinc knife edges would wear down much faster.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Came across this vid.

 

[Masta' C]

Zinc alloys are fine for blocks and even saddles sometimes, but the baseplate (at least where the knife edges are) should be steel for durability. Zinc knife edges would wear down much faster.

No decent quality, brand name bridge uses zinc for the knife edges.

Even bridges like the Ibanez EDGE and original Schaller, which have thick zinc baseplates, still use hardened steel knife edge inserts for durability.

 

[Masta' C]

Came across this vid.

I think the video creator's own description says it all:

Wanted to try a titanium block for some time now...I like how it sounds, but feel genuinely sorry for anyone that has paid hundreds of dollars for such a small difference

Also, if you want the "titanium" sound on the cheap, get a zinc block, LOL!

 

[maug2122]

My thoughts on upgrades are I don't like them ..none of them. I don't like brass blocks..they sound "off/fake" to me and take off a whole lot of edge...in fact they often have a faint 'ringing' quality to them so I would'nt get one to solve unwanted resonance issues..

I don't care for fancy springs and especially not stuff like foam/rubber bands around them which pretty much just mucks up tone &/or sustain (again..imo)....and yeah I could'nt care less for tititanium screws/saddles or w/e. I have used and abused all kinds of trems for years on and off stage and never had a problem w/ screws & saddles, except for w/ really piss poor $10 Aliexpress Floyds on occasion.

My fave tone from a double locking tremolo is "pot metal tone" since I think it keeps most of the guitar's natural tone intact. "Pot metal" has pretty similar weight/density to wood (as opposed to brass/steel/titanium/unobtainium & w/e else) and substitutes best imo for wood that's lost during routing...

OFR's have pot metal bases & my fave trem's (Ibanez Lo-pro's/Edges/Edge Zero/Zero II's etc have dinky pot metal blocks or are completely constructed out of pot metal making them tough, durable tone machines that perform brilliantly.....ask Steve Vai, he knows his trem's :laugh2

If I were to guess ...your tremlo bridge probably is'nt the source of your resonance issues & i'd look elsewhere personally....

I noticed the same thing about " Pot Metal " too .....