Do floyd roses have thin, bright tones for cleans?

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wyldeguy

New member
I know that it doesnt matter when you have gain up, but if you play clean, it would be noticeable.

DO floyd rose equipped guitars have thin, bright tones for cleans compared to a fixed bridge version of the same guitar? I would like my cleans to still sound warm and full on the clean channel.
 
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Re: Do floyd roses have thin, bright tones for cleans?

If you want a whammy-equipped guitar in addition to the hardtail axe you already have, then go for it.

It's a hard question to answer sort of because dudes that usually play hardtail guitars usually chafe at the tone of FR-equipped guitars.

You could always get one of those brass blocks that you can install onto a Floyd Rose which'll give a fuller sound.

For some reason I'm finding this hard to explain even though I own two hardtail guitars and two Floyd Rose-equipped guitars. There's a difference, but I go for FR-equipped axes anyway, so I'm not really that sensitive to the differences.
 
Re: Do floyd roses have thin, bright tones for cleans?

Then again, I hear people say that floyd rose's ruins the tone of guitars, since its a trem and uses springs and has to route out wood, and ruins sustain....

yet Strat's have trems too and routes out wood and uses springs too, yet their cleans are the greatest of any guitar and sound full and still have sustain.


Its a lot of he said she said I guess?
 
Re: Do floyd roses have thin, bright tones for cleans?

wyldeguy said:
Then again, I hear people say that floyd rose's ruins the tone of guitars, since its a trem and uses springs and has to route out wood, and ruins sustain....

yet Strat's have trems too and routes out wood and uses springs too, yet their cleans are the greatest of any guitar and sound full and still have sustain.


Its a lot of he said she said I guess?
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I don't know... the FR guitars I have played haven't been bad, some people talk about how they suck but I don't really hear it. What I do is hear is some slightly wierd (maybe just different) overtones coming from them. They have this upper midrange thing going on.... to my ears at least...
 
Re: Do floyd roses have thin, bright tones for cleans?

Maybe I am being cynical, but this feels like Jerry...

Anyway, OFR do not thin out a guitar's tone. However, a floating trem will sound different than one that rest against the body. The is true for strats as well as guitars with Floyds, however most OFR are floating.
 
Re: Do floyd roses have thin, bright tones for cleans?

Andrew Lamprecht said:
I don't know... the FR guitars I have played haven't been bad, some people talk about how they suck but I don't really hear it. What I do is hear is some slightly wierd (maybe just different) overtones coming from them. They have this upper midrange thing going on.... to my ears at least...
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Is that called flutter? I hear floyd players bring that word up.
 
Re: Do floyd roses have thin, bright tones for cleans?

Flutter is where you smack the bar on a floating trem and the notes "flutter".

 
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Re: Do floyd roses have thin, bright tones for cleans?

You can still have full, warm clean tones on a guitar with a Floyd. Two things that really, really matter -- does the bridge float, and what's it made out of?
 
Re: Do floyd roses have thin, bright tones for cleans?

You touched a sensitive issue here, mostly because there's a lot of BS like what you said going around the net and between people that played a couple of guitars and think of themselves as tone gurus or kids working at Guitar Center and will say whatever BS they can to make a sale.

To the point though. All tremed guitars will sound different to their hardtail equivalents like you said but it is nearly impossible to quantify that because no two guitars sound EXACTLY the same, especially in cleans.

That said, I got for one of my Floyded guitars a Tremol-No (a device that blocks the trem, temporarily converting it into a hardtail) and THEN a bigger, thicker Brass block for the trem, in that order.

Before the big block when I locked the trem I could hear the tone getting a BIT louder and with a TAD more sustain. Sure there was a very small difference but nothing that a very small twist of the knob on the amp wouldn't change.

AFTER I got the big block, honestly I couldn't hear a difference any more...

So, next time you hear BS of this kind you can safely call them out on their BS...
 
Re: Do floyd roses have thin, bright tones for cleans?

Jackson Distortion said:
If you want a whammy-equipped guitar in addition to the hardtail axe you already have, then go for it.

It's a hard question to answer sort of because dudes that usually play hardtail guitars usually chafe at the tone of FR-equipped guitars.

You could always get one of those brass blocks that you can install onto a Floyd Rose which'll give a fuller sound.

For some reason I'm finding this hard to explain even though I own two hardtail guitars and two Floyd Rose-equipped guitars. There's a difference, but I go for FR-equipped axes anyway, so I'm not really that sensitive to the differences.
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this is true, I too, have had strats with and without floyds. I still do and there is a couple things to consider.

1)- A Floyd will thin out a pickup tone but this can be a good thing. Take a strat with vitage single coils, it will sound like crap with a floyd. To work with a Floyd your single coil pickup needs to be alittle hoter as well as your vintage humbucker. I had a single coil that was around 6 or 7 resistance and the Floyd slightly thined the tone and it sounded like a vintage single in my strat all the suddon, weird I know but it works. I had a Pearly Gates humbucker plus pickup that sounded good but a regular weaker Pearly Gates sounded weak and thin in the same guitar-it needed to be alittle hoter to work with the Floyd.

2)- I have a double fat strat with a floyd. problem was the neck humbucker on a strat can sound so bassy it can "fart out" your amp tone quick. I went for a high resinent peak (around 8) neck Humbucker and found one called "the Full Shred Neck". Becouse its a bright neck humbucker I can split it with the strat 5 way switch and with the Floyd it sounds like a regular single coil pickup in the neck. When I leave it on full neck humbucker mode its still bright and the Floyd thins the tone just enough so that it doesnt "fart out" the amp but it sounds great clean or dirty giveing me two great distortion solo tones on the neck pickup alone without tap danceing on a pedle or adjusting the amp. For blues and rock this is a great option and with the bridge humbucker I now have 3 solo good solo tones I can switch between even in the same tune or with a wah wah peddle and it makes the solo's more interesting by far with less tap dancing on pedles or amp adjustments
 
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Re: Do floyd roses have thin, bright tones for cleans?

I'm not a floyd player, but phil brings up a good point.

I hear and feel a bit of thin-ness or lack of resonance and punch from most 24 fret shred sticks I have played when A/B'ing to an LP/335/tele/blocked strat, but plugged in and driving an amp it is a perfect mix because it ISN'T as punchy as the other guitars. They certainly articulate differently, IME, more consistently and evenly than other guitars which makes them great for gain.

Unplugged, try comparing an Ibanez S to a blocked Fender Strat. The strat is always acoustically louder and has a higher ceiling to its attack response. If you plan on plugging in clean with no EFX in a jazz setting, something about a blocked strat gives it an edge. Let's just say that I really don't like playing my friend's 2 Ibanez prestige guitars if my strat is laying around.



A floyd getting great tones via a SS amp
 
Re: Do floyd roses have thin, bright tones for cleans?

I've been playing FRs since 1985 and have gotten many nice compliments from other players on my clean tone. BUT... you also have to account for the wood, the pickup, the amp, the cabs... AND the player.

this is almost like one of those Duncan vs. DiMarzio threads (no offense). at the end of the day, if it sounds good to your ears, it is good for you. everyone is different and plays differently and hears differently.

one thing to consider when looking at big blocks for FRs. there are a few different metals out there to choose from. I have a lot of brass on mine and I like it, but I've not tried out titanium or tungsten. the different metals will have different tonal characteristics. check out 'ebayguitarupgrades' on ebay, as he's worked with many metals and will work with people on exacts specs. he's the only guy I'm buying my blocks from.
 
Re: Do floyd roses have thin, bright tones for cleans?

The main difference I hear between a Floyded and non-Floyded guitar is that the former generally has softer attack. Moreover my Ibz Proline has an Edge, which is different in composition to an OFR anyway.
 
Re: Do floyd roses have thin, bright tones for cleans?

I'd say the myth that Floyds ruin tone and sustain only has about 50% validity, ESPECIALLY today when we have so many different effects that complement a rig.

People thought back in the day that Eddie Van Halen's "brown sound" came strictly from his standard trem frankenstrat. Truth of the matter is there were a lot of things contributing to that tone, the variac, studio ambience, mic'ing, etc.

Later when the standard trem was ditched, and the Kramers, Peaveys, and Musicmans came along, Eddie compensated with more amp gain, stronger pickups. Eruption is going to be Eruption no matter how he plays it, because the solo relies on his fingers, phrasing, and his particular rig at any given time.

Does a Floyd minimize sustain? Somewhat, but you could compensate with a compressor or some really gnarly vibrato.

Does a Floyd minimize resonance? Absolutely. It will never match the acoustic volume of a hardtail, or a string-thru-body.

However, it's an electric guitar! What do you care how loud it is unplugged? I'd almost say the opposite. Make it less punchy, throw on some EMGs, and put it through a Roland JC. Tell me that's not clean!
 
Re: Do floyd roses have thin, bright tones for cleans?

They do thin out things a bit, but really it's nothing you can't compensate with electronics.

Generalizing, if you plugged a Les Paul then a RG into the same clean amp with the exact same settings, it should (keyword being SHOULD) sound thin/plinky/soft in comparison.
But that's what EQ knobs and pedals are around for.
 
Re: Do floyd roses have thin, bright tones for cleans?

If you block the floyd to dive only and set it up with some negative pressure on it they sound a lot like a fixed bridge.
 
Re: Do floyd roses have thin, bright tones for cleans?

Using more springs with less tension instead of fewer springs with more tension helps a bit, too.
 
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