Floyd Rose: Original or Licensed

Re: Floyd Rose: Original or Licensed

Right - getting really confused now!!

I mentioned zinc in an earlier and it seems to have spawned debate. I;m not saying its inferior - just quoting whats on the Schaller website...

"Great sustain, great response, finest Floyd Rose sound thanks to a zinc base plate."

http://schaller-guitarparts.de/hp135038/Schaller-_Floyd-Rose_-Tremolo.htm

My only other point is that the factory "Fender Floyd Rose II" fitted on my guitar was not of equal quality with a retail Schaller unit.

Schaller units are extremely well made - I have had some recent experince with them. No hesistation in ordering a Schaller Floyd Rose unit.
 
Re: Floyd Rose: Original or Licensed

^^ ah, that´s new to me that the plates are diecast zinc, but if Schaller posts it on their site themselves then I have no reason to doubt it.... I am however fairly certain the old ones were diecast steel and not zinc, though..
 
Re: Floyd Rose: Original or Licensed

Eh the Gotoh usually has a big block of brass....well mine has, and all the others I have seen and such.
My old Schaller has the usual steel block...
The zinc is news to me...
 
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Re: Floyd Rose: Original or Licensed

I don´t think Ive ever seen a steel OFR /Schaller block..

At least magnets don´t stick to any of mine, and the corners I just filed off of 2 were pure brass... Not saying there aren´t steel blocks around, but I don´t think Schaller makes them...
 
Re: Floyd Rose: Original or Licensed

Some real good comments on this thread - thanks for your input guys!

Though, we still havent heard those who have bought a OFR in the last couple of years with comments on quality.

Has the quality taken a turn for the worst?? Or has the quality of licensed Floyds improved, therefore closing the gap.

Any recent OFR owners out there for comment?? :feedback:
 
Re: Floyd Rose: Original or Licensed

My 2001 CIJ Fender Iron Maiden Strat has a newer OFR (the one that came on it) and my Kramer has an OFR from the time (late 80's). I honestly cannot feel a difference between the two. The biggest differences between them is the newer one has an aftermarket brass block on it that was put on by its previous owner and the newer ones mount with a stud/post system where the old ones mounted with a screw post right in to the wood. The stud/post system has been around a long time though.
 
Re: Floyd Rose: Original or Licensed

sorry if this is the wrong place to ask...

Most of my guitars have the jackson JT580LP, Schaller (I believe/usually says so) FR licensed copies.

These fit Dinkys and Soloists - well, that's mostly where I have/use them.
I also have an OFR that came installed on a higher end USA made soloist, as well as a new model of (Chinese made) Charvel!

So, are these jackson trems good/bad/worse than for example, the FR 'special' made in Korea, or the FR II?
These jackson/Schaller trems seem to work fine and sound fine, rarely go out of tune.

After playing an OFR on the 2 guitars I have that have them, I am looking for an upgrade path for the non-OFR guitars and can't realistically spend full pop for a full-fledged OFR, for many guitars. Any recommendations?
Do I need to be concerned with the low-profile designation-does that mean string height is lower than OFR?

Also, these jackson trems are expected to wear/fail where: knife edges? baseplate adjustment threads?
A lot of my guitars are from the early 90's, but it's not like I play all of them everyday.

thanks guys.

beck
 
Re: Floyd Rose: Original or Licensed

welcome to the forum beck. your best day that will be to start a new thread and ask your questions. you will get more responses that way.
 
Re: Floyd Rose: Original or Licensed

Dude, just end your search and get an Original. You're wasting your time looking into the licensed versions. Go big or go home mate.
 
Re: Floyd Rose: Original or Licensed

...got Floyd Rose Specials in a couple of guitars & they're super stable & seem solidly built. I like them. Personally I don't care for brass blocks. They give guitars a weird/unnatural sound & increase string tension (in the case of oversized blocks) actually making things sound thinner, more compressed & less pleasing..to me. I've removed quite a few replacement FR brass blocks I'd fitted in my guitars for this reason...I prefer the sound/feel of zinc. Also, going by the feel of zinc I'd say it has a density/weight far closer to that of (and probably vibrates more like) wood (which is actually what the block is looking to replace) than brass has..
 
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Re: Floyd Rose: Original or Licensed

IMHO I didn't like my GuitarFetish brass block, but I cannot understand the reasoning behind increasing tension. What's your take on this?
 
Re: Floyd Rose: Original or Licensed

Mine were all actual FR blocks..including one from an OFR that I replaced with a zinc block. I don't know the science behind it..but string tension seems tighter with "oversized" brass blocks. My favourite bridge (Lo-Pro edge) in my 1994 (MIJ) Ibby S-540 LTD has a Zinc block anyway..so does the ZR bridge in my S-7420. So maybe that's just what I'm used to/prefer.
 
Re: Floyd Rose: Original or Licensed

Mad-Max said:
Dude, just end your search and get an Original. You're wasting your time looking into the licensed versions. Go big or go home mate.
Click to expand...

+1 on above...and definitely get a Floyd Upgrades Big Brass Block...well worth the swap for the improvement in tone.
 
Re: Floyd Rose: Original or Licensed

I've got an OFR on my MK Vex and I really, really enjoy it. And I'm usually partial to TOM or Hipshot hard tails. That said, I do not block the OFR. I find uses for it's bi-directional tendencies.
 
Re: Floyd Rose: Original or Licensed

Very informative thread!

My problem is slightly different, but I decided to share it here as it also starts with the FR-II on a Mexican strat.

Mine does not get back in tune after use, especial after drop-down.
What I have done so far is the following:
1. Tighten the block to the plate.
2. Sanded and polished the stud pivots and the knife edges where they meet (thought the marks from the friction held the whole bridge to return in place) and lubricated the arias with graphite powder.
3. Got new springs from Schaller.
None of these helped.

And just now I put an extra spring making the whole system harder and tenser. This helped to some extend but does not solve the problem entirely.

Somehow I don't feel like spending 160Euros for a guitar that cost me 550$ back in 1996. And besides, the current Shaller bridges are 12 inch radios only whereas the strat neck is 9.5.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!
 
Re: Floyd Rose: Original or Licensed

^ How is the lock-nut? Sometimes a bit of string will slip through the nut, toward the headstock, when you drop down with the trem. If it slips through on the dive but can't slip back the right amount on the return, the string will be out of tune.

A loose or worn lock screw, pressure pad, or nut could cause this. Probably some other stuff, too, that I'm not thinking of.

This can happen with a traditional open nut on a non-locking trem, too. Edit: In this case, the string is supposed to slide in the nut, but if it doesn't come back to neutral -- if it hangs up on the nut -- the string will be out of tune.
 
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Re: Floyd Rose: Original or Licensed

I've had good luck with the Jackson licensed Floyd Roses. I would put the Jackson licensed (on the MIJ I've used) over a Floyd Rose Special. But the Original Floyd Roses I've used were definitely top notch. My dad had several on some Waynes (made by Wayne Charvel) and they were definitely better than any licensed, IMO...
 
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