Floyd Rose Special Quality

vel0c1ty

vel0c1ty

New member
Hey all, I've just replaced the Floyd Rose Special on my Ibanez with a Gotoh Floyd Rose. It's a massive improvement, and I'm really impressed with the quality and craftsmanship gone into this piece. Yet I find it amusing that I've just replaced an aftermarket part with another aftermarket part. I should only have to replace a trem once, right? Well, the Floyd Rose Special made sure that wasn't going to happen. It only took a few months to break on me. First, the e and B strings started to pop out when I pulled up, then the arm collar just tore like aluminum foil. At this point, I've restrung and tuned this P.O.S. for the 4th time. I clamp the nut, fine tune, and bend the e string... it just pops out again. So I take a look at the block holding the string, and no indents, nothing wrong. Then I peek inside the saddle, and there are long gashes where the string has carved through the metal like a knife through butter. So here I am now, having spent $200 on both trems.

Have any of you had similar experiences with the Floyd Rose Special? I purchased this from Amazon, so maybe these sellers are selling fakes or OEM units.

Thanks.
 
Re: Floyd Rose Special Quality

The Special is better than a lot of older "OEM" trems, but its quality is definitely not up to that of the original Floyd Rose. Fit and materials (saddles, etc) are relatively cheap, though the baseplate is actually decent and seems to wear and perform decently.

Personally, I've never had any major issues with the Special, but I typically swap it out for something nicer eventually.

The Gotoh is an excellent trem in every way and arguably the best value around. You made a good choice!
 
Re: Floyd Rose Special Quality

Yeah, I just looked up the Gotoh on the mojotone site.
For $120 this is a killer unit. And it’s Ibanez Original Edge compatible. That’s great news for me since I’m considering an Ibby build.
 
Re: Floyd Rose Special Quality

vel0c1ty said:
Hey all, I've just replaced the Floyd Rose Special on my Ibanez with a Gotoh Floyd Rose. It's a massive improvement, and I'm really impressed with the quality and craftsmanship gone into this piece. Yet I find it amusing that I've just replaced an aftermarket part with another aftermarket part. I should only have to replace a trem once, right? Well, the Floyd Rose Special made sure that wasn't going to happen. It only took a few months to break on me. First, the e and B strings started to pop out when I pulled up, then the arm collar just tore like aluminum foil. At this point, I've restrung and tuned this P.O.S. for the 4th time. I clamp the nut, fine tune, and bend the e string... it just pops out again. So I take a look at the block holding the string, and no indents, nothing wrong. Then I peek inside the saddle, and there are long gashes where the string has carved through the metal like a knife through butter. So here I am now, having spent $200 on both trems.

Have any of you had similar experiences with the Floyd Rose Special? I purchased this from Amazon, so maybe these sellers are selling fakes or OEM units.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

so what was the original trem in the Ibanez? Why did you change this? I am saying this because even the entry model Ibbs have edge zero II which is a good trem.
 
Re: Floyd Rose Special Quality

greekdude said:
so what was the original trem in the Ibanez? Why did you change this? I am saying this because even the entry model Ibbs have edge zero II which is a good trem.
Click to expand...
Lo-TRS II. Not a fun experience.

Sent from my LG-TP260 using Tapatalk
 
Re: Floyd Rose Special Quality

I’ve got a Special on a LTD and it’s Serviceable but I wouldn’t depend on it longterm.
 
Re: Floyd Rose Special Quality

Glad it's not just me.

NEVER again!!!

I bought two of them early last year as backups just in case something went wrong with the stock Jackson hardware on my two Jacksons. Bought from StewMac. Quality is atrocious. At best: "rough and ready" is a good description. I did in fact (for no good reason) fit one onto one of my Jacksons toward the end of last year. It's been taken off and the stock Jackson hardware put back on. Fine tuners turn rough in places (you can actually see some flat threads on the fine tuners) and don't sit tight in their holes. Same thing with the string lock screws. Even the tremelo claw is paper thin compared to an ORIGINAL FR (I have an ORIGINAL in my Blaze so I'm able to make these comparisons). The list goes on. As I said: NEVER again. There's a good reason why the ORIGINAL costs three times more (or more) and that's WITHOUT a nut or sustain block. And oh yeh: when I order an ORIGINAL again it's coming straight from FR and not from another third party supplier.
 
Re: Floyd Rose Special Quality

dpaterson said:
Glad it's not just me.

NEVER again!!!

I bought two of them early last year as backups just in case something went wrong with the stock Jackson hardware on my two Jacksons. Bought from StewMac. Quality is atrocious. At best: "rough and ready" is a good description. I did in fact (for no good reason) fit one onto one of my Jacksons toward the end of last year. It's been taken off and the stock Jackson hardware put back on. Fine tuners turn rough in places (you can actually see some flat threads on the fine tuners) and don't sit tight in their holes. Same thing with the string lock screws. Even the tremelo claw is paper thin compared to an ORIGINAL FR (I have an ORIGINAL in my Blaze so I'm able to make these comparisons). The list goes on. As I said: NEVER again. There's a good reason why the ORIGINAL costs three times more (or more) and that's WITHOUT a nut or sustain block. And oh yeh: when I order an ORIGINAL again it's coming straight from FR and not from another third party supplier.
Click to expand...
I feel your pain, man.

Sent from my LG-TP260 using Tapatalk
 
Re: Floyd Rose Special Quality

Collars have been known to go lousy on even good Floyds and Licenseds... you can replace the part in 2 minutes for ~$5, I had a spare one that came included with a $5.32 floyd arm off amazon

Saddles... yup the saddles and lock-blocks on the zinc Specials are crap. Unfortunately, the blocks on OFRs are crap, too. Gotta spend like $30 on the Floyd Titanium replacement blocks if you want something vaguely well-made, alas

Amazon... yup, Amazon has had a few issues with fake Floyd units, judging by the reviews on some of them, and one suspicious seller I had been watching. Try to stick to "sold by Amazon" or "sold by Floyd Rose", avoid third parties except maybe Allparts
 
Re: Floyd Rose Special Quality

Yeh. Except I'm now very confused.

I just hauled out these FR Special jobs and took a look. There ain't no shims at all. So am I to take it then that the FR Specials come without shims and are 12" radius (and that the FR Original from Warmoth comes with shims that can be removed)???

P.S.

Emailed Warmoth to check (nice site they have actually).
 
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Re: Floyd Rose Special Quality

you can measure the radius, there are templates that you can print on plastic and use them. You can always make you own shims by placing small rect pieces of aluminum foil under the saddles, in front and around the holes. But it is very easy to verify if your fretboards radius and bridge radius match : adjust the height so that low E and high E have exactly the same string height at your last fret. Then measure the rest of the heights on the remaining strings. If they all match your radius is fine. If not -> shims!
 
Re: Floyd Rose Special Quality

Hello.

You know that I always value your input I hope??? LOL!!!

Well this is extremely interesting now for me. When I put that Special series on my black Jackson I just did it i.e. didn't check for radius or anything like that. And I can now only assume that because the Special series doesn't have shims that it's set for 12" radius at the bridge. But here's now where it gets interesting: given that my necks are compound radius (12" at the nut and 16" at the body) are you saying that I should shim these FR Originals so that the radius at the bridge is 16" (or should it be 12" same as the nut)???

Here's my necks (below). What should the FR Original radius be at the bridge:

Jackson Neck.JPG
 
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Re: Floyd Rose Special Quality

Hmmm if its compound 12-16 which means 12 at the nut, 16 at the last fret, smth (maths) tell me that the radius at the bridge should be even larger. But you gotta do the actual test and just make sure string height is consistent across strings.
 
Re: Floyd Rose Special Quality

Very, very, interesting.

Thank you.

You never stop learning now do ya!!! LOL!!!

This would explain why the saddles, in particular the middle two (D and G), on the Jackson stock FR are slightly higher than the saddles on the FR Special that I fitted (which I can only assume is 12" radius as no shims). Actually: they're (the stock Jackson saddles) not higher but, rather, made thicker (higher) i.e. they're not shimmed.

As you know: I removed the FR Special but oddly enough not because of any tuning or intonation or playability issues i.e. simply removed due to the terrible quality.

Very interesting.
 
Re: Floyd Rose Special Quality

dpaterson said:
This would explain why the saddles, in particular the middle two (D and G), on the Jackson stock FR are slightly higher than the saddles on the FR Special that I fitted (which I can only assume is 12" radius as no shims). Actually: they're (the stock Jackson saddles) not higher but, rather, made thicker (higher) i.e. they're not shimmed.
Click to expand...
Actually (quoting my own post) that makes no sense i.e. if anything the stock Jackson FR should be FLATTER across the bridge???

This from Fender's website on the topic:

"The height of the strings above the fingerboard (or the action) is typically set at the bridge to match the curvature of the fingerboard radius more or less exactly, although players can easily adjust individual string height to personal preference. On instruments with compound-radius fingerboards, string height is typically set to match the fingerboard radius basically in the middle of the scale length; i.e., at or near the 12th fret."

I read that (logically) as saying that the bridge should have a 14" radius on a 12" - 16" radius neck???

Link is here: https://www.fender.com/articles/tech-talk/what-is-fingerboard-radius/

Anyways. Suffice to say I saw something today that I wasn't aware of. Warmoth website got my vote that's for sure i.e. as I have noted it's the very first time I've EVER seen this being noted on any FR supplier's website. So thanks to dave74 for that.

Yet again another good reason for Jackson owners to research WELL before deciding to muck with them i.e. very few things, if any, are straight swaps.
 
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Re: Floyd Rose Special Quality

It’s amazing how many dif variations there are out there. From what i’ve read a lot of them are poor quality. I only had a locking trem in one guitar (i’ve owned over 30 guitars over the years). I didn’t have any problems w/ it personally, but didn’t keep that guitar around long enough to change the strings (the guitar itself was a turd).

Last week, when shopping, i almost bought an entry level jackson with a locking trem. I ultimately decided not to, for a couple reasons. Biggest reason being posts all over the internet dealing with trouble shooting and replacing trems. I’m not used to using a trem, and i’m glad i’m not dependent on it. Some people make amazing sounds with them. Maintaining them sounds like a pain in the ass, though. I might get one at some point but only if it’s in something high end and not an option, like a j custom
 
Re: Floyd Rose Special Quality

Hello.

Nice to make your acquaintance.

I live and die by these Jacksons (budget or no) (and I have a +$5K hand made guitar to compare my Jacksons with so I know what I’m talking about!!! LOL!!!). Nothing wrong with their trem. systems at all in my opinion. You just gotta be gentle with them is all. Only thing that started me on this FR trip was the fact that I stripped a locking nut by being over zealous and, well, it was pretty much downhill from there. Have put back all the original Jackson hardware save for the nut and all is good again. On both my Jacksons I can do what I like with the trem. systems and they come back in perfect tune. Had one for nearly two years or so and the other for about eighteen months and no problems other than those that I myself have caused. And yeh: as per the topic the Jackson hardware sticks sh*t into these FR Specials anyway insofar as finish is concerned anyway. If for some or the other reason I do end up having to replace Jackson hardware then it will only be with FR Original and, from what I now gather today, will involve a bit of extra setup. But yeh: sourcing original Jackson hardware is a nightmare that’s true.
 
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