Floyd Speedloader -- Longevity Issues?

Bezmotivnik

Bezmotivnik

New member
I have one of these guitars here that I ordered for a friend and was looking it over. The method by which each string is stopped and coarsely tuned at the bridge seems to me to be...um...strangely engineered.

Has anyone had one of these long enough and used it hard enough to know for sure that this small allen screw will not fairly quickly strip in its bore, particularly if adjusted under load according to the instructions?

Thanks for any solid data.
 
Re: Floyd Speedloader -- Longevity Issues?

dont those use only speedloader strings?? if that is so, then id actually worry about those production on those strings stopping!!
 
Re: Floyd Speedloader -- Longevity Issues?

There's a guy on another forum I frequent who loves that bridge. Seems like he's been using them since about the time they premiered, and still does.
 
Re: Floyd Speedloader -- Longevity Issues?

JB_From_Hell said:
Seems like he's been using them since about the time they premiered, and still does.
Click to expand...
Seems like he would know if there's a problem or how to prevent or correct it.

Frankly, though the original Floyd design is sound, the string stop/adjuster on this Speedloader version is a remarkably Mickey Mouse piece of engineering, with the threads coming pre-damaged merely from the factory setup. How will they be in a couple of years of mullethead abuse? :scratchch

If you get a chance to closely examine one of these, definitely check it out. The Speedloader is a neat concept other than this, and works better than I would have imagined...though those $20 proprietary string sets are another big stumblingblock! :eek:

For whatever reason, it looks as though these are not a big hit. The Speedloader versions of the Floyd guitars are being blown out at as much as 84% off, while the regular-Floyd versions of the same models maintain regular street price.
 
Re: Floyd Speedloader -- Longevity Issues?

i have the china made FR guitar. only had it for a month, but ive been using it everyday. it has been my main guitar ever since. the Speedloader is very reliable as long as it is properly set-up. it wont go out of tune no matter how crazy you go on the whammy

the bridge of the china made discovery series were manufactured in korea. but the after-market bridge FR-SL themselves are made in germany. although the guitar is made in china and the bridge is manufactured in korea, FR has done a remarkable job in maintaining quality control.

anyway, you can buy strings at Floydrose.com and they are always on stock. 10 usd per set + 5usd S&H
 
Re: Floyd Speedloader -- Longevity Issues?

That's odd. I could have swore that the bridges used on the MIC models were manufactured by Ping...in China?
 
Re: Floyd Speedloader -- Longevity Issues?

Some interesting information! -- though nobody's actually answered my original question. :scratchch

I'm very surprised that Floyd Rose would tool up production for two (or three?) different grades of what is putatively the same bridge/vibrato. I wonder what the differences are.

The guitar I ordered for my buddy was a Chinese HH ($99.99 closeout, $599 MSRP) and I felt the bridge was cheap and pretty crudely assembled ("Wow, people pay real money for these things?"). Discovering that this is the low-end knockoff version of the aftermarket bridge explains much. Perhaps my original concerns are addressed in some way in the better model -- though the troubling coarse adjustment engineering remains the same according to their site's information. [shrug]

The punchline to this shaggy dog story is that I might wind up stuck with it as his wife's on the warpath about his guitars again. So, the joke's maybe on me. Aside from the Floyd device itself, the guitar seems to be pretty much a $79.99 Wal-Mart grade axe, really. :rolleyes::sigh: $600 is a pretty inflated MSRP for this piece...but I digress...
 
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Re: Floyd Speedloader -- Longevity Issues?

9finger said:
That's odd. I could have swore that the bridges used on the MIC models were manufactured by Ping...in China?
Click to expand...

i asked emailed floyd rose before and this was thier response.






i just have some questions on the discovery series.

1) is the speedloader tremolo system that are placed on the discovery series guitars also manufactured in china? (also for the fixed bridges) Are they different from the speedloader bridge system you sell as a set. or should i expect that the speedloader of my dst-3 the same as any other speedloader?

The Speed Loader trems and Fixed bridges on the DST Series are manufactured in Korea to our specifications.. The Speed loaders that are sold for after market are manufactured by Schaller in Germany these are also the ones used on the Redmond Series..

2) i just checked at musiciansfriend.com as well as other online shops that the prices of these guitars have dropped to 150.00 usd. why is this so? was their cost-cutting on these models? was thier an overstock? or are you ending the manufacturing of these models.

MF, had bought a very large quantity and had a big sale..

3) some of these models are currently out of stock. are you re-stocking these models or are you currently planning on making new models that are similar to the import discovery series?

The New models will have the Original Tremolo on them

4) last question. i know your website sell the customized strings for the speed loader, are you always on stock with those strings. was there any circumstance that you ran out of strings. i've checked musiciansfriend.com and their srtrings are always backordered and always out of stock. i hope that you together with dean markley won't stop manufacturing these strings.

We have all the strings in stock.. Please give us a call 732-918-7001 or you can buy them on our web site: www.floydrose.com
We have no plans on stopping this...
Thanks





well true, the discovery series price was dropped to 150. it had a list of 600 and was used to be sold like 500-400 in the market. they weren't popular so i guess floyd rose discontinued these and marked a closeout price for these.


its 150, but not cheap. i think you can longer buy these at 150. there are other guitar sellers selling these at 300-400 still..

i honestly think that even though they cost me 150, they dont look and feel cheap to me. i got the black one which IMO is classier ,in terms of looks, than the blue and red one.

the bridge was spectacular, honestly.. not cheap

this is an awesome axe with a great floyd rose floating bridge. this guitar was built to be played. not as a toy.

they just look cheap now because of the price drop. its just somthing psychological. dont let the price make you think it's cheap. it really is not.

its made in china, but the quality is still there. i bought mine at musiciansfriend.com before these were in limited quantities but i was fortunate enough to avail the close-out price. maybe the limted ones had some issues, i dont know. but im certainly sure mine is perfect.

nowadays, i often use this than my other guitars. its just my "abuse" guitar. i feel it would last.

i would say its quality is like a high-end epiphone or a mexican fender, but not a gibson or american fender. the 600 list price of the FR-SL is still reasonable for me. the 150 close-out deal was is jsut a big plus, but again, i think you can no longer buy these at 150.

i never tried the redmond series yet, but i hope you guys can try a properly set-up discovery series FR-SL. and see what i mean =)
 
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Re: Floyd Speedloader -- Longevity Issues?

Thanks for clearing that up. I know Floyd has Ping making bridges under his control as well. I probably just red that article wrong.

I've been wanting to put together a travel guitar w/ the speedloader hardtail design. It would make for a cool Steinberish guitar that you wouldn't have to worry about breaking headstocks and what not.
 
Re: Floyd Speedloader -- Longevity Issues?

Although oblique customer support lingo is always a little difficult to translate into English, it sounds from that reply as though (in blunt language) the speedloader guitar experiment is over and production has been discontinued.

That's the impression I had to begin with.

Thanks for clarifying the country of origin question.
 
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