Locking nut but no floyd rose

[V1ntage]

I am building a custom guitar for a school project. I bought a new one not long ago with a floyd rose on, my only other guitar was an encore strat, so floyd rose was new to me. I tried to restring it and realised I prefer a strat bridge more. But would a locking nut work with a strat-style tremelo or should I go for locking tunners and a roller bridge instead?

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Locking nut but no floyd rose

Locking nut can remain on the guitar, but if the Strat bridge grabs the strings and puts them out of tune, any benefit of the locking nut is lost.

 

[V1ntage]

Re: Locking nut but no floyd rose

Will a strat-style bridge definitely take them out of tune with a locking nut? (Forgive my lack of knowledge)

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Locking nut but no floyd rose

Not necessarily. Depends on the saddles. If you use GraphTech saddles, not likely. If cheap, stamped metal saddles with abrasions and burrs, very likely.

 

[ICTGoober]

Re: Locking nut but no floyd rose

Fine tuners on the bridge are a must with a locking nut.

 

[V1ntage]

Re: Locking nut but no floyd rose

Not necessarily. Depends on the saddles. If you use GraphTech saddles, not likely. If cheap, stamped metal saddles with abrasions and burrs, very likely.

I may go for that instead then

 

[dotsdad]

Re: Locking nut but no floyd rose

Fine tuners on the bridge are a must with a locking nut.

Agreed. When you lock the nut, the pressure changes the pitch of the strings a little bit. Thats why Floyds have fine tuners - so you can tune back to pitch after locking the nut.

 

[V1ntage]

Re: Locking nut but no floyd rose

Agreed. When you lock the nut, the pressure changes the pitch of the strings a little bit. Thats why Floyds have fine tuners - so you can tune back to pitch after locking the nut.

Thank you, I'll look into that some more

 

[dave74]

Re: Locking nut but no floyd rose

If the string-tree is set correctly (just enough down) the strings won't go "much" sharp at all when the nut is locked. (any is enough to be annoying though)

But if there isn't a properly set tree some strings will for sure go sharp(and the others flat on a floater) when locking. (like on my reverse pointy inline Carvin, especially the biggest wound)

Either way there's just no way you'll want it nut-locked without fine-tuners at the bridge.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Locking nut but no floyd rose

When I had a locking nut with a standard type bridge on, I would only hand-tighten the lock nuts just so they didn't rattle. I wouldn't really lock them down. They really won't help you unless you have the locking bridge also.

 

[SJ318]

Re: Locking nut but no floyd rose

Hello,
All my trems are Fender Deluxe, with STAGGERED locking tuners so no string trees to even touch the strings. I use on one Strat a LSR roller nut, and on the other 2 I use ONLY TusQXL nuts, only, they are so good as to not even be there.
FILE the Holes in the PLATE longer toward the nut, so no strings touch or get caught up there either. I set mine for an up-pull of open G to A#. A step and a half. Cuts down on breakage, also.
Keep your hand off the bridge when tuning (if up pull is there) and you are GOOD TO GO. Fun Fact. A floating trem comes back to tune almost exactly, if you can hear it off at all, while a decked or flat trem will not do so easily. I know this as a fact, cause I have tried it both ways in all my guitars so I don't say stuff that I cannot verify. I will give opinions, but try to be sure I say they are only opinions. I do forget sometimes and feel the fool later, or worse yet, ask a question without 2 or 3 relevant facts mentioned.
This whole post is factual as I have done it, to 3 different Strats.
Good luck, thanks for reading,
Steve Buffington.

 

[jtougas]

Re: Locking nut but no floyd rose

I am building a custom guitar for a school project. I bought a new one not long ago with a floyd rose on, my only other guitar was an encore strat, so floyd rose was new to me. I tried to restring it and realised I prefer a strat bridge more. But would a locking nut work with a strat-style tremelo or should I go for locking tunners and a roller bridge instead?

Since you're doing this for a school project, there's another skill you could add to the list: building & filing a nut. Go to your local home improvement store, and look at their Corian displays; you'll likely find something that'll complement the finish you have/will put on your guitar. Nifty fact: the little samples they give away for free will have more than enough material to build a nut or two from, and Corian is a great nut material. *Carefully* remove the locking nut, carefully measure the space to fill with the Corian, and start shaping. Lightly sand the bottom of the blank to make sure glue will hold, and use a few dots of wood glue to hold the nut on the neck - just enough that you can take it off later if you want to go back to the locking nut (or, for that matter, drill & tap holes into the bottom of the Corian so you can use the screws that held on the locking nut).

Is it a lot of work? Yes. Is it something you'll ever use on a guitar ever again? Likely not. Is it a host of skills you can separately use on other projects in the future? Most certainly.