Re: Lowering Floyd Rose nut
BX8a, metal has come a long way in the 25 years since Metallica were in their prime. I suggest checking out anything Alexi Laiho has done over the past 20 years for plenty of examples of flutter. Also, if your bar for virtuosity is Kirk Hammett--well, listen to newer metal.
The main thing here is, when someone makes an assertion, and I demonstrate proof to the contrary, they only make the assertion more forcefully, and this is counterproductive.
You can start here with a video by Mike Chlasciak of Rob Halford's band, who demonstrates flutter on an OFR at 2:06 very slowly. My JT580LP bridges never did this, when new or old, even set up properly. When they do come out of tune, it is not simply for OCD people. It is usually about 1/2 step. The strings have also been known to even pop out of the saddles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Vs5FfacDAY
Once again, I will post proof of an OFR having superior flutter to an Edge:
The 3:25 mark shows an OFR, the Edge is at 8:00.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwGcY6T4xHc
If you choose to reply, watch the videos first. Don't choose to ignore them just because the videos disagree with your anecdotal experience.
In any event, the entire Edge conversation is pointless because I'm not rerouting a Jackson for an Edge bridge, so why bother discussing it?
Of course the question or implication will be that I do not know how to do set ups, since this is the only way that can possibly explain why my JT580LP won't flutter because there's no way someone else's anecdotal experience can be wrong.
When I was at GIT 16 years ago, I was taught setups by John Carruthers, who codeveloped the EMG pickup and worked with Musician's Institute on their guitar building program. Here are videos John did for Elixir:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHHepmTX3So
Since that time I've set up and intonated dozens of Floyd Rose guitars successfully, often changing tunings and string gauges from E standard in 9 gauge to A standard in 12 or 13 gauge. I can do set ups. What has never happened is the same tuning stability and flutter effect on my JT580LP bridges as happened on, say, my friend's PRS 24 SE with an FR1000 bridge. I personallly played this guitar and I felt the bridge was superior. The bridge was heavier, but the weight made it less smooth than the JT580LP, which was my only complaint.
So, we've established some things here:
1) I have demonstrated evidence to show proof contrary to the assertions made.
2) I've shown I can do setups.
3) I've shown an association between flutter and tuning stability in OFR units but not in licensed versions (the Edge may or may not do this--it's irrelevant to my issue because I don't have an Edge route).
The only remaining variable has to be the JT580LP, of which I have 7, 3 Kellys, 3 Dinkys, and a KV. All demonstrate the same behavior of tuning instability and lack of flutter even when set up properly. They did this when they were new, and they do it now.
Further:
1) I'm not going to be convinced that lighter weight bridges are better, at least for OFRs.
2) Grinding metal off of the bottom of an OFR nut is going to take more time due to the hardness of the steel. There's also going to be questions about whether the grinding on the bottom is flush on the bottom just as the same as whether the nut channel remains flat. In either case, the solution will be shimming, but more importantly is to make sure either surface is flat, which I cannot guarantee either way.
In conclusion, I came here to find out how to precisely and accurately lower a nut channel by hand, as the subject line states. Nothing more.
I don't know how many times I can keep restating the same points.
