Replacing a Floyd Rose. Suggestions?

EET_FUK

EET_FUK

New member
I dislike Floyds. So I'm getting rid of the one on my LTD. Problem is, I have no clue what to replace it with. I'm mostly a hard-tail guy, and vastly prefer the feel of the saddles on hard-tails, and vintage style trems. And I just don't have use for any sort of tremolo. However, I don't want to have to hack up my guitar. So, help me out guys, because I'm lost. What do you recommend?

Thanks a lot for the help.
 
Re: Replacing a Floyd Rose. Suggestions?

The cheapest option is to install a tremol-no and put it in hard tail mode. Also is your floyd floating or flush mount?
 
Re: Replacing a Floyd Rose. Suggestions?

Rockstar216 said:
The cheapest option is to install a tremol-no and put it in hard tail mode. Also is your floyd floating or flush mount?
Click to expand...

I believe it is floating. And I would rather replace the entire bridge, as I don't like the flat saddles on the Floyd, and prefer the feel of a hard-tail during palm mute kinda stuff.
 
Re: Replacing a Floyd Rose. Suggestions?

I think you might be better off selling or trading that guitar for one with a hard tail then trying to swap a Floyd for a hard tail bridge. It's easier to go from a hard tail to floyd then the other way around considering it's easier to take away wood than to fill up a cavity.
 
Re: Replacing a Floyd Rose. Suggestions?

You might also find, in filling in the trem cavities and installing a fixed bridge, that the feel and/or sound of the instrument has been altered in a way you don't like. I'd vote for selling it and finding a different guitar, with a fixed bridge, that you can bond with. Don't forget archtops.
 
Re: Replacing a Floyd Rose. Suggestions?

Agree with the selling as well. I'm in a similar predicament with my Hamer, but its not as easy with a ratty guitar with awesome provenance.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk
 
Re: Replacing a Floyd Rose. Suggestions?

See if Floyd Upgrades has a huge brass insert that will fill the entire cavity, and provide pre-drilled holes for a 4-bolt hardtail.

If not, invent one.


However, as was said, filling a Floyd route is a lot of work. First, if you've looked at it, it's got rounded corners, and not very well-rounded at that. Making a block to fit it will have to be done on an individual basis. The cavity may also require a certain degree of refinement to make it fillable - squaring the corners, flattening the sides and bottom.

Then there's the hole for the block, and filling the post/insert holes.


Tonally, there shouldn't be much difference because the amount of wood removed in the first place is probably equal in weight to (if not less than) that of the bridge, claw, and springs that replaced it.
The biggest change in tone will come from the filler used. Don't jam a mahogany block in basswood thinking you're going to get a rich, warm, fat LP tone, and don't jam a block of pine in there thinking you're going to get a nice basswoody tone.

You could also consider Plaster of Paris as a filler. Maybe find a recipe for making piezo-ceramic paste and have an epic-huge piezo pickup.
 
Re: Replacing a Floyd Rose. Suggestions?

Sell it and get another one. Unless you're very attached to your axe, finding a new LTD isn't exactly a gargantuan task.
 
Re: Replacing a Floyd Rose. Suggestions?

I vote Tremel-no. They're easy to install, and you get to keep the instrument that you like.
 
Re: Replacing a Floyd Rose. Suggestions?

I think you guys are misunderstanding me. I don't want a hard-tail, I just want a bridge that has the same feel to the saddles that a hard-tail does.

Guitar Pic 1.JPG
That's a picture of the Floyd.

Guitar Pic 2.JPG
Here's my strat. See how on the strat trem, the saddles are raised, similar to how they are on a hard-tail? That's what I want from the Floyd replacement. That's all. The Floyd is too smooth were the strings come to the bridge, and makes it hard to hit that sweet spot for palm muting.

I am definitely not getting rid of the guitar.
 
Re: Replacing a Floyd Rose. Suggestions?

Am I correct to assume that it's the abrasive points of the height adjustment screws you're chasing after, not simply string height?
 
Re: Replacing a Floyd Rose. Suggestions?

I don't think you are going to find an option that will suit. Just practice and get used to the guitar. You'll find the sweet spot. ;)
 
Re: Replacing a Floyd Rose. Suggestions?

Ohhh I think I know what your getting at. You want to feel the rough spot to guide your hand placement. Well i'm not sure if their are any Floyd saddles that will give you what you want. I have both bridges on two strats and a hardtail and I can work all three fine. You might just have to get use to it and learn where to put your hand.

Also your floyd should be floating with the base plate parallel to the body and not at a angle like it is in the pic.
 
Re: Replacing a Floyd Rose. Suggestions?

Rockstar216 said:
Also your floyd should be floating with the base plate parallel to the body and not at a angle like it is in the pic.
Click to expand...

OTOH, if he wants to get rid of the whammy aspect of it, that's a cheaper alternative to buying a tremol-no. Not to metnion it means he doesn't have to use the string clamps on the saddle.

EDIT: Doh! Obv should be "string clamps on the nut" :P
 
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Re: Replacing a Floyd Rose. Suggestions?

Not sure if this is the answer you seek, but it's definitely an option. Wammi World sells an adapter plate so you can use a Kahler cam tremolo on your Floyd Rose equipped guitar. The plate covers the FR hole/recess in the guitar and allows the Kahler to be mounted directly to it. The Kahler tremolo has individual saddles and would have the feel you're looking for. Plus, if you get the Hybrid tremolo, you can lock it as a fixed bridge.

You might also be able to just use the adapter plate and use a Kahler fixed bridge if you did want to rid yourself of a tremolo all together. Only downside, it's going to be a bit pricey as Kahler's aren't cheap. The fixed bridge would be less expensive, though I haven't priced them out. I know Dave Mustaine & Marty Friedman were both proponents of the Kahler fixed bridges (their custom Jackson guitars back in the '90s were loaded with them).

http://www.wammiworld.com/Adaptor%20plates.php
 
Re: Replacing a Floyd Rose. Suggestions?

I agree the floyd is too low in the body

I think the OP was trying to lower the action

the proper way is to lower the posts
but that may be a bit more complicated

on my Ibanez the posts have a center locking screw
that needs to be loosened before screwing the posts in
 
Re: Replacing a Floyd Rose. Suggestions?

You do want a hardtail.

I recently came to the realization that the Strat-style saddles were the most comfortable for me, and since I never used a tremolo on my Strats (I would have them all as flat as possible and screwed down), I had to find a guitar that was comfortable. I've gone through a few iterations of tune-o-matics and they just didn't feel right.

Enter the Ibanez RG2EX/RG3EX/RG321 series guitars.

DV016_Jpg_Large_519783.002_white_close_angle.jpg


Shopping around, you can find them for $150-ish. 2EXs and 3EXs are basswood, 321s are mahogany.

I've spent more time playing in the last week than I had for the last 2-3 months.
 
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