What does it take to put a Floyd Rose in a Les Paul?

ICTGoober said:
If the whole neck (nut to neck pickup) is setup correctly by an experienced and competent luthier THEY WILL STAY IN TUNE.
I've done it more than once for my picky clients. Locking tuners also allow a proper setting of action at the nut (it always a compromise with a Floyd locking nut), plus string changes are a breeze compared to using a locking nut. ALSO - no weakening of the peghead.

Dave, I love ya - but you are DEAD WRONG on this one. Be wise and admit defeat.
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My thoughts are based on experience. I've never played a Floyded guitar without a locking nut that stays in tune as well. Maybe a Golden Luthier can set it up so it does, but I'd bet most people don't have access to such a person. So there remains lots of guitars without locking nuts that don't stay in tune after a dive bomb.
 
Mm, get a PRS SE, LTD EC 1k or something, like in the pic above.

If converting to a normal (non-FRX type) Floyd, it would also have to stick up kinda high because of inbuilt neck angle. Floyded guitars from the factory come with shallow angle, like those you posted a pic of. Doing all the routing, neck resets etc. would probably set you back several hundred Benjamins, which could go some way to a new axe.
 
I'm calling bullshit on anybody claiming a Gibson style headstock will stay in tune with trem use without a locking nut. If you have something like a PRS, EBMM, Fender, Ibanez, or other with a straight string path, it's entirely doable.

Further, and don't get me wrong as I love my PRS and EBMM with their excellent trems, but properly stretched strings that are clamped at either end with the friction point of the nut eliminated will stay in tune better. Even on a guitar without a trem this is true. My two headless guitars have the most rock solid tuning stability, because there's virtually zero string movement at either end.
 
dave74 said:
Without the locking nut you are essentially sawing the nut-slots with the strings every time you use the bar.
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I have locking tuners on both Iceman and 2 Strats I haven't had any tuning issues or aggressive nut wear. My Les Paul with the Bigsby has standard non-locking Grovers and I have no problems with it staying in tune. It works for me.
 
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JB_From_Hell said:
My two headless guitars have the most rock solid tuning stability, because there's virtually zero string movement at either end.
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I really like using floyded guitars (even with the trem fully blocked) for this reason. They stay in tune much better than anything else I've played. Even just doing a lot of deep bends and you'll need to retune a couple times a set with a regular Gibson (it's always G for some reason) . . . but not with a locking nut.
 
GuitarStv said:
I really like using floyded guitars (even with the trem fully blocked) for this reason. They stay in tune much better than anything else I've played. Even just doing a lot of deep bends and you'll need to retune a couple times a set with a regular Gibson (it's always G for some reason) . . . but not with a locking nut.
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One reason I love the Steinberger. Fixed bridge, and double ball strings. They ain't moving.
 
Now that we’ve opened this box of worms let’s get to the real question….. A Les Paul kit like below, can the neck angle be modified before the neck is glued in, and can the neck take a locking nut?

https://precisionguitarkits.com/product/59-carved-top-custom

59CT-Full-Kit.jpg
 
Would you mind elaborating why? Can't seem to wrap my head around that.... :( I mean, the locking nut has to sit at the correct height, sure. So one either has to remove wood or use a shim underneath).
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Because the manufacturing tolerances are so damn sloppy on ANY manufacturers Floyd style locking nut. They are poorly diecast, not precision machined. I expect they do this to save money, and because of the Floyd Rose licensing agreement. This is why experienced luthiers HATE Floyds - you CANNOT set the action for each string individually. Sometimes one string is too high and one is too low - but you can't grind on the metal because then the damn string won't lock. So you juggle the shims back and forth under the stringlock to get at least 4 or 5 strings at the proper height. It always a half-ass compromise with Floyds - there is no optimal or perfect on all 6 strings. Back in the 80's I used to urge my clients to ditch the Floyd nut and use a Kahler or Allparts behind the nut stringlock. Made life so much easier for the player and the craftsman.
 
Harley Benton stuff seems to be pretty good bang for buck, especially in the last few years, they're offering pretty fancy options for under $500.

Regarding the kit. Afaik, the mortise is angled on a Gibson (smaller angle on ABR-1 guitars, I believe, as the bridge is less tall), on the kit there, don't know. Educated guess that it's the same. It'd be a combination of taking away some wood and shimming (at the heel) to get the desired angle, depending on how high you want the Floyd to be – presumably so the baseplate is more or less flush with the top if the Floyd is recessed.
 
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That's been the Gibson fret-crowning process for quite awhile now!,,,,well except for the steady hand part.
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For a joke to be funny, it must have a nugget of truth in it.
Your comment had NONE.
 
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