floyd rose tremolo?

[osion]

hey, i'm going to buy my first electric after years of acoustic and am researching stuff. I think I want to go with a american fat strat (for the versatility of humbuckers and single coil) but i dont really know anything about tremolo (whammy bars). Is floyd rose better than the.... uh, whatever the non floyd rose tremelo thing is called on the strat. I read somewhere i will have to change strings a lot. Can someone knowledgable brief me on this? I tried using the search function but it came up no matching results.

and isnt it really annoying to test out guitars at a guitar center or sam ash where there is so much other guitar playing and noise going on you can barely pay attention to the guitar your playing?

thanks for the help.

[osion]

what exactly is the difference between a floyd rose and non? what are the positives? negatives?

i went to sam ash today and their display strats dont have tremolo bars because people steal them apparently so i couldnt hear them or play with them

any replay appreciated.

[struberg]

a tremolo guitar is always detuning much faster than a straight telecaster type guitar.

so the big difference between the different tremolo kinds are two fators:

.) how good do they hold their tuning
.) how far (easy) can you pitch the tone up/down

i hope this makes sense

[ZoSo58LP]

floyd rose trem usually has matching locking nut, which means, no matter how hard you divebomb, she really wont come out of tune, but everytime you change strings, you have to unlock thenut

[SHEPPARDB.]

If this is your first electric,why not consider some none tremelo
guitars as well? If you are an acoustic player,you may find the transition to none tremelo electric much easier.
On an electric with a tremelo,drone strings go out of tune when
you bend the other strings.(this sucks if you are blues player)
If you have to have a guitar with tremelo,get a regular STRAT,
I have played the one you are talking about and the tone is way limited!Same goes for ANYTHING with a floyd rose.

[Scinx]

I prefer guitars without tremolos actually.
Floyd Rose Style arent all the same. The ones made by Floyd Rose are higher quality usually than the ones on Jacksons, BC Riches, Charvels, etc. The offbrands are usually the ones that get all the ire.

[ZoSo58LP]

"I have played the one you are talking about and the tone is way limited!Same goes for ANYTHING with a floyd rose."

hows the tone limited? the fat strat has the same 5 way selection as a regular strat with 3 single coils?

[Scinx]

Isnt he referring to the tremolo and not the pickups?

[SHEPPARDB.]

Originally posted by ZoSo58LP
"I have played the one you are talking about and the tone is way limited!Same goes for ANYTHING with a floyd rose."

hows the tone limited? the fat strat has the same 5 way selection as a regular strat with 3 single coils?

If you dont hear what I am saying,perhaps you should head on
down to the music store.While you are there purchase 3 FAT
STRATS.In the year 3000,they will be worth thier tone in gold,and that aint enough to gold leaf a gnats ass.

[7evin]

you have 2 options:

W/ Tremelo : With the "Floyd Rose" tremelo system, you have the locking nut, as described earlier. So what everyone is saying about it dropping tune is B.S. The Floyd Rose will offer you more play in your strings, not only with the whammy bar. For instance, if you want to do 1/2 or full step bends, the tremelo will make it a little easier. The downfalls to having a tremelo is, if you break a part (my guitar is 10+ years old and it has never had an issue) it does tend to get a little pricey. And if you are thinking of any de-tuning, don't. You will find your self in a mess of action and spring problems.


W/ OUT Tremelo : Without the tremelo has some advantages, they tend to be a little bit more durable. Basic design, changing strings is a breeze. You do have a little bit more noticable tone, but not enough to soley think that a guitar with a tremelo has such an amazing difference. Strings can feel "stiffer" and it is hard to get as much play as you want. Also, even if it comes with a whammy bar, you can only dive down. With my Floyd Rose, you can bend the pitch way up or down (not much of a use though).

It is all in what feel you want, I like the looser "giving" feeling. Just like an old broke in whore. LOL

[Light]

Flyods are a giant pain in the ass to restring. Personally, I hate them. I also don't think they sound particularly good. They just don't have enough contact with the guitar.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

[osion]

i think i'll pass on the floyd. I can't see myself using a tremolo really to begin with. i was just wondering what the difference was between a floyd and the regular tremelo that come with most models of the strat.

[mixmkr]

osion...you might check out this fat strat I have for sale. As a first electric purchase, it might just be the answer. Coil tap on the humbucker too.http://www.homerecording.com/bbs/sho...hreadid=107908

[ZoSo58LP]

Originally posted by SHEPPARDB.
If you dont hear what I am saying,perhaps you should head on
down to the music store.While you are there purchase 3 FAT
STRATS.In the year 3000,they will be worth thier tone in gold,and that aint enough to gold leaf a gnats ass.

i dont understand what you're saying about tone though? how does the tremolo change the tone? ive played fat strats before, and floyd rose fat strats, i mean i like that humbucker sound, i've got a seymour duncan sh-4 in my other strat, and it's got a cool sound, but are you referring to tone with the trem or pickups?

[Light]

Originally posted by ZoSo58LP
i dont understand what you're saying about tone though? how does the tremolo change the tone? ive played fat strats before, and floyd rose fat strats, i mean i like that humbucker sound, i've got a seymour duncan sh-4 in my other strat, and it's got a cool sound, but are you referring to tone with the trem or pickups?

Well, on a Floyd Rose, the only contact the bridge has with the body is two very small "knife" bearing edges, and the old Fender style trems have the full front edge of the bridge directly in contact with the body of the guitar. The leads to a more efficient transference of energy, which means better tone.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

[ZoSo58LP]

ah hey i understand! :-D thanks a bunch with that said, I'll stick wtih my old fender floatin bridge and a tremsetter

[shredfit]

I have to agree with Light that floyd rose systems are a pain in that @ss to set up and keep set up... What really sux is intonating a floyd system (if you ever have you know what I mean) ...

however, I must disagree about it taking away from your tone... a properly set up floyd will have more than just insert edges contat with the bridge... (many people tend to float them too much... i've seen it a lot)

Will it sound different that a standard strat bridge? Of course... is it better or worse? that totally depends on what you like...

If your want a trem system.. a Floyd is the only way to go IMO...

Just be prepared to do a lot of treaking and upkeep on it...

Shred

[BillyFurnett]

I don't have a Strat, but I have Floyd Rose locking trem and I hate that SOB with a passion!

Next time I have my guitar worked on it's getting blocked or it's getting replaced.

[The Generator]

Truth is, I can't tell you how many people I see playing
a guitar that has a floyd on it, and they NEVER use it!
Most don't even have a bar connected to the darned thing.
If you don't envision yourself using it at lease occasionally,
I'd move on. Not worth the hassle. I have an incredible old 80's
Charvel that has a floyd on it, and I used to use it back in
the ''metal'' days, but now it's just an occasional treat.
But, IMO Floyds are the only whammy of choice for serious dive bombers.

Good luck,
John @ The Generator

[Kelly5150]

I have 5 guitars, and 4 of them have Floyd Rose trems or Floyd Rose licenced trems, and NONE of them go out of tune, whether they get dive bombed or not, infact the guitar that goes out of tune the easiest is my BC Rich Mockingbird without a Floyd Rose...

And as far as tone, all the guitars with the trems sound great, I've had alot of nice guitars, Les Pauls etc. and they didn't sound any better than what I have now....

It's all just a matter of taste and likes...

The only downside of Floyd Rose's, is changing the strings, it takes a few nimutes longer, but I think its worth it...

And as far as having to change strings more often on guitars with Floyd's, well thats bullshit....

Strings wear out the more you play them, period....

Now if you do nothing but wammy the fuck out of your strings, of course they are going to wear out faster...

[6gun]

the other thing to consider is if you change tunings a lot. a tremelo (especially a floating bridge) can be a pain in the ass for that. but you'll sure learn how to do a fast pro setup on a guitar after time. if you're going to do even one dive bomb the floyd is still your best friend, imo.

[six]

the truth: you can do anything on a FR-guitar that you can do on a non-FR but NOT vice versa. ok, changing tunings or even string gauges on a regular basis sure is a pain in the ass - but who does this anyway?

[6gun]

Originally posted by six
changing tunings or even string gauges on a regular basis sure is a pain in the ass - but who does this anyway?

me.

[outlawtorn86]

to all those who say floyd rose is a pain in the ass, etc blah blah

i was just like that, untill i bought a REAL US made floyd rose tremolo... sure it was a hefty 170 bucks and 50 bucks installation, but fuck, well worth the money. see i bought a jackson DXMG with one of those shitty jackson made floyds... kept flying out of tune, took hours to restring... after i got this USA made installed, i change strings in a quickie, and yes its actually true, u can drag it down stairs, wipe ur ass with it, throw it into walls, and it will always stay in tune (just watch binge n purge, as kirk hammett pulls it off, ahahaha) and yeah it gives u about a 4 step bend up which sounds wicked if u play heavy metal leads... if ur a punk band, u have no use for this floyd rose. but then again , if ur in a punk band, the world has no use for you. LOL

rock on guys

[struberg]

to my experience, the strongest impact on the sound of an electric guitar of the wood parts comes from the neck, and not so much from the body!

You can easily play a guitar with a completely ruined body, but once there is a little crack in the neck that prohibits the whole neck from vibrating, then the whole sound is dead dead dead...

So i think, the floyd rose kind trems with 2 point mounting doesn't have such a bad impact on the sound as mentioned above.