Strat Questions

[dragonworks]

Can I change out the whammy system on the strat for a Floyd Rose without routing out the strat?

[RattleCat]

No. The posts have a different spacing. You can find retrofit locking nuts though. These will fit behind the existing nut on the neck. What you need are fine tuners on the bridge. I haven't found a bridge with fine tuners with the Fender two post spacing.

[dragonworks]

Originally posted by RattleCat
No. The posts have a different spacing. You can find retrofit locking nuts though. These will fit behind the existing nut on the neck. What you need are fine tuners on the bridge. I haven't found a bridge with fine tuners with the Fender two post spacing.

I need to look into what you are saying.
I'm a machinist, maybe I can modify something.? I can build a bridge if necessary, do you think there could be a market for such a bridge?

[RattleCat]

Well you could look into it. Some other food for thought is to go with the Wilkinson, a roller nut, and locking tuners. As far as machining something the simplest thing to do would be to look at the base plates and see if you can make one with Fender two point spacing and use the floyd rose saddles and tuners etc.

[RattleCat]

After looking at the two different bridges, its obvious that you will have to completely redesign a bridge from scratch as well as the saddles if you want to do it right. I am sure many people with much more resources than I do have already tried. As a practical man it is simply easier for me to use a body with the proper routing. Unless you are intensely obsessed with the idea of a better bridge I would do the same.

[Light]

Floyds will not fit a standard Strat rout, but there are other trems out there which will, and which will improve your tuning stability. The Wilkinson is one, plus there are locking saddles which can retro fit onto your Strat trem.

The question is, why do you want a Floyd? If you want to do a lot of dive bombing and such, then they are the way to go. If you are just looking for better tuning stability, it will be far more helpful to block the trem so it only goes down. Then you can get the springs much tighter, and you don't have to worry about your guitar going out of tune if you break a string.


Light

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

[dragonworks]

I dont need to divebomb but I do want to go up and down so I dont want to block the trem. I will have to go to wilkersons site and take a look at there whammy systems.
Where would I find the different brand trems that fit the strat style? Is there any central place?