I greatly dislike floyd rose floating bridges

[pinhedgtr]

I've found the easiest way is to get all the srings in tune with each other first, and then I adjust the springs to get it to the right pitch.

 

[Zaphod B]

I've found the easiest way is to get all the srings in tune with each other first, and then I adjust the springs to get it to the right pitch.

ahem......surely you jest.

 

[metalhead28]

Excuse my ignorance, but since I've never had or even played a guitar with a FRB on it I really don't know. Do you have to "set up" the thing every time you change the strings? It would seem to me that if you are staying with the same type and gauge strings, just putting the new ones on and bringing them up to pitch would bring it back in. One string at a time, maybe?

Right, changing the strings is a simple and straight forward thing. Just a few minutes. If you are changing string gauge, going to a different tuning, or if your set up is generally out of whack, you'll need to get more involved.

 

[Light]

Do you have to "set up" the thing every time you change the strings?

Lord no. Or at least, most people don't. I've known some fussy bastards over the years, but they are the exception. And they rarely play Floyds.

No, for most people a setup is at most a once or twice a year thing. Some guy are really sensitive, and end up coming in seasonally, and a few really fussy ones will be in every few weeks for tweaks, but those are rarely full setups, just a truss rod adjustment or a slight tweak on the nut or saddle. And those are mostly guys who play for 6-12 hours a day, so they just have such an intimate knowledge of their instrument that they notice things I have a hard time seeing.



Light

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

 

[ggunn]

Lord no. Or at least, most people don't. I've known some fussy bastards over the years, but they are the exception. And they rarely play Floyds.

No, for most people a setup is at most a once or twice a year thing.

Ah. That makes sense. The reason for my question was this exchange between you and amra:

amra: You guys charge $125 to change the strings on a Floyd Rose?

Light: $80 an hour, multiplied by the amount of time to do it right.


Yes.

Surely it doesn't take an hour and a half to change the strings?

 

[Zarathustra]

Well

I think the fact that not all guitars have Floyd Rose bridges is a testament to them being a preference, rather than an all-out superior bridge.

Sure, they've got some benefits, but only if you're willing to struggle with them for awhile.

 

[Zaphod B]

I think the fact that not all guitars have Floyd Rose bridges is a testament to them being a preference, rather than an all-out superior bridge.

Sure, they've got some benefits, but only if you're willing to struggle with them for awhile.

Agreed. I don't think I've ever heard anyone claim that a FR is THE superior bridge for all electric guitars. With any vibrato bridge you will trade a bit of tone, sustain, and the loss of simplicity for the ability to change the string pitch.

 

[metalhead28]

I think the fact that not all guitars have Floyd Rose bridges is a testament to them being a preference, rather than an all-out superior bridge.

Sure, they've got some benefits, but only if you're willing to struggle with them for awhile.

Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and he is correct.

 

[chrisharris]

Surely it doesn't take an hour and a half to change the strings?

I'd kill myself by shoving guitar strings through my capillaries and into my veins and into an artery which emptied into my lower heart before paying somebody $125 to string my guitar.

 

[Zaphod B]

I'd kill myself by shoving guitar strings through my capillaries and into my veins and into an artery which emptied into my lower heart before paying somebody $125 to string my guitar.

I'd do the same before paying anybody anything to string my guitar.

But I think the figure was for doing a complete setup on the bridge.