screws at the nut?

[topolino]

only once, I played a friend's electric and it had screws that held down the strings at the nut. It sorta locked the tuning in place, so you could really reef on the whammy bar. What're those screws called? Does anyone here have them/like them/not like them?

 

[Dani Pace]

I'd say you are refering to a "locking nut" which are pretty common on guitars with Floyd Rose style tails.

 

[SteveK]

Yeah, definitely a "Floyd" type of system. Back in the '80's they were a must have for a guitarist. Kramer, Jackson, Charvel...all the "shred" guitars came stock with Floyds. At that time ALL my electrics had 'em. Used to take a good hour to change a set of strings, get them stretched and stabilized, and be able to use it at a gig. Now, I much prefer the locking tuner set-up for my trem equipped guitars. Much faster changes, and every bit as stable as long as I'm not dive bombing the strings to where they're slack. Also, to MY ear, Floyd type bridges have a harshness to their tone compared to other trems. YMMV