Specifically, the different flavours of them.

Anyone here have experience with the OFR, the Pro, and/or the other licensed versions of all of them?

The Original is the normal big ol' one with the string locks out the back.

The Pro is the low profile one with the string locks on the top.

Mainly i am trying to determine if i would like or dislike the lo-profile style. I have only really met the OFRs and the Kahlers, and cannot recall ever playing one of the low profile Floyds.

Anyone else played both to compare?

I played Ibanez's Lo-Pro Edge, which I lurve, but it locked out the back so I don't think it's the low profile you are speaking of. I found it to be once of the nicest FL I used. I am well versed in Edge, OFR, and Kahler Spyder which was Kahlers FR.

The Lo-Pro Edge wasn't like this?



Anyhow, as i looked around a bit, i don't know if the D-tuna works with anything but the original-style floyds. As at some point i intend to go that route, i am thinking i might wind up going with that style from the getgo.

But before i commit to it as a course of action, do tell me a bit about what you liked about the Lo-Pro Edge?

hmmm, yar that's the one. Wonder wtf I was thinking? I never thought about putting a D-tuna onnit as I always floated the bridge, this LP is the first FR since my ESP's that the bridge hasn't floated. I used to do a ton up pull up on the Edge and Lo Pro's that I had so I would never think about a d-tuna.

Specifically there was nothing special I like about the lo-pro other than the profile itself and it's ability to stay in tune just like the edge yanking up or down.

I think the issue with the D-Tuna on the lo-pro like the one piktard is the lo pro site so low on that one (so it's routed underneath the whole trem like a pocket) I think when the d-tuna drops down (pushed in) and it's in E, then there would not be enough room. That might not be the case if you don't have to route like an Ibanez (or even my Axcess for example) but if it sits like a Charvel or Jackson up on top of the body.

From dtuna.com

I like the heaviness that the lo-profile FRs look like they have, they just seem to be made out of bigger chunks of steel.

But i have just ordered one of the just-shy-of-the-most-ghetto chinese floyds that is more in the original style. The lo-pro style was like $35ish, and really i think the edges and whatnot are still going to be cheap/iffy at that prices, so i just went for the one that looks a bit like they are trying to copy the schaller floyds, with the cast backplate, just over $20, shipped from china. It looked like it had nicer knife edges than the cheepest cheepest which was more like $18 shipped or something.

It will be an interesting experiment. The castings look thin, and i wonder how long it will last. If it ends in disaster, i will only be out $22 though, which is not horrible, just inconvenient for a hobo.

I actually half-expect to come to the conclusion that i will eventually need to get a nicer one though. Either the $80 GFS style or the actual Floyd Rose Special, which looks basically to be a Korean built Original(and is also about $85, which struck me as clever of FR), or possibly even the properly expensive $160 Schaller one.

I will have to see what the thing looks like whenever it gets here(i am also curious to see how quickly it will come direct from china, they seem to think it could be within a week, which seems optimistic). In theory though, it should be standard Floyd dimensions, so i should be able to get the guitar routed and set up with it, regardless of whether some future day might see me needing to step up to a nicer one.

Ahh most excellent. I are excited to see the progression of this. Pix plox as you do this. Are you going to float or block said china rose?

I think i am going to start out wif setting it up to float for the full Floyd experience. And then i will probably either acquire or recreate via tinkering, some sort of tremol-no device for with which to hold it fixt via temporary mechanical means.

It has been a very long time since i had a Floydy guitar. It has even been a pretty long time since i had a trem guitar. The last one was a strat style that only worked with the bridge blocked(i probably could have made it go if i figured out some sort of locking nut for it, but the combination of sticky plastic nut and shitty tuners meant that any tremolo use was ugly for tunings).

I am excite to have a floydy guitar though.

I am currently thinking fluorescent pink might how i am leaning for paint for the thing. I will have to see what is available in auto paints locally though. I hope that there is something obnoxious enough available.

I have use the tremol-no and found it very nice, but... I like the ESP arming adjuster the BAST for such wankering. I just got rid of my last one before i got the Axcess and wish I had it now.

It works like a trem-stop but it has a spring so you can pull up if you give nice yank. I will look into another of these again.



I might also try one of these: http://joe.emenaker.com/TremStabilizers ... ation.html

innnnnnteresting! Also, that looks even simpler to punkrock than the tremol-no would be. I will have to make a trip to the hardware store and see if i can find a correctly sized barrel bolt latch that might be useful as a base for such a thingamabob. Hell, even a pair of small angle brackets would prolly work...

I am thinking of slapping a proper FR on the Charvel. The current trem (JT6 IIRC) is serviceable enough but it feels a bit ... soft.

Also I could make use of a d-tuna.

This will need a buildthread with copious pictures.

there also the plain old trem stop which is on the Axcess you could rig this up with spare parts around the house...


http://www.axcessories.com/products.asp?cat=103

Yarr, i know about that one, and if my attempt to punkrock the arming adjuster thingamabob meets failure, i would definitely just do that, so as to at least, allow some future d-tuna usage.

Joey, have you ever used that Allparts "The Key" thinger to do intonations on a floyd? Or do you just do them oldschool(or alternately let someone else deal with the process in general)?

A proper 7 string floyd on my axe would be a great upgrade. That thing, the whammy bar gets loose after the first three wiggles. Really cramps my style. Also, don't know if it's the bridge or the nut, but it sure could hold tune better. I'd have to see if it'd even fit the guitar. Perhaps when I overhaul the axe this reading week.

I do my intonations myself. Usually. This time the Axcess is going in for a little fret work so my guy will do it, he is seriously one of the best here on LI and the shop is 2 blocks away from me. I've never used one of those thingamabobs, but they are so cheap I'm thinking of picking one up. If it makes it even just a tad but easier it would be worth it. Intonations on FR just suck ass to do. But yeah I'm old schooling it right now.

I take it you're thinking of trying one?

One like this? :http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Special_tools_for_Bridges/The_Key.html?actn=100101&xst=1&xsr=1269

This is the thing I like about the edge the best. It's a pop in bar and it uses the nylon bushings and the bar doesn't loosen up. I'm using my OFR kinda loose, but I like them not loose but not too tight either and the OFR seems to not do exactly what I like. I might have to figure how to rig it up like the edge. Although I think Mr Hobo-rig OP would be the one to design a good method.

Anyone else use the Edge? Fuck they are hands down my favorite FR

It looked interesting, and i remember not liking intonating the old original floyd i did for a friend once, just for its tedious nature.

Also, it is again a device so simple, that i may try to create one. Basically two bent strips of metal, two threaded holes, a spring and a long threaded bolt. I think building one would be slightly more tedious(cutting the slot, getting the angles right to sit flat when tightened, etc.) than doing the intonation itself without one, but it might be an interesting project to fuck around with.

I am tempted to snag one of the GFS FR-licensed trems: http://www.guitarfetish.com/NEW-Heavy-D ... p_518.html

I figure it will at least be an upgrade from the JT-6, and won't cost me $200+.

I don't know for sure that would be an upgrade from the JT6, which is actually a pretty okay LFR, especially compared to what is coming out in piles from china right now.

What do the knife edges(the pivot points) look like on your JT6? If they are clean looking and not all dented/cut up, then you probably would just need to adjust the thing, maybe get some new springs for the back, to tighten it up.

The knife edges are the biggest thing. The studs can also get toasted, but they are easily replaced. Almost everything is easily replaced, but you need to have that solid backplate with the hardened knife edges correctly machined, or you are always going to have problems. If your JT6 looks good there, and none of its screws/bolts are stripped(the main problem as i understand it, with the older licensed floyds, seems to have something to do with the quality of the metal used in the screws, possibly more than the other parts) then you should be able to give it a tune up and make it work nice.

Also, a trem stabilizer can work for that, especially one like the one that tor posted. It preloads the bridge with enough tension that it will still work as a tremolo, but will be much tighter.

I only say this, because i once bought the "premium" strat bridge from GFS, and despite the marketing hype, the metal they made the base out of wore very quickly, and you can see in its bearing edges and on its surface, where the intonation screws gouged into it and its bearing edges, even after only like five months of use. So when they say something is "super nice" i remain skeptical. It does look good, but i remain skeptical, because i was not at all impressed by the 'super nice' metal in this strat bridge. The string saddles were okay though, i eventually moved them to a normal cheapo hardtail strat style bridgeplate from an 80s japanese guitar, which was about a thousand times higher quality metal than the GFS plate.

Basically, as i have seen from looking at all of this stuff for a while now, is that there seem to be certain manufacturing realities, and i suspect that they are more material-based than construction quality based.

The Shit Realm is $14-35 and there are about three main chinese designs in it, two OFR-style(one original, one kind of sort of like the schaller design) and one lo-profile/Pro style one. Everything about them is cheap looking, and it is all bad metal involved(hmmm...).

The Less Shit Realm jumps up to about $65-90 and that is where the GFS trems(one kind of oddball speedloader(but not for the special floyd strings), one original(the one you poasted)) live. It is also where the actual Floyd Rose Special lives. The Special looks to be basically exactly what the top end GFS is, just made by Floyd, in Korea. I feel like these are likely to be more or less interchangable, quality-wise. They seem to use better metal than the Shit Realm, but you will also find tons of people complaining about the metal quality and wear problems with all of these, if you read around.

From there you only have a couple of real choices, the extremely high quality Schaller licensed one for about $160, or the actual real deal official Floyd for about $200something. Either one of these is basically the best around in steel floyds.