billymagnum Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Floyd Rose Marketing has announced the release of the innovative retrofitting surface-mount tremolo system for Gibson-style guitars. http://youtu.be/hPc6fOYoNTY Thoughts? As a person who does enjoy a good Floyd, while the idea excites me, I find this thing to be rather hideous and scary looking. Great step forward but maybe it should have had a few more years in R&D appearance-wise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 . Interesting. It doesn't look anymore "hideous and scary" than a Stetsbar. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twang Gang Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Never had a Floyd Rose on any of my guitars, but heard they were better for keeping the guitar in tune with whammy bar use. After watching that video, the last thing on earth I would do is mess with one of those. He shows how sensitive they are that just moving the guitar a little bit, the bridge goes out of tune. Then he shows the "floating assist" screw that has to be set just perfectly, and even then can go out of tune. Maybe they work great, but if they do they certainly need a much better video to convince me that I wouldn't be in for constant tuning nightmares. Never put an engineering tech guy in a marketing position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billymagnum Posted January 9, 2015 Author Share Posted January 9, 2015 . Interesting. It doesn't look anymore "hideous and scary" than a Stetsbar. . i see what you mean. admittedly, i've never heard of those until now. i think the Stetsbar looks a bit more uniform/sleek comparatively. Never had a Floyd Rose on any of my guitars, but heard they were better for keeping the guitar in tune with whammy bar use. After watching that video, the last thing on earth I would do is mess with one of those. He shows how sensitive they are that just moving the guitar a little bit, the bridge goes out of tune. Then he shows the "floating assist" screw that has to be set just perfectly, and even then can go out of tune. Maybe they work great, but if they do they certainly need a much better video to convince me that I wouldn't be in for constant tuning nightmares. Never put an engineering tech guy in a marketing position. I've experienced just about all of the types of regular floyds over the years. Cheap or licensed floyds are usually a pain. the cheaper types can have trouble returning to 0 among other things including tone/sustain issues. a real pure bred floyd is wonderful in my opinion. they work so well no matter how badly you dive or pull on them and string never seem to snap like they do on cheaper models. BUT there is always the matter of getting to that state of harmony. you really have to develop a new set skills to work with them in terms of string changing and set-ups. not to mention the dreaded single string break during play! this is the understandable wall that many people hit and the point they give up and buy a bridge lock. these bridges add a lot of different adjustments to the mix that all need to balance out while they all actively affect each other during each component's adjustment. in the beginning is can be a daunting experience. i remember my first one on an old jackson. god it was terrible and i had no idea what i was doing with it. it took years before i had a handle on the concept and learned how to do it all correctly. put in the time and effort, you'll eventually become comfortable like i have. just like learning anything, you learn the tricks and shortcuts of everything. that being said, i had a passion to learn it and for some people, that doesn't happen. They are so much fun to use. A great form of expression that a Bigsby just can't handle. But it has it's place as does the Bigsby depending on what you are playing. I'll always have at least one floyd'ed guitar in my inventory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertAndersson Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 For 25 years, my Floyd Rose equipped Kramer was my main guitar. I had it set floating to enable tremolo shifts both up and down, which can be very sweet but it has a drawback in higher strings. It stays in tune forever, but when you have to change strings or retune, it is extremely difficult. When you bend strings the bridge rises, so the effect on the tone is reduced. Don't forget that a locking nut is a part of the equipment. For me, getting away from the tremolo was a big reason to finally buy a Les Paul. I would not put a Floyd Rose on a LP. But that's just me... /Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billymagnum Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 If someone's new to these bridges and have tone issues, I'd say try changing the stock block to brass or tungsten or even granite. They'd also stumble upon having to learn to compensate for the bridge moving on bends, particularly unison or two string bends. It's another technique that you learn to deal with eventually. I still love them and think they are worth the effort Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
665 Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 I suppose more options is always a good thing but honestly I personally wouldn't use this even if I got one for free. It looks like it will scuff up your guitar, I don't like the aesthetics of it, and I just overall prefer the tuning stability and simplicity of hardtails. Still, I'm sure some folks out there would love this thing - to each their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billymagnum Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 is there any Gibson USA model other with a floyd rose that is less than $4000? the axcess models are the only factory option outside of a custom shop deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 . Actually, over the years, from time to time, Gibson has produced a number of models with a Floyd Rose. Like this recent "Shred Les Paul Studio" - And the GC Trad Pro II with Floyd - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0PY8R9dPok#t=110 And the Explorer Tremolo - . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 I don't think it looks any worse or different than the "regular" Floyd. They always looked over-done and extreme, but in the 80's, that was viewed as a good thing, hip. Modern. Perhaps we got used to seeing the origonal for so long? As far as being complicated, I haven't tried this and don't plan on it, but seeing the vid he did, it really looks like the added features make life easier and better. I don't think it's more complex than before, it just has that "cenetering" thing which I think could be disabled. Gotta remember, no matter how simple it seems, ANY locking trem that floats is a complicated thing to set up, and there is a lot of steps to it regardless of what one chooses to explain or ackowlwedge. Even the standard Strat trem is. Truth also is, IF you want to do the dive-bomb type things and severe wangs, there is no way to have a guitar that will do it, and do regular string bends, and stay in tune unless you go the locking trem route. And there is a whole playing style and set of licks/skills that go along with these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooterx2 Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 Interesting video looks very functional not sure about the screws in the headstock thing to bad it doesn't mount in the existing trussrod cover holes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billymagnum Posted January 11, 2015 Author Share Posted January 11, 2015 Thanks for the info big k. I was sure there were others... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 Interesting video looks very functional not sure about the screws in the headstock thing to bad it doesn't mount in the existing trussrod cover holes Yea, that seems like a good idea. Of corse though, the nut really should be secure, because if you have a Floyd, you are gonna want to wank. That's a lot of tension release back and forth, and lots of pressure on the wood there. Especially hogany. Still, less permanent mod damage it seems than the older way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valtyr Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 Too late, got myself a Shred Les Paul Studio early last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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