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ES-335 With Floyd Rose?


redprojet

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I agree with hg. I think it's possible to route the Floyd Rose through the main post, but it'll rob the trademark tone of the ES. It also looks a bit disgusting on the ES. If you want a whammy bar, I suggest a Bigsby for an ES.

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I agree with hg. I think it's possible to route the Floyd Rose through the main post' date=' but it'll rob the trademark tone of the ES. It also looks a bit disgusting on the ES. If you want a whammy bar, I suggest a Bigsby for an ES.[/quote']

Yeah i would rather a bigsby.Thats what i have on my Gretsch Pro Jet.Ive seen people do crazy things with guitars and i thought it wasn't possible to put a floyd rose on an es since it was a hollow body.

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Well' date=' the ES-335 is a "semi-hollowbody". I believe there's a main post in the middle (Les Paul's "The Log") with hollow wings. Correct me if I'm wrong. [/quote']

 

Yeah, It has a solid beam down the middle.

 

 

Floyd Rose on a 335? That's nothing, I've seen a guy put a floyd rose on an acoustic!

 

Here's a Link watch to the end if you want to hear it:

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Hi all! I have a ES-335 that I bought back in 1968 and it has a bigsby vibro bar on it and has has worked wounderfully. Everyone should know about the unwound 3rd (G string) it will slip some if you use the vibro bar often but my good old Sabine tuner (always on in a concert) will keep it ready to go for the next song if I use it two songs in a row. I believe one thing that helps mine stay in tune is the tension bar on my bigsby. The strings do not go stright to the bridge from the string attachment bar but goes under another bar to make the bridge angle steeper. I believe this helps in the lack of slippage from the tuning pegs for they are already tight. I hope this helps!

Tom Stoner

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  • 4 years later...

If installing a Floyd Rose involves removing wood from the center block, you might think twice. I have read that when Alex Lifeson of Rush put a Kahler vibrato on his beloved ES-355, it adversely affected (at least in his mind) the sound of the guitar. He ultimately had the guitar restored to its original condition.

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I've seen a couple of ES guitars with Kahlers - didn't know Alex Lifeson had done that to his 355, so maybe he's to blame?!

 

Fitting a Floyd to an ES335 shouldn't be any harder than fitting one to a Les Paul. But bear in mind it involves drastic surgery to the guitar: we're not talking about a couple of screw holes left behind when a Bigsby is removed, that guitar's going to lose some wood. It's also worth considering that the resale potential of a 335 with an added Floyd is not hopeful to say the least.

 

If I were going to try it I think my approach would be to get myself on Ebay and try and pick up the body from a parted out Epiphone 335 as cheaply as possible, get the Floyd installed and some decent pickups and see how it goes - if all else fails you can sell the parts and you'd only be down the cost of the Epi body.

 

Bigsbys and the various other vibrola type units used by Gibson are a far safer option, although divebombing on a Bigsby isn't quite the same thing as on of Floyd! But if it's only tuning stability you're worried about, a good tech can work wonders with a Bigsby equipped guitar - I have four of them, and all will take a decent amount of waggle without slipping out of tune.

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People think up original things to do to guitars...

 

Which is OK... :blink:

 

Whatever floats one's boat... [biggrin]

 

I happen to like the Tom DeLonge...which is another 'wacky' take on the '335'-esque theme, sacrilege to some... <_<

 

V

 

:-({|=

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