Do you Floyd?

[Eagle]

yeap... i love it but hate string change/tuning....

There are a lot worse guitars to string up. Rickenbacker 360 12 string is my pet hate. Fortunately I don’t get them too often.

 

[Sascha Franck]

I never thought FR guitars were that tough to restring. It should however possibly be noted that I was fixing the system as the first thing (using a little woodblock in the spring cavity), then usually pushing the ballend side through the tuning pegs, then cut the strings accordingly at the bridge and be done with the initial setup in possibly even less than 5 minutes. I would then stretch the strings and usually play a some minutes without fixing the nut-locks, once I locked them, the tuning would pretty much never go off a lot, I never had to re-open the nut during the lifetime of one set of strings. Entire procedure takes like 10 minutes, but in case it was needed, I also managed in 5.

 

[unix-guy]

Pretty much the same here. I do however explicitly grab a non-vibrato guitar every now and then, because I sometimes notice some vibrato overdose in my playing.

Never!

Actually, I almost wrote a similar comment. I sometimes have to force myself to just user finger vibrato.

I'm not typically doing squealing pull-ups or big dive bombs... Mostly subtle stuff with occasional flutters.

 

[gearJunkie]

Traded in my last Floyd bearing guitar decades ago for a TransTrem (Steinberger GM7TA). Never looked back.

 

[Sascha Franck]

I sometimes have to force myself to just user finger vibrato.

I even overdo that sometimes. Has been so often that I switched from 10s to 11s, even on those guitars with floating vibratos. Took me 10 years until I noticed I could as well switch back.

I'm not typically doing squealing pull-ups or big dive bombs...

Me neither. I quite like faux-pedal-steel stuff and such. And I like the fact that, unlike with finger vibrato, the vibrato movement is going down as well, which I often vastly prefer over "sharp by nature" (unless you bend up before) finger vibratos.

 

[State of Epicicity]

I never thought FR guitars were that tough to restring. It should however possibly be noted that I was fixing the system as the first thing (using a little woodblock in the spring cavity), then usually pushing the ballend side through the tuning pegs, then cut the strings accordingly at the bridge and be done with the initial setup in possibly even less than 5 minutes. I would then stretch the strings and usually play a some minutes without fixing the nut-locks, once I locked them, the tuning would pretty much never go off a lot, I never had to re-open the nut during the lifetime of one set of strings. Entire procedure takes like 10 minutes, but in case it was needed, I also managed in 5.

I guess that never put too much pressure on the winding just before the ball? I was wondering if this is just a great substitute for locking tuners!

 

[megametal7]

There are a lot worse guitars to string up. Rickenbacker 360 12 string is my pet hate. Fortunately I don’t get them too often.

I never knew there would be something more harder to change string on Floyd and tune up.

I shut my mouth then lol

 

[State of Epicicity]

I never knew there would be something more harder to change string on Floyd and tune up.

I shut my mouth then lol

I think the key to making it easy is blocking the trem when changing, tuning, then stretching the strings, locking the nut, then releasing the block and doing final tuning by adjusting the spring claw screws. Doing it that way, it really isn't that bad, IMHO!

 

[Sascha Franck]

I guess that never put too much pressure on the winding just before the ball? I was wondering if this is just a great substitute for locking tuners!

Well, you'd need a string locking block at the bridge then. An in case this is still about FR trems, why would you need locking tuners anyway? Or would you want to operate them without a locking nut? Not that it wouldn't work fine, but I always thought string balance when bending and whammy-ing was much better with a locked nut (after all, you don't need to bend the part of the string north of the nut, which defenitely helps).

 

[MindCrime]

@Eagle What are your thoughts on the (non-Floyd) Vigier Trem ?

 

[unix-guy]

And I like the fact that, unlike with finger vibrato, the vibrato movement is going down as well, which I often vastly prefer over "sharp by nature" (unless you bend up before) finger vibratos.

Yes, exactly this!

 

[State of Epicicity]

Well, you'd need a string locking block at the bridge then. An in case this is still about FR trems, why would you need locking tuners anyway? Or would you want to operate them without a locking nut? Not that it wouldn't work fine, but I always thought string balance when bending and whammy-ing was much better with a locked nut (after all, you don't need to bend the part of the string north of the nut, which defenitely helps).

The only reason is quicker restringing. Then lock that nut!

 

[Eagle]

@Eagle What are your thoughts on the (non-Floyd) Vigier Trem ?

It’s just the Schaller shift 2000 but with a needle baring instead of the usual knife edges. Even though it’s zinc with roller saddles it sounds good and it’s almost impossible to put out of tune. The strings don’t roll on the saddles though and they have deep drilled the block. Add all that to the stainless steel zero fret Teflon nut and locking tuners not to mention the rock solid neck and you have near Floyd stability.

 

[Sascha Franck]

The only reason is quicker restringing. Then lock that nut!

Yeah, in that case the "ballend trick" is in fact saving you locking tuners (at least pretty much). You need to trim string lengths anyway at one point in time, so you can as well do it as the first thing.

 

[Eagle]

Yeah, in that case the "ballend trick" is in fact saving you locking tuners (at least pretty much). You need to trim string lengths anyway at one point in time, so you can as well do it as the first thing.

You don't mean the ball end at the tuner do you because that is a terrible idea.

 

[Sascha Franck]

You don't mean the ball end at the tuner do you because that is a terrible idea.

Why would it be a terrible idea? It worked just great for over a decade (and will continue to work once I slap the last FR guitar of mine back together).

 

[DrewJD82]

You don't mean the ball end at the tuner do you because that is a terrible idea.

I think he’s talking about loading them headstock-first and leaving the ball-ends on.

 

[Eagle]

Why would it be a terrible idea? It worked just great for over a decade (and will continue to work once I slap the last FR guitar of mine back together).

It can depend on the tuners but the problem is the wrap can easily get stuck in the tuner while it's under tension and it massively adds to the stringing up and removal time if this happens. It brings nothing to the table.

 

[Sascha Franck]

It can depend on the tuners but the problem is the wrap can easily get stuck in the tuner while it's under tension and it massively adds to the stringing up and removal time if this happens. It brings nothing to the table.

Never even once happened to me. And it brings way faster setup to the table.

 

[Sascha Franck]

I think he’s talking about loading them headstock-first and leaving the ball-ends on.

Sure. But I thought that was what @Eagle was asking for, too.