Trem bridge flat against the wood

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Dinosaur David B
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Re: Trem bridge flat against the wood

Post: # 246673Post Dinosaur David B

Anyone ever try a Wilkerson roller nut instead of a locking nut with a Floyd?
My GUESS is that it might be almost as good as the locking nut, without the downsides of the locking nut. 
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merlo_zeppelin
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Re: Trem bridge flat against the wood

Post: # 246674Post merlo_zeppelin

cvansickle wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:39 pm I'm convinced that tuning reliability is more dependent on a well cut nut than it is on a bridge.

 
This has been confirmed to me by many great luthiers.
Stitsel
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Re: Trem bridge flat against the wood

Post: # 246676Post Stitsel

Dinosaur wrote: Anyone ever try a Wilkerson roller nut instead of a locking nut with a Floyd?
My GUESS is that it might be almost as good as the locking nut, without the downsides of the locking nut.

 
 I actually bought one of those, was gonna put it on my beleaguered white Strat in a last ditch effort to improve the tuning stability, before I went all Vega-Trem/full floating on it. It even matched the chrome/satin chrome aesthetic that was down on my bridge... I decided not to do it because I was too leery of carving into the nut area & if I didn't like it I was screwed.In the end I got a nicely cut bone nut & everything's cool now, but I still have that thing for perhaps a future project. Now I just use nut sauce & the VT & it's all good. 
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Tatosh Guitar
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Re: Trem bridge flat against the wood

Post: # 246678Post Tatosh Guitar

I actually have the roller nut on my strat, but I don't have a floyd on it, just a standard 2 point tremolo. It works very good, I have zero tuning issues with that guitat, pretty comparable to my floyd equiped Charvel, but to be fair I also have locking tuners on the strat. 

I have actually thought about that scenario Dave... Heck... Guthrie Govan plays a charvel with a floyd and a regular nut, so I suppose anything is possible.
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Dinosaur David B
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Re: Trem bridge flat against the wood

Post: # 246682Post Dinosaur David B

Tatosh wrote:Sat Jan 03, 1970 8:31 pm I actually have the roller nut on my strat, but I don't have a floyd on it, just a standard 2 point tremolo. It works very good, I have zero tuning issues with that guitar, pretty comparable to my floyd equipped Charvel, but to be fair I also have locking tuners on the strat. 

I have actually thought about that scenario Dave... Heck... Guthrie Govan plays a charvel with a floyd and a regular nut, so I suppose anything is possible.

 
It's interesting that Govan does that. I never noticed.

Yeah, to me, it seems borderline obvious that having the Floyd bridge/trem unit would have some stability benefits (plus fine tuners) over a vintage Fender style trem (or even and updated version of that design like the Hipshot). AND that if you have locking tuners on the headstock, that should help as well. That leaves you with the nut as the literal sticking point in the equation. Again, seems fairly obvious to me that a roller nut would probably cause the least amount of issues. 

The possible downside of using the Floyd bridge/trem unit over a different trem (with a roller nut and locking tuners), is that the Floyd bridge still imposes a sonic influence, that anyone who knows what it sounds like, almost always hears.  Whether you like that FR, sound or whether it bothers you to some degree, it's not as transparent sounding as a vintage trem. That is, a Floyd pretty much always sounds like a Floyd, and I'd venture that guys like us can always hear/tell when a player's using a FR guitar.  It imposes a distinctive tonal character that's hard to miss. 

That said, I have another Chubtone in the works with a Floyd on it.  :D
Cause that's a configuration I don't have yet and anticipate needing live for my new music. 
 
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Tatosh Guitar
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Re: Trem bridge flat against the wood

Post: # 246683Post Tatosh Guitar

Dinosaur wrote:
It's interesting that Govan does that. I never noticed.

Yeah, to me, it seems borderline obvious that having the Floyd bridge/trem unit would have some stability benefits (plus fine tuners) over a vintage Fender style trem (or even and updated version of that design like the Hipshot). AND that if you have locking tuners on the headstock, that should help as well. That leaves you with the nut as the literal sticking point in the equation. Again, seems fairly obvious to me that a roller nut would probably cause the least amount of issues. 

The possible downside of using the Floyd bridge/trem unit over a different trem (with a roller nut and locking tuners), is that the Floyd bridge still imposes a sonic influence, that anyone who knows what it sounds like, almost always hears.  Whether you like that FR, sound or whether it bothers you to some degree, it's not as transparent sounding as a vintage trem. That is, a Floyd pretty much always sounds like a Floyd, and I'd venture that guys like us can always hear/tell when a player's using a FR guitar.  It imposes a distinctive tonal character that's hard to miss. 

That said, I have another Chubtone in the works with a Floyd on it.  :D
Cause that's a configuration I don't have yet and anticipate needing live for my new music. 
 

 
This is Govan's model. It not only lacks a locking nut... the floyd is actually one of those early models without the fine tuners...
2865434701_gtr_frt_001_rr.jpeg
2865434701_gtr_frt_001_rr.jpeg (228.12 KiB) Viewed 2664 times
 
I can tell the difference of a floyd or a traditional fender bridge even unplugged. The difference is night and day. In the two mentioned guitars I mentioned, the strat is definitely warmer, even with the LSR nut. The Charvel is brighter. Not bad, but the strat is much more pleasant sounding when unplugged. 

You got me curious on your new chubie... I can't wait to see it!
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Dinosaur David B
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Re: Trem bridge flat against the wood

Post: # 246684Post Dinosaur David B

Tatosh wrote:Sat Jan 03, 1970 8:31 pm You got me curious on your new chubie... I can't wait to see it!


 
It's gonna be a more traditional, 80s-style superstrat than the other's I've done. The other's are more like traditional Strats -- vintage style trems, pickguards, but with HBs in two of them.  Gonna be a while for this one, though, because it's going to have a custom paint job, and there's a wait for the guy who does those for Chubtone.  :|
 
 
 
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bourbonsamurai
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Re: Trem bridge flat against the wood

Post: # 246692Post bourbonsamurai

cvansickle wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:39 pm I'm convinced that tuning reliability is more dependent on a well cut nut than it is on a bridge.

 
this, and gotoh locking tuners.  that said, i don't do EVH/Hendrix lunacy with my trem.  i still think if you're doing that typa stuff, it's gonna be difficult to top a Floyd Rose..
Joebuddha
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Re: Trem bridge flat against the wood

Post: # 246721Post Joebuddha

I have the bridge on my main Strat basically disabled. I got so used to having a fixed bridge with the PRS and Tele and I do a lot of double stop bends. 
Now I also have an Ibanez with a recessed cavity and an ESP with the Floyd decked Eddie style. 
After not using a bar for decades I've really begun to enjoy learning all the Vai solos I never learned as a kid with it. 
 
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