floating bridge question

[heshanj]

hey guys..
this forum has been great for answering questions i had, so i hope i can get this one answered too the thing is, im a bit confused about guitar bridges..wat is a floating bridge? a floyd rose style bridge, like an ibanez edge, is a floating bridge, right? and wat about the bridge found on any stratocaster? i think thats called the fender synchronized bridge...is this a floating bridge too? i know wat a fixed bridge is but im a bit confused about strat tremolo bridges and floating ones...
from wat ive researched online, a floating bridge is helped up by string tension and held down by spring tension...does this mean that the bridge is not attached to the guitar at all? whereas the strat trem system is similar but is screwed onto the guitar body? please clarify this, thanks!

 

[kaiwenny]

i dont think the bridge on a strat is a floating bridge hahaa. and a floating bridge is screwed to the guitar i think

 

[heshanj]

yeah, i dont think the strat is a floating bridge either but wats the difference, if floating bridges AND strat bridges are screwed on to the guitar?
also, to clarify, a floyd rose or similar bridges are floating, right?

 

[meekahsoh]

It is a floating bridge.

 

[RyanZ]

The ones found in Fenders are the normal tremolo bridges which allows dive bomb only.

Most of the floating tremolos you see in Ibanez etc, are the Floyd Rose licensed tremolo. The Floyd Rose system consists of a lock at the nut of the guitar, which prevents the tuning heads from being used and holds the strings. A "floating bridge", where the other end of the strings are also locked, hence, "double-locking". The locking system helps to keep the strings in tune while the strings are slackened to a degree which was not achieved with older tremolo systems.

The tremolo and the floating tremolo are two different types.

 

[hutkahn]

A strat bridge can be made to be 'floating' can't it? if the string tension is higher than the spring tension it will slightly 'float' :S

 

[marlonmm]

strat bridges are meant to float. it's balanced by the string tension and the spring tension. it you do it this way, you can get a semi-tone if you pull the trem away from the body.

they're not meant for dive bombing (imo) unlike the floyd rose trem. they're meant for warbles. although some people do a dive bomb from a strat trem.

 

[heshanj]

thanks for the replies, guys...
so wat ur all basically saying is that the strat bridge IS basically a kind of floating bridge too....i was thinking the same too, coz on my strat copy, the string tension is higher than the springs and the bridge is lifted a bit so i can bend up too...but its not really meant to be a floating bridge, i guess?

and for example, my friend was saying that he's never restrung a floating bridge before..but as ive restrung a strat, is that like restringing a floating bridge, or not as complex? thanks!

 

[hutkahn]

No, a floating bridge like floyd rose or ibanez's edge has a different restringing method than a strat's bridge..you can usually find websites that teach you how to restring for floating bridges through google

 

[heshanj]

ok, so the strat bridge is not technically a floating bridge...but it can kinda be made to float, thats all....yeah i know its way different to string a floyd rose or ibanez edge...but im just wondering about the term 'floating' and how it applies only to floyd rose style bridges, and not technically to a strat bridge..basically coz the strat bridge is originally built not to be floating but flush against the guitar's body? im being a bit fussy here lol, but i like to understand these things

 

[RyanZ]

A strat type tremolo is not a floating bridge and no, it does not float.

Floating bridge or Floyd Rose bridge is something like this,

Without the strings, it will not "float".

A tremolo bridge is like this,

 

[RyanZ]

ok, so the strat bridge is not technically a floating bridge...but it can kinda be made to float, thats all....yeah i know its way different to string a floyd rose or ibanez edge...but im just wondering about the term 'floating' and how it applies only to floyd rose style bridges, and not technically to a strat bridge..basically coz the strat bridge is originally built not to be floating but flush against the guitar's body? im being a bit fussy here lol, but i like to understand these things

The Floyd Rose tremolo works like this.

In position 1, you can see the bridge is parallel to the body as it is being pulled by the strings.

Position 2 and 3 is when you push down and pull up the tremolo arm.

 

[meekahsoh]

*borrowed pic

Floating? You decide.

 

[RyanZ]

A properly set up strat bridge should look like this

 

[heshanj]

thanks a lot for the replies guys...
i notice that u call the strat bridge as a tremolo and the other as a floating...
ok, i understand now...the floating bridge is the floyd rose type, that has different methods of restringing, etc, and actually floats...
the strat bridge is technically not meant to float, and hence not a floating bridge..however, as shown in pics, and in some strat bridges ive seen, the bridge can be lifted a bit and 'float', allowing movement in both ways..
also, a strat bridge is very stiff, right? like, when palm muting, it doesnt affect the note at all..while on my ibanez, i gotta be carefully when muting coz if i push too hard, and at a wrong spot, the bridge gets pushed quite easily and the note goes way off....thanks again for the awesome response

EDIT: both strat and floating bridges are screwed on to the guitar, right?

 

[marlonmm]

you can both set-up a strat trem like that. there's no hard rule that said it should be this way or that way. it's a matter of preference.

but... ideally it should have a clearance from the body. a wee fraction of an inch. the knife edge of the bridge (near the bridge pickup) allow it to do so. that way you can easily achieve a down bend.

some people liked it flushed to the body. if that's the case, you can't do an upward bend.

 

[marlonmm]

they should be. but not tightly screwed so the trem can play up/down.

 

[hutkahn]

hey that's my strat! Anyway the problem I had then with it 'floating' was that it's actually because the screws were too deep in. Although it was 'floating' you cant actually press down haha.. It has since been fixed and since I have a problem with my whammy hole on the bridge i made it flush to the body instead (being a 12 year-old guitar means having tuners, string trees that are not optimal..even bending can detune the string a little =/)

 

[meekahsoh]

Sorry for borrowing your pic without asking you first.

 

[hutkahn]

hey no problem! just surprised to see it thats all haha