floyd rose on strat help

W

wayne1991

New member
hey, just a quick qns to ask the pros..
i have a normal strat and im intending to install floyd rose on it,
are most of the floyd roses suitable for strat?
and do i need to route the cavity to bend up and down?
cause most the videos and pics i have seen, people just place the floyd rose right on top of the body
THANKS IN ADVANCE :)
 
yeah but does ur strat have a floyd rose cavity if it doesnt then u might think twice about carving it,if u make a mistake example:cavity route not correct,wood chips then u'll know
 
Do you mind spending the money? Haha go Guitar Connection in Peninsula and ask how much is it to fill up the original 6-screw holes, route a floating bridge cavity, drilling another 2 holes for the floating bridge's knife edges, and relacquering the carved out part.

I'm taking a wild guess of about $200 to $300. That's half the price of my guitar which's what's holding me back from doing it. Haha, not to forget, getting the floating bridge unit...
 
u better think twice about installing a floating bridge. it's kinda messy when u change strings, coz u need to adjust the bridge and spring tension. alot of work. besides, if u change diff gauge, then have to readjust everything all over again. but the floyd rose now is kinda oklar. unlike the old floyd rose where, if u use to much of the whammy, it will spoil ur guitar. ( the screw hole get better)

just my 2 cents
 
haha, dudes..
yeah, i know gc does floyd rose routing and installation,
but im just trying to diy..
and i got my another guitar which is my main guitar that has a fixed bridge
im just trying to modify this strat into a floyd guit for fun and experience and was wondering whether need to route..
well, i think i already got my answer from guitar101,
need to route if want to bend up and down, but if just place it on top of the body, can only bend down or something..
thanks for ur help anyway.. :)
 
if no route - you can still pull up. Just minimal.

If routed, your pull up is increased to say... open note on 3rd string to 5/6 frets up.
 
wayne1991, if you really wanna do it, then this is my advice

1. Get a Gotoh Floyd Rose or Ibanez Edge Pro, they're superior to many others. (The Gotoh is cheaper and easier to obtain)

2. You can install the FR right on top of the body, but that will only allow you to dive. You won't be able to pull up.

3. If you decide to route a cavity for it, measurements are very important. Take out too much wood and your guitar is screwed. Take out to little and your FR won't fit (i've got difficulty in unlocking the string-lock screws cos my cavity is JUST RIGHT for the trem). The area where the 2 trem studs are supposed to be has to be accurately routed. The holes for the trem stud holes have to be the exact right size too, if its too small and you try to force the studs in, you'll see that area of wood start to crack badly and give way, too big and you'll have tuning problems. You'll also PROBABLY have to enlarge the trem block cavity if you want to be able to fully pull up and dive the FR. (Mine had to be enlarged, but I know people who didn't enlarge the cavity but are still able to fully utilize the FR, its subjected to different guitars)

4. You'll also need to remove your current Nut and install the FR Locking Nut. After removing your old nut, you'll have to sand down that area to install the Locking one. It's important you do it carefully, a bit at a time and constantly checking the fitting of the locking nut. Once again you don't want to take out too much wood. You'll have to take note of your string height at the nut too.

5. There are 2 sizes for this Locking Nut. Make sure you've got the right size. Alignment is also very important. Not too much to the bass side or treble side (unless you want it that way).

6. Routing the tremolo cavity will cause one pickguard screw hole to be gone. You'll need to compensate by drilling another hole (but I didn't bother cos doesn't really make much a difference). Your pickguard bridge area will also have to be cut wider to compensate the FR.

7. Be wary of how you attach your routing template to your guitar and your method of routing. Some guitars with inferior paint jobs can end up with a lots of paint chipped of in areas you never thought could be possible. (this is caused by either using too much double sided tape to attach the template, or poor routing technique).

8. PATIENCE IS VERY IMPORTANT

Cheers bro! All the best for your project!
 
hmmm... if you used a wilkinson whammy
this one

WVS50IIK.jpg


you dont really need to route that much do you?
and how is the stability of this one?
 
wayne ... do post a pictorial here on the (mis)adventures of the FR rout ...

will be interesting

cheers
 
haha, np..
ive got a feeling might have some calculation error..
btw, the fastloader trem, since there aint info about the routing template,
can i just take it that it is the same as floyd rose pro?
cause they both look the most alike..
 
haha, i was thinking about that too, because got scratches on the frets anyway, but i scared i cant get used to the feel..
maybe just a slight scallop..
anyway the wilkinson trem can bend up right?
anyone know where to get lsr roller nuts?
 
the wilkinson trems that were designed to replace vintage trems can bend upwards (only those that use the two stems, not those with the 6 screws), however, it will be very limited without a lil routing of the block cavity.

One of the greatest hurdle would be the filling in of the six screw holes properly and drilling holes with the exact size for the new trem's stems. You can screw up chipping/filing off some wood but there's little room for error in the drilling process.
 
MadWereWolfBoy said:
the wilkinson trems that were designed to replace vintage trems can bend upwards (only those that use the two stems, not those with the 6 screws), however, it will be very limited without a lil routing of the block cavity.

One of the greatest hurdle would be the filling in of the six screw holes properly and drilling holes with the exact size for the new trem's stems. You can screw up chipping/filing off some wood but there's little room for error in the drilling process.
Click to expand...

hi Mad,

is the wikinson having the same functionality as compared to floyd or kahler?
meaning that height of dive bombing and whammy pull up is the same as foyd?

i think filling in the six screw holes is pretty easy as i check with my uncle whose a furniture contractor. bascially you can use satay stick or find some wood chips, apply some woodglue, or if you want to use max bond glue, fill it in and sand it off..
that should do the work.

btw.. just to check i am thinking of doing the same to a strat copy.
i need a body. a new body cost around $300, while i got easily buy a stagg or SX tear off .. it's much cheaper that way right?
 
Technically, the extent of pull-ups of a whammy is dependent of how much the guitar is routed. A greatly routed guitar with the double stem Wilkinson may be able go higher than a normal floyed routed guitar, however, it doesn't use a locking saddle and is more likely to make you go out of tune when it returns to zero. When it comes to stability, nothing beats a well made double-locking trem system.

About satay sticks and wood chips, I'd like to ask you, after filling up the holes, what's the next step? You got my attention there when you implied a guitar is a piece of furniture.. =)
 
Last edited:
MadWereWolfBoy said:
Technically, the extent of pull-ups of a whammy is dependent of how much the guitar is routed. A greatly routed guitar with the double stem Wilkinson may be able go higher than a normal floyed routed guitar, however, it doesn't use a locking saddle and is more likely to make you go out of tuen when it returns to zero. When it comes to stability, nothing beats a well made double-locking trem system.

About satay sticks and wood chips, I'd like to ask you, after filling up the holes, what's the next step? You got my attention there when you implied a guitar is a piece of furniture.. =)
Click to expand...


I see... got your point. will stick to purchase a kahler.

guitar is routed and shaped using the same tool for a furniture, so i don see the big problem with filling in the hole etc.. honestly. and plain carpenter can fill the holes...with wood chip. but to the extend of installation of trem.. you still have to leave to ppl like KC and Kevin.
 
The thing is, after fillin up the holes, new ones has to be drilled over the old ones. If weak materials was used to fill up the previous holes,will your new holes be able to support your new trem? A lot of pressure is put onto these 2 new holes, just try to remove a spring and multiply that by 5 springs from the spring claw behind your trem block to get an idea of how much force those 2 holes are supporting.

Also, after drilling new holes, we need to make those screw tracks so that screws can be screwed in, I think wood chips, satay sticks nor wood glue will give way.

Some materials i've heard before is wood filler and for an even crazier stability, epoxy (I'm also wondering how the screw tracks will be made in hardened epoxy but...).
 
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