Floyd Rose Discussion

I'll probably go with Andy's recommendation and for now just use the Special's posts and see how that works out.
The Gotoh bushing is a completely different size diameter, depth and thread. Don't pull the bushings because drilling it to take the gotoh is a definite job for a tech. The German Floyd studs fit in the special bushings but unless they are damaged keep the existing ones.
 
Correct. The Gotoh's bushings are actually not open. But I think the Special one's are!

I didn't see a locking mechanism on the posts/bushings of the Special. The posts are definitely wiggly in the bushings.

The Gotoh does have a smaller screw accessible from the top of the post. My assumption is once you adjusted the height to your liking you tighten that little screw to stop the wiggling.

View attachment 101513
A little Teflon tape will take care of the wiggle.
 
Gotoh installed, tuning stability still lousy.

I think the problem might still be at the nut. I lowered the string tree bar to give all strings more length to hug the nut, ensuring the locked nut would not allow string slippage. Tightened the nut screws pretty well.

An observation I made is that, with the locked nut, mind you, if I lower the bar and strike the strings behind the locked nut that the string tension goes down, especially on the G string. (Not seeing this with my wonderfully working FR on my MIK LTD SN1000FR).

I wonder whether the nut itself is not screwed down tight enough. It is just the two small wood screws from the top, and when I replaced the Special nut I already had to be really careful as I think they were overtightened before, and they might not give enough grip now. I cannot see or feel the nut itself move though.

I think the neck itself is not a problem. I can pull the headstock back and forth pretty hard (what some Les Paul players would do) and the string tuning barely moves.

Here the Gotoh:

1652116130404.png
 
Gotoh installed, tuning stability still lousy.

I think the problem might still be at the nut. I lowered the string tree bar to give all strings more length to hug the nut, ensuring the locked nut would not allow string slippage. Tightened the nut screws pretty well.

An observation I made is that, with the locked nut, mind you, if I lower the bar and strike the strings behind the locked nut that the string tension goes down, especially on the G string. (Not seeing this with my wonderfully working FR on my MIK LTD SN1000FR).

I wonder whether the nut itself is not screwed down tight enough. It is just the two small wood screws from the top, and when I replaced the Special nut I already had to be really careful as I think they were overtightened before, and they might not give enough grip now. I cannot see or feel the nut itself move though.

I think the neck itself is not a problem. I can pull the headstock back and forth pretty hard (what some Les Paul players would do) and the string tuning barely moves.

Here the Gotoh:

View attachment 101564
I'm too lazy to go back and reread the entire thread...Have you made sure there's no contact between ANY part of the floyd and the body of the guitar (other than the 2 posts)? Also, are you sure your strings are completely stretched? Sorry for the "obvious" questions, but sometimes it's the simple stuff that bites us in the ass.
 
that low E side of the socket where the trem meets the post isn't broken?..What would be holding the outside of the post on the trem?...Don't know gotoh well so sorry if it's a foolish question
 
@Henry Is it possible that the posts themselves are not installed properly? I could imagine that if the posts were slightly askew it could mess with tuning stability no matter the condition of the knife edges or the quality of the bridge installed.
 
I'm too lazy to go back and reread the entire thread...Have you made sure there's no contact between ANY part of the floyd and the body of the guitar (other than the 2 posts)? Also, are you sure your strings are completely stretched? Sorry for the "obvious" questions, but sometimes it's the simple stuff that bites us in the ass.
Yep, the obvious things are covered I think!
 
@Henry Is it possible that the posts themselves are not installed properly? I could imagine that if the posts were slightly askew it could mess with tuning stability no matter the condition of the knife edges or the quality of the bridge installed.

I think the posts are alright. I almost all but convinced myself that the problem is at the nut. Nut itself not tightly enough screwed to the neck.
 
The nut MUST be screwed down to the neck tight to the point of stripping out . The nut clamps MUST be tightened down hard with the string retainer bar low enough to lock the nut without the pitch changing.
The bridge has to move throughout its range without touching anything however slightly, including the springs. My guess is the nut is moving and not tight enough . That system set up correctly is practically impossible to put out of tune.
 
that low E side of the socket where the trem meets the post isn't broken?..What would be holding the outside of the post on the trem?...Don't know gotoh well so sorry if it's a foolish question
Only one side is open so this just reduces the possibility of unwanted friction and the one C shaped knife edge is perfectly able to keep the trem positioned correctly.
 
If the nut is loose on the neck you will see it move when you deck the trem. Suhr super glues them down as well but it isn't needed if it is screwed down properly.
Super glue did come to mind :)

I'll first try to make the top screws hold better. If still no dice, I'll probably drill through and use the screws from the underside.
 
that low E side of the socket where the trem meets the post isn't broken?..What would be holding the outside of the post on the trem?...Don't know gotoh well so sorry if it's a foolish question
That’s an old mechanical engineer’s trick. The treble side establishes horizontal position. If both sides are restrained horizontally, the dimensions have to be perfect. Any deviation from perfection will cause binding. But with one edge straight, that doesn’t matter.
 
Super glue did come to mind :)

I'll first try to make the top screws hold better. If still no dice, I'll probably drill through and use the screws from the underside.
I seriously don't recommend you do this yourself because you need a drill press and the countersink is done using using a step bit. Also drilling through has the risk of a split out due to the curved surface on the back of the neck you are drilling out of . There is an easier way but it still requires a drill press. First you would go through from the top with a very small drill to effectively act as a centre. Then drill out the counter sink with the right size dowel drill with the centre using the small pilot hole to allow you to drill in to a curved surface cleanly . Then finally through again with the bolt diameter. As you can see there is a lot to go cosmetically wrong without the right process and perfect drills for the job . I think it would be cheaper to get a tech to do it than buy the drill bits and that's if you have a drill press.
 
I seriously don't recommend you do this yourself because you need a drill press and the countersink is done using using a step bit. Also drilling through has the risk of a split out due to the curved surface on the back of the neck you are drilling out of . There is an easier way but it still requires a drill press. First you would go through from the top with a very small drill to effectively act as a centre. Then drill out the counter sink with the right size dowel drill with the centre using the small pilot hole to allow you to drill in to a curved surface cleanly . Then finally through again with the bolt diameter. As you can see there is a lot to go cosmetically wrong without the right process and perfect drills for the job . I think it would be cheaper to get a tech to do it than buy the drill bits and that's if you have a drill press.

Thanks Andy, I very much appreciate all the advice you are giving! I do have a drill press but I'm definitely either considering this as last resort or like you said bring it to a tech!
 
I did what Andy said to an old Hamer neck a couple years ago. I had a Hamer Diablo with all sorts of tuning issues. It originally had the nut screwed down on top of the neck. Personally, I don’t like that method in attaching locknuts. I prefer the old way of drilling through the neck. The nut squeezes down on itself through the wood and cannot move. It seems the ones attached on top would be under a lot of constant stress when using the bar with two small wood screws being its only anchor. I can’t believe all the manufacturers installing locknuts on top. This is the first I’ve heard of someone adding super glue. That Gotoh is a solid bridge and you shouldn’t be having issues with that. It’s most definitely the nut unless the bridge is binding somewhere but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
 
Last edited:
Kudos for the wealth of information Andy and others, also for asking questions. I reminded myself that one of the screws in my locking nut wasn't able to tighten down, pretty much stripped, a small piece of popsicle stick, a bit of wood glue, screwed it in, removed the screw, let dry overnight and was able to lock that screw down tight finally. Now I tune unlocked and lock up with tuning intact. With my 1080 PB I also have locking strings, I had a weird harmonic ping buzz sound, turned out 2 of my locking tuners were not tight, rattling away, something I wouldn't check once the locking nut is locked.
 
Back
Top Bottom