Members Helldogg Posted March 10, 2008 Members Share Posted March 10, 2008 Like the title says. I have really been wanting one of these in Arctic White, the problem is NO shop in AZ has any to try. I have wanted a FR Strat forever (HUGE MAIDEN FAN) and have thought about a strat for years. I realize the pups are probably garbage (was thinking doing a Maiden thing and putting a Super D and PAF in it anyway) I am nervous about getting a guitar I haven't played, especially since MIM Strats are a mixed bag. Love the non recessed floyd, but its a ping only ever had OFRs. What is the workmanship like, frets etc. Basically is it a major fixerupper or with a pup swap its golden? Any thoughts would greatly appreciated or if you know anywhere in Phoenix that has the damn things! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members _pete_ Posted March 11, 2008 Members Share Posted March 11, 2008 The ones I've played are pretty nice.The Ping is nearly the same as the OFR. The block is brass instead of steel but the rest looks the same. It's the only lic. version that Floyd puts his name on FWIW.The Floyd is recessed in a way. It's a shallow recess just under the bridge but not under the fine tuners.The pickups are not terrible. Some like them just fine. You need to play it through your rig to know for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WakeTheDead Posted March 11, 2008 Members Share Posted March 11, 2008 I just bought a new black MIM FLoyd Strat from M.F. about two months ago. Here's my take on it (The Good, The Bad and The Ugly): 1st of all it arrived poorly setup with the bridge leaned way forward (off the body) to try and attempt a "full floating" status but this effectively caused the action to be way too high and the anquor pins were already screwed all the way (down so the action could not be lowered anymore than it already was). The body is not routed for full floating type setup. The Ping Floyd has the exact same dementions as the OFR (with exception of the two anquor studs which have a different thread count and a much smaller groove where the bridge rests up against them) but I immediately ordered a new OFR and locking nut from Warmoth for 170.00 and went to work on the guitar. Reason? The guitar would not come back to tune after using the trem. It would always return flat after a dive and sharp after a pull up on the bar. It really pissed me off so I changed it out for an original thinking at the time that it could not be remedied any other way. After taking off the Ping and inspecting it, I discovered the problem.... the two point anquor pin studs which screw into the body dowel plugs (or whatever they are called). The groves where the bridge rests up against them were extremely tight (small) causing the bridge to bind and not return to perfect tune after use. When comparing them to the ones that come with the OFR, the OFR studs (or screws) had a very wide groove for the bridge to rest up against which eliminated any binding and therefore results in perfect tuning stability. In retrospect, I could have just ordered these two mounting studs (with inserts) from Wormoth for 12 bucks and replaced the ones that came on the Strat and my tuning problems would have been solved. The quality of the Ping version of the Floyd seems very good other than the stud issues. Link: http://www.warmoth.com/hardware/bridges/pdf/Floyd_Rose_Parts.pdf The width of the two are exactly the same so I simply pulled the studs/plugs out with a claw hammer and pushed in the new OFR body plugs/studs in and replaced the bridge and locking nut (NOTE: OFR locking nut IS MUCH TALLER than the Ping's and I had to sand off quite a bit of wood off the neck to lower the OFR locking nut to the desired height). After changing the trem and locking nut out for an OFR version, I set the guitar up with the bridge resting on the body (dive only) for ease of quick alternate tunings, tweaked the truss rod to get it perfect, lowered the bridge (string height/action) set the pickup height and intonated the guitar and now I absolutely love it. The finish on the body looks good, the neck is perfect, frets were fine, bridge pup is pretty nice, other pickups were okay (for now), no other issues and I play the hell out of that thing daily now. I like it much better than my new American Deluxe Fat strat (which will be going up on e-bay soon) and I am planning on getting a white Floyd Strat now and doing the same conversion to it. Aside from the above mentioned tremolo issues (which could have been fixed for just $12.00 for a set of chrome studs and plugs)... the guitar is very nice and plays well now. I think it was money well spent and I am going to aquire a few more of these for my arsenal. I already have two Charvel San Dimas' and a USA Jackson DK1 (all of which have full floating Original Floyds) so it is nice to have a dive only Strat on call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Helldogg Posted March 11, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 11, 2008 And that is the problem, I love to check one out especially with my rig. I'm thinking of just pulling the trigger and take a shot at MF. Anyone with a different opinion? Or better yet someone in AZ that has one I can check out? Thanks wake! Perfect answer! I really loved the idea of a non floating trem, I have always had floaters and just wanted something different. Does the Ping FR have the same feel as a Floyd? Or is it just like the other crap lic versions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WakeTheDead Posted March 11, 2008 Members Share Posted March 11, 2008 No Problem Helldog! I was actually surprised at how much I actually enjoy playing this strat.... I left the 10's on it because all my other axes have 09's on them and it feels good to play 10's sometimes too! I also have a black '06 standard strat which has a maple neck/fingerboard and SSS config and I like that strat alot also (but I had to change the neck out after about 6 months... it developed a mind of it's own and warped in a different direction everyday. The rosewood fingerboard on the Maple neck of the Floyd strat seems alot better quality than the neck that came on my other MIM strat. It was perfectly straight, no issues at all and just feels alot more solid. Necks are pretty cheap and even if I may someday need to change out the neck on this guitar too, I will order up a custom birdseye Warmoth neck for it and have a really nice looking MIM Floyd strat. This neck seems fine though and I don't expect any issues with it for a long time. I do plan a pickup change in the near future though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Helldogg Posted March 11, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 11, 2008 What kind of action can you get on it? I was looking about and it says it has the micro tilt for the neck. True or false? Are the fret jumbo or are they more vintage? Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WakeTheDead Posted March 11, 2008 Members Share Posted March 11, 2008 I have the action set very low now (just the way I like it - comperable with my two Charvels and my Jackson but I haven't actually measured it). I don't have any problem with "buzzing frets" as with some cheaper guitars however, I get an overall slight buzz on whole note string bends on the upper end of the neck (15th fret or so and up) but this is due to the 12" neck radius and having the action set as low as I do. It's not such that it kills the note or the sustain and I don't really notice it unless playing it unplugged so it really is not an issue for me. It does become an issue if I try to bend up 1 and 1/2 steps or 2 whole notes at which point it frets out and kills the note. This doesn't happen on my other guitars with the 12-16" compound radius (or the Jackson with the 16" radius). This was not really an issue when I tried it with the action raised a bit but I like it as low as possible. I think if ever I need to replace the neck I will definately get a 12-16" compound radius neck for this reason. I believe that they do have a micro tilt neck but mine has a sticker over the hole in the neck plate and I have not removed it to see for sure (since this adjustment was not necessary for my setup this time). The frets feel more vintage than Jumbo but they are not a really low profile fret (nore or they a really high one). They feel comperable to the frets on my '07 American Deluxe Strat (if this helps any). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Nijyo Posted April 7, 2008 Members Share Posted April 7, 2008 I realize the pups are probably garbage (was thinking doing a Maiden thing and putting a Super D and PAF in it anyway) I know I'm resurrecting an old through but I thought I'd point out that Dave Murray actually uses SD Hot Rails in his FR AmerStrat. Janick might use the setup above, not sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OGG Posted April 7, 2008 Members Share Posted April 7, 2008 You could always try finding one of these... Mid 80's MIJ Strat with Fender System 1 Locking Tremolo. Easier than a Floyd, Better than a MIM, Rarer than Hell. OGG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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