Members Bobby D Posted June 5, 2009 Members Share Posted June 5, 2009 Heh....for those of you unfortunate souls who use the Floyd, as I have since 1982, there hasn't been much in the way of upgrades. Nothing has ever come out that's better than the original Floyd Rose when it comes to vibratos that REALLY stay in tune for long periods of time with extreme vibrato use. However, Adam at floydupgrades.com has some REALLY cool stuff. I decided to start out with a full set of stainless steel screws. As you know, the standard "gun metal blued" screws start to rust as soon as you sweat on them. And since I libe and gig in Florida, I get more than my share of humidity, salt air, and I also have some of the most caustic sweat known to man. Here's pics of the Floyd before I started the process: Here's the set of new hardware, all fresh and shiny: I started with the locking nut first, cleaning the areas under the locking surface, and replacing the standard screws with the new stainless steel models: But that's the EASY part. Now, onto the individual bridge saddles. underneath my saddles was some REALLY nasty gunk from the last 2 years of gigs: But then, after some cleaning, elbow grease, and an old toothbrush to clean it all up, and all the fresh new screws installed, it's quite a bit better looking: Next up will probably be some solid titanium blocks for the bridge insert pieces -- those undergo a lot of stress from locking, and rust very easily as well. And when I'm a little more "flush" with some cash, maybe one of those titanium trem blocks, for some added sustain and tone! Hope you Floyd maniacs enjoyed my little essay. If you want to do it yourself, hook up with Adam at floydupgrades.com, he was a cool guy to deal with, shipped me my stuff fast, and answered my email questions quickly and nicely. And while you are there, drool over those $800 titanium bridgepieces that Warren DeMartini is using....I don't think I'll ever go THAT far.....but they look cool as all get out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stricken Posted June 5, 2009 Members Share Posted June 5, 2009 Jeez all that rust... Its of course nice better now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby D Posted June 5, 2009 Author Members Share Posted June 5, 2009 Jeez all that rust... Its of course nice better now yeah, it was NASTY under the bridge pieces....plus, all the original gun metal blued screws were all rusty. these new stainless steel screws will last a LOT longer. but it was a lotta work this afternoon to get it all cleaned up, restrung, and ready for action this weekend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FloydUpgrades.c Posted June 5, 2009 Members Share Posted June 5, 2009 Hey Bobby - Thanks for the mention!There are instructional videos on the site for setups and installs. You did a great job on that mucked up bridge! The titanium inserts and big block will be a help as well. You Rock - Cheers~Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby D Posted June 5, 2009 Author Members Share Posted June 5, 2009 Hey Bobby - Thanks for the mention! There are instructional videos on the site for setups and installs. You did a great job on that mucked up bridge! The titanium inserts and big block will be a help as well. You Rock - Cheers~ Adam thanks Adam! i have been working on these things since 1982......so i knew what to do....but it sure was time to CLEAN it up for sure. someone asked about the difference between the brass and titanium blocks, and how the titanium can have as much sustain as the brass models without the weight. i believe it is because of the MASS and density of the titanium, but i could be wrong.... next up...titanium inserts and a titanium block....in a few weeks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cylon Posted June 5, 2009 Members Share Posted June 5, 2009 wow kick ass site wish i heard of this before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby D Posted June 5, 2009 Author Members Share Posted June 5, 2009 wow kick ass site wish i heard of this before. yeah...adam doesn't have some huge advertising budget, and it costs a LOT to work with titanium parts. i have been drooling over some of this stuff for a while, and finally took the plunge to buy the screws, as all of mine were getting rusty from all the gigs i do, especially the salt air from the beach gigs and the key west gigs. and...for some reason....i have CAUSTIC sweat. i can "relic" a typical strat bridge pretty nicely in only 6 months or less of gigs. i'm surprised no one else has thought to do this earlier. the 80s floyds were made pretty well, but many of the modern "copies" or licensed floyds SUCK, imho......my particular floyd is from mid 80s, when they first started using the "collar" system instead of the screw in bar like on the first series. but even my old school one has a wimpy block, and i want that titanium block on there. if warren demartini is using it, i trust his judgement Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Armitage Posted June 5, 2009 Members Share Posted June 5, 2009 I put a drop of oil on the little blocks every couple years and don't have any rust on twenty year old Floyds... I'd like to try the titanium blocks one day though. I'm forever changing blocks out on buddies guitars. They've crushed them. Some people shouldn't have tools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 211dave112 Posted June 5, 2009 Members Share Posted June 5, 2009 never hd a floyd but this, http://floydupgrades.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=73&products_id=196 , is such a clever idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members B Money Posted June 5, 2009 Members Share Posted June 5, 2009 the thing about those blocks is; you really don't need to tighten the screws all that much to get the strings locked. That goes for the nut and the blocks behind the saddles. Over the years I've delevoped a pretty good feel for how much to tighten those things, and you'd be suprised how little torque you can get away with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members peavey_impact Posted June 5, 2009 Members Share Posted June 5, 2009 Awesome. My Schaller from 1989 is in pretty terrible condition appearance wise, still rock solid though. Like a dumbass I stripped some of the fine tuner screws a bit so they lost a lot of range. I guess I'll just have to man up and buy a new trem at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members webwarmiller Posted June 5, 2009 Members Share Posted June 5, 2009 Luckily I can find all those screws in stainless at a local hardware store that stocks just about every type of screw imaginable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members -=Pennywise=- Posted June 5, 2009 Members Share Posted June 5, 2009 $250 for a titanium block? That's worth more than an entire original floyd itself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members aliensporebomb Posted June 5, 2009 Members Share Posted June 5, 2009 Checking that site.... I've got two guitars with Floyd style trems (one 20 year old Gotoh andone other licensed) and then one actual Floyd Rose trem that I believeI killed trying to use it with Fripp's new standard tuning. Looks like I can get slick swanky parts to snazz them up for the nextdecade or two of playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bubkus_jones Posted June 5, 2009 Members Share Posted June 5, 2009 $250 for a titanium block? That's worth more than an entire original floyd itself! Guess you didn't see the $800 for the titanium saddles. Anyways, to get all the available upgrades, you're looking at $1200 before taxes/shipping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members -=Pennywise=- Posted June 5, 2009 Members Share Posted June 5, 2009 Guess you didn't see the $800 for the titanium saddles.Anyways, to get all the available upgrades, you're looking at $1200 before taxes/shipping. that's just plain {censored}ed up.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wimpy77 Posted June 5, 2009 Members Share Posted June 5, 2009 $250 for a titanium block? That's worth more than an entire original floyd itself! they are expensive but titanium isn't cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby D Posted June 5, 2009 Author Members Share Posted June 5, 2009 they are expensive but titanium isn't cheap. nor is it easy to work with.....it's EXPENSIVE to mill titanium. i'm not flush enough to get those saddles, for SURE..... but i am gonna try both the big brass block AND the titanium one, and see which one sounds better to my ears. Adam is gonna let me return the one that I don't use, which is cool best bet is to pimp a little at a time....get some screws.....then maybe a block..... if i HAD the extra $$$, i would FOR SURE get those saddles :love: but you need to REALLY be a floyd maniac to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby D Posted June 5, 2009 Author Members Share Posted June 5, 2009 $250 for a titanium block? That's worth more than an entire original floyd itself! actually, a new floyd rose original (a REAL one, not an import or copy or "licensed" one) is more than $250 list....and the REAL old school ones from early 80s will fetch up to $500..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members aliensporebomb Posted June 8, 2009 Members Share Posted June 8, 2009 actually, a new floyd rose original (a REAL one, not an import or copy or "licensed" one) is more than $250 list....and the REAL old school ones from early 80s will fetch up to $500..... $500!?!?!?!? WHY?!?!?!?!?! I've got a real OFR from 87 or so sitting on my desk downstairs, justneeds some parts replaced for it to get back into action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bubkus_jones Posted June 8, 2009 Members Share Posted June 8, 2009 actually, a new floyd rose original (a REAL one, not an import or copy or "licensed" one) is more than $250 list....and the REAL old school ones from early 80s will fetch up to $500..... Who cares about list prices? You can get an OFR from Warmoth for $170 in chrome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members shredtilurded Posted June 8, 2009 Members Share Posted June 8, 2009 actually, a new floyd rose original (a REAL one, not an import or copy or "licensed" one) is more than $250 list....and the REAL old school ones from early 80s will fetch up to $500..... Are those the prices you're paying? I've bought 2 German made OFR this past year for $175 ea. shipped.I've seen those '80s Floyds on ebay but not for anywhere near $500.Could be fakes though,tough to tell from a pic:idk: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members humbuckerstrat Posted June 8, 2009 Members Share Posted June 8, 2009 Yeah, Floydupgrades.com is awesome, and Mr. Reiver's videos are a great help in figuring out, tuning, upgrading and intonating a Floyd. I got all the stainless steel screws, ttitanium inserts and a brass block for the one OFR that I have. Which is the great thing about an having OFR, you can upgrade it with FloydUpgrades parts, and it will make a big difference in tone and feel, at least it did for me. I'm happy with the $34 brass black, tho, I don't think I'd spring for the titanium one. The inserts, yeah, but not the block. But thanks for having such a great site, Adam, us "Floyd Maniacs" very much appreciate it:cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members aliensporebomb Posted June 9, 2009 Members Share Posted June 9, 2009 I'm frankly pretty happy with the tone I have with my floyd equippedinstruments, what I really long for is even better tuning stability. I know this sounds crazy but I ran .013s on my Jackson Soloist forseveral years because I could whammy fearlessly and NEVER go outof tune. I've since dropped from the .013s to .011s to .010s (I ain't getting anyyounger) and the .010s are more or less stable but you can't really do what you want without some slight variations in tuning happening. Of course, I need to do some maintenance on the Soloist where thelicensed Gotoh version on my Heartfield has been bomb proof fornearly 20 years... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members humbuckerstrat Posted June 9, 2009 Members Share Posted June 9, 2009 I'm frankly pretty happy with the tone I have with my floyd equipped instruments, what I really long for is even better tuning stability. I know this sounds crazy but I ran .013s on my Jackson Soloist for several years because I could whammy fearlessly and NEVER go out of tune. I've since dropped from the .013s to .011s to .010s (I ain't getting any younger) and the .010s are more or less stable but you can't really do what you want without some slight variations in tuning happening. Of course, I need to do some maintenance on the Soloist where the licensed Gotoh version on my Heartfield has been bomb proof for nearly 20 years... Wow, there must be something wrong with my guitar (I wouldn't doubt it), because I can't use anything higher than 9.5-43 gauge strings on them without the strings popping out of the saddles. 13s on a Floyd? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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