Juggernaut Set Installed - Some Initial Impressions

[Dave Sloven]

Nice guitars.

Are you finding any benefit to the Sure Claw besides the ability to adjust it with an allen wrench?  I have the standard claw that comes with the Gotoh GE1996T, that bridge seems weighty enough without adding a heavy claw.

How do the Gotoh and Schaller bridges compare?

[fdesalvo]

Nice guitars.

Are you finding any benefit to the Sure Claw besides the ability to adjust it with an allen wrench?  I have the standard claw that comes with the Gotoh GE1996T, that bridge seems weighty enough without adding a heavy claw.

How do the Gotoh and Schaller bridges compare?

Hey, I can’t tell you how the Schaller rig compares at the moment since the guitar is still under construction. Here are my thoughts that led to the purchase. 

The 1996T is an outstanding bridge and I’ve no complaints. I just wanted an upgrade of the original design on this guitar. The claw won’t add to the tone as it’s sprung/unanchored mass. 

The Sure Claw’s benefits for me include being able to close that cavity with a plate and being able to use the common 3mm wrench to adjust tension on the fly. For me this means if I’m at a gig and my entire guitar is a few cents sharp or flat, I can adjust tuning globally at one point without having to go through the whole unlock/lock or tuning cycle. 

As an aside the guitars are set up with LSR roller nuts.  They stay in tune just as well as the locking nuts I’ve used in the past.

[Dave Sloven]

Yeah my point regarding the Sure Claw was not its effect on tone (which I suspect won't be much) but rather whether it will be worth it for the extra shoulder strain

I don't see a problem with installing one as long as the mounting screws don't go somewhere you would rather they didn't

[fdesalvo]

Ah I see.  It’s really lightweight, so you may not notice it at all.  You’d just have to decide if you’d use it for the tuning benefit I mentioned. One thing I do like is that regardless of where your trem is, the claw doesn’t change position. It’s always at the same location. Just another thing that’s likely a solution looking for a problem. But for a gadget guy, it’s the tits. One caveat is that there’s only room for three springs.

[Dave Sloven]

Sounds okay to me.

More than three springs then you are probably running too much string tension for a smoothly operating Floyd Rose anyway and you might as well block it.  There are heavier springs available so four should never really be necessary, at least not on a FR style trem.

The string tension I use is basically that of a 9-46 set in EADGBE tuning.  As I tune down I generally go up a set that gives me a similar tension, e.g. 10-52 for D standard or 11-56 for C standard.  This seems to work really well and doesn't overly stress the posts.