Floyd Rose non locking alternatives

[kevincurtis]

Related somewhat to this thread:

http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=13417.0

I am getting a Mighty Mite compound radius (9 1/2 - 12") neck for my Tokai strat and it is designed for use with a Floyd Rose, but I want to put on a VS100 as I cannot be bothered with arseing around sorting a locking trem and I dont need to go nuts with it either.

My questions concerns the neck radius - there are plenty of roller nuts, but non seem to give what radius they will work with, so .. does anyone know of a screw down, non trem nut that has a 9 1/2" radius? (Mighty Mite have their own, but cannot find a stockist in the UK).

Cheers

[Philly Q]

I should think the LSR roller nut is 9.5", since that's the standard radius on modern Fenders:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-LSR-Roller-nut-(NEW)_W0QQitemZ310066373797QQcmdZViewItem?IMSfp=TL0807121118a3081

[FELINEGUITARS]

LSR will be good and that price on ebay is way cheap!
You will have to remove  about 1-2mm from the end of the fingerboard to have it in the right place

[kevincurtis]

LSR will be good and that price on ebay is way cheap!
You will have to remove  about 1-2mm from the end of the fingerboard to have it in the right place

Now that makes me 'slightly' nervous! :( 

I take it that is purely because a floyd terminates up against the fingerboard whereas this has the rollers centered in the nut? In which case...is that kind of a cut fairly straightforward?

[Philly Q]

I take it that is purely because a floyd terminates up against the fingerboard whereas this has the rollers centered in the nut? In which case...is that kind of a cut fairly straightforward?

Yep, the Wilkinson roller nut was the same.  I've fitted a couple of those with my trusty Black & Decker router!  It's not too difficult so long as you use a template and make sure everything's held very securely.

[kevincurtis]

Not having a router makes me a trifle nervous, am thinking maybe it would be more straightforward to go for this:

http://www.allparts.uk.com/ebanol-metal-base-inch-p-4307.html?p=product

which you recommended in the other thread - main thing is to get the guitar up and running and I could always come back to the roller nut if the radius of the ebanol does cause issues...

[FELINEGUITARS]

They work well!

[kevincurtis]

Thanks guys, I think that is the way i will go then.

[kevincurtis]

Hi, numpty question coming up!

I have the new neck:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=110268936103&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=001

and have just gotten the ebanol nut, however it didn't come with any screws and fixing it is not as obvious as I would have liked  :oops:

The nut has 2 threaded screw holes, but these are larger than the holes predrilled in the neck. If I put Floyd neck screws in it looks like they would impede the strings over the nut, as well as requiring some extra drilling to the neck.

Any helpful hints gratefully received!

[Philly Q]

This isn't going to help, but looking at the pic of the ebanol nut I'm guessing it's designed for screws through the back of the neck, like the original Floyd Rose nuts?

[kevincurtis]

When I saw you had replied Philly I thought "excellent this will be a perl of wisdom that will get it sorted", but my hopes were dashed ;)

You are probably correct, I'm going to email Allparts to find out how it is supposed to be fixed, and why they don't mention needing a fixing kit of you aren't actually replacing an FR...

[Philly Q]

When I saw you had replied Philly I thought "excellent this will be a perl of wisdom that will get it sorted", but my hopes were dashed ;)

Sorry Kevin, I am fallible.

Very.

If I'd actually seen one of those ebanol nuts I might have some ideas.  Maybe you could plug the holes in the nut and redrill them smaller? 

Or - this could work - maybe just glue it in place like an ordinary nut?  It's a Strat neck so the strings will be in a straight line, not trying to pull the nut over to one side.  You'd only need a couple of little drops of glue, and it would be easy to remove again.

[kevincurtis]

well try not to be fallible too often! :)

I like the glueing idea, but without its metal baseplate the nut is too low. So I could shim it, but what would be suitable and glueable (wood obviously, but I don't have a spare piece of maple or similar).

At the moment I am slightly veering towards filling the holes as you suggest, redrilling through the neck, bolting from behind with the bolts slightly recessed into the neck to they are flat and out of the way. The thread of the ebanol nut should keep it in place, but that is a bit of a sledgehammer to crack a nut. (This bit was supposed to be easy - I still have to drill the holes in the neck to attach it, and redrill bridge holes to fit new VS100 :( )

Cheers

[WezV]

veneer and glue shoul see you right.... do you want some small off cuts of black veneer?

[Philly Q]

veneer and glue shoul see you right.... do you want some small off cuts of black veneer?

Sounds a good idea to me.  Lots of scope for error when drilling holes through the neck!  :P  I never liked those Floyd nuts with bolt recesses on the back of the neck.

Wez, whilst we're talking about bits of wood, can I be cheeky and ask a favour?  :oops: Do you by any chance have any offcuts of mahogany?  I need a small, flat piece (or pieces) to plug a P-90 cavity so I can re-rout it for a humbucker - and I'd rather not have to buy a whole plank!