Floyd Rose Trems

[Simon D]

Hi guys,

Apologies to all if this has come up before, but I'm looking for opinions as to which Floyd Rose style trem to go for, for my a Warmoth superstrat I'm building shortly. I'd like to know what those with experience think of Original Floyd, Schaller and Gotoh units in particular. I'm pretty much limited to those three types because of the routs Warmoth offer. I'm aware some of the more modern Ibanez units are very good, but I really don't want to have to start hacking a brand new finished body about!

Anyway, all advice and help is gratefully received,
Cheers,
Si.

[FELINEGUITARS]

Simon - the FRT original is the one to go for IMO

[Jonny]

Not so long ago I heard the OFR had gone down in standard and the Schaller FR was the dogs bollocks. But that was a while ago, not sure what they've done.

But I would go for an OFR still. Heck, I have an LFR and it is $%&#ing awesome. However the only one I've tried that is $%&#ing awesome. So I think you should keep that in mind with OFR/Schaller/Gotoh.

[FELINEGUITARS]

Schaller make the Floyd Rose Original - so quality will be similar
I prefer the construction of the Original over the FRT 2 which is the Schaller one

[Lew]

Some stuff from Suhr, WezV and Legra about it in this thread http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=13069.0.

I'm not too keen on the cast metal the Schaller uses as it looks and feels kinda cheap(I've had it on loads of guitars and it works fine), just prefer the chunky metal on the OFR and Gotoh.
I would be happy with any tbh aslong as it's set up well, but I prefer the Gotoh just because of the way it feels, nothing to do with the tone. It has the fine tuners angled away so your palm doesn't hit them or rest on them and the saddles are really nicely rounded so it feels smooth to rest on unlike the square saddles and the pop in trem is great.

[Lazy_McDoesnothing]

For me it would be an Ibanez Original Edge for familiarity, quality, looks, and feel.  I haven't tried any of their newer trems yet but I hear they're pretty good. 

Also, even though I know they're good trems I never liked the way OFRs look IMO.

[TwilightOdyssey]

OFR!!

[dave_mc]

i like the gotoh but to be honest any of those are good quality units, it's mainly about personal preference (which is hard when you haven't tried them).

if you want to see if you can get to try all those, musicman and suhr use gotohs, caparison and high-end washburns use schallers, and things like jackson USAs use OFRs...

I've heard that some OFRs are now starting to be made in korea (i think they're called the FR-1000/2000/3000 T (chrome/black/gold given by the 1/2/3 in the number, i think), things like the jackson sl3, those new charvels etc. might have them. so just be careful, i guess, i have no idea if the korean ones are worse, better, or the same quality as the older ones, but it's worth bearing in mind.

[FELINEGUITARS]

Yeah the FRT 100/200/300 are the German made ones

Maybe the ones that come on a guitar that retails for under £600 are likely to be made not in Germany
I know the units I buy in and use are all made in Germany

[Philly Q]

Slightly off topic, but have Schaller now got over their troubles and returned to full production?  It was really difficult to get hold of their stuff for a while.

[FELINEGUITARS]

Yeah they seem to have found their way again
Didn't help with having both senior partners die in close succession

Stentor music are the UK distributor for most of their lines
The OFR are handled differently - we get them in from their official distributor
We toyed with getting them in from the states but the exchange rate isn't very healthy for that anymore.

[Simon D]

Cheers for all the replies guys, much appreciated. Does anyone know where I could find a detailed schematic for a Gotoh floyd? I've found full diagrams for the other. but not had much luck with the Gotoh.  - Edit - ignore, I didn't look hard enough - Dave Mc posted a link in the thread Lew linke to!

Cheers,
Si

[noodleplugerine]

OFR.

[MDV]

I'm tempted to advise the only one I havent tried, actually - the gotoh.

Reason being, Bob @ legra, who built my awesome number one guitar, was a mechanical engineer for ~20 years before lutier, and he says they're the best engineered.

It was in a thread in here a while ago (I've never wanted bob to put a trem in the guitar I have, or one I nearly got built, so it wasnt in private exchange). Alas, I dont remember it.

[dave_mc]

Yeah the FRT 100/200/300 are the German made ones

Maybe the ones that come on a guitar that retails for under £600 are likely to be made not in Germany
I know the units I buy in and use are all made in Germany

ah, thanks for that, jonathan, that's handy to know. :)

Cheers for all the replies guys, much appreciated. Does anyone know where I could find a detailed schematic for a Gotoh floyd? I've found full diagrams for the other. but not had much luck with the Gotoh.  - Edit - ignore, I didn't look hard enough - Dave Mc posted a link in the thread Lew linke to!

Cheers,
Si

:D