Fuck Floyd Rose! (the fuck floyd rose thread)

[006]

Floyds suck because you break a string and guess what? YOU'RE FUCKED.

That alone does it for me. Unison bends are ALWAYS out of tune. There is absolutely NO technique that any player can possess that circumvents this. Period.

Tune-O-Matic or hard-tail with locking tuners for me until the day I die. I can properly setup a Floyd, or any of the licensed variants, and sure it stays in tune great... but so does every guitar I've owned with locking tuners and TOM or hard-tail. Even my MIM Fender Strats that have the 6-screw trems, I tighten the springs down so you can only dive, and then tighten it some more so it's actually difficult to dive with. With that and the stock (non-locking) tuners, I have never had tuning issues with those guitars. In my experience, Floyds have never been worth the hassles that come with them, as I already stated (bends, string breakage).

 

[STINNETT]

Floyds suck because you break a string and guess what? YOU'RE FUCKED.

That alone does it for me. Unison bends are ALWAYS out of tune. There is absolutely NO technique that any player can possess that circumvents this. Period.

Sure there is, unless you're using open strings. You just bend the other string a little bit too, and use your ears. If you do that a lot, you develop the muscle memory to do it pretty accurately.

Of course you can say that going through all of that is dumb, but for some of us, being able to move that bar is pretty damn important, so it's not a problem.

 

[Metaltastic]

but try bending a note on 1 string while a note on another string rings out, or try alternating between palm mutes and open chords, and you have disaster.

Not if you know what you're doing.

Which means:

When I say top mounted, I mean dive only - clamped against the body with just enough spring pressure to resist raising with a big bend. I hate that.

Not trying to be (too much of) a dick But I just wanna make clear how much I agree with this:

That alone does it for me. Unison bends are ALWAYS out of tune. There is absolutely NO technique that any player can possess that circumvents this. Period.

However, I'm in neither of the extreme parties; there's definitely more you can do with a whammy bar than all the ridiculous natural-harmonic dives and squeals and all that other nonsense so many death metal guitarists (over)use; I really like 'em for subtle little dips and expression you can add to lead playing, and I personally am fine with blocked to down-only so you can make the spring tension tight enough that *gasp* the bridge doesn't pull-up on bends, taking care of that problem I wouldn't want my only guitar to have a Floyd, that's for damn sure, but they have their place and I completely disagree with anyone who says they're impossible to live with! (or something to that effect)

 

[Sacha]

I don't like Floyds but I like floating trems. Vintage style ones like on the JP guitars, or PRS and also Parker with locking tuners work better for me.

I find most of the Floyd hardware pretty shitty, even the OFR ones, rust and wear out quite quickly. Also a pain in the ass to change strings and maintain.

They are definitely extremely stable when set up properly but I don't abuse the wang bar enough to justify it anymore.

 

[STINNETT]

The "knowing what your doing" remark was not about blocking the bridge.

It's easy to palm mute with a floating Floyd without pushing it sharp. You just have to be sensitive to it. You can't be ham-fisted and careless about it.

And you can do unison bends in tune as I described above.

I prefer a dive only trem now because I was swapping back and forth with fixed bridge guitars a lot and I got to where I prefered the firmer feel. I don't like the bridge to give when I bend, and I like to be able to change tunings easily. Those are fair reasons concerning personal taste.
But the OP seemed to be saying that people who defend Floyds suffer from these terrible shortcomings without even realizing it.

I played a floating bridge exclusively for years and I got used to all of the quirks. I thought it was worth it.

 

[Metaltastic]

Fair enough, you certainly have way more years of playing under your belt than I! (and with many different guitars as well, I've only owned 4 in my 9.5 years of playing, and only one with a double-locking trem )

 

[Line666]

Noob question alert:

So is the unison bend applicable to all tremolo setups or just floyds?

I ask because I was thinking of getting my next guitar with a floyd, having never really used a tremolo before, but I really love my unison bending so if that were the case I'd be pretty pissed at having to radically change my technique for it.

 

[Metaltastic]

The unison bend thing applies to all floating bridges, because the spring tension in the back can only be tight enough to counterbalance the string tension when tuned to pitch - on the other hand, with any trem that's blocked (either against the body, or from behind) for dive-only, you can tighten the spring claw on the back so that the bridge doesn't pull up regardless of how crazy you bend; this takes care of the issue of all other strings going out of tune if you break one as well. And when I say blocking from the back, I mean like this:

 

[stargazer7]

Floyds suck because you break a string and guess what? YOU'RE FUCKED.

That alone does it for me. Unison bends are ALWAYS out of tune. There is absolutely NO technique that any player can possess that circumvents this. Period.

Tune-O-Matic or hard-tail with locking tuners for me until the day I die. I can properly setup a Floyd, or any of the licensed variants, and sure it stays in tune great... but so does every guitar I've owned with locking tuners and TOM or hard-tail. Even my MIM Fender Strats that have the 6-screw trems, I tighten the springs down so you can only dive, and then tighten it some more so it's actually difficult to dive with. With that and the stock (non-locking) tuners, I have never had tuning issues with those guitars. In my experience, Floyds have never been worth the hassles that come with them, as I already stated (bends, string breakage).

This. Well said...006

I have over a dozen guitars, and only 1 guitar with a Floyd, and its only for that "weeeeeeeeerrrrrrwwwww, weeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrwwwwwwwwww" bullshit. Otherwise, I never touch the damn thing. I know metal guitarists that always abuse the FR when its time for a lead or solo. If you have the skillz, you dont really need a FR (unless you HAVE to dive bomb or wammy harmonics). Guys that are lacking in technique and phrasing, use the FR as a crutch.

 

[STINNETT]

You know, the more that you guys hate on Floyd Roses, the more I like em.


Makes me feel special.

 

[JonWormwood]

The "knowing what your doing" remark was not about blocking the bridge.

It's easy to palm mute with a floating Floyd without pushing it sharp. You just have to be sensitive to it. You can't be ham-fisted and careless about it.

And you can do unison bends in tune as I described above.

I prefer a dive only trem now because I was swapping back and forth with fixed bridge guitars a lot and I got to where I prefered the firmer feel. I don't like the bridge to give when I bend, and I like to be able to change tunings easily. Those are fair reasons concerning personal taste.
But the OP seemed to be saying that people who defend Floyds suffer from these terrible shortcomings without even realizing it.

I played a floating bridge exclusively for years and I got used to all of the quirks. I thought it was worth it.

Pretty much.

And flutters are the tits

 

[beyond dead]

(David Lee Roth)





So what you are saying is that Floyd sucks, because the guitarists you have met cant play for shit?
.. Bravo.

And im not "protective" over floyds at all.. but the things you are saying are all related to bad players, not bad equipment.
Even if you play a Les Paul you will pull the note sharp when muting so i dont get that point at all.. the double stop thing is something that comes with all floating setups.

Get a tremblocker if you are so annoyed by these guitarist, there, problem solved!

quote: BEYOND DEAD
I wish that the majority of guitarists would realize that they should only get a floyd if they need it. every guitar manufacturer needs to throw floyds on to sell guitars. end quote

elaboration: every wankster who knows a few metallica riffs has an RG with a floyd rose bridge. they insist on using this type of set up, even though it is far too advanced for their level of expertise. a good portion of floyd rose users dont use a whammy bar at all, and are unable to string and tune a guitar with a floyd system right.

about 80% of the guitarists I have seen (mostly in the underground scene) have been hindered by their insistent use of a floyd style bridge.

I even said in my other posts that when used properly, floyd rose bridges are useful tools, but they are one of the most commonly mis used tool.

then other floyd rose users get all offensive until other forum members come to the thread, and basically rehash the info I have posted, and somehow Im still the tit here?!?!?1

 

[Notuern]

elaboration: every wankster who knows a few metallica riffs has an RG with a floyd rose bridge. they insist on using this type of set up, even though it is far too advanced for their level of expertise. a good portion of floyd rose users dont use a whammy bar at all, and are unable to string and tune a guitar with a floyd system right.

I have to say that then there is a huge difference in the "guitar culture" over here.. in the store where i work we couldn't get the customers to touch a floyded guitar with a 5feet pole!

I'd say that 30% buy cheap Gibson knockoffs, 20% buy cheap Fender knockoffs, 40% buys Washrburn/ESP/Ibanez and the other 10% buy Fender/Gibson/PRS/Customshops.

about 80% of the guitarists I have seen (mostly in the underground scene) have been hindered by their insistent use of a floyd style bridge.

I even said in my other posts that when used properly, floyd rose bridges are useful tools, but they are one of the most commonly mis used tool.

Yes, you did say that they can be useful tools in your other post.. then you continued bashing FLOYDS instead of shitty guitarists.
Next time a shitty guitarist comes in, are you going to flame on the guitar or the amp?

then other floyd rose users get all offensive until other forum members come to the thread, and basically rehash the info I have posted, and somehow Im still the tit here?!?!?1

Not true at all.. NO-ONE went offensive at all.
Please quote what you found offensive? ;X

 

[Andy Sneap]

try a kahler and then come back to us about floyds ok?

 

[Harry Hughes]

I own both a fixed bridge and a locking trem guitar.
Best of both worlds that way.
That being said, instead of a locking nut, I'd much prefer a graphtec nut and locking tuners, because I'm not one of those "Steve Vai craziness" type Floyd users, I'm more into doing the subtle techniques with the bar

 

[stargazer7]

try a kahler and then come back to us about floyds ok?

Admittedly, Ive never tried A Kahler before. It does look like it can be more secure and stable, but I don't know anything about those things. Guess I'll have to try one, one of these days. The best bridges Ive ever played are on my Parker Fly guitars. Those things are awesome. The dive's aren't quite as deep as a double locking system, but what they lack in that department, they make up for in ease of use and flexibility.

Picks of the Kahler 7200 Hybrid Tremolo, for tune-o-matic style bridges & Parker Fly bridge...

 

[lolzgreg]

I used to have a Parker. The trem was great because it locks 100%. It was pure genius. Too bad the guitar felt so unnatural to play with that body shape. Traded it for my Dual Rectifier Rackmount which I sold to Lasse and bought my 2010 Dual Rectifier. Everything works out.

 

[Andy Sneap]

i was being sarcastic about the kahler, i did have a floyd on an old fernandes tho where a pin dropped into a grove and locked the bar where the arm was down. Wilkinson do a similar thing

 

[Mikaël-ange]

this!

OFR is the shit

Totally agree with this... I can't imagine play without FR

 

[Jevil]

I am extremely Floydist.

IMO iitting of the string is much more confortable, for palm muting and for technical riffing it is great.

2 years ago I bought a fixed-bridge super sexy Washburn. After 6 months I had to sell it, could'nt get used to it and got a Schecter with a lovely FR.