The point of getting a Floyd Rose bridge to work properly is to match the string tension with the spring tension inside the body. The strings are locked into place at the nut. If set up correctly, the bridge will "float" in between these two sets of tension. This means you can lower or even raise a note by pushing down or pulling up on the trem arm, and it will snap back to the original tuning when you release. It's a mechanical marvel, truly, but there are drawbacks. If you break a string, the springs will pull all of the other strings sharp, so much as to make it unplayable until you change your strings and reset the bridge all over again. This is what is meant by the rule at the beginning of this post.
I LOVE my USA Jackson SL2H Soloist. Such a killer guitar. The neck-through body, the 12- to 16-inch compound radius neck, the bookmatched flame maple top, the jumbo frets, the sharkfin inlays, the transparent green finish, and the Floyd Rose trem. Everything about it screams SHRED, and it has continued to be a source of inspiration. My current green Soloist is actually my second one; my first one had a metallic black finish and I rocked it when I was playing for a metal/hardcore band called Overcome back in 2010-2011. I sold the black one to help take care of moving expenses to come to Seattle, and missed it so much that I just had to own another.
Overcome at Cornerstone Festival, July 2010.
Right from the moment I had one, I took "proper" care of the Floyd Rose bridge, and it in turn took care of me. Setup and maintenance on these things can be awfully tedious, and there are a number of shortcuts available to quickly tweak an FR into a basic playable condition. Jason, the other guitarist in my band back in the Overcome days, resorted to the shortcut method(s), and he usually had tuning problems with it. During a show, I never needed to touch the bridge's micro tuners; my tuning always stayed dead center, even when I dive-bombed the hell out of my strings (I've chosen Ernie Ball as my lifetime preferred string brand for their strength). I still broke quite a few strings, but thankfully enough it only ever happened at practice and never at a show. If you take the extra time to set it up correctly, there are real advantages to be gained.
And so it's no surprise to me that I should want Big Riff to sport a Floyd Rose trem. The performance characteristics are just incredible and, just like the sustaining pickup devices described in my last post, useful for more than just metal.
One day at a certain major musical instrument retailer I used to work for, I sat down for a demo session with one of the newer Eddie Van Halen Wolfgang Special guitars. Fast and snappy attack, but flawed with way-too-small frets. What I liked best was the new "EVH-licensed!" Floyd Rose D-tuna system. It's a small device that fits on the tail end of the bridge at the low E string to quickly and accurately drop the string's tuning when you want to play in Drop D. If I remember correctly, in years past Ibanez at least has had this option available with their own version of a locking trem bridge. Anyway, the EVH D-tuna is an aftermarket part that can be retrofitted relatively easily into any existing Floyd. It runs for about fifty bucks. I'm definitely interested in this for my Warmoth Strat.
I do have a couple of glaring concerns with the D-tuna, though. I've only ever seen the D-tuna installed on a Floyd Rose bridge that isn't the fully floating kind—it rests directly on the body when the trem arm isn't being pulled.
Stock image. The EVH D-tuna is originally meant to be fitted to Floyd Rose bridges that rest flat against the body.
Warmoth's angled pocket routing option on the left allows for the version of the Floyd that rests on the body. The routing option on the right is the traditional style that includes space for pulling up on the trem arm, allowing for notes to be raised.
If I try to install the D-tuna on a floating bridge, there may be an issue with the action of setting the low string from E to D and vice versa, offsetting the tuning of the other strings. Remember how string tension is balanced with spring tension? Since the "fixed" version of the FR rests on the body, notes can be lowered or dive-bombed, but can't be raised. I need to know if the float is interrupted by having a D-tuna... hopefully not.If I'm in the clear with what I want out of the D-tuna and the FR's float capability, there's a second issue at hand to deal with. I'd have to have an additional section of wood routed out on the top to accomodate the inch or so of the D-tuna's length if I raise up on the trem bar. Routing wood like this actually isn't much of a technical issue, but since I want the body to come from Warmoth pre-painted, I'd have to call and ask them if they will do an extra special custom job in this area. I want the body and paint job looking totally pro.
Yes! I'm hoping it would be possible to call up Warmoth and ask them to rout an additional section of wood as shown here. Do what I ask and I'll give ya MONEY!
One additional thing I need to find out. On the design section of Warmoth's website, when I add the Floyd Rose, the locking nut is also included, but apparently there are different models listed as R2, R3, R4, and R5. Never seen this before. I'll have to look into it (and possibly think of the neck design sooner than I intended) so I get this right.
This and the sustainer devices are the biggest technical details I need to have sorted out for Big Riff. The rest will come easy, but for now it's
research,
research...
RESEARCH!
Marty Friedman at his Jackson/Floyd Rose shredtastic best.
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