Brad737
This space for rent...
Hello all,
I still have a few guitars equipped with Floyd Rose trems. They're certainly not my favorite, but they do have their place. Floyds always draw a lot of complaints, mostly about stringing and setting up, but I beat those challenges a long time ago. The most serious drawback to me has always been the tone, or lack thereof. That's the gist of this post, just passing along a couple things I've found that help.
First off, the stock sustain block on most Floyds is tiny. They're basically just big enough to mount the springs. I've become a huge advocate of those big trem blocks. I've replaced the stock sustain blocks on every trem-equipped guitar I own, except the ones with MannMade or MilCom solid trems. (I used a KGC Mega Mass on the only non-MannMade PRS I have, and a Callaham on my Strat.). All the rest I've used the biggest brass sustain blocks that will fit without shaving wood. I prefer the 42mm, but in a couple guitars, I had to step down to 37mm...that's still a LOT more mass than the stock block. It's one of the few tone tricks that really works. Better, bigger tone, and more sustain. I know some guys use titanium, tungsten, or even granite, but brass works great, and is a lot cheaper.
I know you all have probably heard all that before. So here's where I spill a little secret. This actually is a mod that Eddie Van Halen came up with years ago. But I just found out about it, gave it a shot, and it works! Anyway, between the baseplate and the sustain block on a Floyd Rose, there are two parts, a finger tension plate, and a shim. They look like this:
REMOVE THEM!!! Preferably while you're installing a big block. No, the trem doesn't need the tension plate for the fine tuners, string tension does it just fine. These parts are tone suckers, pure and simple. I wish I'd known to remove them 25 years ago. What I've found with my guitars is a bit brighter, clearer tone, a lot more resonance and liveliness, and strangely enough, better harmonics. It also gave me a good excuse to really dial in the intonation. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
I still have a few guitars equipped with Floyd Rose trems. They're certainly not my favorite, but they do have their place. Floyds always draw a lot of complaints, mostly about stringing and setting up, but I beat those challenges a long time ago. The most serious drawback to me has always been the tone, or lack thereof. That's the gist of this post, just passing along a couple things I've found that help.
First off, the stock sustain block on most Floyds is tiny. They're basically just big enough to mount the springs. I've become a huge advocate of those big trem blocks. I've replaced the stock sustain blocks on every trem-equipped guitar I own, except the ones with MannMade or MilCom solid trems. (I used a KGC Mega Mass on the only non-MannMade PRS I have, and a Callaham on my Strat.). All the rest I've used the biggest brass sustain blocks that will fit without shaving wood. I prefer the 42mm, but in a couple guitars, I had to step down to 37mm...that's still a LOT more mass than the stock block. It's one of the few tone tricks that really works. Better, bigger tone, and more sustain. I know some guys use titanium, tungsten, or even granite, but brass works great, and is a lot cheaper.
I know you all have probably heard all that before. So here's where I spill a little secret. This actually is a mod that Eddie Van Halen came up with years ago. But I just found out about it, gave it a shot, and it works! Anyway, between the baseplate and the sustain block on a Floyd Rose, there are two parts, a finger tension plate, and a shim. They look like this:
REMOVE THEM!!! Preferably while you're installing a big block. No, the trem doesn't need the tension plate for the fine tuners, string tension does it just fine. These parts are tone suckers, pure and simple. I wish I'd known to remove them 25 years ago. What I've found with my guitars is a bit brighter, clearer tone, a lot more resonance and liveliness, and strangely enough, better harmonics. It also gave me a good excuse to really dial in the intonation. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
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