The SE CU24 Floyd has a listed radius of 14". The 1000 series Floyd has a radius of 10". That's a bad mismatch. Why? The standard PRS radius is 10", which would be a lot better. The saddles might have to be shimmed a bit as the bridge radius will be somewhat flatter (Strings follow a cone, not a cylinder), but 14" is a bad mismatch at both the nut and the bridge. Why do that when the standard 10" is closer? I don't get it. The clearance over the 1st fret with be excessive on the middle 4 strings at least, making the guitar stiff and not play up to what it should.
SE CU24 Floyd - Radius mismatch - why?
- Thread starter 24Fretter
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Alexander Haibel
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likely to be a typo; I would be very surprised if it was not 10"
Ok, so:
Per Floyd Rose, the radius of that series of Korean made bridge is 12", so better, but still a mismatch. BTW, PRS sent me an email claiming the bridge was 14" radius, which is patently false. Disappointed in their lying to me. Do better, PRS. Radius gauges clearly showed it was not, and Floyd Rose also said it was not.
Shims do NOT change the radius of a nut, FYI. The string clearance over the 1st fret was so off that I filed and dremelled the nut so it was correct. I'm one of the only techs in the country who will do that btw, so if you're using a standard Floyd nut, your guitar is probably sub optimal to horrific in terms of slot height and first fret clearance. I'm always shocked how people with Floyds are willing to suffer horribly mismatched nut slots that no one would tolerate on any other nut material. I'm not one of those people.
Strings travel in a cone, not a cylinder, because the string spread at the nut is always narrower than at the bridge. That means on ANY guitar, the radius at the bridge needs to be flatter than the nut radius. Floyd Rose shims measure .007" thick. They can be used to approximate correct string height at each string, but often not get it exactly right. I set each strings action accurate to within about .0025" or less. That often involves having to make shims out of folded tin foil or grinding the bottom of the saddles to get it exactly right. In the case of the Floyd SE, I ended up ordering 16" radius saddles and inserts from FR, which ended up being just about right except I had to add 2 shims to the high E. The stock 12" radius would have been a lot more time consuming to correct.
Saw this from a German company. Doesn't correct the horrible Floyd nut issue, but does solve the bridge action setting issue.
abm-guitarpartsshop.com
Per Floyd Rose, the radius of that series of Korean made bridge is 12", so better, but still a mismatch. BTW, PRS sent me an email claiming the bridge was 14" radius, which is patently false. Disappointed in their lying to me. Do better, PRS. Radius gauges clearly showed it was not, and Floyd Rose also said it was not.
Shims do NOT change the radius of a nut, FYI. The string clearance over the 1st fret was so off that I filed and dremelled the nut so it was correct. I'm one of the only techs in the country who will do that btw, so if you're using a standard Floyd nut, your guitar is probably sub optimal to horrific in terms of slot height and first fret clearance. I'm always shocked how people with Floyds are willing to suffer horribly mismatched nut slots that no one would tolerate on any other nut material. I'm not one of those people.
Strings travel in a cone, not a cylinder, because the string spread at the nut is always narrower than at the bridge. That means on ANY guitar, the radius at the bridge needs to be flatter than the nut radius. Floyd Rose shims measure .007" thick. They can be used to approximate correct string height at each string, but often not get it exactly right. I set each strings action accurate to within about .0025" or less. That often involves having to make shims out of folded tin foil or grinding the bottom of the saddles to get it exactly right. In the case of the Floyd SE, I ended up ordering 16" radius saddles and inserts from FR, which ended up being just about right except I had to add 2 shims to the high E. The stock 12" radius would have been a lot more time consuming to correct.
Saw this from a German company. Doesn't correct the horrible Floyd nut issue, but does solve the bridge action setting issue.
ABM 5400c Fine Tuning Tremolo Chrome
Das "Katana" 5400c, die konsequente Weiterentwicklung des Feinstimmer-Tremolos!
abm-guitarpartsshop.com
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