Floating a non-recessed Floyd

[fdesalvo]

I've got the hankerin' real bad. 

Can anyone tell me if a typical recessed-Floyd's string height is lower or higher off the deck than a standard Strat's?  I'm planning a new build and am looking for a bit more air between the strings and body.  I may have to go non-recessed to achieve this.  I'm going to have the trem floating, btw.

Cheers, gang.

 

[fdesalvo]

Bump!

 

[AirCap]

There are an awful lot of parameters to consider to answer your question... But generally, a floating Floyd will be higher off the body, but the action can still be set low for the player by a competent luthier.

 

[fdesalvo]

AC: Indeed, I'm speaking in generalities.  What I'm looking to avoid is the situation I currently have with my old Ibanez S540LTD - the string height is so close to the body, that hitting the middle pickup is unavoidable.  I'm hoping to gain some height wile maintaining a bit of float for vibrato use all the while avoiding neck shims.  Ayayay.

 

[AirCap]

Oh, I get it. One thing you could do is shim your neck pocket, which forces you to raise the Floyd a bit to set the action correctly. But you don't want shims... You are a tough room.

 

[stratamania]

Don't you need an angled neck pocket on a Warmoth body for that?

See Angled Neck pockets

http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Bodies/Options/NeckPocketPop.aspx

 

[Cederick]

AC: Indeed, I'm speaking in generalities.  What I'm looking to avoid is the situation I currently have with my old Ibanez S540LTD - the string height is so close to the body, that hitting the middle pickup is unavoidable.  I'm hoping to gain some height wile maintaining a bit of float for vibrato use all the while avoiding neck shims.  Ayayay.

HAving the bridge higher off wont solve that

You still need to raise the pickups accordingly to the strings  :doh:

Only solution is to have the middle pickup lower, and that goes for both bridges/setups.

 

[fdesalvo]

AC: Indeed, I'm speaking in generalities.  What I'm looking to avoid is the situation I currently have with my old Ibanez S540LTD - the string height is so close to the body, that hitting the middle pickup is unavoidable.  I'm hoping to gain some height wile maintaining a bit of float for vibrato use all the while avoiding neck shims.  Ayayay.

HAving the bridge higher off wont solve that

You still need to raise the pickups accordingly to the strings  :doh:

Only solution is to have the middle pickup lower, and that goes for both bridges/setups.

Ha!  Not so, my friend.  Depending on the time of year, I may have a guitar with a "middle pickup" in my possession - and I usually set them nearly decked for what I perceive as balance with the neck and bridge pickups.  This works well enough on a strat, but on this paper thin Ibanez, it matters not. 

At any rate, my main need is to have the strings far enough off of the body for my style of picking - and I'm sure that a recessed route would allow me to do that.  If not, a little shim-sham would do the trick.  It's less about hitting the middle pickup and more about having some air between the strings and body for me.

Cheers

 

[dmraco]

I have both flat mount and recessed.  The flat mount has an angled pocket.  Strings are lower on recessed. 

 

[DangerousR6]

I have both flat mount and recessed.  The flat mount has an angled pocket.  Strings are lower on recessed.

I too have both, and this is absolutely correct. To have the non-recess neck pocket needs to be 1-3 degrees of angle. You can achieve string heights comparable with the recess but it takes some work to get there. I like my action super low, so all of mine that are non-recess have neck pockets of 2.5 to 3 degrees.

 

[fdesalvo]

I have both flat mount and recessed.  The flat mount has an angled pocket.  Strings are lower on recessed.

I too have both, and this is absolutely correct. To have the non-recess neck pocket needs to be 1-3 degrees of angle. You can achieve string heights comparable with the recess but it takes some work to get there. I like my action super low, so all of mine that are non-recess have neck pockets of 2.5 to 3 degrees.

Do you deck your non-recessed bridges?

 

[dmraco]

I have both flat mount and recessed.  The flat mount has an angled pocket.  Strings are lower on recessed.

I too have both, and this is absolutely correct. To have the non-recess neck pocket needs to be 1-3 degrees of angle. You can achieve string heights comparable with the recess but it takes some work to get there. I like my action super low, so all of mine that are non-recess have neck pockets of 2.5 to 3 degrees.

Do you deck your non-recessed bridges?

YES

 

[DangerousR6]

I have both flat mount and recessed.  The flat mount has an angled pocket.  Strings are lower on recessed.

I too have both, and this is absolutely correct. To have the non-recess neck pocket needs to be 1-3 degrees of angle. You can achieve string heights comparable with the recess but it takes some work to get there. I like my action super low, so all of mine that are non-recess have neck pockets of 2.5 to 3 degrees.

Do you deck your non-recessed bridges?

By "deck" I assume you mean resting the bridge on the body. And my answer for mine is no. I set mine to just around 1/16th to 1/8" off the body...But that is merely to not damage the finish. But yes you could set the bridge to rest on the body surface.

 

[fdesalvo]

Thanks for the answers, guys. This floyd business has turned into a real side quest.

Yep, a decked trem rests on the body in dive-only mode. 

In thinking about the string height (not action off the frets) that I best get along with, I line up on the traditional TOM/angled neck side. I like that space below the wires, but as far as tones go, I'm a fat strat man through and through. I think a non-recessed, floating floyd (I just said that three times fast in my mind ha!) is where my mind is at right now. 

I've never had a floyd on any other guitar than this razor thin Ibanez S, so wrapping my mind around a floyd sitting on a bigger hunk of lumber is enticing. Im going to be looking for a meatier tone on my cleans - that Ibanez is very thin and bright.  A beefier neck and body should give me some tuchis back to my cleans. 

Cheers

 

[DangerousR6]

Thanks for the answers, guys. This floyd business has turned into a real side quest.

Yep, a decked trem rests on the body in dive-only mode. 

In thinking about the string height (not action off the frets) that I best get along with, I line up on the traditional TOM/angled neck side. I like that space below the wires, but as far as tones go, I'm a fat strat man through and through. I think a non-recessed, floating floyd (I just said that three times fast in my mind ha!) is where my mind is at right now. 

I've never had a floyd on any other guitar than this razor thin Ibanez S, so wrapping my mind around a floyd sitting on a bigger hunk of lumber is enticing. Im going to be looking for a meatier tone on my cleans - that Ibanez is very thin and bright.  A beefier neck and body should give me some tuchis back to my cleans. 

Cheers

Also with the Floyd, you want a beefier and denser block than the stock one...

 

[Archie Macfarlane]

Hey out of non recessed angled pocket and recessed Floyd, which would tend to have a lower action (if either do)
  i'm a dig my fingers in under the strings kind of guy and my angled pocket partscaster gives me string bend slip grief... :-\

 

[fdesalvo]

Hey out of non recessed angled pocket and recessed Floyd, which would tend to have a lower action (if either do)
  i'm a dig my fingers in under the strings kind of guy and my angled pocket partscaster gives me string bend slip grief... :-\

Both can be setup low!  If you want to dig on in, get a taller fret profile.

 

[Chad11491]

I had a non recessed Floyd with great action on a non-angled pocket. It was approximately 3 business cards thick, about a 1/4 inch long (pocket to headstock wise) and worked great. Probably better to have the angled pocket, but it worked fine for years.

 

[Wolfie351]

You want a non-recessed Floyd but without the angled neck pocket.  Maybe W will do it for you, maybe not.  Then shim the neck to the correct height.  Stewmac has the wood kind that fills the whole pocket, not just the end to make it angled.  It will look like my '91 ESP Kamikaze here which has significant space between the strings and body.

 

[DangerousR6]

You want a non-recessed Floyd but without the angled neck pocket.  Maybe W will do it for you, maybe not.  Then shim the neck to the correct height.  Stewmac has the wood kind that fills the whole pocket, not just the end to make it angled.  It will look like my '91 ESP Kamikaze here which has significant space between the strings and body.

Shims can be a pain in the ass, if you're sure a non recessed is what you want, it's best to just get the neck pocket angled.