Floyd rose neck radius? what?!
- Thread starter smavridis
- Start date
The 10" to 16" compound fretboard radius projects to be about 18" radius at the bridge. For the most consistent action across all strings and along all frets your saddles should be arrayed in a radius close to this 18".
Bridge saddles that are individually adjustable for height have no problem.
Bridges saddles that don't have individual height adjustment, or an 18" fixed radius, will have some inconsistent action somewhere along the playing field.
Many players do not recognize a problem with the Warmoth compoud radius and an Original Floyd. The inconsistencies are small.
If you have a Schaller Floyd Locking Nut and Original Floyd Trem (both 10" radius) on a Warmoth compound radius neck your strings are in perfect alignment with the 10" radius of your frets at the first fret. As you come up the neck you will find the fretboard flattening out while your strings are still arrayed at 10" radius. Around the 12th fret the difference is still so slight it won't cause a problem, the fretboard in this area is about 12"-14". But at the uppermost frets you will find the middle strings a little high and fretting them may cause some tonal sharpness. Adapting your fingerings can work around this if you find it objectionable. Or if you have to, get a Schaller Floyd which is a little flatter radius.
At some point we start to 'split hairs'. Many players play just fine through less than perfectly perfect setups. Many of our time-honored masters' recordings and performances were acheived with crappy gear, rusty strings, borrowed amplifyers, etc.
Here are some common radii FYI:
Original Floyd Rose Tremolo, 10"
Schaller Floyd locking nuts, 10"
Schaller Floyd Tremolo, 14"
Gotoh Tune o Matic, Gotoh 510 and Schaller 456, 12"
For the most consistent action get a fretboard radius that is the same as your nut and bridge. For Original Floyd Rose Tremolo that means a 10" radius.
Happy playing!! - Bob
Bridge saddles that are individually adjustable for height have no problem.
Bridges saddles that don't have individual height adjustment, or an 18" fixed radius, will have some inconsistent action somewhere along the playing field.
Many players do not recognize a problem with the Warmoth compoud radius and an Original Floyd. The inconsistencies are small.
If you have a Schaller Floyd Locking Nut and Original Floyd Trem (both 10" radius) on a Warmoth compound radius neck your strings are in perfect alignment with the 10" radius of your frets at the first fret. As you come up the neck you will find the fretboard flattening out while your strings are still arrayed at 10" radius. Around the 12th fret the difference is still so slight it won't cause a problem, the fretboard in this area is about 12"-14". But at the uppermost frets you will find the middle strings a little high and fretting them may cause some tonal sharpness. Adapting your fingerings can work around this if you find it objectionable. Or if you have to, get a Schaller Floyd which is a little flatter radius.
At some point we start to 'split hairs'. Many players play just fine through less than perfectly perfect setups. Many of our time-honored masters' recordings and performances were acheived with crappy gear, rusty strings, borrowed amplifyers, etc.
Here are some common radii FYI:
Original Floyd Rose Tremolo, 10"
Schaller Floyd locking nuts, 10"
Schaller Floyd Tremolo, 14"
Gotoh Tune o Matic, Gotoh 510 and Schaller 456, 12"
For the most consistent action get a fretboard radius that is the same as your nut and bridge. For Original Floyd Rose Tremolo that means a 10" radius.
Happy playing!! - Bob
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