go floyd, or no floyd? (DOUG: not allowed to respond! ;) )

[Cagey]

I know you're reluctant to buy a Strat-style guitar with a Floyd - I would be, too, and I'm a huge Strat fan. Didn't start out like that...

Whut? My story? Ok. It was never easy for me.​

...I was a die-hard Gibson player for years before I got my first Strat. Couldn't understand how anybody could play the miserable things. Crummy vibratos and tuners, wouldn't stay in tune, long scale, strange tone, noisy as childbirth, stupid controls, goofy shape, wrong paint in ugly colors, built with the same "hammer to fit, paint to match" work ethic typical of period American cars assembled on a Friday afternoon or Monday morning. I mean, you name it, I had an argument for it.

Of course, I'm exaggerating slightly. But, the Gibson/Fender dichotomy was every bit as partisan and divided as the Democrat/Republican cults are today, and just as subject to baseless hyperbolic slander. There were other suppliers - dozens of Japanese companies were turning out crap that would embarrass a 9th grade woodshop class full of illiterate thugs. Then, there were legitimate high-quality manufacturers who wouldn't play ball with endorsements/bribes so they never got the recognition they deserved. Guild comes to mind.

Now, the whole thing is flipped and it's the Gibsons you have to beware of, while Fenders and Asian suppliers are turning out some phenomenal gear. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that you're cheating yourself if you discount an entire species of instrument for emotional reasons.

You have to be practical. Les Pauls are good for some things, but not others. Same with Strats, although they're designed to be a little more broadly applied. So, if you must have a vibrato bridge, you have to be aware that the Gibsons aren't really designed for those. Trying to make it work is going to be frustrating at best, and likely to fail at worst.

Understanding that mere thousandths of an inch in some dimensions can make a guitar nearly unplayable for some people, there are such things as "conversion" necks. If you need what a Strat offers mechanically, but are anchored to the short scale of a Les Paul, perhaps that could be a solution. Put a 24.75" neck on a Strat. Then, you could have a functional vibrato. Get a mahogany body with a maple top, a mahogany neck, some badass 'buckers, and you'd have something that plays/sounds like a Paul but works like a Strat. Add some locking tuners, an LSR nut, and a Wilkinson bridge, and you  can whammy your heart out while staying in tune and staying away from Floyds.

Just a thought.

 

[richship]

Lifeson is using two LPs with Floyds in concert (as well as some without). They all seemed to work just fine. :headbang:

 

[Cagey]

Mr. Lifeson has full-time techs making sure his instruments and gear move from God's hands to his. Most of us don't have that luxury.

It's like the top chefs on any of the cooking shows/competitions. They all use either Calphalon or All-Clad pots and pans, sear the hell out of things, and turn out fantastic dishes. What you don't see is the army of help back in the real kitchen busting their asses trying to scrub that stuff clean so it looks perfect the next time it gets used. Assuming, of course, that anything gets re-used. Sponsor probably makes sure that whatever gets in front of the camera looks mint.

 

[DangerousR6]

:sad:

 

[richship]

A Warmoth, even if shaped like an LP, is built like a strat. To me, the reason to build one is to get exactly what you want, even if that isn't what anyone else wants.

 

[elfro89]

:sad:

HAHAHA, seen this response coming as soon as I read no Doug.  :icon_jokercolor: You should whip out that 44 magnum and go on a rampage shooting guitars with no floyd!  :icon_biggrin:

 

[DangerousR6]

:sad:

HAHAHA, seen this response coming as soon as I read no Doug.  :icon_jokercolor: You should whip out that 44 magnum and go on a rampage shooting guitars with no floyd!  :icon_biggrin:

:icon_thumright:

 

[muttznmongrelz]

Floyd all the way and Big Brass Block Upgrade it too!!!  arty07: :headbang: :headbang1: :guitarplayer2:

 

[Steve_Karl]

one with a wilkie,

... which brings to mind the often overlooked perk of the vs-100 (vs a Floyd ) being the extreme control over the adjustment of the action.
Tilt of the individual saddles controls the tension of the pick during attack. Very handy for adjusting the feel of sweep picking, pulloffs etc.
I think the design of the part that holds the handle ( bar ) is far superior also on the vs-100.

 

[Steve_Karl]

[

the kahler: goes out of tune  by just playing. not even doing a dive or something like that.

Do you have one like this ... a flat mount?

I've never had any trouble with mine once it's tuned up and the strings have been stretched. I had to adjust the cam spring when I originally installed it but after that it was fine and has been for almost 20 yrs. Of course it needs to be tuned if it's been sitting in the case for a few months without being played but other than that it's been very good for recording and with a lot of extreme dive use.
http://www.sightsea.com/music/spheres/10_Compulsive%20Expressive.mp3

The dirty track ( and solo ) is the G&L with the Kahler. The clean tracks are my Warmoth strat.

 

[elgravos]

I think you have plenty of hard tail LPs already.  It's about time you went for a Floyd just because you can!

if you are really concerned about the dive only / return to zero and stuff you could always investigate getting an Ibanez Edge-Zero floyd licensed trem.  It's based on the Floyd but with a whole lot of extra widgets to stabilize etc.  Of course, then you would have to ask Warmoth not to drill the trem studs  holes and get a pretty good luthier to do the work - actually sounds a little dicey to me all things considered but perhaps worth investigating. 

 

[DangerousR6]

I think you have plenty of hard tail LPs already.  It's about time you went for a Floyd just because you can!

if you are really concerned about the dive only / return to zero and stuff you could always investigate getting an Ibanez Edge-Zero floyd licensed trem.  It's based on the Floyd but with a whole lot of extra widgets to stabilize etc.  Of course, then you would have to ask Warmoth not to drill the trem studs  holes and get a pretty good luthier to do the work - actually sounds a little dicey to me all things considered but perhaps worth investigating. 

Why on earth would he not want Warmoth to do the trem stud hole.... :icon_scratch:

 

[Steve_Karl]

I think you have plenty of hard tail LPs already.  It's about time you went for a Floyd just because you can!

if you are really concerned about the dive only / return to zero and stuff you could always investigate getting an Ibanez Edge-Zero floyd licensed trem.  It's based on the Floyd but with a whole lot of extra widgets to stabilize etc.  Of course, then you would have to ask Warmoth not to drill the trem studs  holes and get a pretty good luthier to do the work - actually sounds a little dicey to me all things considered but perhaps worth investigating. 

Why on earth would he not want Warmoth to do the trem stud hole.... :icon_scratch:

W only does it for the Floyds they sell. If the other 3rd party floyd isn't the same size ( who knows ... your guess is as good as mine tying to find specs ) then it won't fit.

 

[incabass]

i'm not opposed to a lester with a floyd, but when i reach for one of my lp's, i do so because it is what it is; a hard tail with a massive sound and no trem to think about. if i want to wank the whammy, i'll grab one of my strats with the modern fender 2 point trem, or one of my usa jacksons with floyds. if i was building a new lester i would probably go with an unusual wood combo, active emg's, and a piezo hard tail bridge.

 

[Cagey]

i'm not opposed to a lester with a floyd, but when i reach for one of my lp's, i do so because it is what it is; a hard tail with a massive sound and no trem to think about. if i want to wank the whammy, i'll grab one of my strats with the modern fender 2 point trem, or one of my usa jacksons with floyds. if i was building a new lester i would probably go with an unusual wood combo, active emg's, and a piezo hard tail bridge.

There you go. Use the right tool for the job. An instrument that tries to do everything ends up being a collection of compromises, and doesn't do any one thing well.

 

[Strat Avenger]

i'm not opposed to a lester with a floyd, but when i reach for one of my lp's, i do so because it is what it is; a hard tail with a massive sound and no trem to think about. if i want to wank the whammy, i'll grab one of my strats with the modern fender 2 point trem, or one of my usa jacksons with floyds. if i was building a new lester i would probably go with an unusual wood combo, active emg's, and a piezo hard tail bridge.

There you go. Use the right tool for the job. An instrument that tries to do everything ends up being a collection of compromises, and doesn't do any one thing well.

+1

 

[Doughboy]

i'm not opposed to a lester with a floyd, but when i reach for one of my lp's, i do so because it is what it is; a hard tail with a massive sound and no trem to think about. if i want to wank the whammy, i'll grab one of my strats with the modern fender 2 point trem, or one of my usa jacksons with floyds. if i was building a new lester i would probably go with an unusual wood combo, active emg's, and a piezo hard tail bridge.

There you go. Use the right tool for the job. An instrument that tries to do everything ends up being a collection of compromises, and doesn't do any one thing well.

I don't know about this. Most of my guitars are built to do specific things, but I have an chambered alder strat, with a maple neck, floyd 2 PAFs with the Seymour Duncan Triple shot switching system & it does pretty much everything quite well. It can do heavy metal, blues, Jazz, country etc. It all depends on the amp settings & the pedals I use. Now, my Soloist with EMGs does Metal & Fusion well & nothing else, but my chambered alder strat can do a lot with what it has.

 

[Strat Avenger]

i'm not opposed to a lester with a floyd, but when i reach for one of my lp's, i do so because it is what it is; a hard tail with a massive sound and no trem to think about. if i want to wank the whammy, i'll grab one of my strats with the modern fender 2 point trem, or one of my usa jacksons with floyds. if i was building a new lester i would probably go with an unusual wood combo, active emg's, and a piezo hard tail bridge.

There you go. Use the right tool for the job. An instrument that tries to do everything ends up being a collection of compromises, and doesn't do any one thing well.

I don't know about this. Most of my guitars are built to do specific things, but I have an chambered alder strat, with a maple neck, floyd 2 PAFs with the Seymour Duncan Triple shot switching system & it does pretty much everything quite well. It can do heavy metal, blues, Jazz, country etc. It all depends on the amp settings & the pedals I use. Now, my Soloist with EMGs does Metal & Fusion well & nothing else, but my chambered alder strat can do a lot with what it has.

That's the EMGs. My Soloist can do Metal, Blues, Country, R&B, Classic Rock, Funk, pretty much anything. As much as I like the Floyd Rose, I think it looks terrible on a Les Paul.

 

[elgravos]

To Doug's question: I have no idea what the specs are for an Ibanez Floyd type trem... probably not a good idea to start drilling holes in the body if you don't know if things will fit.  Could be they are a match in which case it is certainly a good idea to get Warmoth to do it - but definitely worth investigating in detail before getting it done.

 

[Steve_Karl]

To Doug's question: I have no idea what the specs are for an Ibanez Floyd type trem... probably not a good idea to start drilling holes in the body if you don't know if things will fit.  Could be they are a match in which case it is certainly a good idea to get Warmoth to do it - but definitely worth investigating in detail before getting it done.

I dealt with this issue when considering using a Floyd Pro which is a low profile version of the Original Floyd where the fine tuners don't stick up so far.

I eventually found the spec sheets for both and they looked like exactly the same mounting was used but W couldn't guarantee that their routing would work.
I understand that. They don't have it there in their hands so they can't be sure. No complaint from me. But that's just how it works.