Gotoh Floyd Route

[emaccarthy]

I am building a superstrat/charvel type guitar and bought a strat body with a recessed OFR route.  I have a Gotoh floyd rose trem I want to install so I am planning on drilling out the stud holes to fit the bigger 11mm studs of the Gotoh.  I also would like to do some mods to the routed body so that I can pull up on the trem more without it hitting the body.  I was thinking of just matching the depth of the Ibanez Jem Lions Claw style route and just lowering the floor of the route to match that depth.  Does anyone know what that depth would be? The reason for this is that when I do a big pitch raise I would just rather have the string fret out than have my tremolo restricted by the body.  Also, since the Gotoh floyd just barely seems to fit inside the OFR route I am planning on opening the route all the way around by like an 1/8 of an inch or so just so I have no snags or friction from the body on the trem.  Any thoughts out there on this?

 

[ORCRiST]

I am building a superstrat/charvel type guitar and bought a strat body with a recessed OFR route.  I have a Gotoh floyd rose trem I want to install so I am planning on drilling out the stud holes to fit the bigger 11mm studs of the Gotoh.  I also would like to do some mods to the routed body so that I can pull up on the trem more without it hitting the body.  I was thinking of just matching the depth of the Ibanez Jem Lions Claw style route and just lowering the floor of the route to match that depth.  Does anyone know what that depth would be? The reason for this is that when I do a big pitch raise I would just rather have the string fret out than have my tremolo restricted by the body.  Also, since the Gotoh floyd just barely seems to fit inside the OFR route I am planning on opening the route all the way around by like an 1/8 of an inch or so just so I have no snags or friction from the body on the trem.  Any thoughts out there on this?

Yes. Sell the Gotoh clone and get a real OFR or a Schaller FR.

Unless you're Joe Luthier/Carpenter with all the proper tools and know-how you're just asking for stability, playability and fitting issues with all the drilling and routing.
I'm not saying it can't be done - if you don't mind potentially ruining the body to firewood, more power to ya.

You didn't mention if the body was already finished or just raw wood...? Are you going to upgrade the sustain block? If so you'll also need to account for the
extra bulk/mass in the trem cavity (and the amount of movement allowed inside the cavity) as far as your desire for extreme pull-ups...

Sorry, but I am highly biased against any and all Floyd Rose clones. I realize some people swear by "brand X" Floyd Rose knock-offs, but they just don't hold a candle
next to the real thing.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

I am building a superstrat/charvel type guitar and bought a strat body with a recessed OFR route.  I have a Gotoh floyd rose trem I want to install so I am planning on drilling out the stud holes to fit the bigger 11mm studs of the Gotoh.  I also would like to do some mods to the routed body so that I can pull up on the trem more without it hitting the body.  I was thinking of just matching the depth of the Ibanez Jem Lions Claw style route and just lowering the floor of the route to match that depth.  Does anyone know what that depth would be? The reason for this is that when I do a big pitch raise I would just rather have the string fret out than have my tremolo restricted by the body.  Also, since the Gotoh floyd just barely seems to fit inside the OFR route I am planning on opening the route all the way around by like an 1/8 of an inch or so just so I have no snags or friction from the body on the trem.  Any thoughts out there on this?

Yes. Sell the Gotoh clone and get a real OFR or a Schaller FR.

Unless you're Joe Luthier/Carpenter with all the proper tools and know-how you're just asking for stability, playability and fitting issues with all the drilling and routing.
I'm not saying it can't be done - if you don't mind potentially ruining the body to firewood, more power to ya.

You didn't mention if the body was already finished or just raw wood...? Are you going to upgrade the sustain block? If so you'll also need to account for the
extra bulk/mass in the trem cavity (and the amount of movement allowed inside the cavity) as far as your desire for extreme pull-ups...

Sorry, but I am highly biased against any and all Floyd Rose clones. I realize some people swear by "brand X" Floyd Rose knock-offs, but they just don't hold a candle
next to the real thing.

I've been playing the Gotoh for over 16 years on my main axe, and while it is a great unit, I have to agree that placing it into an OFR hole is very risky.  Mine stays in tune wonderfully, but I do maintain it as one would with any trem.  The bushing in the trem-arm collar is wearing after 16 years and countless gigs, so I'm considering replacing it with an OFR replacement bar assembly.  Makes more sense than taking the risk of buying an OFR to fit in a Gotoh hole.

 

[rockskate4x]

i don't know if this would cause other problems, but why not use OFR studs with the Gotoh trem?  :dontknow:

 

[emaccarthy]

The gotoh comes with a brass sustain block stock, so I will just be using that one.  The body is unfinished so after I am done drilling and routing I can then move on to finishing the body.  I have heard nothing but good things about the gotoh floyd and how it is far superior to the OFR and the Schaller, why are you so dead set on the original? Im not saying one is better than the other.  Personally I had a floyd rose and had nothing but issues with the trem arm perpetually coming loose and rickety as well as the floyd never reliably returning to zero point and would always sounds out of tune.  I heard a lot about the gotoh version and decided to go for it.

 

[AutoBat]

I nearly went with the Gotoh Floyd. The only issue I had was sourcing one, so I went OFR.  Had the body not been second (or third) hand I would've gone with the Schaller Floyd.
I feel that all 3, and Ping make for good units and that any downfall between them is nitpicky.