Locking nut, non-locking bridge?

[rapfohl09]

Anyone know if using a locking nut with a standard hardtail bridge is a big deal? I ask because its easier to find old Ibanez necks with trem shelves instead of regular nuts for a project of mine. Thanks.

 

[elgravos]

well the reason for the fine tuners on a floyd is that locking the nut generally results in the strings going a bit sharp - so you need to retune the instrument once the nut is locked.  Obviously a standard hard tail won't allow that which will make life unpleasant. 

I believe the very first version of the floyd didn't have fine tuners but people did still manage to use that combination in tune (read that in a Brad Gillis interview a couple of years back) - though the fact that they subsequently introduced fine tuners sort of confirms that it wasn't a very good idea.

You could always just leave the nut unlocked in order to eliminate that problem.

 

[rapfohl09]

Oh I hadn't thought of that. Anyone know if that would sound particularly bad? Or not really since its just the nut.

 

[AutoBat]

a guy in my old building had a converted floyd guitar. filled trem, fender hardtail and open floyd nut.
it played just fine... looked odd, but didn't hurt playability at all.
being that it's metal it'd probably more akin to a brass nut, but since i've never played one of those, i can't say for sure.

 

[nexrex]

you could just remove the locking screws off the nut. I have been told that it will sound and work just fine.

 

[elgravos]

Yep, just A/Bd my floyd equipped guitar - there is no noticeable sonic difference as to whether or not the nut is locked or open.

 

[whitebison66]

Pablo says "No problemo!"

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC60XNiS-MQ[/youtube]

The trem is blocked here, and the nut has no clamps. At one point in the solo he tunes with the tuner.

He later had this guitar's trem cavity filled and put in a regular hardtail string through but left the nut as is.

He claims it was because he didn't have a tech during these tours and found he couldn't deal with the floating trem himself.

 

[Death by Uberschall]

This Heritage that got stolen had a locking nut with a fine tuner bridge and it always stayed in tune.  :sad:

 

[Cagey]

Nice solo.

[Paul Gilbert] claims... he couldn't deal with the floating trem himself.

I have a hard time believing that. It seems like quite a stretch to think somebody that proficient wouldn't have a very clear idea of how the mechanics of his instrument worked. But, maybe not. Lord knows I've met a lot of players who couldn't tune to save their ass, and what could possible be simpler to understand? Of course, sombody who's re-tuning mid-solo probably has a low frustration tolerance for fiddles that won't behave themselves, and floating bridges can be a real pain in the shorts that way.