Ping Floyd Rose

[howarddavidp]

Hello,

I thought this was an Edge Pro from the looks of it, but I also got a Ping just in case...

What do you think?

Dave

 

[Cagey]

What I really don't get is why people are still going with Floyds?  With things like Termking and some other new tremolo I saw this weekend(Stetsbar?), I would think this is a better way to go for tone, sustain, string breaks, note bends, etc?

I suspect making perfect replicas would require them to pay licensing royalties to FR, which is probably part of the reason the real ones cost what they do.

I bought one of those Ping units not too long ago for a body I recently got, and it's a fine piece. However, even though it's supposed to be an OFR replacement, it won't fit in a recessed OFR routing pattern. It's not off by much, just enough to make you practice the use of a great deal of colorful language. I would have just routed the body to take it, but it's a carved top part and driving the routerbeast around on that could be frightening. So, I ended up just biting the bullet and paying for an OFR. The Ping unit goes in the Drawer of Misfit Parts. I'll find a home for it someday.

As for why people still use Floyds? Your guess is as good as mine. They're unnecessarily complex and expensive, they're a bitch to set up, then changing strings is no fun, either. Almost any modern Wilkinson-style bridge with locking tuners is simpler, is as reliable/repeatable, cost half as much or less, they're a cinch to set up, and changing strings is as easy as a hardtail. I only used one because I had no choice. The body was already routed/finished.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

I've been playing my 1996 Gotoh for 19+ years now, still works wonderfully.  Just keep the knife edges cleaned & oiled along with the groove slot on the studs.

I can change strings in mine in about 10 minutes, fully stretched and ready to play fully floating.
I use a Tremol-no, and leave it in hard tail mode when not in use.  This also makes the string changes less of a headache.

I still like the feel of the Floyd style bridges such as this.  Also, I feel like the weight behind the fulcrum point is slightly increased.  It's just a feel that I've gotten so comfortable with over the years.

I've had the PRS, great feeling trem, especially the MannMadeUSA ones that were machined from a single billet of brass for the base plate & sustain block.

I also had an old completely brass Mighty Might 6-hole trem with the big brass saddles, best bridge I ever had, sold it on a Strat some years back.

I still go back to an OFR or a Gotoh floyd though, the feel is "home".

 

[Jesse]

That Ping looks scarily similar to an Ibanez Edge III, which is not a well regarded trem.

From looking at that picture, I'm 99% sure you don't have hardened knife edges, which is gonna be a problem.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

What I find surprising is that nowhere on that unit do you see the stamp "licensed under Floyd Rose Patents".

This tells me that this is likely a bridge that is sliding in under the customs radar.  That sustain block looks a lot like die cast or zincoid metal, not very dense, can strip very easily.

Be very careful.  You may be better served spending a little more for proven quality.

 

[jmcecil]

It's also IMO a combination of the worst parts of several designs.  The pivot point looks to be at the front of the blade (fender).  But, it has the saddle/tuner setup of a sort of Rose/Ibanez variety.  This might put a ton of tension on the strings and provide very poor tuning stability. 

 

[Jesse]

I was looking at this on an iPad before.  The trem he bought IS an Ibanez Edge III.  You can see it cast in right by the fine tuners.  You can pick those up any day in pretty much mint condition for $50 on eBay.  I was kind of trying to be nice before.  This is a BAD trem.  Ibanez was using it on their low end Indonesian-built guitars and discontinued it finally because there were so many complaints about it.  The only trem less well regarded is the Lo TRS-II which he's replacing, so...improvement?

Regarding the licensing, those Floyd patents have all been expiring the last few years.  Gotoh, who makes their high end trems, has removed the "Licensed Under Floyd Rose Patents" from the casting recently.  In their Edge Pro trem which they used from 2003-07, they had actually moved that to a sticker on the sustain block.

Gotoh and Ibanez clearly have zero qualms about infringing on patents, as they've done it repeatedly over the years.  Their most recent issue was their "Zero Point System" which is supposed to ensure that the trem returns to zero after using the trem.

Can't remember whose patent that was but they got nailed for it.  Their solution was to simply discontinue it on all US market guitars, but they still sell it everywhere else in the world :laughing7:

 

[pabloman]

This is a Ping Floyd Rose and it's a great trem.

 

[pabloman]

Years ago I heard that some guy was going after Floyd, Ping and Ibanez for patent infringement. I never heard what came of it.

 

[howarddavidp]

Well, I came home today and the Ping FR from GuitarFetish was on my front door. So, in it went.  I had to modify the front a tiny bit to square off the corner of the route for it to fit.  I actually might not have had to do this, but I did nonetheless.  Of course, I slipped a little, but I can fix the minor dent I made.

What I wound up doing that I didn't expect to do:  I routed the bottom cavity so I could pull up farther.  I saw how the trem arm holder part hit on the bottom, so I thought it would be easy to route away the wood that was blocking it.  I can now pull way up, more than any other guitar I have.

I also liked the brass block that came with the unit at no extra cost.  This was a nice bonus for the price.

So far, 1st day, very good,  It stays in tune, which is a great start.  I was able to torque down the string locks and nothing stripped or broke.  The allen wrenches that came with it also seemed like they were made of steel and not the cast aluminum ones you usually get.  I didn't need the locking nut since I already had one installed, but that too seemed like nicer than average quality.  It came with 4 springs (I only used 3), and thicker posts with a crossbar, so I pulled the stock posts and installed the included ones.  Didn't take more than 30 mins and I was up and running, routing time included (I had my router out for when my TremKing comes for another guitar).

I have 2 cheapo Chinese Floyds, and I can say that this unit is visibly thicker, and the machining seems smoother and more refined than the $15 Floyds.  Everything seems better, from the weight, to the finish, to the refined areas of the unit.  It is easy to tell the cheap ones from this unit (even though it only cost me $80).

Here are my pics:

Dave

 

[Jesse]

Glad to hear you did not end up with an Edge III.  Hopefully the Ping trem works out.

 

[howarddavidp]

Think I can get my $80 back selling the Edge3 in the US on eBay?

 

[stratamania]

It's amazing how many views this thread has had. It must have ranked in Google for a source of info on budget locking trems or something.

 

[Cagey]

Either that, or a helluva lotta people mis-typed "Pink Floyd" and ended up here by mistake.

 

[stratamania]

That's a good one...  :icon_biggrin:

 

[Jesse]

Think I can get my $80 back selling the Edge3 in the US on eBay?

I highly doubt it.  There are probably 10-15 of them on there in the $50-60 range.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Consider this the expense of the cost of getting educated, as many of us have learned by learning how to fret/refret multiple necks after destroying a few in the learning curve.

It happens, we learn from it, and don't repeat.

 

[Cagey]

Another plus is you end up with The Drawer of Misfit Parts (or its equivalent) that you can draw from to solve all sorts of problems.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Another plus is you end up with The Drawer of Misfit Parts (or its equivalent) that you can draw from to solve all sorts of problems.

As a repairperson, you may also find that one day, someone will come in needing a replacement part that you just happen to have the direct (cheap or not) replacement part for.  This will be true for many Korean, Indonesian, Chinese knockoffs.  It can be a rare occasion, but it can happen nonetheless.