UPDATE: I installed a Tremol-no with the bigger claw to fit the Big Brass Block, and changed the 2 outside springs to white FU-Tone Heavy Duty. It's playing better than ever!
Not much of a tone difference to my ears ... but sounds like it rings somewhat longer after strumming. Now you'd be the judge if that new Floyd Rose bridge has a better tuning stability ... I have no experience whatsoever with these special series of bridges from Floyd Rose (I only know the "standard" ones that everybody knows). Now, I changed the trem blocks of 2 old Strats of mine (one trem is 6 screws wide string spacing, the other is 2 posts narrow string spacing) with heavy blocks, and the result was always a better sustain and a better (How can I say it?) resistance to pitch issues when I strum harder on the low strings ... I guess it must come from the inertia of a heavier "trem rig" and the fact that it requires more "force" to translate a heavy strumming "punch" on the strings into a movement of the tremolo assembly ... I may be totally wrong about that assumption :D , but that's sort of what I feel about heavier Strat tremolos in general. Finally, I HAVE A SUPER USEFUL TRICK (that I stole from a luthier friend of mine) to improve the tuning stability of a Strat trem (2 posts or 6 screws) : the "string inserts" on the back side of the trem blocks are often "not deep enough" ... you have to be very careful and "MEASURE TWICE" to "DRILL ONCE" (otherwise you're in for a new trem block ;D ) ... you drill these "string inserts" so that only 5mm (about 3/16") remain of the "NARROW SIDE" (upper side) of the "string insert" hole. The result being a shorter distance between the string ball end and the top of the string saddle, and therefore less chance for possible string slipage in that small portion of the string, and therefore a much better tuning stability when abusing of the tremolo. I have to add that all my Strats (and they are all "work horses", not "vintage collector items") are equipped with "staggered locking tuners" to eliminate the use of headstock string retainers, with Graph Tech nuts (that I regularly lube with "GUNSLICK Graphite Lube" ... FANTASTIC PRODUCT for lubing anything made of graphite) and Graph Tech saddles. Oh my God! That was a LONG COMMENT. :D HAVE FUN! PLAY LOUD! Best guitar gear reviews on the WEB!
My friend are u aware that the Floyd saddles are numbered for the right order.the low E and high E have like a number 1 on the bottom .A and B have their on number and so on.it has to do with the radius of the neck.
rule number 1 is patience when it comes to a floyd but the more you do it the faster you get 10 min tops now compared to hrs before and days before that lol
I just did two Floyd installs-a Special and an Original, while lowering the string gauge to .008s. I watched a bunch of videos (like this one) over the weekend, and that really paid off. I started with the Special, since it’s the less expensive of the two units. I did the swap in the wee hours-not necessarily a good idea. I took my time. The process itself was pretty straight forward, but getting it balanced and in tune was a little tricky. I finished with just enough in the tank to plug the guitar into my Spark and jam along to a backing track of Jeff Beck’s reading of “Goodbye Porkpie Hat. Between the Floyd, the new strings, and some adjustments to the pickup heights, my guitar sounded incredible! Today I decided to take a different approach on Guitar #2. Early this afternoon I took off the strings and the stock tremolo, installed the new Floyd, blocked it in place, then put it aside. Later in the evening I restrung the guitar, got everything in tune, did a slight neck adjustment, then plugged into the Spark. What a difference! I guess the takeaway for me was making time to research the install. Thanks to good people like our presenter, I had plenty of knowledge and experience to draw from. Making myself work in a more organized manner, and adopting a relaxed frame of mind helped make the process go a lot smoother. In the end it was time and money well spent, and a little more confidence gained in guitar modification.
I installed a large brass block (42mm) and noiseless springs (black) on an EVH Wolfgang Special. I left the metal shim spacer (whatever it's called) off at first and it had a negative impact. The string height and tension was way off (high) and my tremolo was actually floating a bit and had a reverse angle I could not adjust. My action was way off and just didn't look right or make sense. Nonetheless, I went ahead and adjusted everything (except for exact intonation) and it sounded good, but just didn't like the feel of the floating slightly angled tremolo. Upon further examination, I noted that the piece of metal is to keep the whole system flat to the body as the new sustain block was bumping in to the wood body even if I cranked the springs (causing a slight tilt). I completely redid everything again and after reinstalling the metal shim it was just perfect and I absolutely love it (way more sustain). I know every guitar is different, but I would recommend keeping the metal shim spacer in place at least on the EVH Wolfgang Series (whoever said remove it from FUTONE is likely wrong). Just make sure its tight and bingo! Hope this save someone from doing it twice. I will set the intonation after I leave the guitar with tension over night. I am sure it will sound even better. ROCK ON!!!
Hey, R.J. I definitely noticed the brightness and volume increase with the new trem. I'm certain the brass block had something to do with that. It was the preferred nut, saddle, and bridge combination for a lot of guitar players in the 1970's. After hearing this video, I can see why.
I like Adam's products. He seems like a good dude. For the record though, EVH didn't have sustain issues in the 80s and he had none of these things. ;)
Great video my friend!! Those brass blocks really add sustain and brighten the tone too!! All that's left now are some titanium saddle inserts lol!! Cheers RJ!!
Don’t know how old your strings were before or what type they were before, but the brighter tone could be simply strings. May even change sustain some. The good news is that it does sound better!!!! Floyd's are a pain but are for a specific purpose as we all know. I love/hate 'em. Love ur stuff RJ.
I gave away a guitar with a floyd rose cuz I couldn't get it to tune. You are the only person who Ive seen on youtube that did it the way you did!!! Thanks! Maybe I'll try another rose!! Great video R.J.!
Plus, if you add the trem-stop (inexpensive), tuning becomes a lot easier and you can do double stop bends without knocking the other strings out of tune (same as a decked floyd).
Doing my first String change on my only FR system.... 3 packs of 10's a ton of cussing and 3 walk aways to calm my nerves ..... I figured it out, the Tug O War nightmare......lol. It's always a nightmare your first time trying something new. I get what the Floyd Rose does now after 3 days of watching videos. Your simple upgrades made it a completely different guitar. Thanks you gave me confidence in doing this myself. Saved money = NEW PARTS or GUITARS!! lol I'm locking mine out with that device. I love the whammy but i'm more of a BENDER lol
I like to tighten the springs with the block still in, until it's just loose enough for it to fall out on it's own, the tuning will be very close to accurate when you do it this way.
That Floyd reminds me of the Ibanez Lo-Pro Edge. For all the bridges I've played it's by far the most comfortable with palm muting and like the FR1000 it has tuners at the very back.
This is a really awesome video RJ, well thought out, great A/B section at the end.. I searched for an hour for other toneblock videos and they wern't as good as this one!
Were the stud lock on the Gotoh bridge engaged? They seemed to thread out by hand, which suggests they were incorrectly installed. There's a stud lock built into Gotoh GE1996T and Ibanez Edge (low-pro too) bridge studs. Take a look inside the big hex hole and you'll see a smaller, like 3mm, hex. If you have the studs out of the guitar then just look at the end opposite the head and you'll see the small stud at the center of the post. If you don't extend those stud locks then the posts wobble in the inserts and the bridge never stays in-tune. Tighten those up and the GE1996T is the best Floyd stability-wise.
Just purchased the FR 100 Pro for my mid-1980s Ibanez Roadstar II series. Fun putting a $289.00 trem on a $190.00 Guitar. Checked out your video to see if I did the right thing. So much history (35 years) with the Roadstar it deserved it. Nice accompaniment to the $300.00 stainless jumbo frets I had put on old, money-pit. Can't wait for it to arrive tomorrow to hear the difference. Thanks for the vid!
Cool video, I like FU-Tone stuff, tone improvement is slight but the parts are better quality than stock and stand the test of time, been using their stuff for a long time. I tried a Tremol-No but the lock never stayed put for me in the dive only mode, so I took it out. This Nash guitar sounds great! Thanks for sharing
@16:12 Your reaction to playing the harmonics says it all for me. Definitely a great upgrade. :). Interesting about the tremel-no angle causing tuning problems. I've heard some "strat" guitarists like to alter the claw/springs at back so each string has a defined pitch shift - ie the top E might go up/down a semi-tone while the G might do 2 semi-tones for the same movement. The Tremel-no might not hold the tuning with this variation of spring tension across the strings. I'm nit-picking here - this is def a great upgrade.
Definitely a huge improvement in tonal quality. I've done this upgrade to my Ibanez RG-270, which I've always had a love/hate relationship due to the playability, which I love, but the weak tone/sustain from the cheaper, factory setup, which I hated. This little upgrade was inexpensive, but made a huge difference enough that I sound near pro, with a $300 used guitar. The only next things to change will be the saddle, and out of context, I do need to also upgrade the pickups for a much more pro sound.
Wish I'd found this last night before I spent an hour tuning up my new jem jnr- but I'm glad I went through all that to help me appreciate how direct and efficient your method is. Great guide! Why the A string and not say the D or G (i.e. closer to the middle)?
In my experience, big brass tone blocks make little to no difference in tone and sustain. I tried a few of them (different sizes) in a few guitars for several months but went back to regular sized brass stock blocks. The guitar seems to be a bit louder when unplugged and that may give you the impression of more sustain but that's it. I recorded clips to measure the sustain with all blocks and the differences where negligible and could be attributed to other factors. The main difference you may notice is the additional weight on the guitar. ; ) The noiseless springs will make a difference but you can get the same result by inserting some paper tissue inside the springs holes.
I had a similiar experience with a really resonant Dan Electro Baritone guitar, which when i took home and plugged into my rig didnt really translate, it had a nice tone of its own with those lipstick pickups but nothing like it was sounding when unplugged acoustically. Maybe you'd actually want less vibration in the guitar, it would mean the strings are doing more of the vibrating and would have more sustain then if the whole guitar was vibrating disipating energy. But im no guitar physicist, maybe its just a matter of having the right pickups to pickup on the guitars vibration and its good to have that, but i remember Les paul saying something about reducing vibration was one of the main reasons for going with that log guitar, not sure if he meant to reduce string vibration, he mentioned pickups if i remember right, he didnt want them bouncing around for some reason. Eitherway we really dont seem to know whats going on with this stuff, just designs being thrown out there without any actual testing i bet, but good enough. I wonder how good we could make guitars sound with a little more material science and what not.
I never understood why the low profile version never caught on with the public or manufacturers. Nearly everyone still uses the old, high-profile, 80's version.
A few reasons. Firstly, unlike the 'Original' Floyd that was being made in Germany, the early production 'Pro' was manufactured by Ping in the USA and used imperial hardware so all the metric tools from the Original Floyd were useless on the Pro - Strike one. Secondly, the string spacing was narrower unlike the 'F' spaced dimensions used on the Original and more typical of what players were using at the time - Strike two. Thirdly, the design of the back end requires a deeper cavity to get optimal pull up clearance, players who upgraded from the Original would either have to route the trem cavity deeper or tilt their neck to a degree - Strike three. RJ, does the 1000 series take metric wrenches these days?
As much as I love my Washburn KC-40V and it's Floyd Rose Pro.....I HATE changing strings on a Floyd Rose!! I wish somewhere someone would design something that would convert a Floyd Rose into a fixed bridge! I know that's sacrilegious but, if it means I can change my strings again myself, I'd do it! I think the Tremol-No may be the closest thing to my dream. When I restored my KC-40V a couple of years ago I thought about it but, didn't. I also thought about getting one of the big brass blocks as well, now I'm going to have to add a few more parts. Thanks for the demo..
I think you're possibly confusing the 1000 Series Pro (Low Profile) with the made-in-Korea 1000 Series that comes on many guitars from the factory. The 1000 Series Pro is top notch, made in Germany.
I had a Gotoh and an Original Floyd. The Gotoh was a great product. The Floyd was all steel. I can't remember what the Gotoh was using for block material, but now they use brass, albeit small; doubt I'd bother replacing it. Anyway they both sounded great, worked perfectly although the Floyd was a bit heavier duty. For this new project, at $100 the Gotoh would have been obvious choice If I didn't want a Low Pro. Pisses me off finding it has a zinc block (not havin' it) which I must replace before I have it installed.
@@bradleywood1499 Sorry but nope , the 1000 series pro is NOT made in germany but in korea : quoting FR's own description (and i invite everybody to verify for themselves) " The low-profile version of our infamous Original tremolo, the 1000 Series Pro features the same string spacing as the Floyd Rose Original (.420") whereas the GERMAN Pro has a narrower spacing. Available in a variety of nut sizes that will fit practically any electric guitar, the tremolo kit contains the bridge, springs & claw, mounting studs, and all hardware necessary for installation. Made in Korea " So for anybody interested , the FR PRO (not the 1000 pro) is indeed made in germany and also commes with silent tension springs : the 1000 pro is made in Korea, and comes with standard non noiseless springs.
@@florian6240 Yep, I stand corrected. It was the first sentence in their description " The low-profile version of our infamous Original tremolo" and the price that threw me off. I've been buying my bridges straight from Schaller (Lockmeister Made in Germ) to avoid all of the FR wordplay/licensing BS. Exact same product as the FR Original, plus its a few bucks cheaper and packaged way better.
If you were having any tuning or playability issues with the Gotoh I 100% guarantee it was the tremol-no. It has to be perfectly permendicular to the sustain block or it will eventually bind and not allow you to return to pitch. It's just my pesonal opinion, but the gotoh is better than any floyd branded bridge.
From a physics p.o.v, trems of any type are sustain thieves, RJ. The locking aspects 'would' help if the unit were immovable, as any (even minuscule) motion causes the string length to fluctuate, which saps its potential to continue vibrating as much as if it were 'fixed in space' at both ends. The single most important factor in maintaining sustain isn't anything to do with mass, but from maintaining a constant for the variables which contribute to the string singing unhindered. Anything which alters this, even if locked at the two string anchor points (bridge and nut) detracts from any potential for ultimate sustain. Oversized trem blocks are also a waste of money imo because any potentials gained are lost through the two contact pivots and the 12 contact points of the bridge and nut. With guitars, the most important factors are strings and pups/electric circuits, as it's the vibrating metal of the strings being 'translated' by the pups and fed through the pots etc to give as clean/strong a signal as desired into your signal chain/amp. Waiting for the controversy...
True, only way to have 0 sustain loss is a one piece full metal brass guitar with strings soldered on in perfect tune. The strings would vibrate forever only to be slowed the friction of the air molecules. We will have reached sustain Nirvana. Some will take their guitars to space for even more sustain, but lose volume, so high in the Himalayas where the atmosphere is thin is the perfect environment for sustain. The pilgrimage awaits.
@@mikejones-vd3fg Brass, like all metals, reacts to temperature variables. In small quantities, it doesn't matter, but wouldn't be stable enough for a neck. For a guitar to be fully safe from any such variables, it'd need to be made from materials which don't flex even remotely, like stone.
I've just bought an FU Tone big brass block for my Frankie strat, look forward to hearing the difference. I think i can hear more sustain with your upgrades. Cool video, cheers RJ.
Don't know if you'll see this but I'll try. You didn't have any issues with clearance after installing the Lo Pro? I'd really like to swap my standard Floyd for a Lo Pro but was afraid I'd have to rout the body to clear the spring plate for the fine tuners. Your guitar definitely has a different sound now. A little brighter and clearer.
Definite difference without distortion. With distortion, it chimed a wee bit more. But the key is staying in tune, and only you can tell us after substantial dives/bombs...👍🎼🎵🎶
The TremolNo changed the tone in my Ibanez, not sure I’m gonna keep it. It changed the highs when I palm mute and make the “djent” rhythms(sorry for that description but its the most accurate I could come up with)
I did notice a audible difference. Sounded brighter and a bit more plingier on the top end. The original trem sounded more muffled. But lm guessing you notice more when you actually play. More of a feel thing than a huge difference. It’s subtle but noticeable.
Beautiful guitar my friend.. question and I've always wondered how would the brass block on a FR sustain more if the strings don't string through the block? Not trolling lol
this could be all in my head, but with the upgrades, it almost sounded like you were using a boost pedal on a mild setting. like a slight increase in the 1khZ AND a mild bump in the 80-100 hZ range.
Now get the push in bar- i love mine. So much easier to get the perfect tension on the bar, to keep it from flopping, or being too tight to move out of the way
Brighter, not necessarily more sustain but better note separation in the chords. Each note seems to stand out rather than be stacked on top of each other when chording.
I also have the tremol-no in my Jackson PC1. I was a bit disappointed though when in hardtail mode it's not strong enough to hold even though I tightened the thumb screw. I do have 11 gauge strings with 3 springs. Yeah, the thumb screws need to be redesigned in my opinion.
Wish I would of had your videos and resources when I owned an Ibanez RG with the floating trem. I just blocked it cause I hated the hassle. If I knew what you talked about in this video maybe would have tried to to more with a trem.
They're both great tremolo it's just a matter of preferences. Like the comfortability problem you are having in the fine tuning. Upgrading to a big block was the right choice either way! And I believe there's another FR Low Pro with the long clamping Screws that looks like the Edge Trem it is really beautiful wonder if they still sell those. Anyway have a great day man!
Not gunna find too many people doing that mod,have you seen the price of titanium saddles? They cost more than the entire bridge, huge waste of money rite there. Plus, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the hardened steel saddles they come with,unless you have a fr special, leave your saddles alone,they will last a decade or more,if not you're doing something wrong i.e. over tightening or something.
Just curious i wonder how tungsten would do for the block i know its the most dense you could get but would it vibrate different from being more solid and not just heavier
I thought it sustained for much longer with the Floyd... you can hear the drive begin to fade right away with the gotoh, but it sits solid with the floyd.
I'm a big fan of the Gotoh ge1996t, I think it has some better features and the build quality is superior to whatever Floyd Rose/Schaller is doing these days, especially regarding the loose, rattling bar at 9:58, but yeah, sometimes the "high profile" does get in the way. Good thing it was a direct replacement in your case.
I don't know..maybe a little brighter? But it's about the amount of return you got for the money really. Was it ..or, is it worth putting that kind of money into a parts caster to eak out a maybe noticeable sound difference? Also, the thicker block limits the amount of throw that the trem can travel. I get the comfort for your right hand with the low profile of the new trem, but if it were me, I would just sell that thing, and buy something with the setup I was looking for. JMHO..🤘
Crap... I just ordered the Gotoh before seeing this video. I have the gotoh on all my other floyd guitars and I like it. Hopefully I didn’t just make a costly mistake!
R.J. did you have to change anything on the new Floyd Rose to accommodate the fretboard radius? I ordered an original Floyd Rose to replace a Floyd Rose 1000 and the neck of my guitar is a compound 12-16 inch radius and it says the new Floyd comes set up for a 10 inch radius but I can't find any information on this at all so any information or advice or anything would be greatly appreciated.
This would be more of problem if it came set up for a 16 inch radius and your guitar had a 10 inch radius. Then you might have buzzing problems. The other way around, you might have higher action than needed, if there's no way to lower it/remove shims.
From what I've experienced in the past I've found basically the opposite of what you notice. Lighter guitars resonate better. Brass helps sustain but sucks high frequencies.
Dude when you set up a floyd just block it from going back/down. Tune it and level the claw so it's a mm above the block or buisnis cards and just pull em out, from there youll beary have to tune or tuch the claw
@@RJRonquillo I had to check out that 1000 “Pro” version. I like the setup with the fine tuners. The German-made Pro has the same design but with a narrower string spacing. Its so interesting how many versions there are.
Cool video bro .. I got the brass block in my JS1200 .. but it’ was a pain in the Ass because once I installed it I couldn’t pull back to much with the bar and I play a lot of VAI ,Satchs stuff... so I had to carve some wood off because the block was hitting it not enough Clearance ... I could of went down 9s gauge .. but I like 10s in standard tuning ... in my opinion the the brass block is a joke ... if I didn’t throw out the original pot metal one I would off put it back in ... lesson learned. But it’s all good now.!
Kabayan, I hope you can read this. If it is possibl, can you please make a review of our very own Filipino superstrat? It is the Jcraft S-3H FR24. Thank you and God bless!
I heard you mess up the harmonic in the gotoh demo. :P That's just on purpose, if you grab the harmonic correctly it will sing and not sound that airy, like in the other demo (or maybe just add a bit more compression like you had in that other harmonic). But in general yes the big block added some mids to upper mids I feel?
UPDATE: I installed a Tremol-no with the bigger claw to fit the Big Brass Block, and changed the 2 outside springs to white FU-Tone Heavy Duty. It's playing better than ever!
Not much of a tone difference to my ears ... but sounds like it rings somewhat longer after strumming. Now you'd be the judge if that new Floyd Rose bridge has a better tuning stability ... I have no experience whatsoever with these special series of bridges from Floyd Rose (I only know the "standard" ones that everybody knows).
Now, I changed the trem blocks of 2 old Strats of mine (one trem is 6 screws wide string spacing, the other is 2 posts narrow string spacing) with heavy blocks, and the result was always a better sustain and a better (How can I say it?) resistance to pitch issues when I strum harder on the low strings ... I guess it must come from the inertia of a heavier "trem rig" and the fact that it requires more "force" to translate a heavy strumming "punch" on the strings into a movement of the tremolo assembly ... I may be totally wrong about that assumption :D , but that's sort of what I feel about heavier Strat tremolos in general.
Finally, I HAVE A SUPER USEFUL TRICK (that I stole from a luthier friend of mine) to improve the tuning stability of a Strat trem (2 posts or 6 screws) : the "string inserts" on the back side of the trem blocks are often "not deep enough" ... you have to be very careful and "MEASURE TWICE" to "DRILL ONCE" (otherwise you're in for a new trem block ;D ) ... you drill these "string inserts" so that only 5mm (about 3/16") remain of the "NARROW SIDE" (upper side) of the "string insert" hole. The result being a shorter distance between the string ball end and the top of the string saddle, and therefore less chance for possible string slipage in that small portion of the string, and therefore a much better tuning stability when abusing of the tremolo.
I have to add that all my Strats (and they are all "work horses", not "vintage collector items") are equipped with "staggered locking tuners" to eliminate the use of headstock string retainers, with Graph Tech nuts (that I regularly lube with "GUNSLICK Graphite Lube" ... FANTASTIC PRODUCT for lubing anything made of graphite) and Graph Tech saddles.
Oh my God! That was a LONG COMMENT. :D
HAVE FUN! PLAY LOUD!
Best guitar gear reviews on the WEB!
Totally agree
My friend are u aware that the Floyd saddles are numbered for the right order.the low E and high E have like a number 1 on the bottom .A and B have their on number and so on.it has to do with the radius of the neck.
but my issue is when you bend strings does it pull bridge up? i dont like that
This video was uploaded on my sister's birthday
Step 1 of setting up a Floyd Rose: start early in the day...
It takes 5 min?
Basically it’s the first thing you do in the morning
Step 2: Have large cup of hot Patience.
rule number 1 is patience when it comes to a floyd but the more you do it the faster you get 10 min tops now compared to hrs before and days before that lol
I just did two Floyd installs-a Special and an Original, while lowering the string gauge to .008s. I watched a bunch of videos (like this one) over the weekend, and that really paid off. I started with the Special, since it’s the less expensive of the two units. I did the swap in the wee hours-not necessarily a good idea. I took my time. The process itself was pretty straight forward, but getting it balanced and in tune was a little tricky. I finished with just enough in the tank to plug the guitar into my Spark and jam along to a backing track of Jeff Beck’s reading of “Goodbye Porkpie Hat. Between the Floyd, the new strings, and some adjustments to the pickup heights, my guitar sounded incredible! Today I decided to take a different approach on Guitar #2. Early this afternoon I took off the strings and the stock tremolo, installed the new Floyd, blocked it in place, then put it aside. Later in the evening I restrung the guitar, got everything in tune, did a slight neck adjustment, then plugged into the Spark. What a difference!
I guess the takeaway for me was making time to research the install. Thanks to good people like our presenter, I had plenty of knowledge and experience to draw from. Making myself work in a more organized manner, and adopting a relaxed frame of mind helped make the process go a lot smoother. In the end it was time and money well spent, and a little more confidence gained in guitar modification.
Gotoh sounded more mellow and the new setup sounded brighter with more bite through my headphones.
i concur, for my flavor i liked the gotoh
I'm loving this slide into the 80s... Direct rack chorus sound... super strat....
I installed a large brass block (42mm) and noiseless springs (black) on an EVH Wolfgang Special. I left the metal shim spacer (whatever it's called) off at first and it had a negative impact. The string height and tension was way off (high) and my tremolo was actually floating a bit and had a reverse angle I could not adjust. My action was way off and just didn't look right or make sense. Nonetheless, I went ahead and adjusted everything (except for exact intonation) and it sounded good, but just didn't like the feel of the floating slightly angled tremolo. Upon further examination, I noted that the piece of metal is to keep the whole system flat to the body as the new sustain block was bumping in to the wood body even if I cranked the springs (causing a slight tilt). I completely redid everything again and after reinstalling the metal shim it was just perfect and I absolutely love it (way more sustain). I know every guitar is different, but I would recommend keeping the metal shim spacer in place at least on the EVH Wolfgang Series (whoever said remove it from FUTONE is likely wrong). Just make sure its tight and bingo! Hope this save someone from doing it twice. I will set the intonation after I leave the guitar with tension over night. I am sure it will sound even better. ROCK ON!!!
Same experience
Thanks. I just got a wolf special, and I want to improve it's tone. I like the feel of the guitar, but my Les Paul sounds a lot better.
Hey, R.J. I definitely noticed the brightness and volume increase with the new trem. I'm certain the brass block had something to do with that. It was the preferred nut, saddle, and bridge combination for a lot of guitar players in the 1970's. After hearing this video, I can see why.
I like Adam's products. He seems like a good dude. For the record though, EVH didn't have sustain issues in the 80s and he had none of these things. ;)
@@ewm335 Traditional Fender tremolos didn't have brass blocks either. Brass blocks = snake oil
Great video my friend!! Those brass blocks really add sustain and brighten the tone too!! All that's left now are some titanium saddle inserts lol!! Cheers RJ!!
Man the colors on that instrument are incredible. Of course it sounds great too
..there are only two colors in mY world view-yellow and not yellow...this guitar has both.👍🎸💗🤘
Great video, RJ. The new FU upgrades made the clean sounds clearer in the top end to my ears.
Don’t know how old your strings were before or what type they were before, but the brighter tone could be simply strings. May even change sustain some. The good news is that it does sound better!!!! Floyd's are a pain but are for a specific purpose as we all know. I love/hate 'em. Love ur stuff RJ.
I gave away a guitar with a floyd rose cuz I couldn't get it to tune. You are the only person who Ive seen on youtube that did it the way you did!!! Thanks! Maybe I'll try another rose!! Great video R.J.!
I learned how to setup a FLoyd from Ben Eller - th-cam.com/video/wJIXFFFxf_g/w-d-xo.html
Plus, if you add the trem-stop (inexpensive), tuning becomes a lot easier and you can do double stop bends without knocking the other strings out of tune (same as a decked floyd).
Doing my first String change on my only FR system.... 3 packs of 10's a ton of cussing and 3 walk aways to calm my nerves ..... I figured it out, the Tug O War nightmare......lol. It's always a nightmare your first time trying something new. I get what the Floyd Rose does now after 3 days of watching videos. Your simple upgrades made it a completely different guitar. Thanks you gave me confidence in doing this myself. Saved money = NEW PARTS or GUITARS!! lol I'm locking mine out with that device. I love the whammy but i'm more of a BENDER lol
I like to tighten the springs with the block still in, until it's just loose enough for it to fall out on it's own, the tuning will be very close to accurate when you do it this way.
Big difference in sound quality and rings like a piano now. Before sounded dead and muddy. Great 👍 upgrade!
That Floyd reminds me of the Ibanez Lo-Pro Edge. For all the bridges I've played it's by far the most comfortable with palm muting and like the FR1000 it has tuners at the very back.
This is a really awesome video RJ, well thought out, great A/B section at the end.. I searched for an hour for other toneblock videos and they wern't as good as this one!
One of the best upgrades you can do on a Floyed! All my Jackson’s have a brass block.
It's time for some tone! Fu-tone if the only answer for when you are ready. We feature Fu-tone hardware on all 3G guitars. Adam is the Man!
Wow, you can really hear the difference. A lot more sustain and crispness on the new setup.
That was great. I do not use a Floyd but I really have the whole picture with this video. Thanx
Adam from FU Tone is the best. Incredible customer service. The Vega trem is awesome if you don’t want to use a locking nut vibrato system.
For sure a sustain increase.
Nice build!
Thanks much! It sounds brighter to me! and looks great! This convinced me to stop avoiding a Floyd.
Nice! I'm glad the tremol-no tips helped! Yeah, just get the model with the large clamp and it will fit the big block. 🤘🏻
Thanks man!
Were the stud lock on the Gotoh bridge engaged? They seemed to thread out by hand, which suggests they were incorrectly installed. There's a stud lock built into Gotoh GE1996T and Ibanez Edge (low-pro too) bridge studs. Take a look inside the big hex hole and you'll see a smaller, like 3mm, hex. If you have the studs out of the guitar then just look at the end opposite the head and you'll see the small stud at the center of the post. If you don't extend those stud locks then the posts wobble in the inserts and the bridge never stays in-tune. Tighten those up and the GE1996T is the best Floyd stability-wise.
Just purchased the FR 100 Pro for my mid-1980s Ibanez Roadstar II series. Fun putting a $289.00 trem on a $190.00 Guitar. Checked out your video to see if I did the right thing. So much history (35 years) with the Roadstar it deserved it. Nice accompaniment to the $300.00 stainless jumbo frets I had put on old, money-pit. Can't wait for it to arrive tomorrow to hear the difference. Thanks for the vid!
Cool video, I like FU-Tone stuff, tone improvement is slight but the parts are better quality than stock and stand the test of time, been using their stuff for a long time. I tried a Tremol-No but the lock never stayed put for me in the dive only mode, so I took it out. This Nash guitar sounds great! Thanks for sharing
@16:12 Your reaction to playing the harmonics says it all for me. Definitely a great upgrade. :). Interesting about the tremel-no angle causing tuning problems. I've heard some "strat" guitarists like to alter the claw/springs at back so each string has a defined pitch shift - ie the top E might go up/down a semi-tone while the G might do 2 semi-tones for the same movement. The Tremel-no might not hold the tuning with this variation of spring tension across the strings. I'm nit-picking here - this is def a great upgrade.
Definitely a huge improvement in tonal quality. I've done this upgrade to my Ibanez RG-270, which I've always had a love/hate relationship due to the playability, which I love, but the weak tone/sustain from the cheaper, factory setup, which I hated. This little upgrade was inexpensive, but made a huge difference enough that I sound near pro, with a $300 used guitar. The only next things to change will be the saddle, and out of context, I do need to also upgrade the pickups for a much more pro sound.
Wish I'd found this last night before I spent an hour tuning up my new jem jnr- but I'm glad I went through all that to help me appreciate how direct and efficient your method is. Great guide! Why the A string and not say the D or G (i.e. closer to the middle)?
In my experience, big brass tone blocks make little to no difference in tone and sustain. I tried a few of them (different sizes) in a few guitars for several months but went back to regular sized brass stock blocks. The guitar seems to be a bit louder when unplugged and that may give you the impression of more sustain but that's it. I recorded clips to measure the sustain with all blocks and the differences where negligible and could be attributed to other factors. The main difference you may notice is the additional weight on the guitar. ; )
The noiseless springs will make a difference but you can get the same result by inserting some paper tissue inside the springs holes.
I had a similiar experience with a really resonant Dan Electro Baritone guitar, which when i took home and plugged into my rig didnt really translate, it had a nice tone of its own with those lipstick pickups but nothing like it was sounding when unplugged acoustically. Maybe you'd actually want less vibration in the guitar, it would mean the strings are doing more of the vibrating and would have more sustain then if the whole guitar was vibrating disipating energy. But im no guitar physicist, maybe its just a matter of having the right pickups to pickup on the guitars vibration and its good to have that, but i remember Les paul saying something about reducing vibration was one of the main reasons for going with that log guitar, not sure if he meant to reduce string vibration, he mentioned pickups if i remember right, he didnt want them bouncing around for some reason. Eitherway we really dont seem to know whats going on with this stuff, just designs being thrown out there without any actual testing i bet, but good enough. I wonder how good we could make guitars sound with a little more material science and what not.
I disagree. My big block sounded like a damn bell going off!
Good video. Reminds me why I quit using locking trems in '88.
Upgraded my peavey Wolfgang with a brass block, very happy with that. A little more sustain and strings ring more evenly
I never understood why the low profile version never caught on with the public or manufacturers. Nearly everyone still uses the old, high-profile, 80's version.
A few reasons. Firstly, unlike the 'Original' Floyd that was being made in Germany, the early production 'Pro' was manufactured by Ping in the USA and used imperial hardware so all the metric tools from the Original Floyd were useless on the Pro - Strike one.
Secondly, the string spacing was narrower unlike the 'F' spaced dimensions used on the Original and more typical of what players were using at the time - Strike two.
Thirdly, the design of the back end requires a deeper cavity to get optimal pull up clearance, players who upgraded from the Original would either have to route the trem cavity deeper or tilt their neck to a degree - Strike three.
RJ, does the 1000 series take metric wrenches these days?
@@juliansw3110
I think they changed the "Pro" to regular Floyd string spacing recently.
Excellent work! Exactly what I need to be doing to an old Jem. Cheers mate.
Can't beat the 80s bro 😁🤘👍 great little device that tremono 👍🙏
80's gear rules! Tremol-no is pretty handy, it's not perfect but it works.
@@RJRonquillo have to confess I've not seen it before. It's a great idea! Hope you're well bro, miss you 😁
As much as I love my Washburn KC-40V and it's Floyd Rose Pro.....I HATE changing strings on a Floyd Rose!! I wish somewhere someone would design something that would convert a Floyd Rose into a fixed bridge! I know that's sacrilegious but, if it means I can change my strings again myself, I'd do it! I think the Tremol-No may be the closest thing to my dream. When I restored my KC-40V a couple of years ago I thought about it but, didn't. I also thought about getting one of the big brass blocks as well, now I'm going to have to add a few more parts. Thanks for the demo..
Awesome video! Great content! I HAD to subscribe!!🤘
In my humble opinion Gotoh 1996T is a much better Floyd than the FR 1000 series
That's what I was thinking
I think you're possibly confusing the 1000 Series Pro (Low Profile) with the made-in-Korea 1000 Series that comes on many guitars from the factory. The 1000 Series Pro is top notch, made in Germany.
I had a Gotoh and an Original Floyd. The Gotoh was a great product. The Floyd was all steel. I can't remember what the Gotoh was using for block material, but now they use brass, albeit small; doubt I'd bother replacing it. Anyway they both sounded great, worked perfectly although the Floyd was a bit heavier duty. For this new project, at $100 the Gotoh would have been obvious choice If I didn't want a Low Pro. Pisses me off finding it has a zinc block (not havin' it) which I must replace before I have it installed.
@@bradleywood1499 Sorry but nope , the 1000 series pro is NOT made in germany but in korea : quoting FR's own description (and i invite everybody to verify for themselves)
" The low-profile version of our infamous Original tremolo, the 1000 Series Pro features the same string spacing as the Floyd Rose Original (.420") whereas the GERMAN Pro has a narrower spacing. Available in a variety of nut sizes that will fit practically any electric guitar, the tremolo kit contains the bridge, springs & claw, mounting studs, and all hardware necessary for installation.
Made in Korea "
So for anybody interested , the FR PRO (not the 1000 pro) is indeed made in germany and also commes with silent tension springs : the 1000 pro is made in Korea, and comes with standard non noiseless springs.
@@florian6240 Yep, I stand corrected. It was the first sentence in their description " The low-profile version of our infamous Original tremolo" and the price that threw me off. I've been buying my bridges straight from Schaller (Lockmeister Made in Germ) to avoid all of the FR wordplay/licensing BS. Exact same product as the FR Original, plus its a few bucks cheaper and packaged way better.
If you were having any tuning or playability issues with the Gotoh I 100% guarantee it was the tremol-no. It has to be perfectly permendicular to the sustain block or it will eventually bind and not allow you to return to pitch. It's just my pesonal opinion, but the gotoh is better than any floyd branded bridge.
From a physics p.o.v, trems of any type are sustain thieves, RJ.
The locking aspects 'would' help if the unit were immovable, as any (even minuscule) motion causes the string length to fluctuate, which saps its potential to continue vibrating as much as if it were 'fixed in space' at both ends.
The single most important factor in maintaining sustain isn't anything to do with mass, but from maintaining a constant for the variables which contribute to the string singing unhindered.
Anything which alters this, even if locked at the two string anchor points (bridge and nut) detracts from any potential for ultimate sustain.
Oversized trem blocks are also a waste of money imo because any potentials gained are lost through the two contact pivots and the 12 contact points of the bridge and nut.
With guitars, the most important factors are strings and pups/electric circuits, as it's the vibrating metal of the strings being 'translated' by the pups and fed through the pots etc to give as clean/strong a signal as desired into your signal chain/amp.
Waiting for the controversy...
True, only way to have 0 sustain loss is a one piece full metal brass guitar with strings soldered on in perfect tune. The strings would vibrate forever only to be slowed the friction of the air molecules. We will have reached sustain Nirvana. Some will take their guitars to space for even more sustain, but lose volume, so high in the Himalayas where the atmosphere is thin is the perfect environment for sustain. The pilgrimage awaits.
@@mikejones-vd3fg Brass, like all metals, reacts to temperature variables.
In small quantities, it doesn't matter, but wouldn't be stable enough for a neck.
For a guitar to be fully safe from any such variables, it'd need to be made from materials which don't flex even remotely, like stone.
@@onbedoeldekut1515 th-cam.com/video/36ECSlBDDRA/w-d-xo.html railroad iron then?
My favourite Floyd Rose modification is wedging 2 blocks of wood on either side of the trem block. There, it's all "fixed" now....haha.
I like the way the pickups and fingerboard have aged to the same color. ;)
I've just bought an FU Tone big brass block for my Frankie strat, look forward to hearing the difference. I think i can hear more sustain with your upgrades. Cool video, cheers RJ.
Well how did your brass block sound man?
Don't know if you'll see this but I'll try. You didn't have any issues with clearance after installing the Lo Pro? I'd really like to swap my standard Floyd for a Lo Pro but was afraid I'd have to rout the body to clear the spring plate for the fine tuners.
Your guitar definitely has a different sound now. A little brighter and clearer.
Wow I learned a lot thanks to this video. My Ibanez trem frustrates me a lot, mainly with not returning to zero
Definite difference without distortion. With distortion, it chimed a wee bit more. But the key is staying in tune, and only you can tell us after substantial dives/bombs...👍🎼🎵🎶
Just change strings one at a time. No blocking. No re-intonating. No worry. People make owning a FR the most difficult thing ever.
Miami Vice shirt! Sooo perfect!
The TremolNo changed the tone in my Ibanez, not sure I’m gonna keep it. It changed the highs when I palm mute and make the “djent” rhythms(sorry for that description but its the most accurate I could come up with)
I did notice a audible difference. Sounded brighter and a bit more plingier on the top end. The original trem sounded more muffled. But lm guessing you notice more when you actually play. More of a feel thing than a huge difference. It’s subtle but noticeable.
I do not like bright tones...but gotta say the brightness the brass block brings is very nice!
I like the Chrome, I think FUtone can do whatever color stuff ya want, for a price.
Floyd Rose 🤘🏽sounded bright most definitely
@goobtuber pink anodized would rock
Beautiful guitar my friend.. question and I've always wondered how would the brass block on a FR sustain more if the strings don't string through the block? Not trolling lol
this could be all in my head, but with the upgrades, it almost sounded like you were using a boost pedal on a mild setting. like a slight increase in the 1khZ AND a mild bump in the 80-100 hZ range.
Great job R.J !!
Now get the push in bar- i love mine. So much easier to get the perfect tension on the bar, to keep it from flopping, or being too tight to move out of the way
all the floyds I have various models always have the same problem.... LOOSE FINE TUNER SCREWS is there any fix for that?
that brass block added some bottom. I hope you get the granite block by the stone tone too and give it a try. Mabuhay to your channel, tol!!! ☺
Most put new strings on after mod, that can also explain why it sounds clearer
Big difference!! But were the strings the same?
Yes.
Oh yeah big difference then! Nice job! 😁
Brighter, not necessarily more sustain but better note separation in the chords. Each note seems to stand out rather than be stacked on top of each other when chording.
I wonder how much the loose studs playin part in lack of brightness and sustain?
I also have the tremol-no in my Jackson PC1. I was a bit disappointed though when in hardtail mode it's not strong enough to hold even though I tightened the thumb screw. I do have 11 gauge strings with 3 springs. Yeah, the thumb screws need to be redesigned in my opinion.
Funny I was working on my 89’ Ibanez just last night for the first time in years and installing a tremelNO. Then today I see this vid. Serendipity.
Wish I would of had your videos and resources when I owned an Ibanez RG with the floating trem. I just blocked it cause I hated the hassle. If I knew what you talked about in this video maybe would have tried to to more with a trem.
I had to mode my 2020 hm strat to fit my FR Pro due to the claw underneath the fine tuners.
I heard a big difference between them. The Floyd Rose with the FU -Tone big block sounds much clearer & brighter
Sounds better with the upgrade....👀👀🤔🤘🤘🤘
I love (early) Dave Murray style strats! Killer upgrade! What pickups have you got in there?
is the 1000 series as durable as the original? thanks..
I'm not sure applying an adhesive on the stud is a good idea, if i'm not mistaken, there were suppose to be a bear ground wire inside the stud hole..
did the gotoh samples have new strings like the fu tone did?
They're both great tremolo it's just a matter of preferences. Like the comfortability problem you are having in the fine tuning. Upgrading to a big block was the right choice either way! And I believe there's another FR Low Pro with the long clamping Screws that looks like the Edge Trem it is really beautiful wonder if they still sell those. Anyway have a great day man!
Hey bro, I was looking forward to your Saturday show, where you at?
One must do upgrade to the floyd is replacing the crap steel saddles with titanium saddles. The change in tone and sustain is unparalleled.
Not gunna find too many people doing that mod,have you seen the price of titanium saddles? They cost more than the entire bridge, huge waste of money rite there. Plus, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the hardened steel saddles they come with,unless you have a fr special, leave your saddles alone,they will last a decade or more,if not you're doing something wrong i.e. over tightening or something.
Very helpful cheers for the video
hey RJ 👋😀..i have a 91"rg 760 that goes sic out of key on finger bends..you think these springs may help me out..thnx man👉😀🎶..
Just curious i wonder how tungsten would do for the block i know its the most dense you could get but would it vibrate different from being more solid and not just heavier
I thought it sustained for much longer with the Floyd... you can hear the drive begin to fade right away with the gotoh, but it sits solid with the floyd.
Hi R.J. I have the same issue with my gotoh. Do you know/van you tell if the Floyd Rose 1000 can be mounted non recessed like my gotoh is now? Cheers!
Killer vid, thanks!
I'm a big fan of the Gotoh ge1996t, I think it has some better features and the build quality is superior to whatever Floyd Rose/Schaller is doing these days, especially regarding the loose, rattling bar at 9:58, but yeah, sometimes the "high profile" does get in the way. Good thing it was a direct replacement in your case.
I don't know..maybe a little brighter? But it's about the amount of return you got for the money really. Was it ..or, is it worth putting that kind of money into a parts caster to eak out a maybe noticeable sound difference? Also, the thicker block limits the amount of throw that the trem can travel. I get the comfort for your right hand with the low profile of the new trem, but if it were me, I would just sell that thing, and buy something with the setup I was looking for. JMHO..🤘
Crap... I just ordered the Gotoh before seeing this video. I have the gotoh on all my other floyd guitars and I like it. Hopefully I didn’t just make a costly mistake!
If I could afford it, I would love to do a mega Floyd shootout.
@@DannyKGuitar i agree
edit: i just realized who i replied to lmao
Are you gonna sell the Gotoh bridge? I'm interested in it , if you are selling it .
R.J. did you have to change anything on the new Floyd Rose to accommodate the fretboard radius? I ordered an original Floyd Rose to replace a Floyd Rose 1000 and the neck of my guitar is a compound 12-16 inch radius and it says the new Floyd comes set up for a 10 inch radius but I can't find any information on this at all so any information or advice or anything would be greatly appreciated.
This would be more of problem if it came set up for a 16 inch radius and your guitar had a 10 inch radius. Then you might have buzzing problems. The other way around, you might have higher action than needed, if there's no way to lower it/remove shims.
From what I've experienced in the past I've found basically the opposite of what you notice. Lighter guitars resonate better. Brass helps sustain but sucks high frequencies.
Dude when you set up a floyd just block it from going back/down. Tune it and level the claw so it's a mm above the block or buisnis cards and just pull em out, from there youll beary have to tune or tuch the claw
What model Gotoh is used here?
Adam Rever has great stuff.
I need more Floyd Rose guitars!
@@RJRonquillo I had to check out that 1000 “Pro” version. I like the setup with the fine tuners. The German-made Pro has the same design but with a narrower string spacing. Its so interesting how many versions there are.
Cool video bro .. I got the brass block in my JS1200 .. but it’ was a pain in the Ass because once I installed it I couldn’t pull back to much with the bar and I play a lot of VAI ,Satchs stuff... so I had to carve some wood off because the block was hitting it not enough Clearance ... I could of went down 9s gauge .. but I like 10s in standard tuning ... in my opinion the the brass block is a joke ... if I didn’t throw out the original pot metal one I would off put it back in ... lesson learned. But it’s all good now.!
You can get a smaller block, but I wouldn't go back to pot metal. There are plenty of alternatives out there.
@@kitoyobeni1 True .
Excellent
That Nash is caf! Nice
I would swap the arm/collar assembly, I hate the Floyd collar arm and love the push in type arm ;-) I assume they are interchangeable... FWIW
Kabayan, I hope you can read this. If it is possibl, can you please make a review of our very own Filipino superstrat? It is the Jcraft S-3H FR24.
Thank you and God bless!
R.J. I like the Gotoh better. Much warmer and consistent.
I heard you mess up the harmonic in the gotoh demo. :P That's just on purpose, if you grab the harmonic correctly it will sing and not sound that airy, like in the other demo (or maybe just add a bit more compression like you had in that other harmonic). But in general yes the big block added some mids to upper mids I feel?
Lots of difference. The floyd with the brass block rings clearer