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Upgrading a Fender HM Strat with a Gotoh bridge!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ส.ค. 2024
- I decided to replace the Flod Rose Special that came stock on my new HM Strat with a Gotoh GE1996T.
Here are the tips and tricks I gathered while installing this bridge.
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
03:56 - Detailed look at the new bridge
06:30- The 3 options
09:21 - Conclusion and feedback
#guitarmods #gotoh #hmstrat
I had exactly the same issue with the Gotoh 11.3mm stud inserts, whilst swapping out the FR Special for a Goto 1996t & there was no way I was going to start drilling into my new Soloist. Thanks to you, the answer was staring me in the face all along. FR Original hardened steel studs arriving today. Thank again for sharing this with us. Great info!
Cool! Glad this experience could be useful to you!
6:30 - 9:20 - After watching many Floyd Rose type videos this is the best explanation of the importance of the material of the studs and base plate matching I have found. I would have drilled the new holes for the inserts\bushings, unless I planned to maybe one day sell the guitar and put the Floyd Rose Special back on.
Yes I think that was the most perfect solution. But I may sell the guitar one day, or put this bridge on another guitar, so I didn't want any permanent mod in this one.
I have exactly the same guitar and have been looking at replacing the FR Special with the Gotoh. thanks for this.
Yeah the Gotoh is an amazing bridge. I love its rounded saddles and the overall stability. I guess the guitar has a better sustain too.
Got one of these on my new Jackson so, I now have guitars with Floyd Rose, Ibanez Edge & Gotoh. I've also owned Schaller before. First impressions are that the Gotoh is immense. From materials to feel and playability, it's a workhorse. I'm even thinking of replacing all the other bridges of my guitars with this. Merci beaucoup for the video. It's really well done and structured.
Thanks! I'm glad you liked the video, and that it gave you modding inspiration 😄
Same here, I replaced many with this affordable Gotoh, and there are very smooth, reliable, and strong. My first choice for many years!
Same here, it's a great alternative to a Floyd, and cheaper at that!
I've dropped several German Floyds in my guitars, 100% without fail (including my 2020 HM Strat Reissue).. But, since I've always liked Gotoh hardware, my next trem will likely be this one. Thanks for the video!!
I agree, installing a FR would have been the safest option, but I was ready to take the risk and install the Gotoh, just for the challenge. Thanks for your feedback!
@@fredericadda great video. I learned something from this 👍
Great! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Gotoh's user team! I have the X-Gold version
I add that don't worry with the studs. I use 8mm studs instead of 11.3mm and it works perfectly.
Excellent video by the way! it's very clear
Thanks for the kind words and for your additional info!
Wow my friend thanks for this video, i have the same guitar (tho japan from 91) and im about to instal a the same gotoh bridge! this comes handy!
Perfect! Good luck for your project!
Great video and advice about retrofitting with the Gotoh GE1996T tremolo bridge. I didn't know that the Gotoh bridge is more affordable than the Floyd Rose Original. The information about the upgrading the studs was very informative. The original Fender HM series guitars from 1988 - 1992 came equipped OEM with a Kahler Spyder tremolo bridge & locking nut.
Thanks for the info! And thanks for the nice comment!
Added this same bridge to a Chinese copy Ibanez, it's great. Didn't realize those screws included were to hold the springs, thanks for the info. Good to mention also is that if you use the Gotoh studs, inside them they have a set screw that can be tightened and stops them from moving up and down once you have the height set. Also the trem arm has a set screw which tightens a rubber bushing to adjust how much "swing" your tremolo arm has. It's a great bridge. Japanese quality and cost me about $100.
Thanks for the info! I didn't know about the Gotoh studs.
BTW I realized afterwards that's it's a pop-in arm, but then you can also screw it until it's completely locked (the arm has an internal bushing).
I have 2 of the pink 2020 hm strats and they both do the exact same thing. I'm looking to replace both of the Floyd rose bridges. Thanks for posting!
Cool! Glad you liked it!
Great video. This is exactly what I am doing: gotoh with Floyd studs.
Thanks! Good luck!
I put the same bridge (with a 40mm block) in my Jem Jr. Made a world of difference.
Yeah I heard the original bridge was not great on the Jen Jr. Good upgrade! Did you change the pickups too?
@@fredericadda I intended to put DiMarzio Evolutions in. But after playing the stock pickups for awhile, I grew to like them. I get good pinch harmonics with them. So I ended up putting the Evolution in the bridge of the Steinberger that is in my profile pic.
I just ordered a Jiva Jr... and after I heard Nita Strauss' tone, a set of Pandemoniums/ True Velvet.
That seems like a smart decision.
Hello did 40 mm fit to cover ?
thanks for this tutorial. I did this exact mod on my Edwards Alexi Laiho sig and it works flawlessly. My only gripe was that I wasn't able to find black studs locally so I had to settle with chrome ones along with a black ge1996t. A small cosmetic complaint, but works like a charm nonetheless.
The Alexi guitars are beautiful. The Gotoh trem must be nice on one with its black satin look. I guess you can find black Original Floyd Rose studs on Amazon should you decide to change it.
Very helpful thanks.
Great video...very informative.👍
Thanks! Glad you found it helpful!
Cette vidéo est parfaite et répond à toutes les interrogations. Merci beaucoup !
Content que ça t'ait été utile!
This is a very good video there's some misinformation out there about the the various Gotoh 1996 trems, saying they have a potmetal baseplate! Which clearly they do not! By the way you're right calling the threaded inserts for the studs 'bushings' the words are synonyms. Guitar looks factory, new trem is very well chosen! Ready for shreaddy!
Thanks for your comment.
I just re-listened to the video, I'm saying they have a stainless steel baseplate. If at one point I'm talking about soft metal, I'm referring to the FR Special.
Happy I didn't make a mistake with the different parts, because as you can guess my native language is French 😅
You made the right decision, the Floyd Rose studs are thicker on their point of contact with the knife edges of the bridge, in my opinion they're better than the Gotoh ones only for that reason.
Thanks! The Gotoh ones looked pretty robust too, but I thought the Floyd ones were more than enough for my use, and the hassle of drilling bigger holes was just too much 😄
@@fredericadda Yep gotohs have their strong points too. They have the locking mechanism with the second screw inside the studs themselves which is pretty cool and they are bigger. I believe a combination of the gotohs and the floyd ones would be the ideal studs for locking bridges.
Very helpful video... thanks for posting!
Thanks, glad it's helpful for you! 😊
Thanks for this vid. I'm going to upgrade a special soon and didn't know that the studs were no longer stainless steel. On the older specials the stud and baseplate were the same material as the original Floyd Rose.
Good luck!
I have a reissue HM Strat as well (black) and have experienced the same problem with string retention at the bridge. That damn e string has popped out too often! I never thought about why - that the saddle material was softer than the strings! I agree with your approach here - just get the studs from FR and put them in the same holes. This gives you the ability to put the old bridge back if you sell the guitar. And I like the all-Japanese theme! This may be a Christmas time-off project this year!! I have a Japanese Jackson Dinky that I am looking to buy that has the licensed FR OEM bridge in it that many people recommend replacing - I bet the same process would work. Thanks for the informative video!
Nice project! Happy to hear this video was useful for you!
I'm trying to put my hands on an old rusty Japanese Dinky too, I plan to restore it to its former glory.
@@fredericadda Question on removing the old mounting studs and putting in the new ones... not sure how to get the old ones out. Once they are out, do you just tap in the new ones with a hammer?
Well you have 2 options:
- replace the studs and the bushings (the part that is actually inside the guitar body)
- or replace the studs and leave the current bushings. Since there won't be any movement of metal against metal there, that's also an acceptable option.
I decided to replace both, you can look for "replace Floyd rose studs" in TH-cam to see how to remove the bushings.
And to put the new ones back, yeah just put a block of wood on top of the bushing and tap gently with a hammer until it's flush with the body.
@@fredericadda Thanks...I actually did look for removal videos and found some good info. I am going to replace the inserts as well - might as well do the whole thing once I have the whole trem removed. I like the wood block idea. I also have a rubber mallet I used for my guns that should work well to avoid any marring of the finish. Thanks again!
I also got the pink HMstrat. I wanted maple fingerboard, I was not a fan of the hue they chose for yellow and I guess fender could no longer afford to offer blue🤷🏻♂️.
Thank you for your in-depth answer to this obvious problem with the reissue. I have now spent more money than I would have just buying an original HMstrat😂🤡. But I LOVE this guitar. 🤘
I feel your pain 😅 I was lucky to get a good deal for this one, so the discount basically paid for the new bridge.
You offered the best solution staring everyone in the face by buying original fr stainless steel posts instead of drilling .
Thanks! I first checked with the FR special posts that the new bridge plate would fit on it, it helped me take this decision which I think is the best of both worlds.
Let me give you an advice. I have a guitar from 92 that cane with cheap 8mm thick studs. I converted it to ofr stud anchors that are 10mm.
Over the hears, i finally noticed that the wood below the high e string behind the cavity started to crack.
I say yes and do teh conversion to the german ofr stud anchors. But please choose the ones with reinforcment bar that connects the high e to low e anchors and screw that on top of the guitar with 2 wood screws.
Those 12mm anchors fro. Gotoh will crack the walls. Youll see.....
If the guitar came with floyd special, the stud anchors will accept the harden steel german post. Use that and dont use the gotoh studs.
Also, if possible, pull out the special post anchors and as above, put in that anchors with reinforced bars. Not sure if you ca. Still get them. I got one spare from 20 years ago.
And my cheap LTD even came witgh one
If you watch the video around 5:36 you will see I removed the FR Special posts (screw and anchors) and replaced them with OFR ones (exact same dimensions). I didn't use the posts that came with the Gotoh.
@@fredericaddaahh nice. I was watching while commenting.
Wise of you…
For those that dont know. Please now you know.
Some guitars maybe intentionally route a bit off the wood in that location i mentiioned above. And even my charvel came with floyd 1000, it did crack and pushed out a bit of wood on that location.
To which i used ca, super glue and pushed the wood back into the body.
Then i wedge it with piece of rectangular wood and jam it in the cavity, making sure it didnt touch the bottom of the wammy arm socket.
Never had a problem again.
Thanks for your tips!
Great video these are the tremolo,s that should have been in them all along especially considering they used gotoh tuners and the ridiculous price
I certainly agree. The FR Special is clearly the weak link of this guitar.
The gotoh stuff is really top quality and feel and look along with a brass block and smooth fine tuners I think they are better than even the fr 1000 which I find rough and the fine tuners very stiff
@@eoinjames4018 true, I have a FR1000 on one guitar and a FR Original on another, it's clearly closer to the Original. And it looks better IMO.
Got the same bridge on my "ibanez" project. Great quality for the price, tho I'm used to the edge lo-pro of my rg 550.
Gotoh all the way, baby!
I would have put an Original Floyd on it. I've had licensed Floyds, 1000s, and Specials, and I've never had one that wouldn't retain a string. I know Originals are expensive but they can be found much cheaper. I paid $175 for a brand new black one a year ago. I had a pink Jackson that looked exactly like that Carnation Pink. Loved it.
True. But as explained in the video, I thought it would be fun to go all Japanese 🇯🇵
Je viens de choper une Strat HM neuve que je devrais recevoir sous peu. Je projette de base de remplacer le micro manche par un double format simple, High Gain, mais je me pose aussi la question pour le changer aussi le Floyd. Cette vidéo est parfaite pour affiner cette réflexion.
Super projet !
Thank you for the video, very informative. I believe only the saddles are zinc on the floyd rose special, another option might be to replace them with 1000/original steel saddles ($60). I didn’t hear the block size being mentioned. Did you get a 33mm or does a 36mm fit for the gotoh? Thanks!
Glad you liked it!
As far as I know, the baseplate is also made of a zinc alloy or "pop metal" on the Floyd Rose special, that's why it's so important to match the metal on the baseplate and the studs.
What you suggest is also a good idea, provided you don't use the Floyd too much.
The Gotoh can be sold with a 33, 36 or 40mm brass block, all depends on the size of the cavity in your guitar. For the HM Strat I used a 33mm brass block, it was the same size as the previous bridge.
@@fredericadda thank you so much for the quick reply! I recently purchased the same hm strat reissue in flash pink and was looking for upgrade options. I was initially thinking of putting in a fatter brass block and upgrading the saddles but I really like your idea of sticking with the japanese theme so I am definitely looking into the gotoh. In the description on the FR website they only mention block and saddles being different from the original www.floydrose.com/products/frts?variant=39899204747373
I will try to find a magnet and see if that might be a good test to tell us whether the bridge is steel or zinc.
thanks again
Great! Good luck with your project and let me know how it went when it's finished!
Bonjour Frédéric, merci beaucoup par ton video. J'ai la même guitare avec le même problème mais je ne trouve pas le pont 33mm. en Europe. Où vous avez acheté le pont? Je vais choisir aussi ta solution complete (studs + inserts Original FR).
Bonjour @celvira72
Je l'ai trouvé sur Reverb pour environ 150$ et il faut compter environ 30$ de port.
Hi! I have the same guitar and the same question about upgrading its "horrible" floyd rose special to the original floyd rose or gotoh. As I can see, you didn´t choose the original floyd rose, which could have been a solution, allowing you to use all original floyd rose stuff, instead of mixing gotoh bridge with floyd rose stud (in my opinion, gotoh studs are better). After playing this guitar for a while. What is your opinion about the gotoh bridge? Is the same quality as the original floyd rose, better...worse... Thank you!
Thanks for your comment!
I chose the Gotoh over the Floyd Rose original (which is undoubtedly the best Floyd Rose type bridge out there) for 3 reasons:
- the Gotoh bridge is $100 cheaper for a comparable quality
- I was attracted by the idea of an all-Japan guitar (the tuners are Gotoh ones out of the factory)
- during Covid I couldn't put my hands on an OFR (Floyd Rose were severely back ordered)
For sure it would have been much easier to replace a FR Special by a FR Original or even 1000. But I discovered that a lot of people were actually interested by the exact same project (same guitar, same replacement bridge).
@@fredericadda thank you so much!
The lock nut on the hm strat is 42mm. right? Is it necessary to change the lock nut as well?
No it's not necessary. These are standard measurements, the Gotoh bridge has the same width as the FR one, so the nut doesn't have to be replaced.
Which studs did you use? I’m thinking of doing this to my guitar as well
Hi! I used studs for an Original Floyd Rose (because they are stainless steel). The exact reference for the ones I bought in Reverb is:
"Floyd Rose FRBMMSIBP Original
Bridge Mounting Studs and
Inserts, Black, Set of 2"
It cost me $33 (without shipping)
7:55 you have another option
can spend 10 more bucks and buy the Fu TONE titanium studs
thats what i did when i replaced my floyd special with the 1984 model and it worked out great
Good point. I guess there are plenty of aftermarket parts that would work. However I would make sure that the studs and the bridge are the same hardness. If one of them is harder, the other will get used prematurely.
I have this bridge, please tell me how you set the scale, I am wondering whether to replace this bridge with a Schaller Lockmeister 6
Hi! I'm not sure, which scale are you referring to?
Did you find that the guitar sounded brighter after the bridge swap?
Brighter not really (that wouldn't be a bad thing since the humbucker sounds quite dark). But for sure more articulate and with more sustain.
I changed the FR special to the Schaller LockMeister on my HM Strat reissue (also in pink 💪), which is a 1:1 swap to a FR. You´ve got no problems with the bushings/studs, because they have the OFR dimensions. At first I wanted to go with the Gotoh as you did, but the bigger studs made me cringe. The LockMeister is sligtly more expensive (about 200€ in 2023) and not as cool on a Japanese guitar, but imho it does its job as good as the Gotoh.
Funny, because originally I wanted to put the LockMeister in my HM Strat 😄
But that was at the end of the pandemic, I couldn’t find either an OFR or a LockMeister in stock!
Great choice anyway, this is the best vibrato on the market
Hey, great video and thanks for sharing! Silly question: how is the color accuracy of your camera/video vs the guitar in real life? I want to get one but I have to buy online and worry the pink will be too pale, or not vivid enough.
Thanks!
To be honest it's not a very vivid pink, the color name "flash pink" is not very apt 😄
If I check my video now, I would say the neck is a bit whiter and the body a bit paler in real life. It's more of a bubblegum pink.
Great vid! Question…will the back plate fit onto the guitar or is the block that comes with the Gotoh trem too long?
Thanks! It's important to take measurements before buying it (you can find them on Gotoh website) but generally the backplate fits. The problem is often the back screws which are particularly long with the Gotoh bridge and can touch the wood behind the backplate. To solve that issue, you can either buy shorter screws, or block your trem in dive-only if you don't pull the bar a la Steve Vai.
In many cases the "blocks" are interchangeable, meaning; you can take the saddles out and SWITCH the blocks IF the block you get w/the trem is too long. You can ALSO purchase a shorter block for the bridge, and just install the new block. If you remove the saddles, you'll see three large phillips head screws OR three hex screws. These are UNDER the saddles and they hold the block in. Just make sure you're careful to put the spacer plate and the leaf spring (that pushes the saddles up into position) back where they were. If you're careful removing the block this won't be a problem. It's pretty self-explanatory when you see it.
Measure the length of YOUR BLOCK FIRST before purchasing a replacement bridge and see if the Gotoh (or whatever else you're buying) is offered to be purchased with the optional block length. I forget the two general sizes ( I think it's a 42mm and a 32mm), but there ARE TWO common sizes these come in, and you want the shorter one if your bridge sits LOW into the cavity. Measure first though and it will be obvious--which should be easy because they'll ONLY likely come in 32mm or 42mm.
~JSV
Great explanation. You're absolutely correct. This Gotoh bridge comes with a 33, 36 or 42mm long brass block (I quote from memory, I mentioned it in the video). My previous block with the FR Special was 33.
@@fredericadda Yes, keWL! Yeah those Gotoh bridges ARE high quality and I like the way the saddles are machined slightly rounded and smooth on the corners. My fav' bridge of all-time is the Ibanez Edge and they're of course Gotoh as well. Many of the EVH guitars came w/a Gotoh bridge.
Good stuff!
~JSV
@@jsv438 glad you mentioned the Edge Zero, I just ordered a Jiva Jr Ibanez that includes an Edge Zero II 🥳
i tried basicly the same option 3 as you did and was not happy with it. my guitar had ofr studs installed with stainless steel. the 1996 worked somehow but you directly noticed that the awesome flutter that the tremolo is known for was not really there. tuning stability was also bad. i dont think it was because of the tremolo and guess its because of the wrong studs. if you look closely to the studs you also notice, that the gotohs have a different shape. seems not compatible for me if you want to utilize the maximum potential of your trem.
Thanks for your feedback.
For sure if you want the maximum potential of this bridge you'll have to drill holes to fit the Gotoh studs.
Personally the difference to me and my playing style is not noticeable, so I was happy with this compromise. I never noticed any issues with tuning stability. Maybe I lost 5% in flutter and sustain compared to a full Gotoh install, but since I won 200% compared to the FR Special...
I'm thinking of installing the gotoh in my jackson king v equipped with a special. When I first bought it used, I noticed the stud screw was loose in the anchor, and wrapped it with teflon tape and has been fine. I'm having other minor annoying issues with it though and think it's time for a swap. I loved the idea of using original floyd studs for this! If I do get a gotoh, I'll make sure the studs anchors that sit in the wood aren't loose before I order the original ones - if they are it'll probably just be better to go for the drill and install the gotoh anchors.
How's the bridge holding up? Thanks for the video!
That sounds like a great plan!
I'm really happy with the Gotoh bridge, it feels like an OFR.
Great vid! Just got the same pink as yours, the FR Special is junk 😆 How do you change the inserts to FR Originals? Is it hard?
Hey thanks! Changing the studs is pretty easy if you stick to the same dimensions (FR to FR). There are plenty of videos, I used the technique described by rick5150 (search “remove Floyd rose studs”)
I prefer Sophia 2.92 tremolo with globel tuner pro from Sophia which is a Floyd because it has stabilizer which can help your guitar back in tune . Secondly, I love those macro tuners because I don't need to cut the ballend of the strings. Thirdly , the material and mass improved the tone really well
Nice, I didn't know this brand, will check it out. Thanks for the tip.
they also produce their own locking nut
Good to know
However it's quite expensive: at $325 we are in OFR territory. The Gotoh bridge is only $149...
@@fredericadda well , you can go to fu tone search of switching tremolo block with gotoh. but for me , if the product is useful for , i may think about it no matter how expansive because it's worth a try
did you replace the whole stud yourself ? hows it going ? great guitar. wish I hadn't sold mine in 1997 !
Yes I bought Floyd Rose Original studs, and I could easily replace the FR Special studs (same dimensions).
Great guitar indeed!
Nice replacement!
Thanks Marcelo!
Gotoh is a lot better than everything as the steel is as good as it gets and the arm socket is better
True that. The quality is comparable to an OFR, at a fraction of the price.
Hey I’m thinking about doing this to my jem Jr has the trem been holding up well also do the Floyd Rose FR1BMMSB 1000/Special Series Mounting Studs and Inserts - Black (set of 2) work will these work
I just checked a thread on jemsite dot com and it looks like the Gotoh 1996GT will indeed fit. And I recommend getting the Original Floyd Rose studs (stainless steel studs)
My late 80`s HM strat came with a Kahler Spyder trem and it`s 30-35 years old never an issue didn`t know any where made with Flotd Rose trems?
You're right! At the time if you wanted a Floyd Rose you had to buy... a Kramer!
Interesting video: I never had an issue with the Special and I think the baseplate is indeed made of steel, however the block is zinc and small. Long story short: I installed a FR 1984 with big brass block, the sustain has seriously improved but the block is so big I cannot pull up the bridge. This is annoying and I am thinking to reinstall the Special with an updated but not too big block. Can you pull up with the Gotoh?
Yes I can pull up with the Gotoh. The issue was more about the long rear screws of the Gotoh going over the cavity and touching the guitar body but fortunately with the HM Strat the cavity is just big enough to pull up (I have a 1mm margin 😅)
If you reinstall the Special with a better block to improve sustain, I guess it's also worth changing the saddles holding the strings to steel ones.
@@fredericadda i haven't had any issue with the strings so far, however the German FR on my Soloist didvspit out the B string while playing...that's annoying.
Maybe you can leave some of the wiring on the string (cut the string at the base of the ball), it will help the saddle block catch the string better. At least that's what I did with the Jiva Jr.
I'll take the Gotoh GE1996T over a German Floyd any day. Just the price difference alone and I prefer Gotoh anyway
I have both and I like the Gotoh more every day
@@fredericadda Yeah I have a Jackson soloist that had a Floyd, I put that Floyd on a Ibanez Jem Jr, and put a Gotoh on the soloist. I play the Jackson way more now that it has the gotoh
@@ryant3600 i just bought a Jiva Jr (video coming soon) 😉
Fortunately it has an Edge Zero II stock so I won't have to change it.
@@fredericadda yeah I gave Jiva 10 the term
On it is ok. Had a problem with one block not locking in the string. It’s not my favorite trem the original edge I think is the best trem ever made though
True, I had the issue of the G string not being retained by the block. After a few attempts it stayed put.
I don't recommend use Gotoh with Floyd Rose studs. It will be more friction so tuning stability will be worse. Also tremolo action will be less smooth.
I didn't experience that issue. The blade of the Gotoh trem meets the FR stud on one precise point, the same way as it would meet the Gotoh stud.
@@fredericadda I don't know. May be modern Gotoh studs have changed and better match with Schaller studs now. In my experience Gotoh didn't worked well with Gotoh studs, so I drilled a bigger hole and inserted Gotoh studs.
I'm curious as to why you didn't replace it with an Ibanez Edge tremolo instead?
To be honest I didn't even think about it
You know much the original edge is?
If it would fit I'd go ahead and put an original Floyd Rose on there. But Gotoh does make good bridges.
For sure that would be simpler! Generally speaking I would do the same and replace a special by a FR1000 or OFR. No fuss. But I wanted a challenge for this one 🤘
I have a 1986 hm that has a kahler
Ohhh nice! Does it have a Fender humbucker or a Di Marzio Super Distorsion? The potentiometers are different too, right?
Super video, because other youtubers who change their trems recommend keeping the old mounting studs + inserts and that's totally fatal!
You didn't mention the locking nut, if you wanna do it properly you have to change the nut as well!
Also, for some reason no one cares about the radius of the gotoh bridge and its nut, because it mostly doesn't match the neck radius.
I love the Gotoh, it has lots of cool features but:
-in most cases the nut is not included, you have do buy it as well as...
-mounting studs and inserts
-maybe shorter string locking screws
accumulated that's almost the price of a Schaller Lockmeister, which I highly recommend!
Thanks for your feedback.
I will address 2 points:
- the locking nut is not subject to the same mechanical constraints as the bridge. That is to say, there is close to zero chance that the nut is causing tuning issues. What could happen is warping the nut screws if they are made with soft material. I didn't think this was the case on that guitar.
- the radius on a FR style bridge cannot be adjusted saddle by saddle like on a traditional bridge. You can only add a shim under them (one is provided with most FR / Gotoh bridges). For a neck as flat as this one (17"), you will just not put any shim. There's no way you get any string choking with such a flat fretboard.