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What Is The Correct Fretboard Radius For A Floyd Rose Tremolo System?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ส.ค. 2023
- Is there a correct (or incorrect) fretboard radius for a guitar equipped with a Floyd Rose Tremolo System? Let's find out in this video. If you would like to help support my channel and get something cool in return, please consider the following:
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Hi, you're totally right about the locking nut radius mismatch, the difference is very very small. Schaller, that obviously makes FR original in germany, has just announced custom locking, R2 and R3 with customizable radius from 8" to 16" and the orders are skyrocketing. So many guitarists were waiting for it. I guess i'll change my job to therapist for guitar players, big money ....
It might not be to everyone’s taste looks wise, but I have used a zero fret to set the radius on a couple of Floyd Rose equipped guitar. I put a zero fret a few mm in front of the Nut and put the nut on a little lower shelf in front of the fret board. It worked well over a 16 inch radius and both guitars have great actions. I used a couple of very thin small washers under the outer saddles to compensate at the bridge but I found that was not making a large difference to how the guitars performed.
Thank you.
Floyd Originals are very constrained, but you get a lot of 12" options with the Floyd 1000/Special series. The metal quality and finish aren't as refined as the Original, but they're still serviceable. Gotoh also makes much flatter radius nuts as their ge-1996t "Floyd" tremolo system has a flat radius (15" IIRC).
From Schaller in Germany you can order floyds, saddles and nuts in different radius.
Floyd Rose Radius Update
th-cam.com/video/FbcvZ7ACxmg/w-d-xo.html
Great video. Well said
very interesting info, thanks!... don´t know but i love Ibanez style 16" radius, just turn a Squier that way w/jumbo stainless steel frets, feels so good...
Maybe mixing and matching is an option for those who want things closest to "correct". So maybe using some of the Gotoh options (or whoever else) for the locking nut would get closer spec wise.
10-16" compound is my personal favorite. The Original Floyd Rose nuts still have a 10" radius after all these years. If you use one with a flatter fretboard radius, your D and G strings will have higher action at the first fret.
I have a guitar with a 10-16” compound as well and I’ve never known which radius I should set my Floyd Rose bridge to. What would you recommend?
@ernieslespaul2710 if you do the math, it works out to something like 18.75" at the bridge. I typically use two shims under the E strings and one under the A and B strings.
I can agree; that the difference between the "10 and "12 -radius is small. How ever: The diffrence between choking out and buzzing on a fretboard -is also very, very small. I my opinion: Feeling theese differences comes down to how 'snug' the preferd set up is. About the nut: Your biggest choice would be: -How close to the first fret do You want Your strings to be? Many neglect to mention this. This is accually a pretty important set up choise. In short: The lowere/closer to the frets You are able to set Your string (with out buzz etc, etc) = The better it works, feels and sounds.
You might not feel the difference between having a R2/L2 nut on a 12-inch fretboard -with a slightly higher (non-slick low) nut set up. But when both the outer E-strings have the perfect heght aggainst the first fret; the middle D and G strings definetly has a little mor air between them and the fret. Depending on the personal playing style -this always makes the notes on the first frets -on middle strings a little sharp. Yes: You can compensate this -by playing more lightly. But in most live situations -beeing 'in the zone' = It will get a little sharp. Is this a problem? Not if You don't hear it. In comparison: Put an R3/L3 nut on a 12-inch board = You will not have this problem: ALL the string will have the same distance to the first fret -if the nut mounted correctly to the neck. And: -Yes,,,: -You have the choise to mount Your nut even more snug -without buzzing off on the outer strings -or beeing sharp in the middle.
How close -or low is it possible to have the string to the first fret? Basicly what You need is a straight and steady neck. Preferably with a double expanding truss rod. This som You won't suffer the 'back bow' of the neck -when diving away all the stringtension with the FR. (This chokes out the srings against the frets.) Extra support rods in the neck is also good to prevent this. Theese are choise examples -You make when choosing specs for Your custom string instrument.
I replaced a nut with a R2 and have the exact problem you describe, its a very minor difference but that stuff makes a huge difference to me. The D and G are too high when the Es are set correctly. I thought it was a saddle shim issue. Good to know. Its been kind of driving me crazy. The original nut was a touch too tall. I don't know what it was, this was a 95 Jackson Professional XL made in Japan. Never checked the board radius with gauges either. The nut height of the R2 is perfect so I am not sure what exactly to do now.
Why Floyd still doesn't offer a 42mm nut is mindboggling. There are so many headaches with Floyd, and so little adjustability especially regarding nuts. I tend towards hand cut nut with locking tuners, 10 degree headpitch to give more manual adjustability... FWIW
I am one of those who need help.....a 10" nut a 12" fret and a 14" bridge without compound is just insane...Same goes for the bolt on rounded neck heels and pockets that allow the neck to point to the sky or ground when it desires to. I would guess that at the nut width portion of the radius to the heel fret board width radius to the bridge width radius points MAY make it so it does not matter ? Still drives me crazy.....Always wanted to build a "Math" guitar myself....
Well, some of us are OCD and I don't think there's a lot of "help" we can get for that aside from the guy building our guitars build it the way we want it. I prefer compound radii on any guitar with a trem for a variety of reasons but mathemetically, if you use a "conical" radius, you'd want the strings to naturally conform to the gradual flattening if you care about the high E and low E being the same distance from the frets as the middle strings. But then again, Yngwie has no trouble shredding on 7.5" necks with the highest action possible. It's just not my style. :)
Considering the small difference between the 10" and 12" radius as shown in your drawing, wouldn't the fact that the fretboard ends well before reaching the bridge make the difference even more negligible? In other words, with a 12" bridge radius, at the last fret the string radius would be more than 10" but less than 12".
Correct. The 12th fret is 3/4 of the distance from the nut to the bridge, so the correct radius at the 12th is 3/4 of the way from 10 to 12, so 11.5".
If I'm doing a floyd it's because it will be more of "shred" metal guitar. So then go with a 16" radius and use a gotoh 43mm nut that is 400mm/15.75" radius and shim the floyd saddles to match.
Same here, I also use the gotoh floyd as I find it superior to the original at about half the cost.
@@UltraBrandon1 What do you like about it? I haven't used one. The main thing I see is it has one knife edge that is straight which would give more leeway when drilling for the posts since it would center on the one U knife and the second would fall anywhere on that straight one if your spacing wasn't exact. In theory, giving less friction than the double U knives of the FR (if they the posts weren't exactly centered in the U's). This is why I am planning on an FU tone FU2 for my next build.
@grantstewart5453 it's basically a more refined original. Fine tuners are more low profile, and everything is just a bit more ergonomic. Gotoh also manufactures the edge tremolo found of vai guitars I believe so you know they make quality trems. I also like the system for the bar, it's a screw in with a tension bushing so you have a bit of adjustment for the height and still have whatever tightness you want. Also the studs have set screws inside of them to eliminate any play in the threads. Just a solid unit for a good price.
Have you ever built a guitar with a Kahler tremolo or a Kahler fixed bridge? You can set the height of the individual saddles on a Kahler and on the tremolo there's a screw which can be turned to convert a floating bridge to a fixed bridge instantly.
Yes.
@@HighlineGuitarsHow did you find installing it compared to the Floyd Rose?
@@deludedreality89 Kahlers are easier to install than a Floyd Rose because the routing is easier to do. My only beef with the Kahler is the difficulty in accessing the intonation screws when the strings are installed.
@@HighlineGuitars I can see that. You have some great and informative videos on your channel. Keep up the great work!
@@HighlineGuitars I am in the process of converting a floyd rose (Gotoh) to Kahler so the spring cavity can be used for extra wireless electronics in a 1988 Casio PG380 synth MIDI controller (high end strat) not too impressed with the quality of the Kahler and the strings come off the rollers when used. The little set screw for locking it is also a thing, thinking of adapting a thumb screw in its place. Yes they are very useful for setting up.
My favorite guitar came with Fernandes HeadCrasher (lol) system. Neck - 12" up and down the neck. Nut radius? Saddles radius? Who the hell knows? But I love it.
Apologies for being late, out looking for a new truck.
Interesting. I'm glad I never adopted a playing style that required a Floyd Rose!
......I remember my first day.
I never understand why Floyd rose didn't work on a radius version of his system, or something to raise the saddles.
I have always thought that part of the reason people like the Floyd Rose system was because of its gadget appeal. Adding saddle height adjustability would certainly increase that appeal.
Have you ever had a client notice a difference in radius like that and feel cheated or complain? How do you handle that?
No, I haven’t. If I had to deal with a problem like that, I would offer to redo the radius on the fretboard, including a refret.
I will try to be there at the premier. Truck shopping tomorrow.
I just ordered a Ford Maverick hybrid. Hopefully they’ll build it someday!
My esp LTD f-50 is 13.75" radius guitar. What nut should be the best for me?
I have a LTD M100FM, a pretty similar guitar. I used an R3 Original Floyd Rose nut. That nut is 10inch radius. If you want a better match, go for Gotoh R3 nut, which is 14 radius. In both cases you might need to re-drill to get proper alignment. Don't worry that much about radius, both will work great.
@@miguelbaquero2705 thanks for the information
The biggest issue of the Original Floyd Rose tremolo is an inability of using it on the guitars with bigger-than-12"-radius fingerboards, especially with compound radius ones. Schaller now offers the Lockmeister tremolo bridges with bigger radius (up to 16"), which are much more versatile than OFR.
Just shim the saddles
@@spoonerluvshim for which height? Floyd rose doesn't produce calibrated shim sets for saddle radius change, as far as I know.
@@A.J.99 You can buy them from all-parts. Takes some trial and error but you'll get close enough.
@@toby2581too much work for such expensive stuff. Schaller Lockmeister tremolo fits any fingerboard radius up to 16" with no bullshitting. OFR tremolos are outdated.
@@spoonerluvI prefer to buy Schaller Lockmeister tremolo with proper saddle radius.
What's the benefit for a radius on a fretboard anyways? Classical guitar fretboards are dead flat, as far as I'm aware. Why electric guitars have 'em, what's the history? Is just the looks, comfort, what is it? I find that the flatter the better, both comfort and playability/speed.
www.google.com/search?q=why+do+electric+guitars+have+a+radius+fretboard%3F&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS1069US1069&oq=why+do+electric+guitars+have+a+radius+fretboard%3F&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRigATIHCAMQIRigATIHCAQQIRirAtIBCTE3NTQ4ajBqN6gCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
if you don't use shims on the bridge and shims on the bridge saddles there will always be a "mismatch" of the Floyd Rose Bridge Radius and the Floyd Rose Nut Radius with the Guitar Necks Radius. Its going to be harder when bending notes to keep the intonation of the bent note when there is a Mismatch of the necks radius with the Bridge Radius and Nut Radius. EVH used a Floyd Rose which is 10 inch radius but EVH necks weren't 10 inch Radius right?
Why would one shim and not use the height adjustment on the bridge?
Raising or lowering the bridge has no effect on the saddle's radius.
@@HighlineGuitars I meant the individual saddle adjustments. Would they max out?
Im more of a bass builder, so the only trem ive ever used was on my student instrument from R-V. I was just taught to match the radius of the bridge to the fretboard, and that's the route i took. Never considered any of the parameters of radius matching before this.... and you got me thinking i want another tremelo bass build in the near future.
@@TimTrOn3000 You can't raise or lower the saddles individually.