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Im thinking about making a strat type guitar and I dont know if I should use a vintage style tremelo bridge or a floyd rose system. I heard that the floyd rose tremelos make the guitar sound thin and are a pain to restring, but they stay in tune. I think the tone of the guitar would be better if I used a vintage style tremelo and I would put in locking tuners so would that stay in tune good to?

Well unless you're gonna be doing some hardcore dives with the trem then the vintage should work just fine by itself. I had one on my old guitar and was surprised that it didn't go out of tune when I got it...everybody made a big deal out of it but it really wasn't bad at all.

Floyds can be a pain to set up in my experience, also they are harder to block if you wanted to convert it to a hardtail. But i'm a fender guy who likes hardtail bridges, so take what i say with a grain of salt. I'd go with the vintage bridge as long as you have a properly cut and well lubed nut. Sperzels help alot as well with tuning stability.

There is no reason why a vintage trem would go out of tune if everything is set up right, strings properly streched, trem flush with body, correctly wraped at the string post and a good nut. Although my floyded Ibanez sounds just as fat as my hardtail strat, you just notice a bit more high end. Depending on how much you would use the tremelo and whether you would need to pull up and down. I would prefer a vintage trem for light tremolo use and a good tone, and a floyd for a slightly brighter sound, agressive trem use and reliability in a gig. ( If set up right!)

IMO if you get a GOOD tremolo (Callaham, or the Fender 62 Reissue come to mine) and a perfectly cut bone nut, and good keey (they don't even have to be lockers) you can stay in tune pretty damn well. If you were to add locking tuners it would be even better. But it is 98% in the set up!

Don't let the stringing of a Floyd scare you. It's not that bad.

But a Floyd isn't necessary if you're just doing a little vibrato or small dives. Like mentioned, a properly cut nut and decent tuners and bridge ARE necessary. But that really goes for any guitar.

try a wilkenson along with some locking tuners...best of both worlds, and it works great.

I love the trem that's on my PRS. So far, with the locking tuners as well, I've never had a tuning problem, except for occaisonally on the G-string(and only that 1 string, so it may just be mine). You can order one, but they're a bit pricey, around $275 Canadian.

for me it's floyd all the way if i have the choice but you should depend it on the amount you really wanna use it. Sometimes a floyd is just not worth the extra effort you have stringing and setting it up if you only use it for minimal action. vintage trems,if of good, quality can handle everything pretty well,they just don't have the range of a floyd.

Restringing a Floyd doesn't take much longer than a regular guitar. The pros outweigh any cons on the FR trem. Go Floyd-Rose, you wont go back. Make sure it is either a Schaller FR or an Original FR.

Is it possible to set up a floyd rose like a vintage trem like without making it floating and just put a big trem block on it? Maybe that would help with the tone?

My guitars with Floyds sound great and i have them blocked so they only go down in pitch... I have a little piece of maple glued inside so the Floyd's block can rest on it... They are not that hard to restring... In fact i have had a guitar with Sperzel locking tuners and a floyd on the same guitar..... The Floyd's saddles lock the strings in place and the Sperzels make restringing a breeze... Pull and lock, cut string end... tune and lock the nut... It is so easy!!!! Restringing a blocked Floyd with normal tuners is also easy... Any floating trem i find a pain to restring and tune....

Vintage style strat bridges are cool... i have 2 strats with that bridge.. The wide vintage correct string spacing bugs me a little as i like modern string spacing much much MUCH better.... My Charvel has a 6 screw trem but modern spaced string spread.... and my American Standard Strat plus my Warmoth have the modern Fender bridges on them. I like the American Standard Bridge for sure..... true vintage strat nuts hate that bridge but i really like it...

WhoFan

I have a charvel w/ a vintage-style trem and a roller nut, and a Peavey and Ibanez w/ a Floyd-style trem. I prefer the vintage-style trem overall, but not for serious bar play. The Floyd has its advantages, but I generally prefer the vintage-style.