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I am looking into getting a guitar and it comes in a couple of different versions. One has a string thru bridge and the other a floyd rose. I am wondering what are the tonal differences between the two. I will likley need the floyd rose for what i am going to be working on. I have one axe with a stop bar like a les paul. The strat has a non floyd floating trem but i do not think adjusting it it would be too good for pulling a note two whole steps sharp. Opinions and experiance please share.

A floyd rose original will probably tend to be brighter than the guitars you have/are looking at, although it's only one factor when it comes to how bright the guitar is. They do kill sustain to a degree, and it can be possible to hear a slight fluttering when letting notes on the plain strings ring out.

My experience with Floyd Rose trems on Hamer's is that they have a sort of airy/fluttery sound. Not at all bad though, very unique. Not a lot of sustain due to the amount of wood missing but nothing you'll notice unless your used to playing big chunks of hard tail wood...besides it's nothing a Sustainiac couldn't fix!


Originally Posted by LiquidSkyMy experience with Floyd Rose trems on Hamer's is that they have a sort of airy/fluttery sound. Not at all bad though, very unique. Not a lot of sustain due to the amount of wood missing but nothing you'll notice unless your used to playing big chunks of hard tail wood...besides it's nothing a Sustainiac couldn't fix!

I hate to sound stupid but i don't understand what you mean by big chunks of hardtail wood. SORRY.


Originally Posted by johnI hate to sound stupid but i don't understand what you mean by big chunks of hardtail wood. SORRY.

he means a Les Paul.


Originally Posted by pac112he means a Les Paul.

Cool. My guild bluesbird is basically a chambered bodied lespaul. Only with the pickups i put in its a metalbird now! I was kind of afraid i might lose some sustain by getting the floyd rose version of the guitar but i plan on learning some stuff of off satrianis surfing with the alien album and i am not sure the strats trem will cut the mustard. Does a wilkinson trem float?

I love Floyds and i'm building a custom guitar around my Floyd Rose Original now..... The FRO is the best Floyd bridge to me.... Love it! But the floyd copies on my Jacksons work well too...

The FRO tends to brighten things up like some one already said above here... The sheer mass of solid metal that makes up a Floyd effects the sound for sure.. But i like it!

Hoes does a floyd rose affect tone?

It kills it; then it kicks it on the ground and pee's on it.


Originally Posted by SpiderVenomA floyd rose original will probably tend to be brighter than the guitars you have/are looking at, although it's only one factor when it comes to how bright the guitar is. They do kill sustain to a degree, and it can be possible to hear a slight fluttering when letting notes on the plain strings ring out.

all those problems can be addressed by installing a blackbock in between the trem springs. It stabilizes the trem so that it returns to pitch faster and it stops the fluttering alltogether. Also it gives the tremblock a more direct contact to the body which results in a bit more sustain and a less bright and fuller sound. Installed one yesterday into my Jackson DXMG and now the guitar sounds seriously more ballsy and more powerful than ever before.


Originally Posted by Loserchiefall those problems can be addressed by installing a blackbock in between the trem springs. It stabilizes the trem so that it returns to pitch faster and it stops the fluttering alltogether. Also it gives the tremblock a more direct contact to the body which results in a bit more sustain and a less bright and fuller sound. Installed one yesterday into my Jackson DXMG and now the guitar sounds seriously more ballsy and more powerful than ever before.

At the cost of the more subtle fluttering techniques, though. Too much of a trade-off to me.


Originally Posted by SpiderVenomA floyd rose original will probably tend to be brighter than the guitars you have/are looking at, although it's only one factor when it comes to how bright the guitar is. They do kill sustain to a degree, and it can be possible to hear a slight fluttering when letting notes on the plain strings ring out.

That is exactly what I hear with the Floyd too. And why I don't use one.


Originally Posted by fusion101Hoes does a floyd rose affect tone?

It kills it; then it kicks it on the ground and pee's on it.

The only way this statement is valid is if the guitar originally did not have an Floyd, then you installed one. Otherwise, you have no clue what the guitar would sound like sans Floyd.

BTW, the chunkiest, growliest, quot;bestquot; sounding guitar I've ever owned was an Ibanez S540, and that was with the stock pickups.

Let's keep this all in perspective. If you're looking for great clean and semi-clean tones like Lew probably is, the Floyd might have an unwanted effect, and you'd probably never want to dive bomb anyway. On the other hand, if you're a typical hard rock to metal player using a Floyd, chances are you're going through an axe with aftermarket pups, through a tube screamer or distortion pedal, through the amps overdrive, then mangling the tone further with a chorus, delay, flanger, etc, and the signal is absolutely the furthest thing from organic. On top of that you're playing fast with vibrato, etc.

... and the average person will hear flutter?

Obviously, I love my Floyd-equipped rigs, and I've never had any problems whatsoever with mine. My USA Jackson sustains better than my LP, so go figure.


Originally Posted by JammerMattLet's keep this all in perspective. If you're looking for great clean and semi-clean tones like Lew probably is, the Floyd might have an unwanted effect, and you'd probably never want to dive bomb anyway. On the other hand, if you're a typical hard rock to metal player using a Floyd, chances are you're going through an axe with aftermarket pups, through a tube screamer or distortion pedal, through the amps overdrive, then mangling the tone further with a chorus, delay, flanger, etc, and the signal is absolutely the furthest thing from organic. On top of that you're playing fast with vibrato, etc.

... and the average person will hear flutter?

Obviously, I love my Floyd-equipped rigs, and I've never had any problems whatsoever with mine. My USA Jackson sustains better than my LP, so go figure.

I agree with that. And if you want to dive bomb and come back in tune the Floyd is a Godsend. I wouldn't mind having one rock guitar with a Floyd...they're alot of fun! Jeff Beck gets by without one...I'm sure he, like me, prefers the tone of a standard Strat vibrato. But Floyds do just what they're supposed to do: keep your guitar in tune when you do alot of whammy stuff. They do compromise the sustain and bass response a little, but if you're playing loud you can make up for alot of that with the amps volume and tone controls. Lew


Originally Posted by JammerMattLet's keep this all in perspective. If you're looking for great clean and semi-clean tones like Lew probably is, the Floyd might have an unwanted effect, and you'd probably never want to dive bomb anyway. On the other hand, if you're a typical hard rock to metal player using a Floyd, chances are you're going through an axe with aftermarket pups, through a tube screamer or distortion pedal, through the amps overdrive, then mangling the tone further with a chorus, delay, flanger, etc, and the signal is absolutely the furthest thing from organic. On top of that you're playing fast with vibrato, etc.

... and the average person will hear flutter?

Obviously, I love my Floyd-equipped rigs, and I've never had any problems whatsoever with mine. My USA Jackson sustains better than my LP, so go figure.

I hear what you are saying but at the same time i have heard some rather sparkly clean sounds from floyd equipped guitars. This likely has much to do with the pickups deos it not? The guitar i am looking at is malpecapped mahogany body mahogany neck/ ebony fretboard, and 25quot; scale length. Likley i will change the pickups out. this guitar would be for straight up bendin and shreddin. Thanks gentlemen. I think i may just have to deal with the loss of sustain. wouldn't the hipshot tremsetter help with the fluttering of the plain strings?


Originally Posted by johnI hear what you are saying but at the same time i have heard some rather sparkly clean sounds from floyd equipped guitars. This likely has much to do with the pickups deos it not? The guitar i am looking at is malpecapped mahogany body mahogany neck/ ebony fretboard, and 25quot; scale length. Likley i will change the pickups out. this guitar would be for straight up bendin and shreddin. Thanks gentlemen. I think i may just have to deal with the loss of sustain. wouldn't the hipshot tremsetter help with the fluttering of the plain strings?

The tremsetter would all but fix that, pretty much. However, if you want to do more delicate flutters with the trem, it'll kill that.

And note that a FR (fully floating, without a tremsetter) will make double stop (unison) bends harder (people will say you can't do them, but that's not true, you just have the bend the normally static string a little to get them ringing together).


Originally Posted by SpiderVenomThe tremsetter would all but fix that, pretty much. However, if you want to do more delicate flutters with the trem, it'll kill that.

And note that a FR (fully floating, without a tremsetter) will make double stop (unison) bends harder (people will say you can't do them, but that's not true, you just have the bend the normally static string a little to get them ringing together).

Ok. Now how would those bends be affected by the tremsetter. by the way (if i dare say it) the guitar in question is a ctm6


Originally Posted by johnOk. Now how would those bends be affected by the tremsetter. by the way (if i dare say it) the guitar in question is a ctm6

It depends on the extremity of the bend, but the tremsetter should let you get away with a normal two fret bend, as far as I know (and therefore double stop bends too). At any rate, it'll minimize the negative effects on the floyd on bending pitch. Basically, it solidifies the trem a lot, around the center range, so it stops flutter and allows a greater degree of bending without the bridge moving. However, it does make the trem a lot stiffer, but nothing that'll interfere with big dive bombs or pull-ups.


Originally Posted by JammerMattLet's keep this all in perspective. If you're looking for great clean and semi-clean tones like Lew probably is, the Floyd might have an unwanted effect, and you'd probably never want to dive bomb anyway. On the other hand, if you're a typical hard rock to metal player using a Floyd, chances are you're going through an axe with aftermarket pups, through a tube screamer or distortion pedal, through the amps overdrive, then mangling the tone further with a chorus, delay, flanger, etc, and the signal is absolutely the furthest thing from organic. On top of that you're playing fast with vibrato, etc.

... and the average person will hear flutter?

Obviously, I love my Floyd-equipped rigs, and I've never had any problems whatsoever with mine. My USA Jackson sustains better than my LP, so go figure.

what he said

I found a neck blank i made a few years that i never used in my closet... I'm taking it into work tomorrow to shave some thickness off it with the planer there.... This neck i decides will be for my Floyd Rose Original guitar... I wanted an all maple neck but the only fingerboards i have left are Rosewood.... Somewhere i have a neck sitting that i started and stopped.... I should find that thing too and complete it... I got an eboney board from STEW Mac once and it was snapped in half when i got it in the mail.... They sent me a new one and i ended up saving it and started to use it on a guitar neck... Can't wait to have a homemade strat with the Floyd on it!!!!!

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