Black nickel Floyd rose original

[micha]

Here's how I understand the whole Lockmeister vs Schaller Floyd vs Original Floyd:

It is true that original floyds are made at the schaller factory, but they all have the "Floyd Rose" name on them. Schaller wanted to make certain changes to the design and brand it their own, but they had to make sure it wasn't too much like an original floyd so they made the base plate out of softer metal and used replaceable knife edges to compensate for the softer metal (that way, the knife edges would still be hardened steel while not infringing on the patents), Now, the patents are up on the original floyd so it doesn't matter if they copy more of the design, hence the hardened steel baseplate on the Lockmeister. Essentially it is an original floyd in all respects except that it has the shorter/heavier string lock screws like the other schaller floyd.

They all stay in tune just as well IMHO.

Definitely let me know if I'm full of B.S. though!

How I understand the Lockmeister you're full of B.S.
At least when I got you right.

Here's what my guitar mag wrote about the Lockmeister.
Lemme see if I can translate it right:

The Lockmeister features a double ankled forged C45-steel baseplate, which is supposed to increase its capability to transfer vibrations, increase sustain as well as intonation. (Schallers words)
So no blades or knive edges on this one.
They use new technologies in production (?) so the manufacturing tolerances are lower on the Lockmeister on all used components.
To prevent corrosion all screws, cylinders and inserts have either black-zinc or black-chrome surfaces.
New kinds of springs and these screws for height adjustment are used as well.
You can freely combine eight different surfaces, three sustain blocks (guess the usual sizes) and ten saddles.

Since it's a new product and they (the mag) can't tell already how well it lasts over time, they didn't judge on that, but they wrote there was a material improvement on sustain, the bar doesn't loosen all the time (something I suffer from at least twice a rehearsal with my OFR) and the finetuners work incredibly smooth.

Sounds like some great options and cool improvements in detail.
At least I have sweaty hands and corrosion on the screws, finetuners and such has always been a problem for me.
Well, I'm gonna try it for sure if I ever need a new trem on one of my guitars.

[lkgwarrior]

And black nickel is what you want. That's what most ESPs ship with. But I say it's likely that Jackson is still using the wrong terminology. I would clarify by asking them:

So are you saying that I can custom order the guitar with either black or black chrome hardware?

i will, its so hard to actually communicate with these guys though. im from australia, and it takes a week just to get an answer back from them.

[Chad]

I got a reply from Jackson the other day from an email I sent regarding the black nickle situation on the floyd rose, they said that what they call black chrome is what fr call black nickle. How that makes sense il never know, confusing!

And black nickel is what you want. That's what most ESPs ship with. But I say it's likely that Jackson is still using the wrong terminology. I would clarify by asking them:

So are you saying that I can custom order the guitar with either black or black chrome hardware?

[groverj3]

Here's how I understand the whole Lockmeister vs Schaller Floyd vs Original Floyd:

It is true that original floyds are made at the schaller factory, but they all have the "Floyd Rose" name on them. Schaller wanted to make certain changes to the design and brand it their own, but they had to make sure it wasn't too much like an original floyd so they made the base plate out of softer metal and used replaceable knife edges to compensate for the softer metal (that way, the knife edges would still be hardened steel while not infringing on the patents), Now, the patents are up on the original floyd so it doesn't matter if they copy more of the design, hence the hardened steel baseplate on the Lockmeister. Essentially it is an original floyd in all respects except that it has the shorter/heavier string lock screws like the other schaller floyd.

They all stay in tune just as well IMHO.

Definitely let me know if I'm full of B.S. though!

Back on topic though... If they'll put a schaller on a guitar I'm sure they can order you any color you'd like of any of the above trems.

[lkgwarrior]

I got a reply from Jackson the other day from an email I sent regarding the black nickle situation on the floyd rose, they said that what they call black chrome is what fr call black nickle. How that makes sense il never know, confusing!

[micha]

Schallers are more expensive?
I thought it was just another label anyway...

But sounds like a cool idea!
Let me know how the lockmeister works. Do you have experience with usual floyd roses to compare?
I've been curious about them for quite a while now...
At least here in Germany they're really affordable as well.
A lockmeister chrome goes for €160 while an OFR chrome is around €210.

Oh and don't forget to post some pics as well!

[lkgwarrior]

"Why they can't" you meant, didn't you?
They offer Schallers just as well, and no, I don't see a reason why they should not be able to do that for you.

They should be able to get you any mix of tuners and trems.
It's not like tuners come in a package with the trem anyway...
But I'm not sure wether tuners are available in these special colors as well.

yeah i meant can't. iv look into the whole hardware situation, and decided to get the schaller lockmeister trem, schaller m6 machine heads and schaller speed knobs all in ruthenium (same colour as the black nickel on my ESP M-ii). my local jackson dealer has sent the email to the australian distributer and then on to jackson USA, so fingers crossed that they can do all that. the hardware colour was the only issue with the whole order, so hopefully everything runs smoothly from here on in.

the lockmeister is basically an original floyd rose anyway, just with better sustain (so iv read). getting schaller products will probably increase the price, but i dont care

[micha]

"Why they can't" you meant, didn't you?
They offer Schallers just as well, and no, I don't see a reason why they should not be able to do that for you.

They should be able to get you any mix of tuners and trems.
It's not like tuners come in a package with the trem anyway...
But I'm not sure wether tuners are available in these special colors as well.

[lkgwarrior]

Black Chrome is just simple black.
I once had to order a Trem Bar and it was only availabe in black chrome as well in the store, so I asked.

Have a look at the Schaller homepage.
There you can compare the variants, maybe "Ruthenium" is an option for you?

Did you think about a Lockmeister as well?
Read quite a few great reviews in guitar mags, it's pretty much the same as the usual Schaller Trem, but made of even harder material. It's supposed to increase sustain and overtones as well.

this sounds good, I'm looking into it now, there shouldn't be any reason why they can do this colour, especially if I change the tuners to shaller too?

[micha]

so do you think when jackson says black chrome they mean just black, or are they meaning the colour i want (black nickel), but just calling it black chrome instead?

Black Chrome is just simple black.
I once had to order a Trem Bar and it was only availabe in black chrome as well in the store, so I asked.

Have a look at the Schaller homepage.
There you can compare the variants, maybe "Ruthenium" is an option for you?

Did you think about a Lockmeister as well?
Read quite a few great reviews in guitar mags, it's pretty much the same as the usual Schaller Trem, but made of even harder material. It's supposed to increase sustain and overtones as well.

[lkgwarrior]

If Jackson indeed won't do it, then I'd do what other folks suggested.....just go with whatever Jackson will put on there, then switch out the hardware yourself after you get the guitar.

will do, thanks for your help man.

[Chad]

If Jackson indeed won't do it, then I'd do what other folks suggested.....just go with whatever Jackson will put on there, then switch out the hardware yourself after you get the guitar.

[lkgwarrior]

damn, that sucks. im going to have to ask jackson directly then. i live in australia, so its going to take ages to get a reply

[Chad]

so do you think when jackson says black chrome they mean just black, or are they meaning the colour i want (black nickel), but just calling it black chrome instead?

My guess is they are talking about regular black.

do you know what other colours that they do hardware in? or is it just black, chrome, gold? its really annoying being able to have it on my esp M-ii and not being able to have it on a custom shop jackson. i just want something different other than black, chrome or gold to make it more unique, also black nickel looks great.

I'd guess Jackson sticks to black, chrome, and gold, but don't know for sure. It's ironic how black nickel is about ALL ESP wants to use, yet apparently Jackson won't use it even on a custom shop build.

[lkgwarrior]

Fells, I'm 99% confident there is no such thing as a "Black Chrome" Original Floyd Rose. When the Custom Shop said that, they most likely meant standard black.

"Black nickel" is what ESP uses on a lot of their guitars. It is a cross between black and chrome, which might make somebody want to call it "black chrome", but the color is called BLACK NICKEL.

so do you think when jackson says black chrome they mean just black, or are they meaning the colour i want (black nickel), but just calling it black chrome instead?

do you know what other colours that they do hardware in? or is it just black, chrome, gold? its really annoying being able to have it on my esp M-ii and not being able to have it on a custom shop jackson. i just want something different other than black, chrome or gold to make it more unique, also black nickel looks great.