To Floyd or Not To Floyd?

[scm]

I’ve had my Dinky for a while now and love it. I can use the standard trem but cannot go nuts with it. So naturally I’ve been looking at guitars with Floyds. I’ve only had brief experience with one and it wasn’t good, but now I know they have to be dialed in etc.

So… is the Floyd really worth it? Maybe I just need another guitar: one with the Floyd and also keep my non-Floyd Dinky?

There is a killer JS34 (or something along those lines) on my local CL for $180. Maybe I should just get it, get it all dialed in and set up, and finally see what all the fuss is about?

What say you?

[pianoguyy]

I certainly won't pressure you into taking a hatchet to your guitar to accommodate a piece of hardware. But there is nothing wrong with doing it if you want to.
It just seems easier to simply buy the used guitar... and cheaper. A new FR will cost more than the JS.

[Razor]

Floyds can be intimidating at first trying to set up. Once you learn to set one up yourself you'll not want anything else honestly. After paying for two shit setups, I decided if was time I learned how to do my own. Haven't looked back in over twenty years. If you've found a good deal on a Jackson locally with a Floyd I say go for it. That's a cheap investment to expand your horizon.

Out of my twelve guitars, eleven have Floyds

[Dak]

Well I'm always going to say go with the floyd as I can't stand a std strat bridge. Even though I don't use the floyd a lot. I don't like the way the height adjustment screws poke my hand when I palm mute. That said I would get the JS to try the floyd, learn how to properly setup and maintain one. Then if you decide it's for you can always add one to your Dinky later and have two guitars with a floyd. I have done it and it is a bit of work but to me it was worth it, but I think having a guitar with a floyd to learn the ins and outs of setup on before you retrofit one on your current guitar would be best.

[scm]

I would definitely not mod my Dinky for a Floyd. Way too much trouble. But I’m going to keep my eye out for a good deal on a guitar with a Floyd. I’ve been watching stuff on YT about how to set them up and it might make for a fun and challenging project.

[diablomozart]

most of my guitars have floyds or edges...my usa strat doesn't but its locked down to the equivalent of a hardtail...even though i rarely go crazy with a floyd i still prefer them as they stay in tune better than anything else i have tried...d.m.

[Nidec]

If you don't like it, you should get another guitar without a floyd. It will never be the same when you modify the floyd guitar to a non-floyd one.

[catzodellamarina]

The best Floyd I ever owned was a real one. None of my Shallers were equal. My Edge on my 88' Jem is awesome too.

It may come as a shock but I really like my simple Wilkinson combined with Sperzals on my cheapest guitar. It is so light to flick and get it to "wang" and the tuners & graphite nut keep it all in tune.

[metalhobo]

I should put a graphite nut on my carvin. it has a wilk and sperzels but goes out of tune really quickly

[pianoguyy]

I should put a graphite nut on my carvin. it has a wilk and sperzels but goes out of tune really quickly

or a roller nut

[Newc]

Spend the green on a Virtual Jeff Pro It's essentially a Whammy pedal with a wiggle stick that mounts to a plate on your guitar. Anywhere on your guitar. You can get all the Floyd with none of the hassle. Break a string, it stays in tune. Alternate tunings with Floyd. It has a Virtual Capo function which lets you retune up or down in half-steps. 2 Octaves down, one octave up. It works independently from the whammy function, so you can tune the guitar to D, use the Virtual Cap to go up to E, and you still get Floyd. By adding a simple external footswitch of practially any variety (1/4" TS amp channel switcher, AB box, whatever) you can access the Blend function, and get chromatic harmonies in any interval (half-step at a time), up an octave or down two octaves.

12 string with a Floyd, bro.

Only thing you can't do is hold the guitar up by the bar and shake the shit out of it, but really who does that? Vai? Fuck him.

It also doesn't do per-string tuning like a Roland GK-3 and MIDI device, because that's not what it does.

$500 seems a bit steep, but consider the cost of the Floyd ($250-ish) and the cost of the install on ONE guitar (another $250). The Virtual Jeff comes with 2 mounting plates, so you can mount it on 2 different guitars. That's almost the same as having 2 Floyded guitars. You can also watch for sales. Black Friday last year they were $350.

It also has wireless operation (2.5GHz, which is kinda crowded these days) and a wired option. It comes with a 13 foot 1/8" TRS cable, but any generic 1/8" TRS cable will work. Sweetwater has some 25-footers for cheap enough.

[metalhobo]

but does it flutter?