Replacing a JT580 Lo-Pro for a OFR

[DrJackson]

Hello
I have a Jackson DK2 dinky (made in Japan) and I have been making some Upgrades to my guitar



and now I want to replace the JT580 tremolo for a OFR, anyone tried it before? I guess the entire "PRO series" has the same Lo-Pro tremolo, so this post could help a lot of people! (including me hehe )

I Did a little research, what i found is that the OFR routing template is more similar to the JT580 routing than the Schaller FR



although they are very similar in some aspects I´m not sure how well it would fit in the original routing, I really need some PICS and Experience of that I´m going to find

Thanks for all the help!

[maltomario]

OFR will be a drop in fit. Unfortunately, if you want to use the new OFR posts and bushings you'll need to bore the old ones out since they are a little bigger if i recall. Which, if you're goig nthru the expense of upgrading you might as well go full out and handle that too.

I think the Gotohs fit. not sure about schaller but i would be surprised if they didn't.

I remember a great website which actually showed each trem in the routed cavity with descriptions of problems. if i can find it again i will post link here.

good luck!
mario

[DrJackson]

continuing my research now in this forum I get some mixed results
direct change sometimes seems to be perfect, or pretty well like this cases:






and sometimes simply the cavity is left noticeably larger
functionally, it seems no problem, but aesthetically looks awful

[wr3k3d]

I have a dk2 aswel and was thinking about doing this, because i hate my licensed FR. I really dislike Floyd's in general because i don't really use the whammy so it doesn't really matter. But what is the serial # on your guitar? Out of curiosity.

A

[guitardudeluke]

i also have a dk2 i wanna put a OFR in in not knocking the jackson one but you cant beet the original and i tend to use my whammy a lot
i dont think it should be a proble jus a straight swap except for the posts
my serial no is 9765505

[RobRR]

The noticably larger cavitys are guitars equipped with the Takeuchi JT580LP trems... your DK2 does not have this, so the gaps will be smaller like the first pictures. Still doesent look too great, but not that bad. I wish Jackson would start using the real Korean Floyd Rose on everything above the X series like almost every other guitar manufacturer does.

[DrJackson]

I have a dk2 aswel and was thinking about doing this, because i hate my licensed FR. I really dislike Floyd's in general because i don't really use the whammy so it doesn't really matter. But what is the serial # on your guitar? Out of curiosity.
A

my serial es 9790762 what means that? It starts on 97 like the guitardudeluke guitar, I bought mine in December 2007

The noticably larger cavitys are guitars equipped with the Takeuchi JT580LP trems... your DK2 does not have this, so the gaps will be smaller like the first pictures. Still doesent look too great, but not that bad. I wish Jackson would start using the real Korean Floyd Rose on everything above the X series like almost every other guitar manufacturer does.

just in case, there is another original tremolo (Gotoh, Schaller, FloydRose-PRO?) with a wider Base plate than the other? or the Floyd OFR Itself has the wider plate? just to fill the hole a little more

[RobRR]

Actually, a Schaller trem has the same plate dimensions as the 580LP, and fits the rout PERFECTLY except where the 580's angles are. It will clear, though I usually rout it out squared off... looks factory. Ill have to snap a pic for you in a bit.

[Advv]

I took the picture of that white guitar (can't tell from pic but it's a DK2M) with a gold OFR. It is a drop in swap. I kept the posts from the LP580LP. I like the posts being black and the bridge being gold anyway. I think gold posts make it look a bit too gold. I can tell you that the gap was a bit noticeable on the left side. But it didn't bother me much. Though, I only had the bridge on for one night as I sold the guitar the next morning. My friend installed a Gotoh FR on his DXMG. The pic would be in the same photo album as the DK2M so you can have a look at what that looks like. His DXMG had a Takeuchi 580LP.

[DrJackson]

Actually, a Schaller trem has the same plate dimensions as the 580LP, and fits the rout PERFECTLY except where the 580's angles are. It will clear, though I usually rout it out squared off... looks factory. Ill have to snap a pic for you in a bit.

Yeah! and I will love to see that pic
I was looking at this forum, and I saw that this concern is much more common than I thought, at least a hundred topics already discussed this issue but none of them have complete information, detailed pictures, etc and always the same problem JT580LP

I'm 90% sure of buying the Schaller Floyd, but I will wait for the photos of BobRR first to clear the 10% doubt

[RobRR]

Alrighty, sorry it took so long, I forgot! So here we have a DK2 body modded to fit the Schaller. One thing I had forgot to mention... depending on the setup of the guitar, and how much pull back range you like on your trem, you may have to lower the floyd post shelf .06-.10". This is because the Schaller has a much thicker baseplate than the 580lp. Its a toss up though, I had to do it on this one, but not on another one I didnt... your setup, more precicely how high the neck sticks out of the pocket, will dictate weather you need to do it or not. The only visible routing would be where the 580 rout would angle. All I did was knock those angles down to square, just like a real Schaller rout would be. Once youre done routing, you can lightly wetsand and buff the freshly routed edge of the paint as well... Looks factory!



Dont mind the dirty trem... this guitar had chrome hardware and EMG's, but I just tore it down for black hardware and Duncans. Any more questions fire away!

[bombtek]

and these are the reasons why they never EVER should have gone away from the non-recessed Floyd Rose.

[Foulacy]

just drop it right in, don't even worry about replacing the old posts unless they are really worn or something. it will stay in perfect tune.

[DrJackson]

Alrighty, sorry it took so long, I forgot! So here we have a DK2 body modded to fit the Schaller. One thing I had forgot to mention... depending on the setup of the guitar, and how much pull back range you like on your trem, you may have to lower the floyd post shelf .06-.10". This is because the Schaller has a much thicker baseplate than the 580lp. Its a toss up though, I had to do it on this one, but not on another one I didnt... your setup, more precicely how high the neck sticks out of the pocket, will dictate weather you need to do it or not. The only visible routing would be where the 580 rout would angle. All I did was knock those angles down to square, just like a real Schaller rout would be. Once youre done routing, you can lightly wetsand and buff the freshly routed edge of the paint as well... Looks factory!
Dont mind the dirty trem... this guitar had chrome hardware and EMG's, but I just tore it down for black hardware and Duncans. Any more questions fire away!

WOW! that´s amazing! I'm very excited right now!
at first I was a little confused because I saw the logo of Jackson, but then I saw under the trem-bar that said "manufactured by Schaller" and really is identical to the bridges that say Schaller
I guess the only thing missing now is to buy the bridge! thanks!!!

[jong]

I got a used DK2M a couple months ago. The Jackson trem drove me nuts, stayed in tune ok but the saddle steel is so soft the string windings would leave detents in there and then I had premature string breakage issues. I filed them out once and they just got marred again. Plus the bar collar kept loosening... just not made very well.

Anyway, I searched JCF for a bit, found this thread and a couple others about doing a swap. Initially I wanted to get an OFR since I have an 83 OFR on another guitar that is bulletproof and stays in tune amazingly well. Depending on what you read and if you believe them, supposedly the newer OFR's are having quality issues. The one that struck me most was John Suhr's explanation of the issues with the current OFRs. Plus, they're pushing $200. Suhr is installing Gotoh's, which also got my attention. If you've ever played a Suhr, they're incredible.

I picked up a new black Gotoh at www.beyondeleven.com for $139 shipped. I just got the least expensive one with the 5/8" locking nut... I've retained the factory locking nut on my guitar as it works fine. A test fit confirmed the trem block was too big... 40mm if I remember correctly? So I disassembled the JT580 and the Gotoh to see if the blocks were interchangeable. They are not. Upon closer inspection of the really nice brass block that came with the Gotoh, I noticed the threaded screw holes for the trem plate were very deep. I took a quick measurement and realized I could cut the brass block down to the correct length and the holes to mount the trem plate would still be deep enough for the screws. I grabbed a hacksaw, put the block in the vise, matched up the JT580 tremblock length, marked the brass, and cut it. I smoothed off the rough end with a file, looks like it was machined to this size. Works perfectly.

I was then able to install the bridge with no issues. I should note that I do have my trem blocked in the back. If you prefer a floating setup, there could be a possibility of one of the string block locking screws (the long ones out the back of the trem) contacting the body. Then you might need to modify the route.

Just thought I'd share for those looking to improve what is almost a perfect inexpensive guitar from the factory.