Floyd Rose Trem arm conversion?

[Hamner1]

Here is my dilema, I actually prefer the old bushing style arm on the JT-6 & other Liscensed Floyds of long ago. The reason for this is the collar style arm works itself loose with just a little use. The resulting play in the bar is annoying & pisses me off. So is there a kit to convert the collar style trem arms to the bushing style trem arms?

:think: It is entirely possible that I do not know how to setup the collar style arm to function properly without working itself loose all the time. So if you have any tricks/tips/hints to remedy this on the collar style Floyds that would be great as well.

My definition of loose = the bar can be wiggled a little without the trem being moved (note going flat or sharp).
* The bar being loose in the socket to spin around does not bother me. I generally do not like the bar to be stationary. It tends to be in my way if I do that.

[xenophobe]

That's why I like the Gotoh Floyd... the screw in arm is far superior to the Schaller/OFR arm.

I dunno if you can convert it to the JT-6 type.

[Amerturk]

I really hate the newer arms. I always replace them with the old school collars. I buy from this guy. He is extremely fast with the shipping and you also get the 11mm wrench and allen wrenches too.

http://www.musiciansarsenal.com/trem...w-instyle.aspx (formally prorockgear)

Not pimping the site and I have no connection, but just trying to pass on a legit place that works for guys like us.

[vector]

Here is my dilema, I actually prefer the old bushing style arm on the JT-6 & other Liscensed Floyds of long ago. The reason for this is the collar style arm works itself loose with just a little use. The resulting play in the bar is annoying & pisses me off. So is there a kit to convert the collar style trem arms to the bushing style trem arms?

:think: It is entirely possible that I do not know how to setup the collar style arm to function properly without working itself loose all the time. So if you have any tricks/tips/hints to remedy this on the collar style Floyds that would be great as well.

My definition of loose = the bar can be wiggled a little without the trem being moved (note going flat or sharp).
* The bar being loose in the socket to spin around does not bother me. I generally do not like the bar to be stationary. It tends to be in my way if I do that.

Sounds like you have a less than perfectly matched housing and arm. It happens. Relatively easy fix- try a different arm (assumes you have more than one Floyd equipped ax) or buy a new arm. 15 bucks. You can also buy a new arm AND housing for 22 bucks.

[dirtyroadie]

I really hate the newer arms. I always replace them with the old school collars. I buy from this guy. He is extremely fast with the shipping and you also get the 11mm wrench and allen wrenches too.

http://www.musiciansarsenal.com/trem...w-instyle.aspx (formally prorockgear)

Not pimping the site and I have no connection, but just trying to pass on a legit place that works for guys like us.

I do the same.

After trying out replacements of the newer style Floyd arms, using plumbing tape, and trying the rubber O-ring, I never had much success and replaced them with the older "scew-in" style. There's still a little bit of play, but that seems to be the price for letting the trem swing loosely a la Demartini or EVH.

Anyone have any tips to eliminate the wiggle while letting it hang loosely with the older style arm?

[tomanyjacksons]

Sounds like you have a less than perfectly matched housing and arm. It happens. Relatively easy fix- try a different arm (assumes you have more than one Floyd equipped ax) or buy a new arm. 15 bucks. You can also buy a new arm AND housing for 22 bucks.

+1 All of my guitars have Floyds and not many of the bars match the color of the bridge but they are tight.

[Axewielder]

Some can be hit or miss, and I just ran into one that was like that. If you stay with MIG Schaller hardware, I'd say at least 9/10 of them stay nice and tight no matter what. Some of the licensed ones I bought from Allparts a while back were ALL a bit clunky and/or worked their way loose like that.

[Hamner1]

I really hate the newer arms. I always replace them with the old school collars. I buy from this guy. He is extremely fast with the shipping and you also get the 11mm wrench and allen wrenches too.

http://www.musiciansarsenal.com/trem...w-instyle.aspx (formally prorockgear)

Not pimping the site and I have no connection, but just trying to pass on a legit place that works for guys like us.

Sold out of the black. Damn... I might get the gold bar to check it out. If I dig it, I will already have the gold replacement bar, for the gold Floyd eventually going on the RRXMG.

For those that mentioned OFR, Schaler, Imports... I have the OFR & the Special, same problem on both.

[straycat]

Electrical tape works in some cases.The import ones tend to be a bad fit and tape will work for a little while.

[Hamner1]

Well the bar arrived today, which was nice since I planned on sending my SLSXMG to the shop for some fret work tomorrow. So far I dig it alot. The play in the bar, with the collar style, after use is gone & it moves freely when needed for some random whammy wanking.
Anyway here is what I did. I replaced the Floyd Special with an OFR. I also replaced the lock nut... more on this later.
This thing did not come with directions, so if someone notices something wrong let me know. I essentially put it together the way it came in the package, 1 plastic bushing on top of plate, other bushing under the plate, then the 2 metal washers between the nut & the plastic bushing under the plate.


Floyd arm in ready to use position


Floyd arm out of the way

I realized I only needed a small window of bar movement between out of my way & in use. I'll approximate 100-120 degrees. I probably have it set to swing to far out of the way & could minimize that some more, but I will run with it for now. Method to my madness... get the bar & nut tight then turn the assembly to where you want the bar out of the way. I am not sure if having a wider degree of movement would create more play/looseness in the bar & housing or not, I assumed it would & wanted to minimize it as much as possible. Besides I have never had the bar 180 degrees to "pull up" on the bar. Which then is actually pushing down to raise the note(s). If I ever want to though, I could just loosen/unscrew the bar counter clockwise 1 rotation from where it is now. Whether it is just because it is new or just the design, when the bar swung out of the way, it "locked" out of the way. Essentially I could tilt the guitar headstock down or strings more toward me & the bar would stay where it was at, even when shaking the hell out of the guitar.

More on the Floyd nut. It came with the OFR & I never installed it on the DXMG, I just thought it was easier to not mess with it, but decided I might as well install it on this guitar. Well it must be a slight bit taller than the Floyd Special nut, as it does not take much effort, to fret the notes out of tune. I will have to have the tech look at that & see what can be done.

Amerturk, thank you for the heads up on the site & bar. I will definately be getting a black bar, when they are in stock, to go on this OFR.

[warlok]

More on the Floyd nut. It came with the OFR & I never installed it on the DXMG, I just thought it was easier to not mess with it, but decided I might as well install it on this guitar. Well it must be a slight bit taller than the Floyd Special nut, as it does not take much effort, to fret the notes out of tune. I will have to have the tech look at that & see what can be done.

The licensed ones that come factory being taller than the MIG Schaller ones was an issue for a few people before, as there were none to be found anywhere to buy. At least I never heard of anyone finding one that fit right except the factory ones.

[AdRock]

So far a little teflon tape has always worked for me but I might just try one of the bars from that site. Thanks for the link.

[Hamner1]

I say go for it I don't think you will be disappointed. It might be the honeymoon period, but I was so impressed with the gold bar, I order a black bar today, since they were in stock now. Given the quick shipping on the gold, I imagine I could have this by Saturday, which hopefully will be when my SLSXMG is done at the shop.

By the way I did test unscrewing the bar a full turn counter clockwise from where I have it now, & this resulted in some extra play that I did not like. One other thing I noticed is at times I hit the volume knob while attempting a dive bomb. This probably has more to do with the F'n bad placement of the knob than a flaw in the design of the bar though.

[shramiac]

Old thread I know but...... FR is finally offering a pop-in arm as a replacement part. Looks similar to a Gotoh arm.

http://www.floydrose.com/catalog/upgrades/tremolo-arms/push-in-style-arm

[AdRock]

Interesting.