Floyd Upgrades for USA Soloist

[Mario8672]

Have an '08 SL2H and I'm considering getting some upgrades on it to help it play better and be more versatile of a guitar. There're really 2 things I'm looking at:

- TREMSETTER!! I don't pull up the Floyd very much, and I hate how bending one string detunes the other strings.
- EVH D-Tuna Would absolutely LOVE to go from standard to Drop D with a simple click

Speaking of floyd upgrades... anyone have anything nice to say about getting a bigger block, noiseless springs, or the titanium hardware buzz?

fu-tone.com

[vklobucar]

I have upgraded every single one of my trem guitars with the Brass Big Block as well as SS hardware and noiseless springs. I feel that the tone is a huge improvement and rings much better.

i will do a full on Ti upgrade on my new CS Collen as soon as its done.

[leftykingv2]

Have an '08 SL2H and I'm considering getting some upgrades on it to help it play better and be more versatile of a guitar. There're really 2 things I'm looking at:

- TREMSETTER!! I don't pull up the Floyd very much, and I hate how bending one string detunes the other strings.
- EVH D-Tuna Would absolutely LOVE to go from standard to Drop D with a simple click

Speaking of floyd upgrades... anyone have anything nice to say about getting a bigger block, noiseless springs, or the titanium hardware buzz?

fu-tone.com

I am left handed so the only titanium that's available to me is the saddles. I changed the saddles on one of my KV2's to titanium and it definitely sounds a little brighter and it also seems to have more harmonic resonance.

[Matt_B]

I've tried the HD Noiseless and HD springs. Noiseless springs are quiet (not creaky) but I decided that I don't mind the spring creaking noise. If I really need to quiet the springs I'll just swap them out of the one guitar that has them. I like the HD springs because they are higher tension so I can still use just 2 springs (with 9's) and not have to tighten the claw down as far.

I was going to try a big brass block but the guitar I had it set for was a non-recessed trem route so downward bridge movement would have been limited. I'm going to try on my next project which will be routed for more clearance.

As for the trem setter, I'm not exactly sure which one you're referring to. There are 4 or 5 different ones on FU Tone's site. I've tried the Tremol-no and for the most part if works as advertised. You just need to be careful about the set screws falling off. It did help me decide that I only want a trem that dives which led me to replace my Tremol-nos with FU Trem Stoppers.

[guitarzan_josh]

I don't know that a d-tuna will work well on the recessed trem routing of a sl2h. Works great on my top mount Charvels though (as long as you use a trem stopper)

[leftykingv2]

I don't know that a d-tuna will work well on the recessed trem routing of a sl2h. Works great on my top mount Charvels though (as long as you use a trem stopper)

It'll absolutely work and function properly. Route or top mount. You just won't be able to pull up on the bar of the guitar with the routed trem.

[JonSick]

@leftyguitar2: the d-tuna didn't work so good on my Jackson Stealth with a recessed floyd. Any time I would kick the guitar to drop D, the other strings would fall out of tune and I'd have to fine-tune them. It was only on temporarily to try it out, I immediately put it back onto my FR Strat which was non recessed.

As for brass blocks, I upgraded my Stealth with a brass block and used it for a few months. To be honest, I grew to dislike the sound of it entirely. Put the original block back on and was back to having fun in no time I don't know what it was, it wasn't brighter, I think it was just harsher sounding. Though, this is the only guitar I ever tried this on so I guess your mileage may vary.

As for noiseless springs, fer real!? Just get some cotton buds (you Americans call them q-tips I think) and jam em into the spring, job done!

[Matt_B]

@leftyguitar2: the d-tuna didn't work so good on my Jackson Stealth with a recessed floyd. Any time I would kick the guitar to drop D, the other strings would fall out of tune and I'd have to fine-tune them. It was only on temporarily to try it out, I immediately put it back onto my FR Strat which was non recessed.

Based upon the behavior you've described it would seem that you did not block your trem for dive only.

As for noiseless springs, fer real!? Just get some cotton buds (you Americans call them q-tips I think) and jam em into the spring, job done!

I bought the noiseless springs as an experiment and they worked as advertised. They are also classified as heavy duty springs (HD or higher tension) which is a benefit in and of itself. If I really need to dampen the springs I'd prefer a more elegant solution than Q-tips or wads of cotton.

[leftykingv2]

Based upon the behavior you've described it would seem that you did not block your trem for dive only.

I bought the noiseless springs as an experiment and they worked as advertised. They are also classified as heavy duty springs (HD or higher tension) which is a benefit in and of itself. If I really need to dampen the springs I'd prefer a more elegant solution than Q-tips or wads of cotton.

+1 Like Matt_B said you should have blocked the trem first. I have D-Tuna on a recessed Floyd and it works great. I've never had any issues with it at all. The bridge has to be stabilized first. You've got to block the bridge so you have zero pull up. If the bridge is blocked or "Stabilized" properly and the other strings are still going out of tune you have to increase the overall spring tension by moving the spring claw further from the block.

[JonSick]

Hiya. Yep, aware of that, but I thought maybe I'd get away with it. I didn't