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hey,picked up an 84 rhoads custom,and noticed space on both sides where the locking nut mounts.the nut on the guitar is an R2.i put on an R4,fits good lengthwise,but strings are higher.should i file down an R4 nut,or is there a correct size? also interested in period correct distortion and jazz pickups for this guitar,can anybody help? thanks
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ok,so nobody knows what locking nut is on their early 80's rhoads? -
I do! It's a Kahler behind the nut stringlock on my 1985!
Yesterday I looked at floydrose.com to get the specs on the nuts. The R2 is 1-5/8", R3 is 1-11/16" with narrow string spacing, and R4 is 1-11/16" with wide string spacing. The bummer is they don't list the height/thickness of the nuts which is what you need to know.
Even though the floyd nut metal is hardened, it is possible to grind a floyd nut down on a grinding wheel (a file won't work too well), the key is to be able to grind it flat and not crooked. I used the side of a grinding wheel to do it, and before I started, I used digital calipers to measure the nut's thickness at all '4 corners'. Then as I carefully ground it down, I constantly checked with the calipers to make sure I was grinding it equally flat and not crooked. If you grind off too much, you can use shims to bring it up, and if you ground it crooked (example, say the low E was ground more than the high E side), you could use a partial shim just on the lower side to level it to the fretboard.Comment
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hey,thanks for the info,and the tips for grinding it flat,as i know how difficult that can be.that is why i have not attempted it,but i feel better doing it now.thanks again!!Comment
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The floyd nuts are relatively cheap, so even if you screw it up, you can buy another and try again. Doing this is much, much better than trying to sand/chisel down the wood to fit the nut!
Here's the shims if you end up needing them:
Allparts.com
BP_0426-001 Shim Set for Floyd Rose® Locking Nuts 2 Pcs of each .1 mm, .2 mm, .3 mm Retail Price: $6.50Comment
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