Need a fast guitar with awsome whammybar!!

[Diamondjimi]

None of that is necessary...

Just have tons more guitars to pick up, like I do...

That's a lotta firewood....

[jhale667]

That's a lotta firewood....

Ok, but seriously...

I'd recommend a Trem-Stopper for set ups. Cheap, efficient, quicker and way more accurate than fishing under your bridge w/picks or playing cards...Popsicle sticks, whatevs...

http://www.floydupgrades.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=70&products_id=215

The thing makes set-ups so easy I can't believe I ever used anything else. THEN, if you decide you like the guitar enough to start tricking it out, I'd recommend at minimum a Brass Big-Block on the Floyd.

http://www.floydupgrades.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=66

Check out the FU YouTube channel while you're at it, there's tons of set-up tips and info to be had...

http://www.youtube.com/user/FloydUpgrades

adjusting a floating bridge is a test of patience, that's for sure... wait till you break a string on it mid-gig. You'll discover a new world of angry.

They're only intimidating until you learn the ins & outs of them, then set-ups even broken strings aren't really a super big or time-consuming deal. Believe me, if it were I wouldn't have soon-to-be 5 guitars with 'em, or have continued using them for over 20 years... But while I DO for the record take a backup guitar for most gigs to finish the set in the event of one breaking - I change my strings before every gig, so it's usually not a problem...but even when (say on a 4-set cover gig) it DOES, I can snip the end, re-clamp it and re-tune it, and STILL have time to fuck off and go get another drink before the next set starts. This was before the stoppers, might be quicker with them...

One trick to changing a broken string quickly on a Floyd is to stretch it a couple of times once re-clamped at the bridge and then - using your tuner and a peg-winder (which you should have with you on a gig anyway), tune straight up to the EXACT pitch you're shooting for, so - since it's basically a balancing act anyway, the other strings come back to the correct pitch. Stretch it again, re-tune, check your other strings, make the (now minimal) adjustments, re-clamp - DONE. Go to the bar, get drink, fuck with the pretty girl(s).

[ELVIS]

..and be prepared to dodge more bottles like our friend Jay...

[Nitro Express]

My first 'real' guitar was a Kramer with a floating Floyd on it... I hated breaking strings mid-song due to my complete lack of technique, so I put a screw on either side of the rear of the bridge so it sat flat... boom! Slightly ghetto, but problem solved.

Ed did the same thing on the frankenstrat with a quarter. Unless you have the neck pocket deep enough, you are going to have a floating trem. The two screws probably gave your guitar more sustain. Nothing wrong with going ghetto. Ed's coolest guitars were very ghetto to say the least.

[Nitro Express]

I prefer the Kahler for some of the reasons above.

Much less common for some reason as far as I can make out.

It's just occurred to me that the patents for both Floyd Rose and Kahler trem systems must have expired ages ago since you only get 20 years...

I remember when they made Kahler stuff in Aneheim, California. Top quality stuff in those days. People either loved those trems or hated them. For me it was always the Floyd Rose or a six screw Fender trem.

[Nitro Express]

That Trem Stopper looks simple enough. With that you could put a D-Tuna on your Floyd, I use mine all the time for dropped D chunk. It's cheaper than a Trem Setter and easier to install.

[Nitro Express]

I always play the shit out of new strings with the nut unclamped for five to ten minutes and then clamp down the nut, play a little more and fine tune. After that the string rarely stretch.

[Seshmeister]

I remember when they made Kahler stuff in Aneheim, California. Top quality stuff in those days. People either loved those trems or hated them. For me it was always the Floyd Rose or a six screw Fender trem.

My main guitar is over 20 years old now and is custom made with a Kahler trem.

The beautiful thing about it is that it has a floating trem without a locking nut yet always stays in tune. No fucking around with horrible Allen keys.

To me it's irreplaceable.

[Nitro Express]

My main guitar is over 20 years old now and is custom made with a Kahler trem.

The beautiful thing about it is that it has a floating trem without a locking nut yet always stays in tune. No fucking around with horrible Allen keys.

To me it's irreplaceable.

Kahler was a family business. They actually were a machine shop but made trems as a sideline. I can remember Mr. Kahler was always blasting the Japanese and saying Kahler's were better than the stuff they made and how the Japanese were ripping his designs off. China was still a backwards third world communist country then. The adds always had an American flag with MADE IN USA. California had a lot of great companies in the 80's. I loved going down there on shopping trips and checking all those places out. I even went to the old Fender factory in Fullerton. Now I go down there and can't believe how much for the worse it has gone. A lot of industry has left.

[bluemustard]

What happens if you put the springs in arrow formation instead of side by side?
or just 2 springs instead of 3.

Also..when i screw on the whammybar and make 3 dives and pullin etc. the whammy bar just hangs loose..dangeling back and forth.
How do I keep it in one position?
I have to keep on screwing it back tight while playing.
I don't like this.

[VAiN]

What happens if you put the springs in arrow formation instead of side by side?
or just 2 springs instead of 3.

Also..when i screw on the whammybar and make 3 dives and pullin etc. the whammy bar just hangs loose..dangeling back and forth.
How do I keep it in one position?
I have to keep on screwing it back tight while playing.
I don't like this.

The spring thing is just a matter of how much tension you like... I just 2 springs on all of mine. I don't like to have to make a lot of effort. I Keep the bar loose on mine... I don't like having it tight. It sounds like you have the kind of bar that just screws in? I'm not sure if there's anything you can do about that... On my EBMM and old Kramers, the bar has a nut on it that you can tighten, but on the Wolfs the bar just screws in. I don't care for that set up at all... maybe someone here has a solution for that?

[ELVIS]

Even though Gayhale is a bastard cunt pussy fag, he does have extensive knowledge of the Floyd and I trust his expertise...so I will leave my limited knowledge out and let Jay reply...

I also like his Big-Block suggestion and I will drop some money on one soon to put in my Floyd routed, lefty Agile Les Paul copy that I recently scalloped...

[Nitro Express]

What happens if you put the springs in arrow formation instead of side by side?
or just 2 springs instead of 3.

Also..when i screw on the whammybar and make 3 dives and pullin etc. the whammy bar just hangs loose..dangeling back and forth.
How do I keep it in one position?
I have to keep on screwing it back tight while playing.
I don't like this.

I never take my bar off. One trick I did when I had the same problem is used Loctite on the bar ring nut. It's the same stuff mechanics use on bolts and screws to keep them from working loose. It's not permanent so you still can unscrew it if you want. Another thing that might work is get some teflon tape and wrap some around the male threads and screw the bar on. That will fill in the gaps and keep the nut from working loose.

[Nitro Express]

Another thing I do is put a little graphite where the bar goes through the nut so it rotates with less friction. Sometimes that bar acts like a wrench and unscrews the collar nut.

[VAiN]

Another thing I do is put a little graphite where the bar goes through the nut so it rotates with less friction. Sometimes that bar acts like a wrench and unscrews the collar nut.

I sort of got the impression that his doesn't have the collar nut - that the bar itself screws in to the bridge, like the bridge on the Wolfs... My reading comprehension sucks, so I may be incorrect.