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As promised, my humble take on the Floyd Rose Push-In style arm assembly:
For starters, it might be helpful to note they are not like the Ibby push-in arms. Ibanez relied on plastic bushings around the base of the arm to provide the friction on the arm. Not the best design concept in hindsight. Bushings would be worn thin over time and/or level of use and the arm would be back to swinging loosely. Additionally, there was no way to adjust swing tension.
The FR push in uses an approach also used by G&L and Gotoh where a set screw on the side of the housing collar is used to supply tension on the arm.
The bar I tested is definitely snug in the socket and tension is adequately controlled and can be adjusted to suit your desired level of swing. There was an initial problem with the arm "giving" a little laterally, but it turns out that it was just the assembly shifting in the base plate due to it not being tightened down enough. It's advisable to double check. This likely can be applicable to any situation wherein an assembly is being replaced on a base plate or even if an arm feels loose on a stock unit.
As for performance- it's a Floyd Rose.
It performed as expected and did everything an arm is supposed to do. I'd make the argument that there was a slightly more snug feeling to the arm and that translates into improved flutter (if that's your thing) but a) I was prompted with this notion before I began my own assessment and it may just be the power of suggestion, and b) the degree to which said flutter is improved is so minuscule that I could hardly quantify it.
My only misgiving about this arm assembly is the need for a specialized Allen wrench (other than that of those typically supplied with Floyds and Floyd-equipped axes) to adjust the set screw and to remove it from the socket. It's a minor annoyance but an annoyance all the same to have to fish around for said wrench when/if you need to adjust it or more likely, if you need to pull the bar out to put the guitar into it's hard case. I have numerous Allen wrench sets and luckily, one fit! If anyone's interested- I believe it uses a 2MM Allen wrench. The superior design of the finger tightened collar gets the win for speed, ease and convenience of adjustment and removal IMHO.
For starters, it might be helpful to note they are not like the Ibby push-in arms. Ibanez relied on plastic bushings around the base of the arm to provide the friction on the arm. Not the best design concept in hindsight. Bushings would be worn thin over time and/or level of use and the arm would be back to swinging loosely. Additionally, there was no way to adjust swing tension.
The FR push in uses an approach also used by G&L and Gotoh where a set screw on the side of the housing collar is used to supply tension on the arm.
The bar I tested is definitely snug in the socket and tension is adequately controlled and can be adjusted to suit your desired level of swing. There was an initial problem with the arm "giving" a little laterally, but it turns out that it was just the assembly shifting in the base plate due to it not being tightened down enough. It's advisable to double check. This likely can be applicable to any situation wherein an assembly is being replaced on a base plate or even if an arm feels loose on a stock unit.
As for performance- it's a Floyd Rose.
It performed as expected and did everything an arm is supposed to do. I'd make the argument that there was a slightly more snug feeling to the arm and that translates into improved flutter (if that's your thing) but a) I was prompted with this notion before I began my own assessment and it may just be the power of suggestion, and b) the degree to which said flutter is improved is so minuscule that I could hardly quantify it. My only misgiving about this arm assembly is the need for a specialized Allen wrench (other than that of those typically supplied with Floyds and Floyd-equipped axes) to adjust the set screw and to remove it from the socket. It's a minor annoyance but an annoyance all the same to have to fish around for said wrench when/if you need to adjust it or more likely, if you need to pull the bar out to put the guitar into it's hard case. I have numerous Allen wrench sets and luckily, one fit! If anyone's interested- I believe it uses a 2MM Allen wrench. The superior design of the finger tightened collar gets the win for speed, ease and convenience of adjustment and removal IMHO.
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