Floyd Bamboozal?

[mudkicker]

I dropped my 83 strat head off at the local guitar shop for a set up. The tech called me and said two of the saddle on the floyd rose had severe stress cracks. i have only owned kahlered guitars and never had a problem. Do the saddles in the floyds develop stress cracks or was I just conned out of a few extra bucks? If so should I have all of the saddles replaced or just the two?

Brian

[etaeniura]

Re: Floyd Bamboozal?

I can't imagine the saddles having any such thing, as the only pressure on the saddles is where the string crosses over them. I could see maybe where the locking screw goes into the saddle, or at the intonation screw if they were cranked too hard. Sounds fishy.

[Evol]

Re: Floyd Bamboozal?

I've had them crack in the back [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] ...where the screw goes in....was it the B and high E string?Mine cracked on the higher strings only,in that case might as well replace them all.Either way I would ask for the saddles when you get it back to see for yourself.

[mulder1966]

Re: Floyd Bamboozal?

I have replaced 4 or 5 in 20 years. It is always on the E or the A saddle.

[TDurden]

Re: Floyd Bamboozal?

I've never had that problem. I've had saddles gnawed by sweat (pic below) forcing me to replace them, but I guess that's very common, especially on crappy Ibanez saddles. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[slo100]

Re: Floyd Bamboozal?

The stress cracks are common on Floyds whose owners cranked on the string lock screw like it was a lugnut. The little string lock blocks suffer from the same thing.

Each screw on a Floyd Rose requires surprisingly little torque to do its job. Fingertight and just a little nudge with the allen wrench is all it takes.

Combine over-tightening and bad maintenance (sweat, grime, and rust buildup) and you are in a world of hurt.

[etaeniura]

Re: Floyd Bamboozal?

If you want to replace them all, you might be better off buying a whole new floyd. the saddles themselves run 15-20 bucks apiece (90-120 bones total!) and you can pick up a brand new one for that, or a nice used one much cheaper if you look around.

[Jim Shine]

Re: Floyd Bamboozal?

Yeah, I have had them come in cracked, though I never cracked one myself. I always assumed it was a flaw in the metal of the particular saddle, but the stress makes more sense.

[mudkicker]

Re: Floyd Bamboozal?

It was the B and high e saddles. They were cracked in the back, most likely from a previous owner torquing the screws in to tight. The b saddle had a crack from the screw hole down, and the high e saddle looked like it was spider webbing out from the screw hole.

[Tekky]

Re: Floyd Bamboozal?

Originally posted by slo100:
The stress cracks are common on Floyds whose owners cranked on the string lock screw like it was a lugnut. The little string lock blocks suffer from the same thing.

Each screw on a Floyd Rose requires surprisingly little torque to do its job. Fingertight and just a little nudge with the allen wrench is all it takes.

Combine over-tightening and bad maintenance (sweat, grime, and rust buildup) and you are in a world of hurt.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Don't forget the intonation screws. If you overtighten them they'll crack the forks in the front of the saddle too..

[Evol]

Re: Floyd Bamboozal?

Originally posted by mudkicker:
It was the B and high e saddles. They were cracked in the back, most likely from a previous owner torquing the screws in to tight. The b saddle had a crack from the screw hole down, and the high e saddle looked like it was spider webbing out from the screw hole.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yep that's what I figured,the same thing happened on mine,I've seen this happen on guitars with really light gauge strings too where the owner cranks too hard on the screw and cracks not only the blocks but ends up breaking the saddles themselves as well.

[guitarsjb]

Re: Floyd Bamboozal?

My high E saddle broke on my Ibanez..I chalked it up to "cheap" craftsmanship (it was brand new)...but maybe not. I haven't had any problems with my Jackson yet we'll see.

[RacerX]

Re: Floyd Bamboozal?

Originally posted by mudkicker:
Bamboozal

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">

[JACKSONFREAK]

Re: Floyd Bamboozal?

Ive never had a problem with OFR's but i have had a couple of saddle scrack on lesser Floyd lisenced trems. Sux when you dont have a spare around.
Gil

Re: Floyd Bamboozal?

i have a pic of a floyd saddle from my old 85 kramer that cracked and broke but i need to find someone to host it so i can post it.