OFR, vs. Schaller, vs. Gotoh

[bfloyd6969]

To go along with my recent discussions about learning the Floyd trems, which do you all feel are better and why - Original Floyd, Schaller Floyd, or Gotoh Floyd?

[nhspike]

If there was such a thing a a three-sided coin, I think you could flip it to answer your question. They all have good points. OFR is rock solid, if a little bright. Schaller is nice, but the cast plate takes the edge off the brightness just a little, also quite solid. Gotoh is the best value, and in my mind... real nice units, more like an OFR in terms of brightness to my ear. They seem to have very beefy saddles, just look at the depth of the tapped hole that screws against the string locks... there is some beef there... very comfy on the hand for palm-muting.

So, there you have it... all three are great, and if you notice such subtle things as brightness, you may hear them the way I do, or just the opposite, since ears vary (look at Obama!).

[mustaine-who?]

I

Having owned all 3...I agree. All are great trems, but I find myselg choosing the schaller more and more...actually that's all I have right now. Brightness is way easier to control via the amp...where as a too bright guitar is very hard to make sound not harsh...

I also find the Schaller to be the most comfortable to move around on.

If there was such a thing a a three-sided coin, I think you could flip it to answer your question. They all have good points. OFR is rock solid, if a little bright. Schaller is nice, but the cast plate takes the edge off the brightness just a little, also quite solid. Gotoh is the best value, and in my mind... real nice units, more like an OFR in terms of brightness to my ear. They seem to have very beefy saddles, just look at the depth of the tapped hole that screws against the string locks... there is some beef there... very comfy on the hand for palm-muting.

So, there you have it... all three are great, and if you notice such subtle things as brightness, you may hear them the way I do, or just the opposite, since ears vary (look at Obama!).

[bfloyd6969]

you may hear them the way I do, or just the opposite, since ears vary (look at Obama!).

Now aint that the truth!!!!

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm leaning toward the Gotoh due to value. Then the Schaller, again still less than the OFR.

[nhspike]

Good move!

[Dreamland_Rebel]

i have all 3. to me the new GOTOH wins, hands down.

[El Chiguete]

Why? I just say, all of the people I admire play/played with original FR... so why look fore anything else?

[slash-ed]

Because... technology and innovation can still bring improvements?

And also the fact that Suhr now uses Gotoh trems exclusively, now that's a big endorsement.

[nhspike]

There are some interesting threads out there on just why Suhr switched... and they are very enlightening with regard to the level of quality of newer OFR trems

[El Chiguete]

Can you post those links?

So if the new OFR don't have good quality... how about if you can choose an old OFR vs a Goth?

[bfloyd6969]

I thought that the OFR are still made in the Schaller factory, no?

[nhspike]

Can you post those links?

So if the new OFR don't have good quality... how about if you can choose an old OFR vs a Goth?

I'm not sure I would poo poo the quality of the new OFR's.
It's just an interesting read, and ultimately, just one more opinion.

As a side note, the Floyd Rose Trems on the new Charvels SoCal series are not made in Germany, If I recall correctly.

Let me dig around and see if I can find some links for you.

[nhspike]

Here's what I dug up:

Question: This question is mainly for Mr Tyler and Mr Suhr but all opinions wanted ! In fitting and repairing locking tremolos since they came out, I've found the original Floyd to have deteriorated in quality to such a point that I want a better option …. And I think the Gotoh is it at the moment. The saddles and the locking nuts are a lot harder than the original Floyd’s are now, and I wondered why it is not on more guitars as OEM particularly as the price is also good.

Suhr: Gotoh is good and I will probably switch soon since the Floyds are really being made like ASS. We spend at least an extra hour on every Floyd bridge fixing things. Since both Schallers died it has been downhill from there I built some other companies guitar with the Gotoh and they seemed very consistent and well made.

Follow up Question: What are some of the issues you're seeing with the new Original Floyds ?

Suhr: You have a few days ?

• Sometimes the back of the saddle is too tall preventing the fine tuner from having a full range of motion.
• The way the string leaves the saddle it does not have a firm break off point, the string slides around in the saddle. This changes the intonation, buzzes and can just sound bad. We have to get a detail Dremel bit and re-contour the saddle with magnifiers on to see what we are doing. We have to do this on them all !
• Fine tuners pinched too course and are rough many times.
• Saddle heights can be uneven, requiring regrinding or shimming.
• Roll away at nut not correct making the string not leave the nut edge where it is supposed to leave. This also screws with intonation and the strings can buzz when played open.
• Casting bumps in the nut slots which have to be ground off, maybe one out of five.
• Saddle to rear section of the saddle is sloppy, this cause string buzz, saddle pin has to be removed and saddle pinched to tighten it up.
• Hold plates that hold the blocks up are not pushed up far enough so sometimes the screw pin doesn’t align up with the hole in the block and you wind up cracking the block.
• Sometimes the arms start to wiggle and there isn’t much you can do since the cap on top is snug.

I'm sure there are a few other things I'm leaving out ....

They are a pain, I wish Kahler would make Floyds again I have no idea what is stopping them since the patent has run out.

I think I will start with the Gotohs very soon since I do love the Floyd idea.

[El Chiguete]

So could we establish a year on when the OFR started to go down hill and that if you could get a OFR before that date it wouldn't have those issues?

[dg]

Helmut Schaller (founder & owner) passed away in '99, and his son also died around that time. Supposedly the attention to detail & QC started going downhill after that. This is often the case in companies when the guy whose name is on the product is no longer there with hands on, taking pride in it. Read into that whatever you want.