Floyd Rose replacement for SOCAL

[Biff Montana]

Newc +2

[SEAN RAF]

I got my Production series Charvel last July. The fine tuners have a rougher feel than the ones on my other USA JC's, other than that, no problems. It stays in tune, so I hardly use the fine tuners anyway. I'm tempted to replace it with an 'OFR', but as it's working exactly the same as my other units I can't justify the swap.

[Mr.Shreddy]

Man I want to swap mine for an OFR because mine feels VERY cheap. The screws are crap and the fine tuners suck compared to the OFR

[Predator1]

Is the sustain block on the Korean models brass like that on the Germen OFR?

[DHardmanJr]

Is the sustain block on the Korean models brass like that on the Germen OFR?

To me the material on the Korean models sustain block looks the same as the German OFR ... just doesn't say Germany on it. But I don't know if the actual composition of the metal is different.

I replaced it with one of the big blocks from floydupgrades.com and it made a nice difference ... seemed like slightly better sustain and definitely a deeper tone.

[Grandturk]

Don't know if this is the case for all of them, but I just pulled the nut off my San Dimas 1 and it was a Made in Germany nut... anybody ese check theirs?

[Chubtone]

I popped a vintage Floyd Rose off of an '86 Kramer onto my black San Dimas 1. I noticed no difference in tone. I was hoping that a great sounding guitar would end up being the best sounding guitar ever built. But no, it was still just a great sounding guitar.

Maybe I'm older than the rest of you guys, but I distinctly remember in about '87 or '88 that everyone was talking about how crappy the new Floyd Rose's were and that they didn't sound as good as the earlier ones. This was 20 years ago! A couple of years ago, John Suhr gave up on using German made Floyd Rose's on his guitars as he said that they were not made to tight enough tolerances and that they had to take every one of them apart and do things to them to make them right. Instead, he uses Gotohs and insists they are better built and better sounding than the German made Floyd's.

Can you imagine the fire-storm that would have been unleashed on this board if these production Charvel's came with Gotoh's on them?

[Newc]

I popped a vintage Floyd Rose off of an '86 Kramer onto my black San Dimas 1. I noticed no difference in tone. I was hoping that a great sounding guitar would end up being the best sounding guitar ever built. But no, it was still just a great sounding guitar.

Maybe I'm older than the rest of you guys, but I distinctly remember in about '87 or '88 that everyone was talking about how crappy the new Floyd Rose's were and that they didn't sound as good as the earlier ones. This was 20 years ago! A couple of years ago, John Suhr gave up on using German made Floyd Rose's on his guitars as he said that they were not made to tight enough tolerances and that they had to take every one of them apart and do things to them to make them right. Instead, he uses Gotohs and insists they are better built and better sounding than the German made Floyd's.

Can you imagine the fire-storm that would have been unleashed on this board if these production Charvel's came with Gotoh's on them?

Unfortunately, people say that same old shit about everything: my new DVD player sucks ass compared to the one I bought 3 years ago; the Digitech Whammy pedal that's no longer made is way better than the current one because the new ones use one transistor that's mildly different from the originals, which were made of Unobtanium; my 1986 Floyd Rose is way better than your 1987 Floyd Rose, because they changed one little-bitty spec that has jack shit to do with anything, but they changed it, so they suck; etc etc.

However, if you're getting 2 Gotohs for the price of one OFR, and putting them on guitars you want to sell for $3000, you start a rumor that Chinese 12-year-olds in a sweatshop can build these parts better than the Germans. They can do everything else with superior craftsmanship EXCEPT build a simple locking tremolo? Suhr's full of shit.

[Dogbone]

However, if you're getting 2 Gotohs for the price of one OFR, and putting them on guitars you want to sell for $3000, you start a rumor that Chinese 12-year-olds in a sweatshop can build these parts better than the Germans. They can do everything else with superior craftsmanship EXCEPT build a simple locking tremolo? Suhr's full of shit.

I agree... In my opinion the switch to Gotoh was a cost factor, we all know the Gotoh is cheaper, and I'm sure buying in bulk makes it even lower. Another great way to cut costs, while charging the same amount or more.
What was Suhr supposed to say... We use the Gotoh's to cut corners?? Like that is going to happen So If he wants to say the OFR is a POS, I guess that's his idea of marketing...
I'll stick with my OFR's

[Chubtone]

That may be true about the Gotoh's cost-wise but I have some experience with Suhr and the Floyd Rose situation. I had John build me a Suhr Standard a few years back. I had an amp that John wanted and I wanted another Suhr so we traded. Anyways, I got to order exactly what I wanted and for my 2nd Suhr, I wanted a Floyd Rose. When I went to the factory to pick up my completed guitar, there were a few brand new Floyd Rose's completely in pieces on a work bench. So that was either for show or there were things that they really didn't like about them.

Here's the Suhr I was talking about with an OFR. I sold it about a year ago because it just didn't have the same sort of vibe these Charvels do. I can't explain it other than saying the Suhr was like a Rolls Royce and Charvels are more like European sports cars:



I just played a Gotoh recently and it really felt nice. It was very smooth feeling and that guitar sounded killer but I don't know that the Gotoh helped make it a killer sounding guitar or if it was killer in spite of the Gotoh.

[Newc]

I"d imagine they were shaving a bit off the saddles to match the radius of the actual fretboard/frets, as Floyds are pretty much one-size-for-all. I would expect a boutique builder to recognize that the OFR's factory radius doesn't match their own, and mod the saddles for their specific design.

That can be done more cheaply on a Gotoh because of the lower cost per unit, and possibly easier because of lower material density than an OFR.

[Dreamland_Rebel]

the Gotoh is not a lower cost unit. infact i've found OFR's cheaper than the new Gotoh trems on most all the parts dealers websites.

the Gotoh also comes standard with a 12" radius, which is what john suhr was shimming OFR's to, with steel saddles and a solid brass sustain block. overall the Gotoh is a more solid unit right out of the box. the fine tuners are also far more consistant than those on the OFR.

[RR05xx]

I will say this from personal experience. I have several newer made OFRs and I have cracked saddles from accidentially overtighening (yes, I learned my lesson and take extra care now). I also have several old '84 time frame made OFRs, a couple of which I have owned since the 80s. I have never cracked a floyd saddle on those (thus I did not even release it could be done). It is what it is and read into it what you like.

[Tekky]

Can you imagine the fire-storm that would have been unleashed on this board if these production Charvel's came with Gotoh's on them?

It's a top-mounted tremolo, so I don't think it would really make much of a difference. However, when you get something that is recessed and they rout it with an off shape, then you'd probably get the biz from the peanut gallery.

And let's not forget what Vince from the Sham-Wow commercial says... The Germans always make great stuff.

[Rich#6]

The gotoh that I had on my old gunslinger was bad ass. It felt better then the OFR on the schecter I just got(yes I believe it's german). I havent used the korean floyd on my socal yet.