Floyd Rose replacement for SOCAL

[85 San Dimas]

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?

I don't think it would be a huge deal necessarily. As long as the OFR trems are of the best quality. if we're talking trems on So-Cals then I guess the best you can get to fit in the budget.

+1 on the "it seems like the original run was pretty good" post. When Rose starting doing floyd 2's, etc. things got kind of iffy they way I recall.

[dg]

No need to speculate on why Suhr switched to Gotoh. It wasn't just about shimming saddles, and it wasn't something he made up to justify using a cheaper trem. Here is what he wrote in Jan. 07 when asked about what issues he was having with OFRs, before he made the switch:



"You have a few days?
1) sometimes the back of the saddle is too tall preventing the fine tuner from having a full range of motion.
2) 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-controur the saddle with magnifiers on to see what we are doing. we have to do this on them all
3) fine tuners pinched too course and are rough many times
4) Saddle heights uneven requiring regrinding or shimming
5) 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.
6) Casting bumps in the nut slots which have to be ground off, mayb e 1 out of 5
7) 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 doesnt align up with the hole in the block and you wind up cracking the block.
9) Sometimes the arms start to wiggle and there isnt much you can do since the cap on top is snug
10) 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."

It was posted here:

http://www.hugeracksinc.com/forum/vi...sting&start=15

[jet66]

Thanks for the link! I was telling someone I had read this before, and their argument was 'source?' I couldn't find the story for the life of me, I thought maybe I had dreamed it...

[Grandturk]

hrm - my high-e buzzes a bit when open - I need to have a look at how it leaves the nut.

[85 San Dimas]

THAT was nice post of info

[Armann]

Nice info, so OFR's suck now ?

[ulijdavid]

One other problem not mentioned could be Schaller's inability to keep up with production. Schaller is notorious for late deliveries. Someone like Jackson would probably not have a problem since Fender is big enough to put the "screws" to Schaller for the OFR's. But, someone like Suhr probably gets put further down the list for delivery priority. I am sure Suhr does real well, but he also probably needs to move product and can't keep an inventory of bridgeless guitars.

[Dogbone]

I know about a year ago, my local Fender dealer told me then that Schaller was going through a few set backs with the family, and was having a hard time keeping up with demand then...
If Suhr is going to that much trouble on the OFR's, I can't believe that he isn't doing a little work on the Gotoh's as well. It's pretty cool that he goes through that much trouble to make sure that the fit and setup are correct though.
But being a Gotoh owner, I still can't see that it is any better than any of my OFR's :think: The Gotoh, isn't bad, but better... Can't say that. But I can't say that it is worse either...

[AndyK]

I got an OFR recently, and had to remove the shim that was under the saddles in order to set up the action correctly. I actually used the thin metal shim to take some of the angle out of the neck pocket, so it worked out nicely!

[shredtilurded]

The Gotoh Floyds are VERY good also and alot cheaper.Some claim they are the best Floyd on the market today.I've used them and can't say that I disagree.