Where can I buy a Floyd Rose bridge that ISN'T a complete POS with terrible quality? 😡

[ACfireandiceDC]

So, to begin with, what you see is a blue Agile Interceptor Pro, and an Ibanez RG170 that I restomodded (I Floyd Rose swapped the RG, the Agile is 100% stock except for the pickups).

Initially, they were very reliable guitars, but both of them have started to have this problem where their screws have become so soft that the hex wrench would LITERALLY BEND THE SOCKET OUT OF SHAPE, and make them difficult or impossible to tighten. Because of this, they can't apply enough pressure to the strings to hold them in place.

The second photo shows one of the string mounts from the Agile. It was having serious difficulty tightening, to the point where the string would pop out of its bridge mount when I wound it up. After hours of frustration, I investigated and found that the screw and its hole are completely stripped away - which definitely explains its inability to tighten.

The Agile works now, but only because I cannibalized one of the working string mounts from the Ibanez.

Admittedly, the problems with the Ibanez are likely my fault, seeing as I bought the Floyd cheap off of Amazon. But the Agile was $700 new, and now both guitars need new bridges. What's crazy is that for 11 years, I've owned a cheap $225 Douglas with a Floyd and it has never had this problem.

I'd prefer to spend as little money as possible (<=$100 is preferred), but I also CAN NOT have another bridge with the structural integrity of Play-Doh.

Where should I look? Amazon is almost certainly out of the question, but should I look at Sweetwater or other stores? Any advice is welcome, thanks.

 

[lost_horizon]

Pics?

You can pick up a used Gotoh GE-1996T for around $100. I would just buy used.

I bought a used Artist brand floyd for $20. A gotoh brass block and string inserts fit, plus it has a steel base plate and saddles for longevity. So i just upgraded it with parts I had left over from a gotoh box.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

My first Gotoh on my TFS6 lasted me 25 years and hundreds of shows before the wear on the knife edges prevented it from returning to Zero consistently. I replaced it a couple of years ago and it will likely outlive me.

 

[aesthyrian]

Yep, the Gotoh GE1996T is a solid unit for a great price.

 

[cip 123]

Please NOTE for the Gotoh GE1996T it's an absolutely awesome Trem but the studs that the posts fit in to are bigger than a regular floyd Rose.

To install and keep the correct intonation on my Carvin the front shelf/lip of the floyd rose route had to be chiseled away so that the Gotoh Studs could be drilled in to the same center of the existing holes.

 

[cardinal]

Seems like you could just get some replacement bolts/screws for the Floyd units and be find.

 

[littlebadboy]

I would not go cheap on the Floyd. I had some issues with the blade edge getting worn out fast.

 

[ASoC]

another vote for the Gotoh unit, I've had 2 and they're absolutely the best FR style bridge available, IMO. I'm a very big fan of how the bar mounts in; it's rock solid with no wobble at all.

I've also used a Gotoh on FR posts with no issue. Just make sure you measure your trem block so you order the proper sized replacement.

 

[LiveOVErdrive]

I had the same problem with the strings popping out of the clamps on a Floyd rose special. No matter what I did, the high e string would not stay in.

Switched to an OFR and it was perfect.

 

[torchlord]

So, to begin with, what you see is a blue Agile Interceptor Pro, and an Ibanez RG170 that I restomodded (I Floyd Rose swapped the RG, the Agile is 100% stock except for the pickups).

Initially, they were very reliable guitars, but both of them have started to have this problem where their screws have become so soft that the hex wrench would LITERALLY BEND THE SOCKET OUT OF SHAPE, and make them difficult or impossible to tighten. Because of this, they can't apply enough pressure to the strings to hold them in place.

The second photo shows one of the string mounts from the Agile. It was having serious difficulty tightening, to the point where the string would pop out of its bridge mount when I wound it up. After hours of frustration, I investigated and found that the screw and its hole are completely stripped away - which definitely explains its inability to tighten.

The Agile works now, but only because I cannibalized one of the working string mounts from the Ibanez.

Admittedly, the problems with the Ibanez are likely my fault, seeing as I bought the Floyd cheap off of Amazon. But the Agile was $700 new, and now both guitars need new bridges. What's crazy is that for 11 years, I've owned a cheap $225 Douglas with a Floyd and it has never had this problem.

I'd prefer to spend as little money as possible (<=$100 is preferred), but I also CAN NOT have another bridge with the structural integrity of Play-Doh.

Where should I look? Amazon is almost certainly out of the question, but should I look at Sweetwater or other stores? Any advice is welcome, thanks.

My original Agile Reaper Floyd Mounting posts wore out as well but the knife edges seemed to still be good so I installed some Kaish bridge Mounting posts on my Agile Reaper which have the locking feature and are pretty much the same Gotah Design. The posts are made out of Stainless Steel and the collars are made out of solid brass. They are about 20 bucks and there are 2 different sizes. I had to use a flat bore drill and just made the hole a little deeper (By hand with flat hole boring bit, no drill press, do it slow) as they were a little longer than the holes Agile drilled but not really by much. They are really solid and have the Gotah Locking feature. They look to be way better than the titanium ones I had previously which wound up wearing out.

I used the Schatten post puller to get the posts out. I had to build up support for the post puller on the pickup side (I think) with pennies or metal of some type so that the puller had a good base. I didn't want to put to much stress on the small wood bridge between the pickup routing and the bridge routing.

Schatten Post Puller

I also got some Graphtek String-Saver saddles, for the bridge and they work great for stopping string breakage. They are a bit longer than the original Floyd Saddles so if you down-tune they may cause issues with intonating them. Fortunately, the prices seem to have dropped back to reasonable levels.

Kaish Gotah Style Mounting Studs

https://graphtech.com/products/string-saver-floyd-rose-saddles-chrome-6-string-pg-0080

 

[Tuned]

another one for the GOTOH1996T
currently my main guitar is one stock equipped with an OFR, had OFRs before as well, but I prefer the GOTOH in many ways.

also, the US having heavily undermined the German industry, I expect German-made floyds to become more expensive and lesser quality at the same time. I wonder if FMIC has seen the flare already, taking the path to equip the most recent Jackson American Series with Korean floyds. Maybe not. But maybe yes.

 

[kerryymm]

The Schaller Lockmeister is excellent too, and pricewise around the same as the Gotoh I think. It's a drop-in replacement for a Floyd I believe (they might even be made in the same factory, or from the same castings or something).

 

[Swarm]

Another vote for the Gotoh, I put OFR studs on them so as not to drill on most guitars but on the Ibanez the Gotoh studs fit since the Ibanez Edge are made by Gotoh

 

[eaeolian]

The Gotoh 1996T is the best bargain. It'll sit on the Floyd studs with no issues, but there can be rout fit problems for those of you that like recessed trems.

OFR is still fine, Lockmeister is better but harder to get, the Sophia is extremely well made but different enough that it bothers me. It sounds like you just need new clamp blocks, though.

 

[ctgblue]

I've used a couple of 'licensed copies" on guitars that I've built, that worked great, but the saddles on one weren't top notch, so $100'ish for the bridge, then I added $50 of stainless saddles.
Amazon product ASIN B093S93DPN
I usually , still, have to wrap the high E (9) double to get it to hold, even in my stock 90's Jackson, sometimes the B too, if that helps

 

[eaeolian]

Seems like you could just get some replacement bolts/screws for the Floyd units and be find.

This. Even the zinc saddles on the Agile's FR Special shouldn't be too bad. They have to cheap out somewhere, and it's usually the screws.

 

[Captain Shoggoth]

Another vote for the Gotoh 1996T. A Floyd is a Floyd but there are lots of nice little touches that make it feel like a slightly more considered, and premium, product compared to the OFR; and it's cheaper. The arm mount especially is best on the market as it has allen key adjustment for tightness and screw-in adjustment to set the height of the bar.

Can retrofit on the Floyd studs but the locking Gotoh studs are an upgrade in and of themselves. Worth the extra effort of getting someone to rout.

As others have said, the locking screws may be a tad long for a recessed OFR route if you're downtuning.

The Gotoh 1996T is the best bargain. It'll sit on the Floyd studs with no issues, but there can be rout fit problems for those of you that like recessed trems.

OFR is still fine, Lockmeister is better but harder to get, the Sophia is extremely well made but different enough that it bothers me. It sounds like you just need new clamp blocks, though.

What about the Lockmeister is better than the OFR? I always assumed they were the same Schaller unit with different logos.

 

[torchlord]

This. Even the zinc saddles on the Agile's FR Special shouldn't be too bad. They have to cheap out somewhere, and it's usually the screws.

They can eventually could become a problem, I had one of them strip out the bolt threads. I was using a really large string size though for downtuning so most who are not doing this won't likely have issues. The Hardened steel baseplate from what I remember of my research into the Agile Floyd bridge was the only thing they didn't cheap out on.

 

[cardinal]

Another vote for the Gotoh 1996T. A Floyd is a Floyd but there are lots of nice little touches that make it feel like a slightly more considered, and premium, product compared to the OFR; and it's cheaper. The arm mount especially is best on the market as it has allen key adjustment for tightness and screw-in adjustment to set the height of the bar.

Can retrofit on the Floyd studs but the locking Gotoh studs are an upgrade in and of themselves. Worth the extra effort of getting someone to rout.

As others have said, the locking screws may be a tad long for a recessed OFR route if you're downtuning.



What about the Lockmeister is better than the OFR? I always assumed they were the same Schaller unit with different logos.

The newest Lockmeister is at least more convenient since it offers saddles in a variety of radii, which presumably reduces or eliminates the need to shim.