German Floyd Rose or FU Tone

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Hooligan

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Making some updates to my 2005 Jackson King V. Thoughts on better whammy. GFR is the gold standard, Never had a FUT but I have heard a lot of good things and frankly curious on trying something new. From what I have researched it is a straight replacement with no real issues. Looking for the crowds thoughts. Cheers!
 
Geo said:
Ehh, the GFR is not what it used to be, I go GOTOH now.

The GFR is not the quality it was in the 80' and 90's.
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Agreed. The Schaller hardware I've gotten lately has all been kinda ehhhh.

A lot of it has had plating that flakes off.
 
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The bell brass sustain block on my Schaller Floyd is from FU tone.

Good quality.

(y)
 
ccn said:
The Chrome can be had for $106.00 , the other colors are more in line with the price you listed.
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When they are 106 they always charge 15 or so for shipping, when they are 120 its usually free shipping. But not always.
 
Also the gotoh 1996 base plates were $29 forever. Then about 6 weeks ago or so they went to $39 and a few weeks after that went up to $49. I was like damn a honky cant even afford a double locking these days!
 
So many opinions on this.
German Floyd’s are great. I ordered a couple of baseplates to replace the 1000 ones that came stock on my Les Paul Axcess. I checked the hardness of them on a Rockwell hardness tester that is at my relative’s machine shop. The German ones that I received had a hardness of 9.6 while the 1000s were a 8.1. My old German Floyd from 1989 had a hardness of 9.2.
 
ok...about "german" tremolos...

There is the "old classic Schaller tremolo"
https://www.thomann.de/gr/schaller_tremolo_locking_bc.htm
Hardened steel...warmer sounding tremolo

Schaller Lockmeister
https://www.thomann.de/gr/schaller_lockmeister_6_tremolo_bc.htm
Exact copy of the OFR...same materials...same all...

Gotoh 1996T
https://www.thomann.de/gr/gotoh_ge1996t_7_b_fr_style_tremolo.htm
Amazing price, great quality...
Just two drawbacks...de-tuna will not fit and if you cut your guitar to work with a gotoh, you cannot replace it with ofr style...you can do it the other way around...

I have tried all three...I wouldnt have any problem with any of them...since I cannot use the de-tune on my gotoh I would get the lockmeister...
 
rsm said:
I'm interested in the Sophia, but be sure to check the sophia size, depending on the model, it may not fit all FR cutouts limiting the travel when you pull up.

edit: it's may be the model with the drop tuner I was thinking of:




still, check the measurements to be sure it will fit!
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Sophia's website is confusing AF. Think I'll ask Chat GPT which tremolo to order.
 
blackie13 said:
ok...about "german" tremolos...

There is the "old classic Schaller tremolo"
https://www.thomann.de/gr/schaller_tremolo_locking_bc.htm
Hardened steel...warmer sounding tremolo

Schaller Lockmeister
https://www.thomann.de/gr/schaller_lockmeister_6_tremolo_bc.htm
Exact copy of the OFR...same materials...same all...

Gotoh 1996T
https://www.thomann.de/gr/gotoh_ge1996t_7_b_fr_style_tremolo.htm
Amazing price, great quality...
Just two drawbacks...de-tuna will not fit and if you cut your guitar to work with a gotoh, you cannot replace it with ofr style...you can do it the other way around...

I have tried all three...I wouldnt have any problem with any of them...since I cannot use the de-tune on my gotoh I would get the lockmeister...
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You're leaving out the actual OFR....the Schaller versions are 'licensed' and seem to have some small differences. A real deal OFR will simply say Floyd Rose on the base plate, and is also made in Germany. But it's the original.
I have one newer production OFR and 3 vintage OFRs from the 80s on my Charvels. I don't find any differences between them. The only issue I ever had, and this includes the FR 1000 that I gigged with on my 08/09 USA Charvels, was the Schaller Floyd on my 1991 Hamer USA that had knife edge inserts...one side eventually cracked back in 2007 and I couldn't use the trem for anything other than a hardtail until I replaced it.
 
Racerxrated said:
You're leaving out the actual OFR....the Schaller versions are 'licensed' and seem to have some small differences. A real deal OFR will simply say Floyd Rose on the base plate, and is also made in Germany. But it's the original.
I have one newer production OFR and 3 vintage OFRs from the 80s on my Charvels. I don't find any differences between them. The only issue I ever had, and this includes the FR 1000 that I gigged with on my 08/09 USA Charvels, was the Schaller Floyd on my 1991 Hamer USA that had knife edge inserts...one side eventually cracked back in 2007 and I couldn't use the trem for anything other than a hardtail until I replaced it.
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what I wrote was about the "schaller" ones and the gotoh...
truth is I havent tested a newer OFR, I had one in a USA Kramer Baretta but it was the one with screws...
The korean ones look exactly like the lockmeisters and they are direct replacements...lockmeisters are heavier and better quality tremolos...
The "Schaller tremolos" are hardened steel of the knife edges only...I had a Caparison with one and it was GREAT...I dunno if it was a special order for them...
Here in Europe, the prices of the OFR are like 300$ for the unit...so for me its a no-no...
I have been using only the GOTOH for the last 10 years (after reading a Suhr comment about them) and since its cheaper why not...???
As I said I wish it could work with the D-Tuna...

The Ibanez Edge and the Gotoh are pretty similar I think...
 
blackie13 said:
what I wrote was about the "schaller" ones and the gotoh...
truth is I havent tested a newer OFR, I had one in a USA Kramer Baretta but it was the one with screws...
The korean ones look exactly like the lockmeisters and they are direct replacements...lockmeisters are heavier and better quality tremolos...
The "Schaller tremolos" are hardened steel of the knife edges only...I had a Caparison with one and it was GREAT...I dunno if it was a special order for them...
Here in Europe, the prices of the OFR are like 300$ for the unit...so for me its a no-no...
I have been using only the GOTOH for the last 10 years (after reading a Suhr comment about them) and since its cheaper why not...???
As I said I wish it could work with the D-Tuna...

The Ibanez Edge and the Gotoh are pretty similar I think...
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Gotcha. The First Schaller version was the one I had in my Hamer, that the knife edge failed on. So I wouldn't recommend that one IF one wants to really use the tremolo. The Lockmeister is the one to get IF you don't want to pay those huge prices for an OFR.
 
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