Replacing the Floyd Rose 1500 with a Gotoh 1996T

Bardagh
Bardagh
Well-known member
The fine tuning screws on this 1500 series Floyd are awful. I’ve never used the Gotoh before, is it a big step up in quality of things like how well all the little parts are machined?

I’m surprised the Gotoh 1996T’s really aren’t expensive. I bought a 6 screw 510 trem bridge last year that cost more than these. An OG Floyd costs way more.
 
I dunno if it'll fit right in, but if it does and you can get it in, the 1996t is superior. Much more range on the fine tuners, softer on the right hand, cheaper, etc
 
Matt300ZXT said:
I dunno if it'll fit right in, but if it does and you can get it in, the 1996t is superior. Much more range on the fine tuners, softer on the right hand, cheaper, etc
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It looks like it should fit. The finer tuners on the 1500 are so bad. Out of 7 strings, all but two are hard to turn and get hung up at spots due to the poor quality of the threads. It gets old fast.

I can get one of the 1996T-7’s for like $120. It just seems so cheap when the OG Floyds are well over $300.
 
Bardagh said:
The fine tuning screws on this 1500 series Floyd are awful. I’ve never used the Gotoh before, is it a big step up in quality of things like how well all the little parts are machined?

I’m surprised the Gotoh 1996T’s really aren’t expensive. I bought a 6 screw 510 trem bridge last year that cost more than these. An OG Floyd costs way more.
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Gotoh are an affordable trem but I've found that even the lower range models kick the crap out of a higher end Floyd.

People also don't realize that Gotoh and Wilkinson are owned by the same company.

I have alot of Gotoh Wilkinson parts, my favorite bridge by them is the VSVG. It's more expensive but there's some magic to the engineering of that one. I'm also a huge fan of the Vega Trem. It's also expensive but worth looking at! 👌
 
SteveGlitch said:
Gotoh are an affordable trem but I've found that even the lower range models kick the crap out of a higher end Floyd.

People also don't realize that Gotoh and Wilkinson are owned by the same company.

I have alot of Gotoh Wilkinson parts, my favorite bridge by them is the VSVG. It's more expensive but there's some magic to the engineering of that one. I'm also a huge fan of the Vega Trem. It's also expensive but worth looking at! 👌
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I haven’t bought a guitar with a licensed floyd on it in probably 20 years, but I don’t remember that one feeling this trashy. Even the locking nut is full of burrs. Quality goes down, price goes up - now that’s progress!

Sounds like the Gotoh 1996 will be a worthwhile upgrade. I have a Vega Trem on one of my partscasters - it is seriously awesome. Smoothest trem I’ve ever used and stays in tune really well with a graphtec nut and locking tuners. I just need to remove some wood from inside the trem cavity of that guitar because the trem block needs more room to move.
 
Bardagh said:
I haven’t bought a guitar with a licensed floyd on it in probably 20 years, but I don’t remember that one feeling this trashy. Even the locking nut is full of burrs. Quality goes down, price goes up - now that’s progress!

Sounds like the Gotoh 1996 will be a worthwhile upgrade. I have a Vega Trem on one of my partscasters - it is seriously awesome. Smoothest trem I’ve ever used and stays in tune really well with a graphtec nut and locking tuners. I just need to remove some wood from inside the trem cavity of that guitar because the trem block needs more room to move.
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The 1996t has 3 different trem block size options: 33, 36 or 40mm.
www.philadelphialuthiertools.com/bridge-and-tailpieces/tremolos/gotoh-ge-1996t-licensed-floyd-rose-locking-tremolo-bridge-chrome/
 
Bardagh said:
I haven’t bought a guitar with a licensed floyd on it in probably 20 years, but I don’t remember that one feeling this trashy. Even the locking nut is full of burrs. Quality goes down, price goes up - now that’s progress!

Sounds like the Gotoh 1996 will be a worthwhile upgrade. I have a Vega Trem on one of my partscasters - it is seriously awesome. Smoothest trem I’ve ever used and stays in tune really well with a graphtec nut and locking tuners. I just need to remove some wood from inside the trem cavity of that guitar because the trem block needs more room to move.
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Newer Floyd's are superior to the vintage Floyd's. Gotoh/Wilkinson's original bridges have better engineering than even a higher end Floyd. The VSVG is better than any vintage to modern Floyd, Fender or PRS bridge. It's insane.

I have 4 with Wilkinson, 3 with higher end Floyd, a strat with the VegaTrem. The VSVG is up there with the VegaTrem :)

I don't doubt that the Gotoh Floyd clones are actually better than a real Floyd.
 
You may have to do a little modding to get it to fit in the floyd cavity depending on the guitar. I personally like them better than a fr for comfort.
Post width is slightly different, but shouldn't cause an issue. The back of the plate on the trem arm side is a couple mm longer and I think I've read some people have issues with the block placement with thicker ones and small cavities.
 
I really really like the Wilkinson VS100 I have on one of my Grover-era Washburns of the mid 90s. I mean, I can't wail on it like a Floyd, and it isn't as big and beefy and impressive, but dammit if it isn't a really nice bridge that, when paired with locking tuners, is rock solid and still gives me the wiggle stick for a little bit of fun and adds flavor to notes.
 
Matt300ZXT said:
I really really like the Wilkinson VS100 I have on one of my Grover-era Washburns of the mid 90s.
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How do you like the VS100? Did you notice any change in tone?


A few bridges I have that I really like...
WV6-SB on the Ibby YY10 (like an American Fender Vintage Bridge but better). Treble boosted freq.

T1502 on the Ibby TOD10 (Smooth with lots of mid-range freq) Adds sustain and Hugh's without messing with bass or mids

Vega Trem on the Fender Custom Vintera (Does everything a Floyd can do but better) Smooths highs and fills the body with more lows. Adds sustain and mids, bass and takes some treble away.

Of course the list goes on.
 
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SteveGlitch said:
How do you like the VS100? Did you notice any change in tone?


A fee I have that I really like...
WV6-SB on the Ibby YY10 (like an American Fender Vintage Bridge but better). Treble boosted freq.

T1502 on the Ibby TOD10 (Smooth with lots of mid-range freq) Adds sustain and Hugh's without messing with bass or mids

Vega Trem on the Fender Custom Vintera (Does everything a Floyd can do but better) Smooths highs and fills the body with more lows. Adds sustain and mids, bass and takes some treble away.

Of course the list goes on.
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I can't really AB the guitars because of different pickups, and I have Graphtech saddles on the Wilky, so chromed steel vs graphite stuff won't really sound anywhere near similar I'd imagine. All I know is that it's a very high quality bridge and wouldn't mind more guitars with them on it since I'm kind of shying away from Floyds in my old age.
 
I've had multiple OFRs (and lockmeisters) and multiple Gotohs, Floyds and 2 points and 6 points, etc

Both top notch as far as trems go IMO

As far as "issues", I've had knife edge issues with like 1-2 gotoh Floyds and 1-2 other 2 points (which I suspect is because a tech assistant fucked up), but other than that machining, fit and finish is perfect

I've had saddle issues, trem arm issues with more OFR/Schallers, but I do prefer those since I've never had knife edge issues with them.
 
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