Swapping Floyd Rose 1000 for Original

  • Thread starter Thread starter Cap217
  • Start date Start date
PBGas said:
One of my friends works with all kinds of metals and tests their tensile strength for fasteners and washers. I had him check the 1000 studs as well as the baseplate vs. the Original studs and baseplate when I changed them out on my PRS CE24 DW. The process left a slight mark about the side of a small pin head on the side of the longer part of each stud. Nothing anyone would even notice.

He gave me a scale rating on hardness. The 1000 studs clock in at about a 5.6 on the hardness scale out of 10. The OFRs come in at 8.0. I also had him check these new Sofia studs and inserts that I got that have the ability to lock the stud in place. Those tested at 8.5. I did this a while back but unfortunately I didn't take any pics at the time.

The 1000 saddles are also a slight bit narrower. I found this out when trying to replace them with the Graphtech locking saddles. I ended up just buying a new OFR baseplate and reusing some of my old OFR parts (spacer, block, block studs and spring plate) along with the Graphtech saddles. All worked great!

All this being said, the 1000 series works just fine without any issues.
Click to expand...
I read your comment and it was taylor made for me. I own the same PRS CE-DW-CU24. I too am about to swap the FR1000 for an OFR. I'm just waiting for the new bridge to come in the mail. So may I ask you a few questions considering you've owned the guitar longer than I have?
When you changed the bridge did you also change the nut? If so, which is the correct OFR nut for our guitar? I also found that PRS put 2 full-sized spacer shims under the nut to bring the overall nut action up. Did you find this on yours as well? How do you set yours up? (Eg. Neck relief amount, action on bass and treble sides, pickup height etc). Did you swap the inserts for the 2 mounting studs or just screw the OFR studs into the existing FR1000 inserts? Did you have to swap the trem arm connection piece on the baseplate because PRS' routing was too tight for it? I read that somewhere. It said to put the FR1000 arm connector on the OFR baseplate to resolve that isseue.
Due to this guitar having a 10" radius fingerboard I've been really having a hard time finding a comfortable setup. Particularly the D & G strings. The action's either too high or too low. I can't seem to find the sweetspot. I also noticed there's no headstock retainer bar like on SE CU24's w/ FR. I'm not gonna lie, this guitar has given me nightmares, and it's not that I'm new to guitar or FR's, I've been playing FR equipt guitars for 20+ yrs. Maybe it's the scale length of the guitar. Ive mainly played 25.5" scale length guitars. I've also noticed on all PRS CU-24's that the bridge and pickups are set closer to the end of the neck, leaving more space than usual behind the bridge compared to other trem guitars. The Gibson SG Special I have has that same construction where it seems everything has been shifted closer to the end of the neck. This isn't an issue on my regular PRS SE-CU24 with their proprietary trem, but having a FR set closer to the neck like that makes my picking hand feel crowded by the raised part of the FR where the fine tuners are.
Overall it's a great guitar. 10 out of 10 in looks for sure! Functionality is like a 6 out of 10 at the moment for me. And on a side note, why the hell didn't this guitar come with a hardshell case lol?
 

Attachments

  • 20220306_110457.jpg
    20220306_110457.jpg
    2.6 MB · Views: 61
Last edited:
Exo-metal said:
No never lol
Click to expand...
In all honesty a HT guitar will sound great, usually more resonance but there was nothing more frustrating than having to tune in the middle of a song, when you can obviously hear how horribly out of tune the G string is. Using Floyd’s I rarely had to worry
 
Turn the fine tuners on an OG, vs. a Korean, and tell me there's not a big difference. That's typically my biggest gripe. The 1000's typically need lubed, have less travel, and are just plain wonky. Some Koreans can be real clunkers.
 
MikeR515 said:
I read your comment and it was taylor made for me. I own the same PRS CE-DW-CU24. I too am about to swap the FR1000 for an OFR. I'm just waiting for the new bridge to come in the mail. So may I ask you a few questions considering you've owned the guitar longer than I have?
When you changed the bridge did you also change the nut? If so, which is the correct OFR nut for our guitar? I also found that PRS put 2 full-sized spacer shims under the nut to bring the overall nut action up. Did you find this on yours as well? How do you set yours up? (Eg. Neck relief amount, action on bass and treble sides, pickup height etc). Did you swap the inserts for the 2 mounting studs or just screw the OFR studs into the existing FR1000 inserts? Did you have to swap the trem arm connection piece on the baseplate because PRS' routing was too tight for it? I read that somewhere. It said to put the FR1000 arm connector on the OFR baseplate to resolve that isseue.
Due to this guitar having a 10" radius fingerboard I've been really having a hard time finding a comfortable setup. Particularly the D & G strings. The action's either too high or too low. I can't seem to find the sweetspot. I also noticed there's no headstock retainer bar like on SE CU24's w/ FR. I'm not gonna lie, this guitar has given me nightmares, and it's not that I'm new to guitar or FR's, I've been playing FR equipt guitars for 20+ yrs. Maybe it's the scale length of the guitar. Ive mainly played 25.5" scale length guitars. I've also noticed on all PRS CU-24's that the bridge and pickups are set closer to the end of the neck, leaving more space than usual behind the bridge compared to other trem guitars. The Gibson SG Special I have has that same construction where it seems everything has been shifted closer to the end of the neck. This isn't an issue on my regular PRS SE-CU24 with their proprietary trem, but having a FR set closer to the neck like that makes my picking hand feel crowded by the raised part of the FR where the fine tuners are.
Overall it's a great guitar. 10 out of 10 in looks for sure! Functionality is like a 6 out of 10 at the moment for me. And on a side note, why the hell didn't this guitar come with a hardshell case lol?
Click to expand...

I did end up selling the guitar through Covid as I got an ridiculous offer from someone on it. There were none of these around at the time and the gent really wanted one so he got one!

Ok...as far as the nut, I just left that alone. The PRS nuts are a bit different. I changed out the locking pads and screws to some titanium ones that I had and they worked fine. For the studs, the inserts are fine. that is not where the wear occurs. The OFR studs screw right in without issue.

I had the neck setup fairly straight with very little relief.
for the trem arm, I used a Red Bishop unit. Easily the best version of the Floyd arm out there. Just works great and no issues after owning them for years now.

I agree, the 10" radius bothered me as well. I'm not as much of a fan of 9.5 or 10. I prefer closer to 16" like the Ibanez stuff.
For the bridge, I ended up using the Graphtech locking saddles. You'll never break another string with them and quite honestly they sound amazing. I have them on all of my guitars.

I would suggest checking under the saddles to see if them have a shim under the 2,3,4,5 strings. Mine actually didn't but I ended up putting a very thin 0.17mm shim under those 4 saddles and it worked much better.

Agree on the Hardshell case thing!
 
I have 12 guitars with floyds. 5 of them have original floyds and 7 have the 1000's. I have brass big blocks on all of them. There is zero difference between them tone wise and quality. Don't waste your money!
 
PBGas said:
I did end up selling the guitar through Covid as I got an ridiculous offer from someone on it. There were none of these around at the time and the gent really wanted one so he got one!

Ok...as far as the nut, I just left that alone. The PRS nuts are a bit different. I changed out the locking pads and screws to some titanium ones that I had and they worked fine. For the studs, the inserts are fine. that is not where the wear occurs. The OFR studs screw right in without issue.

I had the neck setup fairly straight with very little relief.
for the trem arm, I used a Red Bishop unit. Easily the best version of the Floyd arm out there. Just works great and no issues after owning them for years now.

I agree, the 10" radius bothered me as well. I'm not as much of a fan of 9.5 or 10. I prefer closer to 16" like the Ibanez stuff.
For the bridge, I ended up using the Graphtech locking saddles. You'll never break another string with them and quite honestly they sound amazing. I have them on all of my guitars.

I would suggest checking under the saddles to see if them have a shim under the 2,3,4,5 strings. Mine actually didn't but I ended up putting a very thin 0.17mm shim under those 4 saddles and it worked much better.

Agree on the Hardshell case thing!
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info, man! I got mine during Covid... I searched far an wide for it and finally landed one at the normal price. As for the saddle shims, I have shims for individual FR saddles made by ESP. I've used them for yrs on all my FR guitars. They come in (.10", .20" and .30" thicknesses). And you're partially right about the long saddle shim for the inner 4. An OFR has that shim under the inner 4 which when inserted makes the bridge have a 10" radius. When it's removed the OFR retains a 12" radius. On a FR1000 it's supposed to have a 10" radius as is, no shims. Three of the saddles on the FR1000 I have right now have shims under em. It's pretty much dead on a 10" radius now.
 
Samhain said:
The number on the block IE : 32 or 37mm ect refer to the length of the block which is important to keep the same as the block number your guitar came with for the block to clear the route in the rear trem cavity.
If the new block is too long/too short or not the same it won't work.
Click to expand...
Hey my block says 32 but I want to upgrade to a 37 mm cuz it's the only one he makes but it looks like I have plenty of room before it hits the back of my guitar plenty of room do you think it'll still work I think it'll work but let me know
 
wildstringdom101 said:
Hey my block says 32 but I want to upgrade to a 37 mm cuz it's the only one he makes but it looks like I have plenty of room before it hits the back of my guitar plenty of room do you think it'll still work I think it'll work but let me know
Click to expand...

You should be ok going from 32 to 37 most likely. Going to a 42 might have the block sticking out a little too far which is not the end of the world if you leave the trem cover off.
 
I'd say stay with the 1000 unless/until you have issues. I have a Kramer with a 1000 that works great. No issues. I got a EVH Wolfgang standard that had a 1000 that was horrible. Would not hold tune and kept breaking stings at the block. Dropped a OFR on the EVH no problem. So much better, all issues disappeared on that guitar.
 
I heard the chinese and Indonesian evh wolfgangs have a floyd special with evh branded on them? Not sure if it's true but wouldn't surprise me
 
There's enough of a dimension difference that on my new build I needed a shim with the 1000, and when I put the German one in, I had to remove the shim
 
scottosan said:
There's enough of a dimension difference that on my new build I needed a shim with the 1000, and when I put the German one in, I had to remove the shim
Click to expand...
That's very interesting....the last 4 USA pro mods I've had(still have 2), I've swapped the 1000 for OFRs...3 vintage 80s and 1 newer production. Perfect swap, no adjustment needed at all.
Maybe the older 1000s, that came with the 08/09 USA Charvels were more identical to the OFRs than the 1000s made more recently? That's the only thing that could account for the differences?

If so, I have like 4 of those 1000s....time to sell them for BIG BUCKS lol.....
 
Racerxrated said:
That's very interesting....the last 4 USA pro mods I've had(still have 2), I've swapped the 1000 for OFRs...3 vintage 80s and 1 newer production. Perfect swap, no adjustment needed at all.
Maybe the older 1000s, that came with the 08/09 USA Charvels were more identical to the OFRs than the 1000s made more recently? That's the only thing that could account for the differences?

If so, I have like 4 of those 1000s....time to sell them for BIG BUCKS lol.....
Click to expand...
1635134317121.jpeg

See Psychodave's response on pg 1.
I guess it depends how anal you are for getting the bridge to be both level and perfectly resting on the body. I didn't have to remove the shim, but removing it allowed for it to rest perfectly on the body
 
Where did you shim? I have 2 Wolfgang’s and on one of them the Floyd base plate is level and down against the body. Floyd is dive only.

On the other, the Floyd I s tilted back. If I adjust springs to make the base plate on that one level with the body the Floyd is lightly floating with a bit of pull up. I’m sure u know WG’s should be dive only. I was thinking of adding a small piece of wood block inside the cavity to go against the Floyd block. Should level the base plate and keep it down only.
 
scottosan said:
View attachment 232231
See Psychodave's response on pg 1.
I guess it depends how anal you are for getting the bridge to be both level and perfectly resting on the body. I didn't have to remove the shim, but removing it allowed for it to rest perfectly on the body
Click to expand...
Mine are level; maybe tilted back a touch? But I'll have to see when I'm home from work later. Getting them to that point though, was simply a matter of spring adjustments...I'm betting they are up just a touch off the body. But they work flawlessly and always are in tune, no matter what I do with the bridge.
 
Racerxrated said:
Mine are level; maybe tilted back a touch? But I'll have to see when I'm home from work later. Getting them to that point though, was simply a matter of spring adjustments...I'm betting they are up just a touch off the body. But they work flawlessly and always are in tune, no matter what I do with the bridge.
Click to expand...
This is where I ended up
PXL_20230803_032600534.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top