Tremolo bridge or fixed bridge that is the question ?

When you bend on a FR-equipped guitar, the bridge moves under the increased tension meaning you have to bend a little bit more to get to the right pitch. That in itself isn't a problem, but it also lowers all the other strings too, so unison bends become a real pain. You have to bend the bending string as normal, but also bend the constant note a little too to keep it from going flat.

I don't know about the sustain, but it sounds a reasonable theory :)

Floyd-rose is better than a normal tremelo yes, because it will return to tune when you stop fiddling with the lever. If a normal tremelo does that, it's nothing more than luck :wink:

The floating bridge won't affect bending significantly. The real question is whether you'll need or use the tremolo bar. I rarely use one and had the bridge blocked on my Alvarez strat so that I could use it to play slide. I tend to prefer fixed bridge guitars because it's much easier to use alternate tunings. Changing tuning messes up the intonation on a guitar with a floating bridge. If you like to play around with open tunings, you'll be better off with a fixed bridge. If you need the tremolo bar, you'll want a floating bridge. I think those are probably the more pertinent questions. As I said, bending works easily enough on either type.

I have tremolo on my PRS Santana Se and I never use it. Just letting you know in case you want to go with a tremolo that this guitar is a good choice.

I have two Fenders. a strat and a tele. the strat has a trem. I have no problem with detuning. the trem bar gets some use. I like it. my strat is an early strat plus. it has locking tuners, a roller nut and an early FR trem.
because the bridge 'floats' all the strings detune slightly when I bend a note. I like that.
bending notes are no prob. sustain isnt an issue.
with the hardtail tele I can bend a note and the other strings donot detune. I think part of the classic tele twang comes from the fixed ferrous bridge.

if you think you may want to divebomb or surf then get a trem.

I have a floating bridge on my guitar (tremelo bridge that swivels both ways) and I wish I would have bought a guitar with a fixed bridge.

In addition to all the things previously mentioned, it is also harder to stay in tune with a tremelo bridge (unless you have locking tuners).

I have a floating bridge on my guitar (tremelo bridge that swivels both ways) and I wish I would have bought a guitar with a fixed bridge.

In addition to all the things previously mentioned, it is also harder to stay in tune with a tremelo bridge (unless you have locking tuners).
You can chock it up - my second guitar had a FR type which I hated, so I just glued together a pile of 2p coins, lifted it as far as it would go and glued them into the gap. Rock solid now, might as well be a fixed bridge.

Even if it's not an FR type, it's still possible (although not as neat). My first had the most ridiculous trem ever invented (a non-FR-type so badly designed that there was no way in hell it would ever stay in tune if you used it - even wholetone bends would put enough pressure on it to move it and detune the other strings) which couldn't be chocked due to the design... so I took it off and had a friend with a welder zap the joint so it couldn't move :mrgreen:

Floyd-rose is better than a normal tremelo yes, because it will return to tune when you stop fiddling with the lever. If a normal tremelo does that, it's nothing more than luck :wink:

G&L puts excellent floating trems on its better guitars. They are well engineered and produced -- no luck involved, they stay in tune during use, even without locking nuts. This is one of reasons my 20-y.o. S-500 is my favorite electric.

The biggest downside to a floating trem is not bending, not loss of sustain (guitars with trems sometimes actually sound more live anyway) -- it's trem gargle. Unless you put a lot of springs to make the dynamic trem force very high (hard to push/pull), all floaters will suffer trem gargle. Wanna hear it? Fret a note, grab a string, pull it and release. You will hear a waver in the note that is the pitch changing as the trem assembly oscillates (bounces up and down) until it restabilizes. It can be used as an effect, but is generally undesirable. The only way to fix this completely is to put a damper on the trem assembly -- imagine a tiny auto shock absorber). I don't think any manufacturer actually does this. Too $$$, and no demand.

The G&L Two point trem is one of the most stable systems I've ever played. Even better than my Strat I've modded with a Knife edge bridge, graphite saddles, and roller string trees.

I was exaggerating the general rule of thumb with tongue firmly in cheek :wink:

*edit*

I've just noticed too, nobody's mentioned that it takes much longer to change and retune strings with a Floyd-Rose. Probably not a big deal, but worth mentioning.

The GAS attack resulted in a new black Yamaha RGX320FZ with fixed bridge.
http://www.yamaha.ca/content/guitar/products/electricguitars/RGX320FZ/keyfeatures.jsp #
http://www.yamahamusic.com.au/products/musicalinstruments/guitars/electric/solid/rgx.asp

Tested a lots of dual Humbucker Strat body guitars ( mostly Ibanez up to the 1000 USD class ) and this one was the guitar I liked best.
The sound of humbuckers on this guitar is much better than the humbucker on the old (no name) guitar.
And the output is much higher. I had to reduce guitar level knob to half too avoid overdriving the input of the V-Amp. With old the guitar I could use full level.

And the neck Humbucker on clean settings is very jazzy.

Good choice on the fixed bridge. I'm sure we all want to see some pictures of your guitar.

Btw, it was me that was the someone mentioned in the beginning of the thread. I'm sure there are tremolos that don't affect the guitar perfomance. But often cheap Floyd Rose-copies are of such poor quality that it's better to go without.

You will get less sustain with a Floyd Rose, and also lose some tone. I read a interview with Van Halen, and he said the exact same thing. I don't know if this applies to vintage trems (stratocasters). Think about it, the strings vibrations will go into the trem that that absorbs the vibrations and the note will die quicker, or am I wrong here?

The worst part is if you have to do a setup on a floyd rose-equipped guitar. Seting the intonation is a nightmare and I'm speaking from own experience :P .

Still, it makes it possible to play Randy Rhoads solos, so I like it sometimes, but sometimes I hate it.

I have a MIM strat and I can't use the trem without it going out of tune. I decided not to use it at all. What's the best way to setup the bridge so that it is most stable? I put four springs on it and tightened the screws underneath so that the bridge is almost completely flat against the guitar body. Has anyone else tried this? Anyone have a better idea?

I was exaggerating the general rule of thumb with tongue firmly in cheek :wink:

Well you know how sarcasm and the internet get along ...

I added a note about trem gargle above. That's really the only thing I have against floating trems.

Ooh the flame maple/alder in the second link is so pretty. I think that will be a requirement for my next guitar. :wink: