Floyd Rose tremolos tend to be polarizing with guitarists. It’s a love/hate thing, and I’ve gone back and forth on these myself. I spent almost a decade depending on them and then another decade avoiding them like the plague. Now I’m at the point where I can appreciate them for what they are, and the company is doing some really cool things that makes me like them even better.
I’ve really been enjoying the NFT bridge on my latest Warmoth. It’s a nice contrast to my other guitars and it works incredibly well and sounds great too. Initially the only change I made was adding a large brass block to it. That’s one of the things that’s so cool about Floyds is how easily customizable they are. There is a substantial selection of blocks, saddle inserts, arms, springs, etc. Really any part of the bridge and accompanying hardware can be upgraded or altered. This is high value as not only do preferences vary quite a bit between players, but also different guitars have different needs. There’s an entire section of their website just for upgrades and parts that can be found here.
NFT Floyds come with the “old-style screw-in” tremolo arm. In all honesty they’re pretty decent. When the collar is properly adjusted there’s no play in the bar, and getting the right level to tension is pretty easy to achieve. I also really liked that angle of the bar. There were two major issues that left it lacking. Removing the bar requires a little wrench to loosen the hold the collar steady so the bar can unscrew. This is obviously an annoying step that no other system requires. The second issue I had, which was a lot worse, is that the collar nut under the plate would come loose periodically. When this happens, there’s basically no tension on the bar, tons of play, and it’s useless until you tighten it back up. …and the nut isn’t really easy to get to.
Most of my guitars have Gotoh hardware. The 510 tremolos are worth every penny and one of my favorite things about these is how the tremolo arm attaches w/o extra play in the arm. It’s basically a simple push-in bar and there’s a small hex screw that can set the tension of the bar. I can’t stress enough how well this works. It’s crazy easy to remove the bar, plus you get the desired amount of tension w/o play in the bar. It’s basically perfect!
When I saw that Floyd was offering a similar push-in style bar for $20, it was a no-brainer to try.
So after using this for four months, I will never go back to the screw-in arm. While I prefer how the older arm has a lower profile to the body and the bend in the arm, that’s easy to overlook for the following benefits. The new arm doesn’t have extra play, crazy easy to install/remove, and the nut behind the collar is not problematic at all. This is now one of my favorite bridges and I’m really glad I have one. The tone is great and so is the feel.
How did you manage to get the knurled part of the shaft through the hole in the baseplate? I’ve bought one of these for my 80s Floyd and that knurled section is so tight it will not go through the hole to sit flush
With mine, I was able to start pushing it in place by hand. The picture in the post w/ it sticking out was approximately as far as I could get it in. Then I used the nut and a wrench to fully tighten it. Be 100% sure you have it lined up properly because it’s not easily reversible. It might be possible to hammer it back out if you have to, but you would risk damaging the bridge and I certainly wouldn’t recommend it. Tightening the nut was not super easy and at the end I was worried about breaking it. There is still a tiny gap on mine. It’s not really noticeable unless you’re looking for it. Here’s a close up: https://photos.app.goo.gl/rGHutEd1nFpf4xdy5
I had forgotten how difficult this was; thanks for reminding me so I could leave this here. Can you report back w/ how it went and maybe a picture? Good luck, I hope it works out. The upgrade is worth it.
Thanks for your reply.
I emailed Floyd Rose customer support and they told me that it’s supposed to be a tight fit and will take a little force to seat properly, so I lightly tapped it in with a hammer in the end. It now sits in with a very small gap just like yours.
Awesome! I’m glad it worked, and I think the hammer was a good idea. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. Cheers!
I’m getting ready to do this mod. If the fit seems as tight as you experienced, I’ll file the hole just big enough so that it still takes some force to install, but also to have it sit flush.
I didn’t get a great picture of close I got mine, but it isn’t 100% flush. I have a tiny gap that I can fit a sheet of paper in between the collar and base plate. Honestly though it’s close enough to “look right” and you really have to look for the gap to notice it. Be aware that once you push it in, it’s probably not going to come back out. Good luck, and let me know how it goes filing it out some. Cheers,
I just installed one of these on my EVH Wolfgang, “Special” trem base-plate. The toothed portion of the collar just happened to fit perfectly! I added a split lock washer above the securing nut. I don’t know if that’s for better or for worse, yet. The bar does seem a bit higher than my older Schaller bar, but I think I can just cut about a quarter inch off and put it back in.
Sweet! I’m glad it’s working for you. I’m never going back to the old collar style bars!