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[rabidgerry]

Hey RG, very nice  I like the coolur too ! I have a FR Schaler on my tel which is exactly like that one (much shorter bridge string allen bolts). Re the 009's, just go 010's and re adjust the bridge, the 010 - 46 will give you bigger notes, and work well with that scale length (25 1/2") and don't go out of tune as much when you belt them  . The other addition worth considering in a Hipshot tremsetter, had one in my Anderson for years, makes FR even better 

I don't understand a trem setter?  I cannot do upward bends on this strat anyways because there is no cut away for the base plate, however I do no understand what a trem setter is for really, does it not prevent upward bends?  The only thing I understand about it is it keeps it stable should a string bring right?

Really don't think that's enough for me to buy one.

I dunno bout 9's man, they sound great on this axe.  I think they are 9's because I am able to bend about 5 frets or something and it's really easy.  It also seems to bring out a lot more expressive vibrato.  I probably will stick 10's on there hahaha I haven't changed in 15 years.

[Dante]

Gerry -

I just bought a guitar recently that had 9s on it, and I felt like I could bend a hundred frets up....also, they kinda felt like thin rubber bands and lacked sustain. I'm sticking with the 10s

Sorry, i don't know enough about the tremsetter to enlighten you, I'm hoping Richard enlightens both of us at the same time 

[rabidgerry]

Gerry -

I just bought a guitar recently that had 9s on it, and I felt like I could bend a hundred frets up....also, they kinda felt like thin rubber bands and lacked sustain. I'm sticking with the 10s

Sorry, i don't know enough about the tremsetter to enlighten you, I'm hoping Richard enlightens both of us at the same time 

Hey Inferno (Dantes - see what I did there      )

I'm not making this up, but this guitar sustains um how do I put it........................really well!!  I can't believe that because it's a strat, has a shitty small sustain block, and aobviously a bolt on neck.  I held a note with no vibrato for at least a few seconds.

Just in case I was may be drunk I'm going to check that out again because I was really surprised.  Really surprised.  It wasn't super long everywhere, like the last two frets where pretty standard I thought, but I'll check result again.  Was playing last night.  The stock pup handles gain well (another surprise), the single coild need to have gain dialed down to smooth them out also with the trebel knob rolled down a bit.

I think I'm falling in love with that guitar.  The question is now, how far do I "roid it up"?

How can I tell if the trem is worth keeping?  Normally the only thing I know to test if a trem is steel or not is with a magnet.  Any ideas about this one?  Shit licensed bridges I have come across never have saddles that are steel so magnet will not stick, but I'm pretty sure a magnet stuck to the saddles on that FR II.  I think I will swap the pickups out, I have a cheapo brand I want to test out.  Anyone heard of these guy? http://www.caliguitar.com/pickup/guitar_pickups.htm

 I suspect if my research is correct, these may be Artec specially made for the brand in the states.  The quality build wise is second to none.  Sound wise I will just have to see.  I bought a model that only comes in black and I have recently been experimenting with air brushing to see if I can change the colour of the pickup bobbins to match the other single coils I bought (I want to keep the original colour scheme).  So far with some trial and error I have successfully air brushed the bobbins white in a fairly professional smooth and even paint finish.  I used acrylic enamle paint which will not affect tone since it contains no metal elements.  The paint is a little more "ice white" than the slightly warmer white plastic of the single coil pup covers but we will see how the match up.

[rnolan]

Ok the hipshot tremsetter (http://store.hipshotproducts.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=115), brings your floating bridge back to central/neutral, resists pull up when you bend (which detunes other strings), and also helps eliminate bridge flutter. It does add a little more pressure required to your whammy bar action, but not that much. It just makes your floating trem really reliable.
I've had one in my Anderson from when they first came out, works a treat (see photos).

I can go from full whamy down (strings falling off the board) and let it go, back to perfect pitch every time, these things work really well  Been using it for over 25 years! Highly recommend them for all floating whamys.

[rabidgerry]

Ok the hipshot tremsetter (http://store.hipshotproducts.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=115), brings your floating bridge back to central/neutral, resists pull up when you bend (which detunes other strings), and also helps eliminate bridge flutter. It does add a little more pressure required to your whammy bar action, but not that much. It just makes your floating trem really reliable.
I've had one in my Anderson from when they first came out, works a treat (see photos).

I can go from full whamy down (strings falling off the board) and let it go, back to perfect pitch every time, these things work really well  Been using it for over 25 years! Highly recommend them for all floating whamys.

I hope this doesn't sound really dumb Richard, but isn't the whole point of a floyd rose locking trem is that when you whammy it does come back and return to pitch?  Why would one want one of these then?  I see the point of this if I had no locks and just had the plain old two pivot bridge.

Are pull ups possible?  Like when you bend the floyd rose to give an upward string bend?

[rnolan]

Hey RG, I hear you, the FR floaters with locking bits were a big move forward from the traditional strats but they still have issues.  When you do a big bend, the other strings detune (tremsetter makes this much less a problem), when you belt it the bridge sometimes wants to flutter (tremsetter calms this down), when you do a huge up or down whammy, tremsetter brings you back to neutral (much much better than not having it  ). I've got an original FR on my Anderson, I put the tremsetter on when it first came out here in Oz, it improved my "in tune ness" amazingly. Seriously, I highly recommend the tremsetter !! The only down side is the whammy action is a little stiffer, but the being in tune is just so much better.... I've used it now for over 25 years, I don't recommend it lightly 

[MarshallJMP]

Well all my jacksons have floyd trems and i have only problems 2 or 3 days after i change my strings and then no problems at all.I can yank these ,make divebombs ,abuse them ,they always return to their pitch.

[DesmoBob]

When you do a big bend, the other strings detune

^^This. +1

I never had a problem with FRs returning to pitch. The problem is when doing a single bend while simultaneously sounding another stationary note on another string. The stationary note goes flat duing the bend.

I worked around the problem by blocking my FR (acutally Ibanez Edge I). Functionally it's like a fixed bridge that can dive b*mb. Tradeoff is I can't pull up, but I don't do that anyway.

[Dante]

My trems are all blocked too - so much easier to change strings, and I don't bend up anyways (truth: I do on my Kahler sometimes)

[MarshallJMP]

don't block mine,like i said no problems here.

[Systematic Chaos]

Same as MJMP.... I have 3 Ibanez LoPro EDGE, 1 EDGE Pro and 1 Gotoh GE1996....all floating and no probs at all.

[rabidgerry]

Same as MJMP and SC

I have never had an issue with Floyd Rose or Licensed Floyd Rose trems going out of tune when I dive b*mb or any other use for that matter.  Unless the locks are off at the nut of course.

The only trems to ever do this in my experience are trems that

A) either have the lock behind the nut  (like my westone dimension see pics) so behave like a vintage trem almost
B) A vintage or non locking trem

A floyd rose style bridge with a locking nut does not go out of tune if you dive b*mb it or pull up unless it's faulty, this is the whole point of locking at the bridge and the nut.

I have 9 (actually 10 cause I'm selling one) guitars with floyd rose (most of them licensed versions as well) and they return to pitch when I dive b*mb till the strings stick to the pickups and string bend to my hearts content.

The only guitar that has locks that behaves different is the westone because it has it's locks are behind the nut as opposed to being on the nut like FR loaded guitars.

I have seen fenders with locks behind the nut also.  This is a pretty silly idea because it will still behave like a vintage trem really and when I say that I mean:

it will go out of tune if you use the trem - unless you tune it after trem use then it will stay in tune with trem use but then go out of tune if you string bend to which you will need to use the trem to get it back in tune again. 

I spent many years trying to get vintage trems on a strat to stay in tune using both methods (string bends and trem use) and I never beat it.  Then I moved to FR locking trems, ISSUE RESOLVED 

The only time I need to tinker with tuning on locking systems is due to heat changes.  Ireland is cold and going from cold to hot f*cks with the tuning sometimes.  Actually sometimes this can happen just by playing a guitar and it heats up, the strings go flat (I'm talking minimal) because the metal expands slightly with the heat.  Still they are in tune together at least when this happens.

Well all my jacksons have floyd trems and i have only problems 2 or 3 days after i change my strings and then no problems at all.I can yank these ,make divebombs ,abuse them ,they always return to their pitch.

If I stretch my strings well this does not happen other wise I know what you mean.

[rnolan]

My strings stay in tune from the start, I give them a bit of a stretch before I lock them off at the nut. The tremsetter really helps allot when you bend one note while playing 2, which I do quite a bit, it greatly improves the stability of the bridge, I didn't have a return to pitch issue, as you guys say, the FR is very good for staying in tune. Also when I do bends I don't have to overbend as far.
Anyway, works well for me 

[rabidgerry]

It might be a good idea for my westone actually since it basically behaves like a vintage trem (outta tune after I bend the strings unless I hit the trem again to reset the tuning which works but is annoying as f*ck)

Here is what I mean in this link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0Oyc6slYRc

I basically discovered this myself  back in the day, but I can't f*cked with it anymore hence FR.  But I'd love to eliminate this behaviour on my westone.

[Systematic Chaos]

Might be another way to address that issue:
Swap the Nut (cheapo plastic, worn out by now) for a Graph Tech Tusq nut....
I put one on my *pimp-my-cheapo* Cort GL HSS Strat (which has a Wilkinson VS Trem, also floating) and that one stays in tune perfectly (although non-locking)....