Installing a Floyd Rose in a Standard Strat

[Sari Kennedy]

Hello my friends,
First time here on MIMF, was referred to by a friend of mine who swears on the inspiration and expertise he finds here. Now I find I am in need of some sound advice, being quite the beginner myself.
I just completely stripped down and re-finished my Standard Strat, and before I decided to solder the wiring back together and slap on the stock trem, I decided to upgrade to a Floyd Rose. What I did not realize, however, is there will be some routing involved to make it a true "floating tremolo", or I can just 'hard mount' it to the existing hole and forsake the dive bombs. I'd rather do it right the first time - I've spend a lot of time on this and I'm rather proud of it, however I have no idea what to rout, or where, etc. If there is anyone who can give me some detailed insight, you would find me very appreciative. I can also provide photos of the project so far, if needed. Also, I have searched this forum before I decided to post for help, and did not find much specific to my cause, so I do hope that this post isn't a redundant one.

[Mark Swanson]

Welcome to the MIMForum, Sari!
Have you looked at the Stewart-MacDonald website for any info? They have a lot of free information there. I believe they also sell a routing template that comes with full instructions- you should not try to route your body freehand.
See this link - http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Templ ... lates.html

[Nick Middleton]

As mentioned by Mark: Stew-Mac has templates and router-bits to help you cut the access you'll need to make it fit. I'd also recommend getting the Guitar Players Repair Guide. It's a must-have for any DIY person and it covers the exact conversion process you're doing. Also, the locking-nut installation, which I think you need to do to get the benefits of adding a Floyd Rose.

[Henrique Schneiter]

The bridge can be mounted using just the hole you already have, which will limit "up" action and the overall excursion of the bridge, but still allowing dive bombs and vibrato. It all depends on your string height, wich is determined by neck angle (usually 0º on strats) and neck height (neck pocket depth). Or you can route the traditional floyd bridge recess and have all freedom of motion.

Actually you can even mount the bridge "sitting" on the body surface, which will prevent "up" action and limit vibrato, but still allow dive bombs. You gain tuning stability and sustain (and tone) this way. I did it recently and I liked it a lot. The main difficulty is that the guitar must be built with the right bridge height, I mean, exactly right neck angle and neck pocket height, as you can barely adjust the height of the bridge (and string action) in this way.

One important thing to remember is that the floyd-rose bridge radius is fixed, usually 14". The neck radius on strats is usually much tighter, around 9,5". So you will need to change the neck radius if you want the guitar to be playable.

[Art Davila]

One important thing to remember is that the floyd-rose bridge radius is fixed, usually 14". The neck radius on strats is usually much tighter, around 9,5". So you will need to change the neck radius if you want the guitar to be playable.

So how is that generally done new neck pull fretys and re radius then re fret?
I never even considered that as I don't use trems,
but if I want to do work for those who do I want to do it right.

[Henrique Schneiter]

As far as I know, yes.

[eMGee]

You can buy sets of saddle shims for the Floyd Rose to change the radius.

[Art Davila]

Oh good to know. Much easier to do that, and more so if the owner likes his neck the way it is.