New Floyd Rose Trem for my Hot Rod Strat.

Woohoo!!


I just scored myself a new Gotoh GE1996T Floyd Rose Trem for my Hot Rod Strat, I ordered it a fortnight ago and just picked it up from Sounds Of Music today, I also ordered a couple of Eagle Locking Nuts with it, I did a preliminary test fit of the bridge in the body routing and it seems to fit fine, even the new pivot posts fitted in the existing threaded bushings so I didn't have to take the existing ones out, I can use the new ones as spares if I need to at a later stage, the Locking Nut I've chosen to use needs some work to get it to fit though, but hopefully i will be able to get the Hot Rod Strat up and running again, here's a pic of the new Gotoh Floyd hardware, apparently these are supposed to be pretty good, even better than an original Floyd Rose, anyway:

Attachment 23710


These Gotoh Irem Units look like they would be a good fit for Pit Bull Guitars that feature a Floyd Rose style trem, like the SV-1.

Update:

Things didn't exactly go according to plan, I encountered an issue with the length of the Brass sustain-block on the Gotoh Floyd, the issue is that the sustain block is 40mm long and the body of my Hot Rod Strat is not thick enough to accommodate it easily with enough clearance between the sustain block and the cover plate for the trem-spring cavity, now I do happen to have a 34mm Brass sustain-block, But, it doesn't fit the Gotoh Floyd, so what I'm going to try doing is try fitting the chrome string-saddles from the Gotoh Floyd on the Schaller Lockmeister because the Schaller Lockmeister works with the new pivot pins.


Update 2:

The good news is that the string-saddles from the Gotoh Floyd do indeed fit the Schaller Lockmeister bridge, so that's gotten me out of that little bit of trouble, all I need to do now is get the new locking nut installed on the neck and then I can put new strings on the Hot Rod strat and give it a good setup and tune-up.


Update 3:

The HotRod strat is up and running and she's rockin, just needs a proper setup so she plays optimally, I've managed to set the action at the 17th fret as per Fender's specs for American Standard Strats, so far so good, just needs the string-intonation adjusted cause it's a bit sharp at the 12th fret, all in all, I'm pretty happy with the results so far, I won't put the three string clamps for the locking nut on till I'm happy with the setup, I'll also need to adjust pickup heights too.

Update 4:


I've just discovered a major issue with the body of my Hot Rod Strat, basically the body-routing for the Floyd Rose bridge has been positioned too close to the bridge pickup, this means I have to move each string-saddle back in order to get each string's intonation at the 12th fret accurately set, but even if I move the low E-String saddle as far back as it can go, the 12th fret intonation is still sharp, so, I may need to order a new body for the Hot Rod strat or scrap the body and neck altogether and start again from scratch.

In addition to that, I just found out that one of the string-saddle locking blocks of one of the original string-saddles on the Schaller Lockmeister bridge cracked and broke in half, so it's no good anymore.


Update 5:

Sorry, I'm going to have to scrap the whole Hot rod Strat project.

Oh Snot. Can you plug and re position the anchors to move it back or would you need to rout the block cavity bigger as well?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FrankenWashie

Oh Snot. Can you plug and re position the anchors to move it back or would you need to rout the block cavity bigger as well?

---

I thought about that, but there's not enough wood left and there's a crack in the wood where the pivot post for the high e-string side of the bridge is, so it's not going to be strong enough, I'll have to start completely from scratch again.


And I agree, oh snot indeed.


Here's a pic of the crack in the wood next to the pivot post, I tried to get the camera to focus on it but this is the best I could do, hopefully you can see it clearly enough:

Attachment 23724


Maybe if I buy a complete Pitbull STF-1 kit I could use it to start again from scratch.

I'm also going to need to order some new Locking-Nut mounting screws since the only two good ones I had, have ended up with stripped threads and are no-good anymore.

I can see what you mean, that’s a deal breaker right there. A cheap Strat kit may be your only option

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FrankenWashie

I can see what you mean, that’s a deal breaker right there. A cheap Strat kit may be your only option

---

I agree, as far as I can see, I reckon my only option is to order a new Pitbull Guitars STF-1 kit next year and go through the whole process again from scratch.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DrNomis_44

I agree, as far as I can see, I reckon my only option is to order a new Pitbull Guitars STF-1 kit next year and go through the whole process again from scratch.

---

might need more than one kit / type to ensure the new bridge is happy ?
keep up the good work and merry xmas Doc

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Guvna19

might need more than one kit / type to ensure the new bridge is happy ?
keep up the good work and merry xmas Doc

---

Cheers mate, merry xmas to you too, the Brass sustain-block on the Gotoh Floyd bridge is 40mm, the one on the Schaller Floyd bridge is 34mm, unfortunately the mounting-screw holes in it don't line up with the ones on the Gotoh Floyd, that's what you get when manufacturers don't standardize things, parts that are supposedly interchangeable, seldom are.

A new kit from PBG is probably your best bet Doc. StewMac are doing 10% off their ‘63 Strat body at the moment but that’s still $175.14 plus shipping.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FrankenWashie

A new kit from PBG is probably your best bet Doc. StewMac are doing 10% off their ‘63 Strat body at the moment but that’s still $175.14 plus shipping.

---

Funnily enough, I just got some emails from Stewmac that was advertising some un-finished guitar bodies and necks that they had in stock, I may consider buying a Mighty Mite Strat neck and 60's Golden age Strat Body next year some time, but I'll definitely buy an STF-1 kit for sure, it'll be a good excuse to see what they're like in practice cause the STF-1 kit is actually based on the Hot Rod Strat, or at least inspired by it.


I saw some nice Charvel San Dimas Bodies and necks on the Stratosphere going for some reasonable prices, would be cool to build a Charvel San Dimas Super Strat.

Here's an example of what they look like, I reckon a Pitbull Guitars kit that is similar to these would be cool:

https://riffsofwisdom.wordpress.com/...hh-snow-white/


I seem to gravitate to 80's style Superstrats, I would probably blame that on me growing up in the 80's and seeing a lot of guitars like that in my guitar magazines, and wishing I could afford them...lol.

Doc, four words......new Ash Strat kit :eek:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Andy40

Doc, four words......new Ash Strat kit :eek:

---

Yep, my thoughts exactly, but I'm sorely tempted to get one of those new Swamp Ash (I'm assuming it is Swamp Ash) Strat/Tele kits that Adam just showed us in the new kits section, they look really nice.


They're actually the American Ash body kits, the body of my Fender USA Strat is apparently made from Alder and the neck is all Maple.

Update:

As a way of confirming my serious suspicions of where the Floyd Rose bridge-routing was placed on the body of my Hot Rod Strat, I got out my tape-measure, set it to 25.5 Inches (it measures in both mm and inches) as per Fender Scale-length, and placed the tape measure on my Hot Rod Strat with the zero lined-up at the end of the fretboard, you can see in the pic where the 25.5 inch mark ends up over the bridge route, it definitely looks like the bridge route is a bit too close to the bridge pickup, I'm guessing it should have been positioned an extra 5-10mm away from the bridge pickup:

Attachment 23972


As a comparison, I did the same check with my Fender USA Strat, since it uses the exact same scale-length as my Hot Rod Strat, as far as I know the intonation on the Fender Strat is set accurately:

Attachment 23973


Notice where the 25.5 inch mark ends up in relation to the string-saddles on the Fender strat's bridge.

I wouldn't worry too much about it, Doc. According to the StewMac fret calculator, an original FR should have the post centres at 25", a FR II and Schaller Floyd Rose at 24.937". So your posts look to be very slightly too far back, rather than too far forwards!

The important thing is where the saddles end up, and they are positioned further back on a FR compared to a standard Strat trem plate in order to provide a larger arc of travel when the trem is operated, allowing for a greater pitch change range. The saddles will end up in the right position for a 25.5" scale length.

Also, if you look at the distance the pickup is from the bridge, the trem end of the humbucker is about 62cm from the nut, whilst the middle of the trem end of the Strat pickup is also 62cm from the edge. So the average Strat pickup position edge is the same as the humbucker. In fact, as the humbucker coils are thicker, the screw pole pieces are slightly nearer the neck than the trem-side rail of the USA Strat.

I really don't think there's anything to worry about. Any differences are down to the different trem designs.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Simon Barden

I wouldn't worry too much about it, Doc. According to the StewMac fret calculator, an original FR should have the poet centres at 25", a FR II and Schaller Floyd Rose at 24.937". So your posts look to be very slightly too far back, rather than too far forwards!

The important thing is where the saddles end up, and they are positioned further back on a FR compared to a standard Strat trem plate in order to provide a larger arc of travel when the trem is operated, allowing for a greater pitch change range. The saddles will end up in the right position for a 25.5" scale length.

Also, if you look at the distance the pickup is from the bridge, the trem end of the humbucker is about 62cm from the nut, whilst the middle of the trem end of the Strat pickup is also 62cm from the edge. So the average Strat pickup position edge is the same as the humbucker. In fact, as the humbucker coils are thicker, the screw pole pieces are slightly nearer the neck than the trem-side rail of the USA Strat.

I really don't think there's anything to worry about. Any differences are down to the different trem designs.

---

Hmmmm....that's interesting, when I tried installing the Schaller Lockmeister bridge (it's same like an original Floyd Rose, or supposed to be), and when I try to set each string's 12th fret intonation there doesn't appear to be enough range to move the low E-String saddle back enough to lengthen the string, the Gotoh Floyd Rose bridge seems to have more adjustment range, but when I try installing the Gotoh Floyd Rose bridge, I run into a couple of issues, firstly the brass sustain block is too long to provide enough clearance for the trem spring rout cover, secondly the bridge routing doesn't have enough clearance for the string clamp screws, I tried fitting a shorter sustain block to the Gotoh Floyd but that didn't work because the mounting screw holes on the shorter sustain block weren't in the correct positions, I think I may need to shorten the Gotoh Floyd's sustain block by at least 5mm in order to fix the problem, the Gotoh's sustain block is 40mm and the shorter sustain block I tried was about 34mm.


I guess I could try ordering one of the Floyd Rose bridges that Pitbull Guitars sell and see if that works better.


So, for the time-being it looks like I'm a bit stymied with the Hot Rod Strat, I need to order some new locking nut mounting screws from Realtone Music anyway, since the only two good ones I had have threads on them that are a bit chewed up and stripped.


So, I'm going to leave the Hot Rod Strat for now till I can come up with a solution to get it back in a playable condition again.

FYI Gotoh do variants of that trem with 36mm and 33mm high trem blocks. CE1996T(36) and GE1996T933) respectively. https://g-gotoh.com/international/product/ge1996t.html
But that won't help if you've still got routing issues.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Simon Barden

FYI Gotoh do variants of that trem with 36mm and 33mm high trem blocks. CE1996T(36) and GE1996T933) respectively. https://g-gotoh.com/international/product/ge1996t.html
But that won't help if you've still got routing issues.

---

Just out of curiosity I decided to check the bridge positioning on my Gibson USA LP Studio guitar, I know that it uses the standard Gibson 24.75 Inch scale length so I got out my tape measure and set it up so that it was locked on 24.75 Inches, interestingly my tape measure seems to show that the bridge is positioned a bit too close to the bridge pickup, I'll post a pic shortly.

Here we go:

Attachment 24094



Before taking the pic, I adjusted the position of each of the string saddles so that the 24.75Inch mark on my tape measure lined up with the top of the saddle, the guitar is going to be getting some new bridge hardware, tuners, and a new nut fitted soon anyway.


Does that look like the bridge is a bit too close to the bridge pickup, or is it pretty much normal?

What's the nut to 12th fret distance? I'd never trust a flexible tape measure for accurate readings as the metal end is always out by a bit. If you haven't got a long metal rule, then try measuring again but start from say the 10" mark (so you are looking at 34.75" in total) as I find it's a lot easier to just add 10 to all the dimensions rather than any other integer.

But measure to the 12th fret. Gibson have changed their scale length and although it's been close to 24.75", a lot of the time it's been slightly different. Paul Reed Smith said that he took a ruler and measured a lot of old and new LPs and said it's 24 9/16", rather than 4 12/16" (which would bring the saddles further forward). Don't assume it is 24.75".

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Simon Barden

What's the nut to 12th fret distance? I'd never trust a flexible tape measure for accurate readings as the metal end is always out by a bit. If you haven't got a long metal rule, then try measuring again but start from say the 10" mark (so you are looking at 34.75" in total) as I find it's a lot easier to just add 10 to all the dimensions rather than any other integer.

But measure to the 12th fret. Gibson have changed their scale length and although it's been close to 24.75", a lot of the time it's been slightly different. Paul Reed Smith said that he took a ruler and measured a lot of old and new LPs and said it's 24 9/16", rather than 4 12/16" (which would bring the saddles further forward). Don't assume it is 24.75".

---

I tried measuring from the nut end of the fretboard to the 12th fret, and it measures 12 Inches and 9/32 inch, or going by metric (I used my steel ruler that measures in Inches and mm), 312mm.


Hmmmm.... I just tried checking the distance from the 12th fret to the bridge with a pencil mark on the steel ruler at 312mm and I think you're right, it looks like my tape measure was telling me porkie pies (lies).


I re-adjusted each string saddle so that it was roughly where the 312mm pencil mark on my steel ruler ended up when measuring from the middle of the 12th fret and here's a pic of the result:

Attachment 24111


Looks like I was wrong because my tape measure was lying to me....*note to self, do not rely on your tape measure being accurate, use your steel ruler in future*.


So going by that, it looks like there is nothing wrong with the positioning of the Nashville TOM bridge on my Gibson USA LP Studio guitar, well that's good to know, that's one less thing for me to worry about and I think that teaches me a valuable lesson, never assume that your tape measure is telling you the truth.

Looks like my tape measure is out by about 1/4 of an inch, or maybe at least 6.5mm or so.

I decided to try re-checking the Hot Rod Strat with the Gotoh Floyd loosely placed in the body rout with the new bridge posts in place, this time using my steel ruler, it looks like there's going to be about 2mm clearance for the string-locking saddle screws to adjust back, I never should have trusted my tape measure....*rolls eyes*.

Okay so there's really only one issue with the Gotoh Floyd Rose bridge, the 40mm brass sustain block is a bit too long, the body really needs to be about 10mm thicker to accommodate it to allow enough string-height adjustment for a low enough action without the sustain block hitting the plastic trem-spring cavity cover when doing pull-ups on the whammy bar, dive-bombs are okay though, I wonder if Realtone Music stock shorter sustain blocks for Gotoh Floyds, I'll have to go and see if they do.

There's another issue which has to do with the threaded mounting-screw holes in the new locking nut, they don't line up with the holes I drilled in the nut-shelf at the headstock end of the neck, I might need to buy a new neck for the Hot Rod Strat to sort it out.