Poeman, the difference is that on a floyd system the string goes from nut to bridgesaddle. the machineheads dont come into the equation once the guitar is tuned and locked down. Even then you constantly rely on the knife edges and posts of the bridge to be in decent condition. They can deteriorate fast.
On a traditional bridge setup, even with locking tuners. The string catches on the nut, saddle, and string tree. You need the back pressure of a balanced floating trem to help eliminate that. Locking machines were never designed to replace the locking nut. They are more along the lines of 'super fast string changes, without the endless windings'. Its the lack of windings that improves tuning stability.
The tremsetter sorts all the problems of bend one string and the others go flat, and it makes sure the guitars bridge returns back to its set point too.

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No no and no

Didn't mean to hijack your forum question there...sorry about that...

The Wilkinson comes in different styles, so there is not one answer. You can get it in the six screw Vintage style. In that case, it would not be setup floating. It would be setup just like a standard Fender Vintage. They way Fender suggests is to have about a 1/16 to 1/8 gap at the back when tuned to pitch. Many of the great guitarists set a Vintage style up flush however. Pull ups are a no-no on a vintage.

If it is the two screw variety, like a modern Fender setup, then you set it up floating. You would set it up parallel to the body.

They also make a Floyd Rose style. This would be setup floating as well. Parallel to the body. These two styles would give me my headache of having the open strings go out of pitch when I bend notes. My Strat is just too nice as it is and I don't want to alter it in any way. I have other guitars I can tinker with.

[quote="poeman"][quote="69smokey69"]Pull ups are a no-no on a vintage.


It's just that movement which I believe the Jeff Beck Signature Stratocaster's trem was designed to do, in comparison with the other Strats.

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"Another day in paradise!"

I can't say that I've heard that before.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

From the Callaham website:

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It's a mix between Jazz and Funk, it's called "Junk"

I guess I have proven that I can live with the pitch problems.

I've over 30 years of floating and pulling up!

When I do double stops, I'm usually bending them anyway, so I'm able to correct the pitch without even knowing I'm doing it. I never realized I had pitch problems!!!

Maybe I ought to turn down the Marshalls and listen to what I'm playing.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

That....or turn up your 'Belltones'

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"Another day in paradise!"

I've done both for years too...I just prefer not having to adjust. And I do think it sounds different floating vs flush. A subtle difference, but it's there. And whatever you do, don't turn down your Marshalls!

I don't ever do that. So I don't have your problem.

But I do like to hit a high harmonic and then use the bar to raise the pitch!

Everybody's got to figure out what they like in their Strat trem set up.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

can anyone shed a little light on the tonal differances that they have found with the floyd flat mounted to the body?...mine currently floats and the tinnyness is a little irritating I'm hoping some of you can share some insight on this.

If it has a floating trem I say let it float as it was made to do. Just set it up right and there no problem. There are guitars with hardtails.

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

I'm considering switching the trem block this could be where to start?

I've never had a problem with my vintage bridges floating either, aside from it going all wonky when a string breaks, but then I've never broken a string at a gig, so it doesn't really matter.

But close inspection on David Gilmour's strat's show his are floating as did Jeff Beck's older strats with the vintage trem. Same with Blackmore's. With proper set up it's totally achievable.

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The mind is like a parachute; it doesn't work unless its open-FZ

I'm a non-floater. Like Big O says try both ways to see what floats or not floats your boat.

i had a '94 Strat Plus - similar to the JBEck model in that it had an LSR roller nut , plus the PLus had a tremsetter installed by default

it did really well (floating or flush) - the only Strat i have ever seen actually hold up under up to moderate vibrato use

with my current 3 guitars which all have the vintage bridge setup (bone nuts) , i don't even bother to use the vibrato bar at all becuase they just don't stay in tune - it's kinda ok floating , if you pull back up it will sometimes snap back into tune - so i have 5 springs in each of the 3 guitars with a flush bridge <no whammy action at all, the arm isn't even in place>

sometimes i miss whamming around but overall it's cool

if i really wanted back vibrato action again, i'd go with a floyd setup - something you can take all over with no worries, but i'm not into that style of playing anymore so it's cool

btw - setting the bridge flush did NOT affect the sound of my 3 Strat's (one of them has always been flush, the EJ, but the other two which are CS '56 adn '54 models wer floating and I set them up flush - no loss / change in tone as some folks notice, maybe it's just a picky thing to notice ...)

i do think going to a hard tail like the Cray would have an impact on the overall tone, but never tried one, never had the chance, i'd like to check one out