I would like to build a Stratocaster with Floys Rose just like Dave Murray's guitar. I know Fender already has a Dave Murray's signature guitar but it doesn't has FR.

I'm starting from a Standard Stratocaster (Mexico) so I would like to know which Floyd Rose to use and where to get it. Does this job require to make a wood work of will FR fits instead of tremolo?

Does anybody has a picture of a similar guitar?

Welcome.

To make a Floyd truly function correctly in a Strat cut for the vintage, the two point or the hybrid of both tremolos, there will be routing of the body and trimming of the pickguard involved along with possible doweling of the old tremolo mounting holes and definitely sinking of new posts/holes for the bridge where there can be NO margin for error in terms of up, down, left or right. Further, there will be skimming off and reshaping of the wood behind and underneath the nut as well, not to mention the possibility of drilling for and countersinking two holes through the back of the neck to mount the locking nut (depending on which model Floyd locking nut you choose) which I may add, is at the weakest point of a guitar's neck. Here too, there can be NO margins for error, up, down, left or right. And then there's the consideration of not impinging on the truss rod, the rod's nut and the functionality of the rod itself as the string compression bar (that rod between the nut and the machine heads) is surely going to get in the way too.

It should be noted too that the woods in a MIM tend to be softer than that of an American made model which can cause the posts and or/the sockets of a Floyd to continually press forward on the wood they are in, thus enlarging and distorting these holes to an elliptical shape, oftentimes breaking through to the bridge pickup's rout hole. This in itself should be evaluated prior to committing to such an extreme modification. Oftentimes, custom cut, thick metal plates are butted up and screwed into this portion of the bridge pickup's rout wall in an effort to prevent or to initiate the salvage process. And then, there's the consideration of this plate now preventing the pickup from fitting into its rout.

Obviously, this is a major project and unless you are skilled in each and every facet of what it takes to accomplish this task or really don't care about the guitar you intend on doing this to, the chances for disaster are high at each and every turn. Consequently, if you have any qualms concerning any or all of the above, this kind of modification is best left to an experienced professional. YMMV.

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You dig?

Fender already has a Fender Standard Stratocaster with a floyd rose. Here is the link
http://www.fender.com/products/search.p ... 1144700332[url][/url]

But the last time I've checked it routed for HSH or pool routing.

Martian (as always) is correct.

I too wanted Dave Murray's strat, but demanded a Floyd as well.

I could have bought Dave's Fender signature strat - but would have spent so much money modifying the guitar to what I wanted, it just didn't make any sense - as it would have cost me more than just to build one from scratch.

There are four options open to you:

1. Take an exsisting strat and modify it to specs, per your original question.

2. You can buy a Dave Murray Fender body and neck from a source like Ebay, and again modify it to spec.

3. You can order a custom body and neck made to whatever spec you desire with a Floyd Rose trem (and locking nut) in mind from the beginning from someplace like Warmoth.

4. You can try and track down a MIJ Dave Murray Fender strat that does come with an OFR, but comes with (humbucking) single-coils vs. the H-S-H setup via Fender's copy of the Kossoff strat that is Dave's current signature-series strat.

ORCRiST

I dont want to cause any heated discussion, but I think a grim picture is being painted here about the topic. To shed a little light on the matter, I haved owned so far two Floyd Rose Strats, both mexican- one standard FR and one Squire Series Std FR. One made from poplar (93) one alder (08 ).

As far as the weak part of the neck is concerned, I have neither had issues personally that would cause alarm about this. Body wood- they are made of the same wood species that american strats are made from and thus they are the same strength. I have never seen a metal plate/post hole of any kind bolstering strength in the bridge area- I never came across any cracking in that area too and have never had anything obstructing any pickups either in the way they should sit.

To be honest and what im trying to say- Ive never had any issues with a FR strat what so ever. You can (and should) take a strat to an experienced luthier to have it installed. The bridge assembly comes with instructions on how to do this- but one thing I will add is that you donot do it yourself without prior experience. Floyds are a nightmare to set intonation, truss rod adjustment is also a mood adjustment while doing so. 'Bel a bro, leave it to a pro' I say . Even if you buy a mim strat with a floyd, get it set-up properly. I have strong opinions of major stores 'slap strings on it- throw it on the wall' type of set-up which is just rude. I did a part apprenticship in a violin shop where that kind of attitude to instrument set-up will cause the head luthier to make you wish you were never born. I feel the same respect should be treated even with electric guitars.

Or if I was you- and if your like me, you could just buy a FR std strat- you would be 90% there

Bob's your uncle

Hex screws holding the nut in place- this area is just prior to the neck thickness getting slimmer as it goes into the headstock.



The area where the tension bar sits theoretically should be the weakest part of the neck, as this is where the string tension vs. lack of wood thickness is at its most. This is held by two small screws. However, this is no different to having two string retainers screwed in, and due to the cut and the species of the neck, is a fairly rigid area anyway. Once the nut clamps are locked in, you can actually de-tension the strings by completely de-tuning the guitar if you felt so compelled, and the strings will actually still hold tune! I have tried this, yet I dont recommend this though as its not good to have a sudden change of tension exerting on your neck when you unclap the nut:


The bridge- this DOES mean that your pickguard will need to be modiified. The bridge is held by two posts that are secured quite deeply in the body, and due to the bridge itself having more mass, the body sounds more resonant acousticly than my other guitars. My first strat which had thew FR II installed and a poplar body with pool routes, made it the loudest unplugged strat I have ever owned!

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I was not saying all my negatives on the subject were bound to happen. Rather, they are real concerns which each must be considered, especially if one isn't well versed in installing a Floyd into certain models of a guitar.



Having been a NYC tech for I guess like 40 years now, I can assure you this is a very real and far from isolated problem where the better cuts of the same species of wood are reserved for the American models.

We surely do agree though that a pro installation and setup is the only way to go!

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You dig?

Fair call mate- I bet you shudder everytime you get someone coming to you with one saying, "I think this needs an intonation adjustment" Ive read books on how to do it, but its too much of a rigmorole to comprehend.

Its best if OP just buys a strat with one installed, or just get a charvel san dimas

One question, about the FR strat- Ive just thought of this. Are the body route pattterns in anyway different to a standard or american standard with the exception of the bridge cavity? i.e is there a little 'extra wood' to compensate?

I think once im done moving house, Im going to look into it and compare with my other strats

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Notice my 'signature'. Including what you've stated, f I had a dollar for every time I heard that line and saw the multiple heinous aftermaths of said 'friends', I'd be filthy, slovenly rich!

Just like what has been bandied about here for years about buying a MIM Strat and then "upgrading" it to that of a MIA, the same holds true. After everything is said and done, if said MIM owner finds there are so many (alleged) deficiencies with his/her MIM, after all the time and money spent on the so-called "upgrade", (s)he should have outright bought the MIA. Yea, I know, the whole tinkering aspect but why choose a more than decent guitar to experiment cold-cocked on?

The body rout patterns are different for a Floyd vs. any of the standard routs in the sense that they are wider and deeper all around and this also includes the area where the wang bar sits in. Oftentimes, the spring shelf must be deepened and/or the corner where the springs meet the block as well.

Reinforcing your point about the Charvels, etc, back in the '80s, Granted, Mr. Rose had an ingenious idea where it caught on like wild fire but at what cost to so many fine instruments? I can't tell you how many pristine Strats I was tasked to install Floyds in. I never liked doing it because to me, a Strat is like a sacred animal in a way. It is what it is and perfection should be left alone, right down to having no tone pot for the bridge pickup, let alone dumping a full sized humbucker in it. I also knew that just like the '70s fad of brass nuts, brass bridge saddles, etc, this Floyd hysteria shall too pass and although there are minor resurgences every now and again, it is indeed, fading out. See, for a while there, everything was about speed, dive bombing, etc, you know, but these do not stand the test of time as players are now discovering what we in the '60s and '70s always knew: Each and every note is an expression and should be considered individually and as part of the whole passage rather than merely striving to be the fastest player on the planet one who can blast through multiple mutated scales, ending with some kind of wang bar acrobatics. Where's the soul in this? But I digress and of course, this is merely IMO where YMMV.

To my way of thinking, any of the above alterations makes a Strat a different guitar. In other words, it USED to be a Strat yet nevermore. In spite of what I may think of it all, one learns in this industry that unless asked, one keeps one's opinions to themselves as I'm sure CV and others will be the first to tell you that by balking at a customer's desired modification, any modification at all where the owner is hell bent on having it done, you are not going to talk him or her out of it. Rather, you will lose the job due to lack of owner confidence in you where surely someone else will ultimately do it and there's money you've just lost and at least by you doing it, not only do you get the money but at least you know the task was accomplished correctly.

Sorry for the rant but I just can't help myself sometimes.

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You dig?

Martian, some of your material on this thread is solid gold. Worth the price of entrance all by itself.

I've never even owned much less fitted a Floyd Rose. Now I'm going to admit a terrible thing. Everything you've said makes me want to run off and do one right now, just to try it for myself.

Especially the bit about fitting a thick metal plate to the trem position to re-enforce it - that whetted my appetite all on its own!

Sorry, not what you intended. Naturally, I shall bring it to you to fix when it all goes horribly wrong...

Now, seriously. Good stuff, Martian and Blertles.

Cheers - C

Thank you so much!!!

See, "At The Fender Site, you always get more for your money!"

Truth be told, I kind of had a feeling that you were going to take a stance on this whole issue somehow. With your skills, I guarantee you this shall be a relatively easy project for you. One tip: Paint wise, once you've refinished the rout for the Floyd, glue a strip of rubber or thick, compressed felt at the very back of the rout so that the Floyd string loading screws and the fine tuner semi-coils cannot grind into the painted wood surface.

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Thats an interesting point. The '93 squire FR had this fitted at the factory, which is a testament to the attention to detai I guessl. My '08 however has none. I allways wondered why. When I have the time Im going to have to dig around some boxes for padding foam or down to the plastics shop I go for some sponge foam to put in there.

Ceri- I think its a great idea. Doing a FR is a bit of an undertaking. I think setting intonation on a FR and bridge adjustment alone will probably instigate you see a therapist for the amount of fustration it could potentially cause

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Not sure if you'd be interested (or if I'm allowed to post links like this - if not, I apologise and feel free to remove it mods) but I found this on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/fender-richie-sam ... ccessories