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Post subject: New Floyd Rose day..
Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 5:11 pm
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Hello all, long time no post.

I have been suffering through the worst GAS for an inexpensive Floyd Rose equipped guitar to bolster the ever growing guitar family I have :?:

Then I see that Fender had the Black top series guitar, this is not good :shock: and sends my GAS into overdrive ....

I quickly Place adds in Kijiji, Craigslist list and started looking online for available music stores to visit :D but no one has one in stock for me to try :?

I give up :( set a $400 dollar budget grab the gf and head to the local L&M ready to pick up an Ibanez or Kramer anything to satisfy my worsening Floyd gas.

We get to L&M and I start going through the walls of guitars searching for a likely candidate, I'm on my third look at guitars hanging on the walls, I can feel my gf is starting to get antsy, wondering if I'm going to make a decision, the pressure mounts :evil:

I turn and see just the bottom of a black guitar, its got a Floyd but its messy finger prints everywhere , used, looks almost like its damaged :?: the hang tag reads used, but its head stock is covered by an expensive Gibson guitar that I have to carefully push and hold with one hand while removing the guitar with my other :?: , this revels a Fender head stock and one Black Top Stratocaster :D

Im excited :lol: and as I remove it from the wall I see an L&M salesperson, the first words I say to him are "this is a mess give me a deal" he looks and goes " no problem" walks away comes back, bang on budget :D

Took the guitar home, gave it a good clean and set up, all I can say is wow, it looks brand new, I can hang the strings off the guitar until they stick onto the pickup magnets and it returns in tune. My gas is cured :) for now :wink:

My new baby and her new relatives.
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Post subject: Re: New Floyd Rose day..
Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 7:57 pm
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Congrats skimhit, nice guitar! I have a Blacktop also, six-screw bridge but decked as I don't use whammy anyway.

Nothing like a FR for rock-solid tuning stability with whammy use. 8)

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Post subject: Re: New Floyd Rose day..
Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2012 12:03 pm
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Location: Mumbai, India
Two queries:
  1. Do positions 2 and 4 have a lower volume level than 1, 3 and 5? That's a common complaint, and had often thought of opting for an HSH variant instead. But this one has its humbuckers open, and not covered.
  2. Does it sustain a lot more than a Strat with a regular/vintage trem? That's what a Sweetwater engineer tells me.
There are no Blacktop Floyds here in my city to test, and so I have to ask users for feedback. If I can't find the Jackson DK2M that I want, I may opt for this, but I'll have to co-ordinate with the local dealer and national importer for this. Seems a nice value-for-money, two-guitars-in-one package.


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Post subject: Re: New Floyd Rose day..
Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2012 1:10 pm
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shimmilou wrote:
Congrats skimhit, nice guitar! I have a Blacktop also, six-screw bridge but decked as I don't use whammy anyway.

Nothing like a FR for rock-solid tuning stability with whammy use. 8)


Thanks shimmilou, yes you can do some outrageous dive bombs.
Cured my GAS attack for sure :D


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Post subject: Re: New Floyd Rose day..
Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2012 1:57 pm
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Arjun_M wrote:
Two queries:
  1. Do positions 2 and 4 have a lower volume level than 1, 3 and 5? That's a common complaint, and had often thought of opting for an HSH variant instead. But this one has its humbuckers open, and not covered.
  2. Does it sustain a lot more than a Strat with a regular/vintage trem? That's what a Sweetwater engineer tells me.
There are no Blacktop Floyds here in my city to test, and so I have to ask users for feedback. If I can't find the Jackson DK2M that I want, I may opt for this, but I'll have to co-ordinate with the local dealer and national importer for this. Seems a nice value-for-money, two-guitars-in-one package.



Hello Arjun M.

Position 2 appears to have a slightly lower volume but this is to be expected, its just like my Godin LG in the second position. Surprisingly i have barely any volume drop in position 4 :?: a lot less than my Godin.

Guitar is heavy as hell :shock: I will agree that it sustains better than my 09 American standard with a 2 point and my 04 Highway one 6 point :shock: must be all that metal weight

This guitar was bought used, its a 2011 and I can tell that someone worked on it as shims were installed under the locking nut at some point :?: is this usual ?

Hope this helps man, I've never owned a Floyd equipped guitar, just a Kahler :roll: but after some minor work this thing is rock stable, I'm having a blast with it :D

Oh :idea: and the L&M salesman sounded surprised that I couldn't find one, he checked Canada wide stock and said " only one and its in Vancouver" I had already paid and got my free strings so I smiled and ran for the car :arrow:


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Post subject: Re: New Floyd Rose day..
Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2012 11:24 pm
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Location: Mumbai, India
Thanks for the hints, skim! I've read my share of official reviews, but end user reviews are a lot clearer. Luckily, you've also got other guitars to compare.

I had a hunch that the coil-split volume drop on positions 2 and 4 wouldn't be as much of an issue as on the regular trem variant, as the humbuckers are open, and not covered. Maybe those complaints are from users who turn everything up on ten and play on overdrive? That's quite a useful note, so I'm more keen on the FR now. Saves plenty of cash, unless I want the 2 extra frets.

How does that Floyd feel? Some owners say it was sticky, some others said it's a nice substitute for the expensive OFR and unreliable LFRs out there. Since you got it used, you may have a clear idea of how it has aged. Was that what needed the minor work?

The pickups have divided owner opinion. A section of customers don't quite like them (and I'm not talking of Strat purists who want only SSS). A few others say these pickups don't need to be swapped, and are good enough to keep. What do you think of the pickups, particularly the neck HB?

I see you've got three guitars. It's not common to have more than one where I reside, but I'm thinking of one Fender and one Jackson Dinky/Soloist, with one being a Floyd-equipped and the other, a hardtail.


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Post subject: Re: New Floyd Rose day..
Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 8:12 pm
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Location: Magnolia, Texas (just north of Houston)
Congrats on the Blacktop. Looks nice.

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2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
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Post subject: Re: New Floyd Rose day..
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 9:13 am
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Arjun_M wrote:
Thanks for the hints, skim! I've read my share of official reviews, but end user reviews are a lot clearer. Luckily, you've also got other guitars to compare.

I had a hunch that the coil-split volume drop on positions 2 and 4 wouldn't be as much of an issue as on the regular trem variant, as the humbuckers are open, and not covered. Maybe those complaints are from users who turn everything up on ten and play on overdrive? That's quite a useful note, so I'm more keen on the FR now. Saves plenty of cash, unless I want the 2 extra frets.

How does that Floyd feel? Some owners say it was sticky, some others said it's a nice substitute for the expensive OFR and unreliable LFRs out there. Since you got it used, you may have a clear idea of how it has aged. Was that what needed the minor work?

The pickups have divided owner opinion. A section of customers don't quite like them (and I'm not talking of Strat purists who want only SSS). A few others say these pickups don't need to be swapped, and are good enough to keep. What do you think of the pickups, particularly the neck HB?

I see you've got three guitars. It's not common to have more than one where I reside, but I'm thinking of one Fender and one Jackson Dinky/Soloist, with one being a Floyd-equipped and the other, a hardtail.



Hi Arjun,
I like the pickups, they are hot for sure but its just what I wanted after being a single coil maple purist for a few years :lol: great for loud aggressive stuff but they clean up pretty well. Strangely i miss my 60 cycle hum :shock:

I actually own 8 guitars and do my own setups.

When I got it home I noticed that the bridge was not in line with the body and it wouldn't stay in tune at all, so I did what I usually do, change strings then a light coat of machine oil on all contact points and springs then i tightened the trem until level with the body and let it sit for a few hours put it on a tuner and checked stability, its excellent even though its a Floyd Special it has a good feel and you can do crazy dive bombs and it returns in tune. I'm on a roll as I managed to find an almost impossible to locate Orange amp to go with it yesterday.

Its been a great guitar week for me :D


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Post subject: Re: New Floyd Rose day..
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 9:14 am
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love it!! congrats!!

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Post subject: Re: New Floyd Rose day..
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 9:15 am
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rkreisher wrote:
Congrats on the Blacktop. Looks nice.



Thanks man its hard to put down, I like it a lot.


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Post subject: Re: New Floyd Rose day..
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 9:21 am
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Wild_Rose wrote:
love it!! congrats!!


Thank you :D and its Iron Maiden practice time for me now :wink:


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Post subject: Re: New Floyd Rose day..
Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 8:31 am
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Location: Mumbai, India
Iron Maiden...Judas Priest...Queensryche...classic metal...that makes me want to buy one even more. Now I'm seriously considering avoiding the DK2M (last batch from Japan) with its SD pickups (no splits) and licensed JT580LP for the Blacktop Strat with hot AlNiCos with splits and an authentic Floyd Special. I can, after all, save nearly $200 with this option.


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Post subject: Re: New Floyd Rose day..
Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 10:28 am
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Arjun_M wrote:
Iron Maiden...Judas Priest...Queensryche...classic metal...that makes me want to buy one even more. Now I'm seriously considering avoiding the DK2M (last batch from Japan) with its SD pickups (no splits) and licensed JT580LP for the Blacktop Strat with hot AlNiCos with splits and an authentic Floyd Special. I can, after all, save nearly $200 with this option.



We do love all things Fender :)

I was originally going with a Kramer Assault, it got decent reviews plus I had a good look at several other Floyd equipped guitars.

I got lucky and am very happy. I'm not a big fan of pointy head-stocks anyway 8) not that there's anything wrong with that :D


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Post subject: Re: New Floyd Rose day..
Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2012 11:32 am
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I know the weather isn't on your side, but I thought I'd just spill (or splash) this over.

It's been difficult where I am, to purchase a Blacktop Floyd Rose Stratocaster, simply because 'it doesn't sell' in the big box stores. I told the local best price dealer to order a piece for me, and to co-ordinate with the national distributor, but nearly a week has passed and there's been no communication from the distributor. I sent the dealer a mail with links to the HH-FR at different shops in the United States (he says he's got a tie-up with ProGuitarShop and GuitarCenter- the two sites that don't have it) and also the model number, and he said he'll follow it up with the distributor. I don't know how I can get one, since the local dealers don't stock this at all. Fender says this is a current product, and so do every online shop, but the GuitarCenter circle says it's been permanently discontinued. Do I take this up with Fender directly? I find I save loads of cash when I buy one of these, with new Mexican and Indonesian Jackson DK/SL models priced in USA territory.


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Post subject: Re: New Floyd Rose day..
Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 10:33 am
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Location: Magnolia, Texas (just north of Houston)
The worst case scenario would be order the Standard Floyd Rose and mod it to a HH if that is what you want. Then you could put in the Dimarzio PAF in the neck and Super Distortion in the bridge. That will give you that classic Metal tones you want too.

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2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
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1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
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