To many players out there, a floating bridge is equivalent to the Floyd Rose locking unit as it allows one to raise & lower the played notes. The fallacy here is that a floating bridge need not be a Floyd Rose model & the Floyd Rose bridge itself comes in a version which doesn't 'float' (ala Van Halen's).
A floating bridge is common reference for a bridge unit which allows the whammy action to lower & raise notes as previously mentioned. The pic above shows my Fender Highway 1 bridge which is neither a Floyd Rose unit nor a locking variant; it's Fender's traditional Strat bridge. I've set it up to such an extent it rests in an overhanging position, not levelled against the body surface. This way, I can lower the notes & raise them as the need arises. This is how a non-Floyd Rose bridge floats, just as preferred by Stevie Ray Vaughan in his belated 'Number 1' Strat.
So the term 'floating' refers to how the bridge rests to allow a dual-whammy application, regardless if it's a Floyd Rose unit or otherwise.
13 comments:
hi sub..
if we categorized guitars into three: low-end, mid-end and high-end guitars, what is the price range of the mid-end guitars? i'm looking to buy one..
hi ash :-)
this is very subjective because the various tiers are determined by the manufacturer quite independent of the price bracket- it's what works for them & not something pegged by other manufacturers in general.
however, a safe assessment of this situation would be the $1k price bracket. we observe the guitars in this price range are often refinements of its basic, lower tier counterparts in terms of the electronics on board & the construction/ finishing methods in whole.
if you can specify a certain model/ brand name then maybe i can help you assess this situation better :-)
thanks sub..
i'm quite fond of the brand esp/ltd and jackson.. ibanez is fine too..
i prefer guitar which have humbucker pickups and suitable for playing heavy metal without the needs to change pickups...
for the money, i feel LTD's upper end models are equipped with the right pickups to appeal. in this same price range, if we consider Ibanez guitars for instance, the guitar per se might be very appealing but the pickups are at best, average in performance. this is why i always swap them out :-)
Ohh, so that's why you always swap your pickups on your Ibanez guitar! I never try the guitar myself but I always wonder why you went through the hassle changing your pickups after less than 3 months with your Ibanez... but where do you put your stock pickups then? I never see your ads on pickups in Soft, do you just keep them?
So in the price range of the mid-end guitars, I could get a high-end LTD, is that correct?
he he... i just want my guitars to churn out what i want to hear, not what the manufacturer want s me to hear- a rather defiant stand & costly as well :-)
i always keep the default pickups, would sell them off for cheap if interested parties promt me for sale.
the LTDs/ Ibanez in this price range are of equivalent standing actually, it's what the manufacturers equip in their instruments that give the extra appeal. take Peavey for instance, even in their high end range, they still equip their products with their own brand of speakers, not other well known brand names.
thanks sub for your help.. i understand better now.. hehee:)
Thanks for the questions, and the answers :) i benefitted from this fruitful conversation~ hehehe...
hey sub, once ur bridge is floating on ur strat, it means u have to tune all the strings together right? ala the floyd rose style bridges...
i don't quite get you there- i don't tune my strings individually... when i restring this Strat, i will attach all strings first then leave them slackened then tune :-)
as in when in full floating mode does tuning one string make the other strings go out of tune?
yes, sir! that does happen, as per other floating bridge- that's the job of the fine tuners in the bridge mechanism such as the Floyd Rose model.
ah ic...thanks alot sub!! :)
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