Great video, and can you show us how to do it on other types of guitars

Just a tip to anyone installing a FR or even working on one. Block the trem so it is flat and tighten the springs super tight so the string tension doesn't lift it at all. String and tune the guitar, then remove whatever you used to hold the trem level (I use a thin metal ruler) , at this point you adjust (loosten) the springs until it is back in tune and viola!!! you are laying perfectly flat and in tune!!

I had a real deal German Floyd Rose installed on a Squier Strat that I really like. The install wasn't cheap and now I know why. That guy did it right. This was painful to watch.

Really glad this got posted. I learned a couple new things while doing this. - The drill bit for the Floyd stud mounts should be 25/64". That is big enough to gently hammer the stud in whithout any extra drilling. Be warned though that you won't be able to get the stud mounts back out so be sure you're done everything else you need to do before you hammer it in. (How DID you get those stud mounts back out?) - If you screw up your initial stud mount drilling somehow, you can get plugs that fit. I got 3/8" "hardwood screwhole plug flat head" plugs from Home Depot and they fit the 25/64" inch holes perfectly, although I'd add wood glue to be sure. You could also use one to plug a stud hole if you want to protect the hole while painting. Once again it's snug so you'd need to drill a hole and put a screw in it so you can grab on something to pull it back out. - One last big one. Since I didn't want to hammer/wedge the stud mounts into the body without being able to test the accuracy of the drill holes, I wrapped the studs in masking tape (starting at the top of the thread) until I was able to fit the stud into the holes without the stud mounts in place. That way I was able to double check the accuracy of my measurements without commiting to a step I could not reverse.

Pro tip: when installing the nut, go ahead and completely string up the guitar (loosely) with the nut UNBOLTED, then LOOSEN THE NECK SCREWS and let the strings find the dead center. Drill and screw the nut when the strings are perfectly aligned.

I've been working on guitars for 30 years and I really find some of your ideas to be brilliantly intuitive. I love your philosophy

Whenever screwing into a drilled hole, add a tiny bit of soap to the screw thread tips. Not liquid soap, bar soap. Or wax will do. Trust me, you will be suprised how much easier it is the tighten the screws

Hello Dan and all, I just got a genuine Floyd Rose Original to replace the Jackson Licensed Floyd in my JS32. Just out of curiosity, I dropped the FRO into a Strat I've been modifying. I found that the intonation screw holes line up perfectly, with a bit of play, with the 6 screw holes for the vintage style tremolo that was originally on the guitar. Measuring the scale length to the saddles on the FRO does in fact coincide with the 25 3/4 inches you mention early on in the video. This makes me happy and I look forward to adding a Floyd Rose to my Strat. Cheers to you all.

You can actually order the correct locking nut for a strat from FR thet won't overlap, they have a nut width guide on the web page that will tell you the correct nut you need based on width and string spacing i.e. R4, R2, R3, and so on. Just for future reference if anyone wants a nut that will fit correctly. Cool video though. It's also helpful to know the radius of the fingerboard as well before ordering so you can match that some are designed for 10 -16" radii.

Thanks to you, Crimsom, Texas Toast and the GGBO I have just built my first kit guitar. I did a KZfaq search for putting a Floyd in a strat and lo and behold your video popped up! Thanks dude!

Really want to thank you for this video. Because of the level of detail, I am confident in installing a FR trem in my Memphis Strat. It will be here next week!

Thanks, bro~ Your nut installing really succeeded in preventing me from cutting my strat. Really saved a fine guitar.

Had a strat with a Floyd Rose and hated it. Now have strat deluxe .Love it.

Now I want to see the video of you installing the humbucker after you "reinforced" that area....

Im doing this on a really cheap strat and so far it's gone well. I don't get the hate, he's used the wrong nut because that's what he had to hand and wanted to show everyone how to do it. Thanks for the vid Dan, it's all worked out for me so far.

This will be my second Floyd rose install!!! This guy is AWESOME… either a dremil or Router is a must have!!! Or a chisel

Thanks for doing this, Dan. I’ve watched your videos for years but haven’t watched this because I never had a guitar with a Floyd. Now I have an EVH Wolfgang Standard and am looking to upgrade the Floyd Special to a Gotoh 1996 or Floyd Rose 1000 trem.

A point of advice...use a template for floyd routes. I hate setting up templates too but it makes everything much more uniform lol

I've only been wondering about this very thing for over 10 years! Terrific tutorial. I'm all in. Thank you so much.

This is the best guide on Internet! Thanks a lot!

I got a knock-off Floyd to put on my strat and had the same height issue. I had a Speed-loader handy and YES it sits flush on a strat. Good thing I have it. I just started replacing worn Floys with Guitarfetish Speed-loaders.

i have to say, this video lost all cred when he said the nut was too wide, showed where the Truss rod was sanded into, and then showed the gap between the wrong locking nut and the fretboard. Anyone who watches this video needs to know they make locking nuts from R1 to R10 and maybe more. measure and order accordingly. Not all KZfaq videos are helpful. Guns and Guitars still makes good videos, this isn't one of them.

There should be a floyd nut available that matches the nut width on that guitar. They are made in various widths

thank you SOOO much. I am actually putting a Flod Rose on a Stratocaster right now, and your video has been super helpful thank you!😃😀

Thanks for the video. You mentioned the tuning of the strings pulling the bridge forward, it's supposed to. It's about a balance between the springs and the adjustments of the tremolo. I would never deface a strat with the damn floyd. I've had several floyd guitars in my life and know it's a love - hate relationship. But, 4 thumbs up for the creativity and ingenuity you possess and it's a good job.

Excellent video my man! Will be attempting my first go at this with an Ibanez tomorrow, which will be easier to route like you said in the video. You explained every detail really well that this video helped me understand everything that needs to be done. I'm a carpenter but this looked like calculus in the beginning then 30+ mins later it seems like I've already done it before. Thanks a lot for taking the time to make this for everyone and myself to learn!

your videos are doing the guitar world a great service

Thank you for the tutorial, I recently did the slammer by hammer strat style guitar (my dad has owned it before I was living) and at some point he fixed it up for me and now it is mine. I bought a golden Floyd rose knockoff on Amazon for about 22 dollars and the neck was a bit sketchy but we got it done

Thank you, this video was just the boost I needed to go for it! I did the metal and wood glue as suggested. Once the glue dried I added a layer of jb weld steel stik epoxy putty. Tbh I kind of wish I would’ve layered just the epoxy over top of the straps instead. I cant recommend that stuff enough, it dries and bonds extremely hard and fast and can be shaped with a Dremel “agreed, the best tool ever”..Thanks again!

Why not simply buy the Correct Size Locking Not??

It is strange. I have no desire to build my own guitars... And yet, I am here watching every video you put out. You are like the Bob Ross of guitar making.

Could use a tiny bit of bees wax or candle wax seating those bushings. Also works for the screw-in Floyd posts (OFR.) Prevents tearing the wood and allows a snug fit.

I've done this more times than I can count I do use a router on the nut but I do wood work for a living, I also found once I get a top-mounted screw FR nut where I want it,I will pull it back off and a couple dabs of epoxy so it doesn't move I'm pretty violent on my trim

Another trick to reinforce the wood in the post area is to flood the end grain wood with water-thin super glue. Once it hardens in the wood, it's very very solid.

There are several other things to cobsider to have good intonation, like adding shrims of wood under the tremolo, so the base sits perfectly flat to the body when the guitar is in tune...then you just screw the two bolts on the springs claw, until the shrims gets loose.

the FR you used i believe is the Edge model most common on Ibanez guitars. The FR design like the one you used on your previous build is closer to the original design, and that one (as well as the original design) can sit flush with the guitar body just by removing some parts of the FR: the spring plate and the spacer. All my floyd equipped guitar are dive only, and ive done this to every one of them. The baseplate will make direct contact with the body. Removing the spring plate doesn't affect tuning at all. The purpose of the spring plate is to hold up the saddles when you dive bomb, but there's enough string tension that the saddles wont totally flop when you divebomb. You dont have to remove the spring plate, it's not really that thick that if you put the trem flush with the body the majority of the baseplate will be making contact with the body because the backend of the spring plate will be countersunk inside the trem cavity hole. My method of centering the nut and trem, is by finding the center line of the fretboard, once you have that center line, i measure much like you did to position the nut. As for the trem, i run the centerline onto the body all the way to where the trem would sit, i then use the middle "slot" between the D and G string saddles as my guide to center the trem. Easy peasy. Also, i found that 25" from the back end of the nut to the front edge of the baseplate will give you the correct spot to rest the trem, because the front end of the saddle (where the string contact with the saddle ends) would then be 1/2" behind the front edge if you have the saddle at its farthest peg .

I've been waiting for this tutorial for ages....Thanks a lot Dan!

This guitar will end up in a meme about hack jobs on a guitar repair page. It looks like something i would've done in middle school because i had no tools or money or experience or ear training or options or sense.

That floyd rose is a copy of the ibanez's Lo Pro Edge which is located on Steve Vai's JEM which is also used by expensive ibanez premium guitars and is known for its stability and is much nicer for the right hand because it is low profile. That overlord of music is the best low budget copy of double locking trem. The best part is that you can remove those knife edges and make your own from high quality hardened steel (even better than original floyd knifes) and insert them back in tremolo and it will work perfectly. Do not forget that Schaller doing the same thing (die-cast pot metal) body and steel knife inserts. The great advantage of this system is that the knives can be replaced when they lose their sharpness and tuning stability problem starts. My advice to you is to put some lube on knife edges and post (lip balm works great) and tremolo must sit on perfect angle (sides of knife edges must be parallel to guitar body) look at the photo i.imgur.com/D5LkxA0.jpg

A flying V build next? Personally I really love watching these

Just happened across your channel when looking to see if it was possible to install a Floyd Rose floating trem system onto a Schecter C1 that has a fixed bridge. Yours is the only video I can find, but the irony is two of my greatest passions is guitars and guns. Which then begs the question, how many guitar lovers are also gun lovers?

Great video as always, Dan! I'm playing around with upgrades to my old Squier Strat, so looking forward to the full affinity build.

Have you ever heard of a Mag Lock? Its a product from Super Vee tremlos that allows you to do pedal steel bends with a Flyod and keeps your bottom string in perfect tune as you do it. Awesome video btw 👍👍

I have a Steinberger knock off kit and the part where you set up the nut was a great help as the kit isn't all that great at that end of the (headless) neck. Thanks for the dremel idea to clean that up, this will be fun.

I think a Standard fender would use an R2 Nut-42mm. Most packaged FR systems would come with an R3-43MM. That's an easy fix after the fact. The mounting holes are the same on the R2 and the R3. Great Video Dan, as they all are.

Should rename How NOT to Install Floyd Rose...

The whole procedure is completely wrong!!! This guy have no clue all about this!

great tutorial, followed each step on my american special using a cheap chinese floyd rose and it all works perfectly....dont know what all the negative comments were all about

That was cool. I may have missed it if you mentioned it, but the problem I have with a Floyd Rose tremelo and locking nut is that they both have a 14 inch radius. Maybe they are also available in a 12" string radius. Most Strats have a 9-1/2" fretboard radius. The old vintage ones have a 7-1/4" radius. Just something to consider. If the string radius doesn't match on all three points, it just ain't right. It's okay, but it's not ideal.

How about highly recommending the right size nut

What I'm hearing here is: the less you spend on a Floyd Rose, the more trouble you're going to have installing it. Seems like it would be worth it to just spend more on an actual Floyd and not have to route so much. Js😉

I've installed a few of these. I did one on my first squire-caster and again on a fretlight. And even one on a knock off Les Paul with a carved top. I had two MAJOR advantages though. First... One of my buddies actually builds custom guitars and helped me with the measuring and scale. And. Even more helpful than him was the CNC router I built before I ever had a guitar. Makes all the routes perfect every time! And yes...if you're gonna do this. You should at the very least...buy a licensed Floyd Rose but I'm here to tell you. Spend the extra $100 on an original Floyd will always give you the best results.

The headstock angle can help with string angle past the nut, but I've owned two guitars with angled headstocks and floyd roses and both still had the retainer bar because it still need a more extreme string angle through the nut.

I'm living with Floyd Rose guitars for twelve years. And what I could say, typically, this type of bridge isn't meant to be dive-only by design. It was invented to be floating two-direction bridge. Yes, this could be done for original system (just go look official website) but many copies of it could not be so forgiving. Also, good FR-like bridge doesn't mess with tuning at all. So, in my opinion, either you want two-direction action and use Floyd Rose style or one-direction and instead of double-locking system use roller saddles/nut and locking tuning machines - all for tuning stability. All other options could be pain in the ass.

Thank you, very helpful ! Doing upgrade with grandson & no instructions came with kit so you were a life saver ! :)

Ah, the long-awaited Floyd video! Excellent.

I have a 2 point trem that I was installing on a partscaster. When drilling for the posts, one of the walls by the control cavity blew out, so I’m trying out the metal reinforcement/wood glue after the fact to see if I can patch it enough for it to still work 🤞

Everyone knows the pickguard holds the guitar together and gives it strength.

Man that was just amazing, and I was about to exchange my strat bridge to floyd rose bridge, it helps a lot! Thanks for this video👍👍

I have the same one..from amazom...after i realized what it takes to install..i was proud to say what i learned..

I usually enjoy your videos, but this is BRUTAL. STOP already. the nut is the wrong width !!! Video should be over until proper parts are available!!

The „Tuning things“ are all uneaven cause theyre attached to the saddles. So if you intonate your guitar the „tuning things“ will move with the saddle position.

Me with $3 on my pocket, a Chinese strat and absolutely zero knowledge of how guitars work on a structural level: WOOOW INTERESTING!

Guns AND Guitars??? Fantastic! Count me in. And this is great - I'm about to do this on an unfinished body.

I would really like to see you do a Gibson SG build.

Would still love to see you do a Flying V build Dan! I'm gonna be building one soon and I'd love to see the master do one first. Also I'd love to get your opinion on the stetsbar floating tremolo. Seems like an easier alternative to a floyd with the same results.

Great video Dan! I've done a couple of my guitars in the past, exactly as you have done. I'm sold on Floyd roses anyway!

oh no, way man you need to rout the backrout for a full float! I was entertained

You should do DIY pickups!

Sick vid, Dan! Are there any plans to do a wiring tutorial that you did for the strat? or a diagram we could find?

Very informative. I would have moved the pickup cavity. This method looks really good. Awesome.

Great Video! I was looking to do the same build. Unfortunately or maybe fortunately, you just inspired me to buy an Ibanez!

FINALLY!!!

As a well versed guitar repairer and builder I watched this video and cringed my way through it. It's called an 'instrument' for a reason, you need to be accurate in its build and set up, 'eyeballing' routs and avoiding using any form of straight edge compromises the instrument. I honestly encourage you to redo this video again and show people how to work accurately to get a good result. While this guitar will 'play' the methods you used are really poor and don't teach people how to install a FRT correctly. Please, 1) Buy the correct fitting locking nut, 2) measure everything twice 3) make a template and use it for all your points of drilling and cutting it's less clean up, more accurate and a better finish in one go.

This is the most American channel I've ever seen.

Second time watching through this and I just realized why the recess was necessary for this one and probably why it was fiddlier than the previous one. And it's simple: this Floyd is a low-profile one. The fine tuner system is separate from the lock bolt and sits below the plate in the low-pro, whereas the original has the fine tuner act directly on the lock bolt and it all sits above the plate. Original style therefore doesn't need a recess, though it may need a shim.

Don't like the non-recessed method of Floyd installation, that's crazy. I dislike recessed Floyds, and after watching this hatchet job on this Floyd cavity, my opinion only gets stronger. Installing the wrong nut? Not to mention, it sure looks like the bottom of the locking nut plate will be resting on that truss rod nut. Good luck adjusting that truss rod. I like a lot of your videos, but this one was hard to watch.

Looks like a gap between nut and fingerboard. Intonation will be off.

OH MY STARS....... Dude...... you saved me my guy.... I'm working on an alexi laiho knock off guitar and you saved me. Thank you so much my guy. I owe you an axe... I mean it. Or a gun... LOL

Great video. Discussions about 8ths, 16ths and 32nds of an inch is exactly why the metric system is so much simpler haha

Great video Dan, really informative. Quick question have you ever considered doing anything with a Fernandes sustainer kit? It is a cool mod so would make for a good video.

Cool I'm doing this to my 1967 Stratocaster

i got a silvertone stratocaster that had a floyd rose tremolo bridge but no locking nut a hack i found for carving the wood down is when you get close to put sanding paper on the bottom of the nut itself and use it to sand it down

Love the videos, keep them coming! If you use a real Floyd Rose, you can flush mount it with no problems.

I'm not ragging on you, because I'm no luthier, but it amazes me when people who are "guitar people", to the point of having their own channel on YT with how-to's etc for guitar, don't seem to understand or even know half of what they're talking about. Yes, there were some great tips in this: marking out, measuring, reinforcing etc. But your understanding of that bridge, how it works, or what it's parts even are, is atrocious. Especially for someone that's already done a FR style bridge retrofit before. The whole cavity routing was terrible (and I'm not talking skill and fit'n'finish - I'm talking the back end cavity "step" is awful, as you simply don't seem to understand what or how the bridge works and what space under it is needed (or why it's needed)

My husband used these plans from woodprix and he's very satisfied.

Great video! The only bummer was I was hoping you'd totally finish the guitar with all of the wiring...etc... I learned a lot from this video just the same. :)

Also, this tremolo is a copy of the edge pro tremolo, which has smaller bolts and lower microtuners (the original floyd has longer bolts, which are in contact of the micro-tuners, therefore you dont need to router a lot, because they are way above the body line)

You don't do anything right and you should not be advising anyone on how to do this job. Astonished that this video has so many likes against so few dislikes and anyone that says this is good work does not know what they are talking about...

This is about as fascinating as watching “Hee-Haw” reruns. WTF ?!

I took my guitar to rockin robins guitars in houston to do this and they completely ruined it. If youtube was around then i couldve done it myself. Now the woods cracked and bridge crooked. I bought a router and drill press and am going to fix it thanks to your video. Its a bc rich warlock platnium series

i watched this video realising i didnt have a strat OR a floyd rose... worth it

this is a great tutorial on how to screw up a perfectly good guitar.

Jesus christ is coming repent choose him today he loves you

Found this page at work where I'm supposed to be building guns, but theres no parts so I'm sitting around planning my at home projects, one of which is potentially gonna be a strat with a floyd rose

I've got a real strange japan fender with a Kahler, floyd rose-like trem, from the factory. Fender sure did strange things in the late 80s

Should read, How to Butcher a guitar in every way possible! SMFH

I installed a Floyd once....once! LOL. What a pain in the butt that was. Good job, Dan.

The previous owner of my Richie Sambora Mexican Strat actually cut a lion crown for the floyd, and I must say it improved the guitar by a lot! It'll be a dealbreaker for me if he didn't

Great video. I wish I could have seen this before building my strat kit, even though it didn’t have a Floyd, just the info on setting the bridge to the neck makes it a valuable video. Thanks for the great information.