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July / August 2004
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by Trent Salter
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MH: Floyd, Tell us how you first got your start in this business? FR: I don't remember. (Pauses for laughter) I started in
this business in 1977 when I started making improvements to my Stratocaster
tremolo, because everybody wanted to play like Jimmy Hendrix and
Ritchie Blackmore. He was the guy I tried to emulate. Anybody who
wanted to play that style of music had the same problems that I
had with trying to keep the guitar in tune. So in a nutshell I just
decided I was going to try to do something about it. That is when
I came up with the first version, which was "The Nut".
The very first prototype I made on my lapidary equipment where I
made Indian jewelry specifically. I was in New Mexico and Reno and
used to make Indian turquoise jewelry and inlays and stuff like
that. Anyway that is where I made the first prototype and that is
how I got started. FR: Well, like I said the first prototype was a locking
nut and I made it on the lapidary equipment, and tested it. It worked
right away, but not 100%. Obviously if the string slides over the
nut, it also has the same sliding issue over the bridge saddles
although not as much. Then the knife-edges are an important part
of keeping the guitar in tune when it is a floating tremolo. FR: The first endorser was Randy Hansen, who did a Hendrix
tribute. I ran sound for him right during this period when I was
in between bands. He did the first one, and then Eddie Van Halen
actually had the third one. I didn't get an official endorsement
from Eddie until Kramer, but he and Randy both mentioned the tremolo
when they did interviews for Guitar Magazine. They talked about
how it stayed perfectly tuned. Then the magazine would give my address.
They didn't give my phone number but somehow people got it and I
started getting calls all the time. FR: They functionally are the same, because they use the
same patented invention, but some are better than others as far
as the hardening of the metals. It is very important that the metals
are hard enough to withstand the clamping pressures, and especially
the knife-edges have to last for years. To do that it has to be
hardened to a very specific hardness and tolerance. If you use the
wrong metals you can't achieve the hardness, if you use the right
metals, but don't harden it correctly it'll just give out. The bridge
will slowly change tuning. If you push down on it and let it go,
it won't come all the way back, or if you pull up on it, it won't
go all the way back. That's almost 100% due the knife-edges being
sharpened, or hardened improperly. FR: Well I just wanted to fix all the things wrong with my guitars. I wanted to work on the neck design until I got what I thought was the ideal neck. With my Strat I didn¹t use tone controls. The tone controls on a strat are not connected to the bridge pickup, which is the only pickup I felt the need for a tone control, so I eliminated the tone control. It was actually hooked up to the wrong pickups anyway, so I eliminated those and it just made the guitar come alive. There were so many little things that were wrong with guitars that I played. I just tried to improve on what was out there.
FR: Obviously the tremolo is really what is revolutionary
about them. The rest of the guitar is basically my idea of how a
guitar should be made. It's only revolutionary in the fact that
it plays better than almost any guitar on the market. I think better
than any guitar on the market, but I am a little biased. This version
is similar in shape to a Stratocaster, but that is the only similarity.
We offer six matched sets of humbuckers, and two matched sets of
single coils. We are about to introduce a third matched set of single
coils. There is no one good sound ya know. We are about to introduce
our 24 3/4 inch scale guitar. It is more in the genre of the Les
Paul, but it doesn't look anything like it. It has that big phat
Les Paul sound, only better. It is more ergonomically correct. It
is still balanced. You can let go of it and it won't fly up and
hit you in the face. FR: I started to develop the strings in 1991, which was
the hardest part. What I really tried to do was figure out a way
to put the strings on without clamps, or wrenches. It took a long
time to come up with a way and machinery. I had to design a machine
that could place strings that would repeat within 1/2000th of an
inch in length from one string to the next. They all have their
own individual links, and the bridge they were designed for was
called a convergent tuning bridge. When you adjust the tuning of
the string, the pitch and intonation actually change simultaneously.
When it arrives to the right pitch it actually arrives simultaneously
at the right intonation as well. You can still change the intonation
for your finger pressure. Then every time you change strings or
tune, it tunes the intonation automatically. The speedloader part
of it is that you can snap on the strings, and change a whole set
of strings in about a minute. I was really surprised with manufacturers,
when I told them what was wrong with their licensed versions, they
still didn't fix it. So this time with the new speedloader bridges,
we will not license them. I'm gonna be the only manufacturer to
make them. We are just about to introduce our low-end version of
our guitars, a Ping Well bridge that is being made in Taiwan under
my control; so all the speedloader bridges will be my standards
for quality. Even the lower end versions. When people buy a Speedloader
Bridge they will know they have the real thing. FR: We offer six models right now, and are about to offer
a seventh. The two differences are there is a binding on the topside
of one version. There are three models of those, 4, 5 and model
K, which is a Korina body. Model 1, 2, and 3 are all non-bound versions,
you can get any of them with a maple fretboard, or a rosewood fretboard.
There are also two different pickguard styles, one is a traditional
look, and then one we call the flyguard, which is completely different
from anything you've seen. Go to our website at www.floydrose.com
and you can see them. FR: Well the mission for me is just to provide guitars that
play better and sound better. Obviously when it comes to playability,
there are really specific things that if not done correctly on a
guitar, the guitar won't play as well. So that is very subjective,
depending on what you like and the size of your hands, but we've
had almost 100% agreement that this is one of the best if not the
best neck people have ever played. As far as the sound of the guitar
there is no one good sound, in fact even when I record I'll use
five or six different sounds, to blend together the tracks. That
is why we offer so many varieties of pickups. What we do is make
sure the pickups are matched for the forward pickup, the neck pickup
and the bridge pickup. That is a critical thing that most people
do not spend enough time matching that so you get good sounds in
any position. FR: If the shape is not something particularly high on your priority list, these guitars can really appeal to everybody. It is not really genre specific. Again that is the other reason we have two different pick guards, to make it look a little different, and all the different pickup configurations so that anybody in any genre of music can find one of our guitars that sounded right for his thing. As far as looks, we are coming out with a Flying V with a 24-fret access, called a V-24. One we are calling right now a J-5, which is like the size of a Les Paul doesn't really look like a Les Paul but it is the single cutaway. It has 22 frets, you can access all the way up like a neck-thru, even though it is a set neck. It has bound fret boards, and ebony single boards. Plus you get it with a tremolo, where as a Les Paul you can't get with a tremolo, but this one you can. MH: Tell us a bit about your current shop, and any specialty manufacturing techniques or equipment you feel are unique to your guitars? FR: Well the main thing that is unique to our guitars is
the way we manufacture the necks, we use a five axis CNC. Mostly
that is done for repeatability so the necks turn out the same. You
can do that with a regular CNC. Mostly it is for efficiency, and
for our purposes. The machinery is really not the key, it's the
design. FR: We are doing so well for having a guitar out that has only been out for not even six months yet. We have a large dealer base already. I think it's built mostly to how a guitar plays and sounds. Obviously the speedloader is a whole brand new way to string your guitar, which is the easiest it will ever be done. I really think that people recognize that and are picking these up right away. We have received quite a few endorsements, if you go to www.floydrose.com, we are posting photos of the bands that are using them, and quotes from them. We are getting a lot of press starting in Europe first and are about to start our advertising in the US. Floyd Rose Guitars |
This
months "Builder Profile" feature is on a gentleman who
is no stranger to revolutionizing the performance of the guitar.
Floyd Rose, who introduced an entire generation of guitar players
to the world of dive bombs, pull-ups, and other cool whammy effects
with the Floyd Rose line of locking tremolos is now unveiling the
Floyd Rose line of guitars that promises to be as equally innovative.
Floyd was kind enough to talk shop with Musicians Hotline and discuss
the company's new guitar line. 
MH:
In 1977 you introduced the locking tremolo that literally revolutionized
the guitar industry. How did you develop this product, and can you
recall the first prototype?
MH:
Many companies now offer an imitation aftermarket locking trem,
licensed by Floyd Rose. How do these trem's differ from the original?
MH:
There are currently two models available, tell us about these
guitars, and what you feel is revolutionary about your design?
MH:
Tell us about the custom options that are available on your guitars?
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